It has been a while since we heard from the great brother of Jesus, James, so let’s return to his book this week. You see, throughout the earthly ministry of Jesus, his biological family did not believe He was Who He claimed to be. (see Jn 7:5) Perhaps because they were too familiar with Him since they had grown up with Jesus, or maybe because they did not want Jesus to bring trouble on Himself or the family, they even attempted to stop Jesus from His mission. (see Mk 3:21) Whatever their reason, it was not until after His Resurrection that James became fully devoted to His Big Brother, and even became one of the pillars of the Christian movement. I love the Book he wrote because it is so direct and shocking. It is meant to snap us out of our complacent mentality and move us to surrender all our hearts, souls and bodies to Jesus as he did when it finally hit him that Jesus is indeed our Messiah.
Put yourself in the place of James for a moment. Jesus never did anything wrong…talk about sibling rivalry, that had to be a sore spot for James. Jesus was completely selfless and as He grew up, I am sure He always looked out for the good of others around Him. After the death of their father, Joseph, Jesus was supposed to be next in line to be in charge of the house, so leaving home and going on this ministry gig must have been the last thing James expected. I know I am only speculating here, the Bible never gives us these details, but how would we feel if this was our brother? But to then see the deep Faith James places on Jesus after He is risen, well, it makes my heart swell with Faith myself. It is infectious…it is powerful…and it is effective! Here is this week’s “Bible verse to remember,” it is from the Book of James 5:16
“Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.” Jas 5:16 NIV
Confess. To each other. Pray. Heal. A righteous person. Powerful and effective. Let’s talk about each one of these this week…
Join me in memorizing 52 verses this year:
January: 1- Jn 3:16; 2- 2Co 5:17; 3- Jas 2:26; 4- Eph 2:10
February: 5- Jn 10:10; 6- Ro 6:23; 7- Rev 21:4; 8- Php 4:13
March: 9- 1Pe 5:7; 10- Jn 8:32; 11- Dt 30:19; 12- Jn 3:30; 13- 2Chron 20:3
April: 14- 2Chron 20:12; 15- 2Chron 20:15b; 16- 2Chron 20:17
May: 17- Ro 8:28; 18- 1Co 13:13; 19- Php 2:12; 20- Mt 5:4
June: 21- Lk 23:42; 22- Jas 4:7; 23- Pr 22:6; 24- Mt 5:3; 25- Jn 14:6
July: 26- Jas 2:19; 27- Dt 31:8; 28- Jn 14:15; 29- Jn 8:11
August: 30- Ro 8:1; 31- Pr 4:23; 32- Pr 18:21; 33- Ps 118:24; 34- 1Jn 4:4
September: 35- Mt 16:24; 36- Isa 53:6; 37- Ps 23:1-6
October: 38- Heb 4:12; 39- Jn 15:5
40- Jas 5:16
<>< Peace, Diane
