Foundations: The Book of James
14 Day Devotional
James is an extremely practical book that can easily
be applied to daily life. This book
contains challenges in the area of suffering, wealth, the tongue, the world,
wisdom, and much more!
James 1:22 (ESV)
“But
be doers of the Word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.”
Introduction
James was
Jesus’ younger brother whose ministry and martyrdom is a great testimony to the
truthfulness of Jesus Christ as our Saviour. When the enemy plants doubts about
the reliability of the Bible and the deity of Christ, we can think of James and
be encouraged! While Jesus was ministering here on earth, James and the rest of
the family thought Jesus was out of his mind – imagine, your own brother
claiming to be one with God! What in the world could make someone believe his
own brother were the Saviour of the world? Only an encounter with the risen
Lord! After Jesus rose from the dead, James saw, believed and eventually became
the leader of the church in Jerusalem. As we read the book of James we see a
man of deep faith, of perseverance and one with a great urgency for
righteousness. When we hear how he was martyred, we see that he was a man of
integrity who lived out the words he spoke.
When the scribes and Pharisees urged James to renounce Jesus from atop
the pinnacle of the temple, James proclaimed Jesus as the Messiah instead. In
anger, they pushed him off the roof. The fall broke his legs but did not kill
him and so as James prayed, the crowd took up stones and clubs, crushing his
skull with their final blows. Perseverance had indeed finished its work and
James died a mature believer (James 1:4), receiving the blessing that he
himself had penned: “Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because
when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has
promised to those who trust in Him.” (James 1:12)
James wrote
this letter to the “the twelve tribes
scattered among the nations” (1:1) which would naturally apply to Jewish
Christians. These believers would have
been scattered by persecution which would account for James’ references to
trials. James is writing as a pastor to
instruct and encourage these people in the midst of the difficulties that they
are facing.
The book of
James is one that is much harder to apply than to understand. It is extremely practical for daily living as
James focuses on how genuine faith must be accompanied by a consistent
lifestyle. As a writer, James tackles
all sorts of topics. A theme for
practical daily living emerges, examples which include how to deal with problems,
words, money and time. Since James is so
practical, expect this book to be challenging!
Prayer and Journaling
1. Thank
the Lord for the practical things in the book of James. Write a prayer, committing to going through
each of these devotionals and working at applying them to your everyday
life.
2. Ask
the Lord to speak to you about the importance of obeying the Word of God. Ask Him to show you an area of your life
where you can grow in more fully obeying Him.
3. Ask
the Lord to grow you in wisdom, prayer and understanding of how to apply the
Word as you go through the book of James.
