When Is It A Bad Idea To Read The Bible?

How often you read the Bible may show your true opinion of it.

We know we should read the Bible every day, and most people of the Christian Faith try to read through it once a year.  We think it is a good thing to do, and without a doubt, it is, but is there a time when it is a bad idea to read the Bible?

"But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves." James 1:22.

The context of James 1:22 is in a passage where the Apostle James tells the followers of Christ to live holy lives. He says that we must not listen to God's word and then not do it because we will become self-deceived. He concludes with an example of a simpleton who looks at a mirror and forgets what he saw.

DOERS

Of course, not everyone who reads the Bible is a doer of the Bible.
A doer of the Bible is
     * A person who is obedient to its teaching.
     * A person who observes the commands.
     * A person who intends to do what it says.
     * A person who applies it to his life.

WORD

The unique name for the scriptures illustrates its purpose. It is "The Word," an expression and communication of The Creator to the ones he created. The Word of God is a gift and a responsibility. Our Heavenly Father has a message for each of us and it is in the pages of the Word He gave us.

HEARERS ONLY

A healthy person with average hearing can hear something effortlessly under normal circumstances. The idea is not just the audible reception of the scripture; it could be a matter of studying or reading the Word of God. It might even be advanced study such as attending a seminar, camp, or classes at a renowned seminary.

ONLY
Only is defined as a lesser, a part of a task, it is something that is left undone, neglected, or overlooked. If you have only read or heard the scripture you have done the lesser part, there is more. The greater part is obedience to The Lord's instructions and commands.

DECEIVING YOURSELVES

A deception is essentially a lie. We deceive ourselves without knowing it. We do it when we tell ourselves that we are going to do one thing but really have no intention to do so. We do it when we refuse to see the truth about ourselves.

To deceive yourself is the worst deception. It goes on and reproduces itself in millions of thoughts and actions.

Jesus claimed to be the "Way the Truth and the Life," John 14:6, and if we are his followers we should be characterized by truth in our actions and thoughts.

MISSED BLESSING

James 1 continues to say that anyone who hears God's Word and does it he will be blessed. You are not blessed by just hearing or reading the scripture- your blessing comes from doing what it says.

THE LIVING WORD

Read God's Word and read it every day. It is living and active, Hebrews 4:12, it will slowly change you if you do so, but read it with an attitude of willing obedience because to read it and not obey it is self-deception.

To learn more about how to have a living relationship with God follow THIS LINK.

(c) Adron 5/11/16

Why Do All These Bad Things Happen To Me? James 1:2

Why Do These Things
Happen To Me

You might say that you are a good person and believe in God and love Jesus but there are so many
problems and tribulations in your life, that you ask, "Why what's wrong?"

"Consider it joy my brothers when you encounter various trials of many kinds for you know the testing of your faith produces endurance." James 1:2-3 

CONSIDER
To consider something is to put the thought into it, or to rest your thoughts on it; it is like the concluding statement, but not just a statement it is an action statement that requires a response. For this verse to start with consider is to say live out have this opinion.

JOY
Joy is more than happiness, it is like the apex of happiness. Happiness is external and is submissive to the circumstances around us, but joy comes from within.

TRIALS OF MANY KINDS
We experience problems, trials, tests, and just about everything else, there is not just one kind of trial that we encounter there are many and there is always another that you never suspected lurking around the corner, but each has a purpose.

TESTING OF YOUR FAITH
Our faith is the point. It is not about you but it is about God and your relationship to God and what you think of him.

ENDURANCE
There is a purpose in the trials; they produce something that cannot come any other way- character. If there was no test there would be no faithfulness, no patience, no long view of life, and we would be no better off.

God has a purpose in our difficulties, this purpose lifts us up to be noble, virtuous, and Christ like, so we may consider it joy.

(c) Adron 1/9/14

Is God Against You?

Could God actually be against us? If he is a God of love, we might assume he is always for us no matter what, but what if a trait or attitude on our part puts God against us?

"But He gives us more grace. That is why scripture says, "God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble." James 4:6. NIV.

PRIDE
Pride may come in many forms, and there is a form of pride that seems to offend God. This is the pride, which is referred to as the sin of angels, for the Old Testament tells of Satin's boast to set himself up above God and usurp the place of God in the universe. Isaiah 14:12-16. This is the boastful pride of one who considers himself better than others.

Is God Against You?

No one in their right mind would say they are superior to God in power, status, worth, or glory as the fallen angel did, but we live that attitude in many ways. We refuse to acknowledge his authority and resist obeying his commands. We want to live our own lives and not submit to his design for us.

OPPOSES
God opposes those who are set on their own course. He is sovereign, and we do not know how he will oppose an individual, but we can be assured he will. It may not be at a time we would think or in a way, we would expect. What we see may not reflect the secret truths of their lives.

FAVOR
We often say God's ways are not our ways. The world is full of wonderful, godly people who live saintly lives of sacrifice and service; many live in poverty, struggle in the lower classes of society, and suffer much to follow their conscience. One looks at them and wonders- yet their biographies are full of joy and gratitude, seldom complaining about their situations and often giving praise to God. They experience God's favor: they are given a grace that is foreign to the mind of the prideful and worldly. God has blessed these humble ones, and they would quickly say it.

GOD
God is long-suffering and patient. When we look at the lives of those who deny God's mastery over them, we wonder why God does not bring them to some immediate doom. We must remember that God is patient in giving us every opportunity to turn from selfish ways and accept his will for our lives.

If you want to know more about God's saving grace, follow this link: Click Here.

(c) Adron Dozat 5/19/13

How To Handle Hard Times, James 5:11

Sometimes things are too hard and we just want to give up. We wonder if there is any good in our going on.

"As you know, we count as blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job's perseverance, and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy." James 5:11, NIV.

PERSEVERE
To persevere is to endure a time of trial or test without compromising or giving up. It means to not turn away from the course but to keep moving ahead, and it is to remain constant no matter how big the obstacle or daunting the test.

JOB
The story of Job tells how he was tested and experienced one disaster after another. First, he lost his possessions, next he lost his family, and then his health.  His friends came and misunderstood his righteous stand of being faithful to God. After his time of testing, he was rewarded with greater blessing than he had before.

THE LORD
He is not just God the creator of everything he is the Lord, the one who rules and commands all. His word is obeyed by angels and even demons. The test Job went through did as much to show the nature of God as it showed Job's character, and in it, we see God is full of compassion and mercy, not just a little but all of God contains these qualities of his loving goodness.

COMPASSION
God sees our struggles through and he cares, he is understanding and has sympathy for all we are going through. He not only cares but he acts, his compassion is not just a good feeling of love and well-wishing it takes action for our benefit.

MERCY
The Lord has mercy. He gives good to those who cannot obtain it, or even do not deserve it. He is forgiving and kind. He gives aid. We are in his power since he is supreme and he exercises his power for our good.

DON'T GIVE UP
Don't give up on the Lord. If you give up it is not just that the bad situation wins but that we are making a statement that we do not believe the Lord will come through. Do not forget the Lord brought about blessings and good in the life of Job. When we are tempted to give up and turn away from doing right we must remember that our God, the Lord Almighty, is compassionate and merciful toward us.

To Learn more about finding God's mercy in your life read my other blog at this link: Click Here.

(c) Adron Dozat

How To Become Wise, James 1:5

How do you find wisdom?  Do you adopt a philosophy, study the teaching of a great man, or practice some mysterious discipline?   The Bible suggests from James 1:5 that getting wisdom is not a matter of finding or learning but of asking.

WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS:

If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously and without finding fault, and it will be given to him. James 1:5 NIV.

This verse is so straightforward that it barely needs any comment, but it is deep.  There is an idea that God will give wisdom to those who ask.  This reveals that wisdom can't be bought, earned, or learned, but it can be provided, and God is willing to give it to those who ask him.

Diploma And Miterboard

There are many promises in the Scripture. Some have conditions that must be fulfilled for the promise to be received.  Here, we have an unconditional promise that we will receive wisdom if we ask.  It is that simple, and that is why so few find it.

WHAT WE MUST DO:

We can ask Him for wisdom with confidence. You don't just pray for wisdom and hope for the best, but you can be assured that if you pray for wisdom, The Lord will give it to you.  God does not find fault in the prayer for wisdom; it is always right to do and never wrong.

WHAT GOD DOES:

God is generous, and we are daily recipients of his generosity.  No one could earn His favor, so He grants His gifts freely.  Our Heavenly Father is not only generous in the fact that He gives at all, but He is generous in the vast measure of the gifts He gives.  He will not just give us a little like a sample taste; he overwhelms us with an abundant, exceedingly great amount of his favor.

WHO MAY BECOME WISE:

This promise is for anyone. It begins with "If any of you." It is not addressed to the kings, the powerful and learned of this world, but "Any." The All-wise, All-knowing, and All-Powerful One will give his gift of wisdom as an endowment to anyone humble enough to ask. He gives it without respect of status or class; even a janitor, a cab driver, or a waitress may receive this awesome gift.

PRAYER:

We wonder if we are praying correctly; we get tangled up with rules and forms in prayer.  We know we must pray according to His plans, and if we ask for something against God's revealed, we won't get our answer, but here we see it is his desire and will to give us wisdom.  It is a prayer we can pray with confidence, knowing that it will be granted.

(c)Adron Dozat 6/26/12

God's Purpose For Trials in My Life James 1:12

There are many blessings in the Bible and some are difficult to understand, the strangest may be the blessing in trial.

"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 love him." James 1:12, NIV

BLESSING
"Blessing" seems to mean happy and there are many examples where the two words are interchanged in the Bible and in literature.

SUFFERING
Suffering itself is not a blessing, it is the one who perseveres under trials and testing who is blessed. To persevere is to not give up, it is to persist determinedly over a period of time in defiance of difficulties.

TEST
We think of a test as being something done to discover; such as a school exam where we measure our knowledge of the subject being taught. God already knows everything; His purposes in our testings are not to discover but other things such as teaching us through the test- often patience or trust. A test can be applied to prove or demonstrate what is already known. The classic example is Job where God already knew Job’s devotion and faithfulness and allowed trials in his life to demonstrate it to Satin.

PURPOSE
It is clear that God has many purposes for us in our trials and like Job we may not get the answer in this life but here we see a revelation of one of God's purposes in our trials. God will give a reward to those who endure trials- a crown. A crown has always been a symbol of merit, wealth, status, heritage, rule, and many more things. We do not have the slightest idea what this crown will be but considering the One who is giving it this reward will be FANTASTIC!

CONDITIONAL
There is a condition for the crown, it is the condition that we must love God. This verse puts the crown of life, perseverance under trial, and love of God together; this shows one of God’s purposes in our trials. Trials are an opportunity to demonstrate love for God in a powerful way one which alone merits the reward of a crown.

LOVE
Never will you show you love God better than being faithful to Him when you are going through a trial. Let us all resolve to persevere during these trials we face today and prove to those who are watching what is the depth and firmness of our love of God.


If you want to know more about having God in your life see my other blog.

(c)Adron Dozat