That you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

James 1:1-18 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

James, a bond-servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes who are dispersed abroad: Greetings.

² Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, ³ knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. ⁴ And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

⁵ But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. ⁶ But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. ⁷ For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, ⁸ being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

⁹ But the brother of humble circumstances is to glory in his high position; ¹⁰ and the rich man is to glory in his humiliation, because like flowering grass he will pass away. ¹¹ For the sun rises with a scorching wind and withers the grass; and its flower falls off and the beauty of its appearance is destroyed; so too the rich man in the midst of his pursuits will fade away.

¹² Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. ¹³ Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone. ¹⁴ But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. ¹⁵ Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death. ¹⁶ Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. ¹⁷ Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow. ¹⁸ In the exercise of His will He brought us forth by the word of truth, so that we would be a kind of first fruits among His creatures.

Romans 8:28-29 says:  We know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren.    In many ways those two verses summarize what James says in today’s text. James begins saying:  Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.  The various trials and difficulties we go through are not caused by God, but rather He causes them to be used, to work together for our good. James says we become perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. Paul says we are conformed to the image of Christ. One of the keys to our obtaining the result of being perfected, complete, conformed to Christ is in that we consider it joy when we go through these trials. It’s not that we take joy in the trials or the difficulties themselves, but rather that we take joy in knowing the purpose of God for our trial, that as we endure, in the joy of the Lord, we are perfected, conformed to the image of Christ. We take joy, knowing that regardless of what this day brings:  This day is holy to our Lord. Do not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength. (Nehemiah 8:10)  So as we take joy in the Lord we have His strength. Like Paul in Philippians 4:13 we say:  I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.    Today’s text says:  Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him…In the exercise of His will He brought us forth by the word of truth, so that we would be a kind of first fruits among His creatures. Again this is in agreement with what Paul says in Romans 8:28-29:   so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren.    Jesus is the first born to walk in the power and authority of the kingdom of heaven here on earth. Being conformed to His image, we become a kind of first fruits among His creatures. We too have authority, in Christ, the power and authority of the kingdom of heaven, the power and authority to do all things through Christ. In John 14:12-14 Jesus says: “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father. Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.”   Being conformed to the image of Christ, we are restored to what God intended for us when He created man and woman saying:  “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” (Genesis 1:26-28)   That is the result of our taking joy in various trials, knowing that we will be restored to the image of Christ and the authority God intended from the beginning, first fruits among His creatures.

James does share another important aspect to our becoming like Christ. The text says:  But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.   It is important to note that James says if we lack wisdom we should ask and it will be given. Being given wisdom does not necessarily mean that we get the answer we are looking for. In 2 Corinthians 12:7-10 Paul says:  Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me—to keep me from exalting myself! Concerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me. And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.”Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.    The wisdom Paul received was not the answer he sought, but rather that God’s grace is sufficient. When we ask for God’s wisdom in our situation and we receive His all sufficient grace, then our faith is not lessened if we do not get the answer we hoped for, but rather we are farther conformed to the image of Christ, by His grace.

It is important that we ask without doubting, because doubt itself is sin. Doubt means that we question what God has said. We cannot have faith in God if we doubt what He says. We are double minded and unstable. James says:  Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death.    In our various trials we will be tempted with doubt. It is not sin to be tempted. Jesus Himself was tempted. We must not let the temptation give birth to sin. The birth of sin brings forth death to the purpose of God in that situation. We are blessed when we persevere in our trials through the all sufficient grace of God.   Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.   God is good all the time. Jeremiah 29:11 God says:  I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ; precious Holy Spirit I take joy today knowing that You will cause all things, the good things and the trials, to work together for my good. I am confident and content in Your all sufficient grace. Give me the wisdom to know Your will and Your purpose in all that I do. Conform and restore me to the image of Christ by Your grace so that I can do the things that Jesus did, I can fulfill Your purpose and Your good and perfect plan for my life, that I might be first fruits and produce more fruit for Your kingdom. Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.   Amen.