Driven by the Wind
Small worries often overtake us. As students, we worry about exams, as employees, we worry about job concerns, as parents, we worry about kids, as adults, we worry about aging parents. The list goes on. How should we live our lives? What decisions do we make? Are we making them from faith?
This post will be on James 1:5-8:
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.
6But 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.
7For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord,
8being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
The wisdom James is speaking of here is not a wisdom rooted in vast amounts of knowledge, it is rather, wisdom for how to manage daily living concerns. God is able to give to anyone such wisdom, but as Psalm 111:10 and Proverbs 9:10 teach us, fear of God is the beginning of such wisdom. The verse says to ask God, but can we ask if we do not view Him as able to fulfill our request? This is the essence of this verse.
First, fear God. He is all knowing, all powerful, and all just. What is not to fear? Such is the catalyst that sends us into His arms broken over ourselves. God will give it to us under such conditions.
Once you fear God, you must have faith that He will fulfill His promises. Remember that His promises are two fold: Damnation for those not keeping in faith of Jesus Christ, and Salvation for those in obedience to Him. All will have a resurrection, but only the chosen ones of His will have it unto life, the rest unto death. Matthew 25:31-46 is clear about this. Have faith that He will see you through any struggle.
To doubt means that you waver between believing God will see you through and wanting to do something about the situation on your own. It is like you draw a line on a floor and if that problem stays on the other side of that line, all is good and you ‘trust in God’, but if that problem crosses that line, it is time to do something about it because you don’t trust God will help you.
God will fulfill your request for wisdom if you erase that line and trust in Him alone. Any other way and you move to and fro with the surging stressful wind of our day.
Such a person who draws that line is a hypocrite. He wants the world’s pleasures in one hand as he reaches up to God for help with the other. He is like a man walking a tightrope with a net below him to catch himself if he falls. God asks you to take away the net, because its presence is the evidence that you do not have faith in Him who promised to fulfill your request.
Fear the Lord, keep His commandments, and don’t let the stress of life toss you to and fro over the landscape of sin.
posted by xanadustc at
9:23 PM
9 Comments:
Very nice. I agree
By
xanadustc, at 11:40 AM
Why?
By
xanadustc, at 4:06 PM
I am non-denominational and reformed. I attend a Baptist church
By
xanadustc, at 7:56 AM
No, I was never catholic. Where did you read that? I was a total confirmed, self-sufficient atheist. If you would like the story why I quit that, there is a very very very brief version on the side bar, I have longer versions as document files, or I can email an audio testimoney that was recorded at church. (15 min MP3 or WMA)
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xanadustc, at 12:56 PM
It is fine.
I think that I read someone was a catholic at one point, then was not. You may have read that, but it was not me.
Are you Roman Catholic or one of the other Catholics?
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xanadustc, at 8:09 AM
That is what I guessed from your writings.
There is a very great distinction between our two systems.
The Bible clearly teaches that salvation is by faith through grace, but the Roman system teaches that Salvation is a combination between faith and works.
"If any one saith, that by faith alone the impious is justified; in such wise as to mean, that nothing else is required to co-operate in order to the obtaining the grace of Justification, and that it is not in any way necessary, that he be prepared and disposed by the movement of his own will; let him be anathema." (Canon 9, Council of Trent).
". . Baptism is the first and chief sacrament of forgiveness of sins because it unites us with Christ, who died for our sins and rose for our justification, so that 'we too might walk in newness of life,'" (Catechism of the Catholic Church par. 977).
I mustr take issue because of these:
"Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin," (Rom. 3:20).
"But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is reckoned as righteousness," (Rom. 4:5).
# "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God," (Eph. 2:8).
Does this mean that a person can not be saved in the Roman Catholic Church? No, it does not, but to do so, you must reject the core teachings of justification that the church puts forth.
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xanadustc, at 1:19 PM
I will reply in more detail in a bit, there are some sources that contradict his statements that "All the reformers agreed with Luther's interpretation of Romans, but they refused to let him remove James from the New Testament Canon"; but I have those in my library at home.
In all do respects, your brother (from whom I assume this message originates)is attacking a straw man of the Protestant Christian faith. He appears to be attacking the movement of "Easy-Believism", which I define as apostic (I need to read the message a few more times to know for sure).
Also, could you send me the website he elludes to at the end of the message?
I need to teach today and I have a long day tomorrow; I will try to get a detailed reply up sometime this weekend, so keep checking back.
I will say this, however, of the verses mentioned in the previous message before your last one, 1 of them is used as an ad hominum attack toward me, one was mis quoted, one has a very questionable meaning, one was used correctly, one was totally changed, and five were misapplied.
Please refrain from personal attacks about my analysis or character; they will not create a rise.
I am cautious at every single end to not mis-quote the context of scripture, nor have I ever read McCarthy. I use the source; the case against the RCC is primarily the catacism. It is funny how all this started by simply quoting in context to their writings, the Council of Trent (Which was conviened with the total objective of condemning the reformers for the crime of exposing the false systems such as
Indulgences, works based salvation as they were used in that time) and the other being the Catacism.
One more note, if you are not knowledgable about your faith, I encourage you to do so. Send your brother over if he cares to debate, but honestly, if you use yourself as a triangle between the two of us, it will wear down on your emotional being, and that could hurt you. Also, keep in mind that you don't know me, but you know your brother, so he will have more influence over you than I will. That is dangerous. because as it currently stands, you are blinding following a faith.
Whether or not you settle on the RCC is not the issue; the issue is salvation and the bible is very clear that there are no group passes to that land (post Christ anyway). Your faith must be your own.
I have examined in very great detail all the evidences of the RC position as well as the protestant position. I might very well know more about the RCC than you do. That does not mean that I am right, but it does mean that I am not under the influence of a system that I was taught growing up. I had to fight very hard to overcome those types of oppressive systems. I fought hard for me freedom of mind and the protestant rule of faith has demonstrated to be the truth of the Bible.
This was the 'from my heart' portion, check back soon for my 'fact' portion, I just want you to know it is comming.
By
xanadustc, at 1:09 PM
Another IBO,
Once again, quit posting your brother's emails.
I simply and clearly stated that I have not put up ANY interpretations at this point. I will, but it will take a few days before i have the time.
AI>The arguments between themselves were, for them, an embarrassment they did not wish their followers to realize, but they were many from the beginning, there was no ONE Protestant Faith.
X>Funny, the same can be said of the Catholics. They disagreed with the cannon of the scripture as well. The Apocrapha was never ratified as cannon until the Council of Trent. The first time they were ever brought up were in 419 AD in an African Council; of those, about 6 of the apocaphal books were listed as cannonocal, though among the copies of that counsel, only Diaonysis's copy contains some of them.
AI>I do not have the time to debate a person who is not searching for the truth, but merely regurgitating what they have learned from other teachers.
X> With all due respects, debate on your own from here out, I will have more detail on facts shortly.
AI>How can one build a straw man against something that does not exist.
X>Please clarify. The protestant faith is very clear, but there are movements that call themselves Christian within it that are anything but.
AI>Jesus didn't give us many different faiths, he gave us one faith and prayed that we would remain one as he and the Father are one.
X> This is correct, but that one true faith is ANYTHING BUT the RCC. Evidence to come soon.
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xanadustc, at 12:45 PM
I will add more comment soon, actually, I will be posting a whole new post so that this disscussion does not get lost in the archives. I will please ask you to read the letter to Corinthians by Clement and then some of the writings, letters, and sermons of Gregory the Great...You will see a clear shift in the soundness of doctrine (Clement) to political corruption (Gregory).
Mind you this: The protestant faith is echoed from within Clements writings while Gregory was more in line with compulsionary service to the Church. Such things Augustus or Hippo was clearly against if you read through his letters. Why did he write against it? Because it was a problem within the church.
X
By
xanadustc, at 1:43 PM
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