Prayer: Lord God, thank you for this time and place where we can come and gather together with YOU as the center. Lord we are needy people. We are indeed like children and more than anything we need to simply “be” with you. So for this time, would you help us to set aside the cares of this day, of our lives in general and simply REST in your love and your Word? We thank you God in Jesus name amen.
Last week we tackled James 1:1-4 2hich said: 1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,
To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion:
Greetings.
2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
We discussed how James, who most authors assume was the half brother of Jesus, was writing to the Jews who had been displaced (dispersed) due to various sorts of persecution. They knew trials. Imagine living in a foreign country among people who were all Hindu or Buddhist and spoke a different language. As well as being persecuted. Do you think they knew trials? Do you think they needed an abundant supply of wisdom? That is what James addresses next:
5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.
Dodi Note: Guys, God does not look down on us, laugh at us or tell us to go figure it out for ourselves. Instead according to James, God supplies wisdom generously whenever we ask Him for it.
Do you remember Solomon?
Let’s see what Gotquestions says about wisdom and Solomon. Then we can apply it to our own need for wisdom and how we can (like James said) expect God to react.
In 1 Kings 3:3, Solomon is described in the following positive terms: “Solomon loved the LORD, walking in the statutes of David his father.” One night, the Lord appeared to Solomon and said, “Ask what I shall give you” (verse 5). In response, Solomon answered, “Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, that I may discern between good and evil, for who is able to govern this your great people?” (verse 9).
The passage notes, “It pleased the Lord that Solomon had asked this” (1 Kings 3:10). God delights to give wisdom to those who truly seek it (Proverbs 2:6–8; James 1:5). God responds to Solomon’s request for wisdom by promising three different gifts. The first is the wisdom Solomon had asked for: “I now do according to your word. Behold, I give you a wise and discerning mind, so that none like you has been before you and none like you shall arise after you” (verse 12).
Dodi Note: Let’s see what Proverbs 2:6-8 says. For the Lord gives wisdom;
from his mouth come knowledge and understanding;
he stores up sound wisdom for the upright;
he is a shield to those who walk in integrity,
guarding the paths of justice
and watching over the way of his saints.
Wow! That is neat, isn’t it? God gives wisdom, knowledge and understanding. He actually has wisdom stored up for us. And then when we ask for wisdom and apply it, he is our shield and guard.
That makes me wonder…. what is the actual difference in wisdom and knowledge and understanding? So I checked. Same source Gotquestions. I found it interesting so I am going to share with you all.
Wisdom and knowledge, both recurring themes in the Bible, are related but not synonymous. The dictionary defines wisdom as “the ability to discern or judge what is true, right, or lasting.” Knowledge, on the other hand, is “information gained through experience, reasoning, or acquaintance.” Knowledge can exist without wisdom, but not the other way around. One can be knowledgeable without being wise. Knowledge is knowing how to use a gun; wisdom is knowing when to use it and when to keep it holstered.
God wants us to have knowledge of Him and what He expects of us. In order to obey Him, we have to have knowledge of the commands. But as equally important as having knowledge is having wisdom. Knowing facts about God and the Bible is not all there is to wisdom. Wisdom is a gift from God. James 1:5 states, “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.” God blesses us with wisdom in order for us to glorify Him and use the knowledge we have of Him.
Dodi Note: Notice our verse from James is quoted?
The book of Proverbs is perhaps the best place in the Bible to learn of biblical wisdom. Proverbs 1:7 speaks of both biblical knowledge and wisdom: “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, / but fools despise wisdom and instruction.” To fear the Lord is to start on the path to knowledge, and God can then begin to provide us with wisdom through Christ, who the Bible says is wisdom itself: “It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption” (1 Corinthians 1:30).
1 Cor 1:30 says: And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption…
Knowledge is what is gathered over time through study of the Scriptures. It can be said that wisdom, in turn, acts properly upon that knowledge. Wisdom is the fitting application of knowledge. Knowledge understands the light has turned red; wisdom applies the brakes. Knowledge sees the quicksand; wisdom walks around it. Knowledge memorizes the Ten Commandments; wisdom obeys them. Knowledge learns of God; wisdom loves Him.
That is good isn’t it? Wisdom is important and something God WANTS us to ask Him for. He has it stored up for us too, just waiting for us to turn to Him as the source of all wisdom. I don’t know about you but there have been times when I turned to other people or self-help books first instead of God and His Word.
First Kings 4:29-34 records the details of Solomon’s wisdom: “And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding beyond measure, and breadth of mind like the sand on the seashore, so that Solomon's wisdom surpassed the wisdom of all the people of the east and all the wisdom of Egypt.
For he was wiser than all other men, wiser than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, Calcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol, and his fame was in all the surrounding nations.
He also spoke 3,000 proverbs, and his songs were 1,005. He spoke of trees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon to the hyssop that grows out of the wall. He spoke also of beasts, and of birds, and of reptiles, and of fish. And people of all nations came to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and from all the kings of the earth, who had heard of his wisdom.”
Dodi Note: Once when my son went to a Baptist High School they had to read Proverbs every single day. And then write a journal entry of what spoke to them. There are 31 chapters in Proverbs. That is one for each day of the month. Today is the 24 so today they would read Proverbs 24. I looked at it while preparing this. We will look at the first 6 verses as an example. If you are serious about becoming wise…reading Proverbs like they did might be something you want to start doing.
Do not be envious of evil men,
Nor desire to be with them;
For their heart devises violence,
And their lips talk of troublemaking.
Through wisdom a house is built,
And by understanding it is established;
By knowledge the rooms are filled
With all precious and pleasant riches.
A wise man is strong,
Yes, a man of knowledge increases strength;
For by wise counsel you will wage your own war,
And in a multitude of counselors there is safety.
If I were picking one, I would pick the first part. Do NOT be jealous of EVIL people and do not try to be friends with them. Then it says the reason is because their heart devises violence and there mouths spew forth trouble. HA HA. My paraphrase. But a good reminder that when people are mean and spiteful or say or do bad stuff, we are not called to have to associate with them.
Then I also like verse 6 at the very end. In a multitude of counselors (advisors who are also wise in the Lord) there is safety.
Dodi Note: Are you feeling wiser already? Smile.
Then James goes on to talk about faith. It begins with “but” so it refers back to asking God for wisdom. For example, God I need to make a decision, what should I do? God? This doctor or a different one? This job or that job. God how do I cope with ….(whatever your current issue is). Let’s see the faith part.
James 1: 6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
Notice something. This is NOT about HOW MUCH faith we have. It IS about applying the faith we have. Remember in Matthew 17:20 Jesus Himself said we only need mustard seed faith. A Mustard seed is almost as small as those black dot Poppy seeds on a piece of bread.
We are not to doubt. Doubt what? I think first of all we are not to doubt God’s love for us. We are also not to doubt God’s promises. Remember doubting God and doubting God’s Word is what got this whole mess started with sin way back in Genesis. Eve and Adam listened to the devil and doubted the goodness of God AND distorted his Word to them as well.
Doubt is big. However, we all have moments of doubt and then we have that marvelous example in the exchange between Jesus and that man. It is in Mark 9:24. Jesus asked a man if he believed Jesus could heal his son and the man was so transparently honest. I just love his response. “I do believe, help thou my unbelief”. Don’t you LOVE that? And Jesus did indeed and healed his son.
James goes on to describe that the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea being driven and tossed by the wind. And he gives a dire consequence; he says that person will not get anything from the Lord. Because that man is double-minded and unstable.
Let’s see what double minded is in this context.
The term double-minded comes from the Greek word dipsuchos, meaning “a person with two minds or souls.” It’s interesting that this word appears only in the book of James (James 1:8; 4:8). Bible scholars conclude that James might have coined this word. To grasp the full meaning of this word, it is best to understand how it is used within its context.
James writes of the doubting person that he is “like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does” (James 1:6–8). A doubter is a double-minded person. Jesus had in mind such a person when He spoke of the one who tries to serve two masters (Matthew 6:24). As such, he is “unstable,” which comes from a Greek word meaning “unsteady, wavering, in both his character and feelings.”
A double-minded person is restless and confused in his thoughts, his actions, and his behavior. Such a person is always in conflict with himself. One torn by such inner conflict can never lean with confidence on God and His gracious promises. Correspondingly, the term unstable is analogous to a drunken man unable to walk a straight line, swaying one way, then another. He has no defined direction and as a result doesn’t get anywhere. Such a person is “unstable in all he does.”
Those who are double-minded do not have the faith spoken of in Hebrews 11:1, 3: “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. . . . By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.” We cannot be both “certain” and doubting, as is the double-minded person. One part of his mind is sure of something, while the other part doubts. It brings to mind the “pushmi-pullyu” of the Dr. Doolittle stories, an animal with a head at either end of its body and which was constantly trying to walk in two directions at once. Such is the double-minded man.
Jesus declared, “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other” (Matthew 6:24). God and the things of this world are of such opposite natures that it is impossible to love either one completely without hating the other. Those who try to love both will become unstable in all their ways. If someone struggles with being double-minded, he or she should read, study, and memorize the Word, for it is the Word of God that produces faith (Romans 10:17). And he or she should pray for faith. God freely gives what is good to those who ask Him (Luke 11:9–12), and it’s good to ask for an increase of faith (Luke 17:5; Mark 9:24).
That helps me. I think we will close here but with an assurance. Do not get bogged down or frightened that you do not have enough faith. Or that you are double minded. And if you need a faith boost…get back into the Word. James was not talking about momentary struggles. We all have those. I know I sure do. This is speaking of not truly believing God is who God says he is. And even then, we can be open and honest in those moments, just like that man in Mark was with Jesus. We can all always use more faith, more trust and a deeper ability to rest in the LOVE of God.
Let’s pray: Father God, Abba, Jesus we thank you for loving us. We thank you that we do not have to “get it right” for you to love us and help us live the life you have given us to live. We thank you that we can come to you at any time, however we are feeling and talk to you. We thank you that when we need wisdom (or faith), you promise to give it to us. So we do ask Lord. We ask for an increase of faith. We ask for wisdom. We ask for the ability to REST in your love for us. Father be with us and those we love this week. Thank you that you have gone before us and are with us every single moment of our lives. Even those moments, or maybe especially those moments when we are not aware of you. We bless you Lord in this day/night. Thank you for this time, these words and this place and each other. In Jesus name amen.
Song: Lord of Angel Armies https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0gu0nOaFsI