Just a reminder that we will be fully launching the online study very soon. If you have any questions - please message us dahms.team@gmail.com.
You can start by reading the book of James with help of the first couple posts.
Another note: There will be a girls & guys blogsite attached here.
The girls site is underconstruction: http://www.purefreedom4girls.blogspot.com/. The guys will be up soon.
5 If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. 6 But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. 7 Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. 8 Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do. (New Living Translation)
God is a generous giver and he doesn’t want anyone to hesitate to come to him. And I’m very thankful that prayers for wisdom are prayers that he especially likes to answer – because I need all the wisdom I can get! Specifically though, if we consider what comes before these verses, we are being invited by God to pray for wisdom when we’re in trouble or facing “trials of many kinds.” And usually it’s those times that we need wisdom the most. What do you do when you don’t know what to do? Pray for wisdom.
So not only are troubles opportunities for joy, they are also opportunities for us to grow in God-given wisdom and discernment. I suppose troubles are starting to sound pretty good! (Almost!)
Often we are tempted to pray prayers that revolve around what we want, or outcomes that we would like to see happen for selfish reasons. We try and use prayer as a magic wand to make preferable things happen. For example, in the case of having some troubles – we might pray that God would just “take all the troubles away!”
And while God certainly cares for us, he also cares for us so much that he allows things to happen to us that, while they may be uncomfortable, benefit us because they grow our faith. God also wants to use painful and uncomfortable circumstances to make us wiser, and invites us to pray, “Lord, grant me the wisdom I need to get through this trial.”
But we are warned to ask in faith believing we will receive what we ask for. When we waver between trusting God and trusting in ourselves (or whatever else like friend’s opinions, the latest magazine advice, gossip, our own unreliable emotions, or what mainstream culture tells us to do) . . . are we really trusting God at all? It’s natural for us to trust in ourselves or in our own abilities, but trusting in God is an invitation to the ultimate Source of stability. When we trust in God, no matter what we go through, he will never abandon us or give up on us (he’ll even give us wisdom if we ask him!).
Painting the Picture:
"One day, while my son Zac and I were out in the country, climbing around in some cliffs, I heard a voice from above me yell, "Hey Dad! Catch me!" I turned around to see Zac joyfully jumping off a rock straight at me. He had jumped and them yelled "Hey Dad!" I became an instant circus act, catching him. We both fell to the ground. For a moment after I caught him I could hardly talk. When I found my voice again I gasped in exasperation: "Zac! Can you give me one good reason why you did that???"
He responded with remarkable calmness: "Sure...because you're my Dad." His whole assurance was based in the fact that his father was trustworthy. Isn't this even more true for a Christian?"I may not suggest doing this unless you have a really strong earthly father ha! But, when we take leaps of faith into our heavenly father's arms, we are always caught, safe, secure, and protected. Trusting him with our lives is the beginning of wisdom.
Going DEEPer:
(1)Can you think of other things, besides wisdom, that God promises to give us if we’ll just ask him?
(2)Can you think of a time in the last 6 months where you didn’t trust God and just relied on yourself? What was the result?
(3) In your current relationships and life situations, what do you need to ask God for wisdom for? How do you see things changing if you trust Him and seek wisdom from His Word? (Bible – Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth).
DISCUSSION:
Post a piece of wisdom - "a golden nugget" that you find in the book of PROVERBS to the PPT YOUTH facebook page for discussion. Did you know Proverbs is called the book of wisdom? Click on the "BIBLEGATEWAY" link on the side bar, and look up Proverbs.
We’re going to start things off in the book of James (for those of you not so familiar with your Bible – it’s towards the back in between Hebrews and 1 Peter). James is one of my favourite books (although I say that about a lot of the books in the Bible) because there’s a lot of good stuff packed into a small space. It’s very practical and talks about many important subjects. So lets get to it!
James 1:1-4
1 This letter is from James, a slave of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.
I am writing to the “twelve tribes”—Jewish believers scattered abroad.
Greetings!
2 Dear brothers and sisters,[a] when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. 3 For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. 4 So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing. (New Living Translation)
There is general consensus that the James that wrote this book was the brother of Jesus (Matt. 13:55) and the leader of the early church in Jerusalem (Acts 15). And ok, probably his friends didn’t call him Jimmy. But note that he calls himself a slave of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. We’re familiar with Jesus being our Saviour and our Lord, but would you consider yourself his slave? Why or why not? (Keep in mind the wise words of J.I. Packer, “whether being a servant is a matter for shame or for pride depends on whose servant one is.”)
With introductions out of the way, James leads off pretty strong: consider troubles as opportunity for great joy? Eh? Really? It kind of sounds unrealistic – and I would imagine that if you were going through some faith testing troubles you might not enjoy it if I told you to “CONSIDER IT ALL JOY!!”
So what do we do with this? Well, we keep reading and we learn that testing and troubles produce some very important things: enduring faith and spiritual maturity. It’s natural to want a life free from troubles, but the truth is that we’ll have them whether we want them or not. What’s cool is that God uses the troubles and trials that we face as we follow Jesus to make our faith stronger and complete – bringing us to a place where we “need nothing.” In God’s hands, pain has a transformative purpose.
Daring To Go Deeper:
(1) How does being a slave to Christ and being free in Christ exist together? What do you think of J. I. Packer’s quote?
(2) The last time you had a difficulty – what thought and emotion was present? How does Jimmy’s advice challenge or change your perspective on life stress and hassles?
For this week respond to the questions with your thoughts and questions on the PPT facebook page under the link.
Author: The author of this epistle (letter) is James
Date of Writing: The Book of James is probably the oldest book of the New Testament, written perhaps as early as A.D. 45
Key Verses: James 1:2-3: "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance."
James 1:19: "My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry."
James 2:17-18: "In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. But someone will say, ‘You have faith; I have deeds.’ Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.”
James 3:5: "Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark."
James 5:16b: "The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.”
Theme: We see in the Book of James a challenge to faithful followers of Jesus Christ to not just “talk the talk,” but to “walk the walk.” While our faith walk, to be certain, requires a growth of knowledge about the Word, James exhorts us to not stop there. PUT it to ACTION.
The epistle also puts to rest the idea that one can become a Christian and yet continue living in sin, exhibiting no fruit of righteousness. Such a “faith,” James declares, is shared by the demons who “believe and tremble” (James 2:19). Yet such a “faith” cannot save because it is not verified by the works that always accompany true saving faith (Ephesians 2:10). Good works are not the cause of salvation, but they are the result of it.
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