SPIRITUAL
DIARY FOR 08-15-03
My
Worship Time Focus: Scattered seeds
Bible
Reading & Meditation Reference: James 1:1
Message
of the verse: “1 James, a
bond-servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes who are
dispersed abroad, greetings.”
(NASB) “This letter is from
James, a slave of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is written to Jewish Christians scattered
among the nations. Greetings!” (NLT)
I want to
write about two things in this verse that I think are most important at this
time as I begin the study of this letter:
First the author is probably James, the half-brother of Jesus Christ. There were three other James in the NT
writings, but it does seem to those who have studied about this more than I
that Jesus’ brother was the writer.
Second I want to write about to whom he is writing to, and that is to
Jewish believers who had formerly lived in Jerusalem, but were dispersed
because of persecution in the Church.
The word that is translated as dispersed is a word that Dr. Wiersbe says
means to plant seeds, so these Jewish believers who were forced to move from
their homes and country were now to plant the seeds of true faith in Jesus
Christ as they moved to their new locations, and James was writing to instruct
them and also to encourage them.
Spiritual
meaning for my life today: One of
the things that comes to my mind as I think of the books of Jude or James is
how the Lord had worked in their lives in a way that they would not be puffed
up about being a half brother of our Lord.
Humanly speaking this certainly could be something to be proud of, and I
am sure that in some ways they were, but it seems to me that they cared more
about what Jesus Christ had done for them in a spiritual way than what he was
to them in being a part of their human family.
The Word of God was very convicting to me as I read it this
morning.
My
Steps of Faith Today: I
want to be able to say as Paul said that if I am to boast it will be boasting
about my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
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