“You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror.” (James 2:19 NLT)

In Matthew 7:21, Jesus warns about the most tragic surprise imaginable. “Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter” (NLT). In this context, He’s talking about false prophets who pretend to serve Him while they lead people astray with their lies. But His words apply to anyone who claims to be a Christian but doesn’t have a relationship with Him.

Well-meaning people who call themselves believers will find out too late that they aren’t. The devastating mistake they make is relying on their own ideas of what it means to follow Christ. I grew up in a Christian family. I’m a good person. I go to church every Sunday. I say my prayers. I was baptized. I receive communion. I tithe. I believe in God.

James counters their thinking with a stark reminder. “You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror.” Your faith resembles that of a demon. Now that’s a spiritual wake-up call!

But it’s true. Demons know all too well the truth about Jesus. The devil himself acknowledged that truth. Look at his words to Jesus during the temptation in the wilderness: “Since you are God’s Son, jump” (Matthew 4:6 MSG). The devil knew Jesus was the Messiah, the Savior. But he rebelled against that reality.

Knowing the truth about Jesus doesn’t make you a Christian. It’s a good start, but it’s not enough. Being part of a church doesn’t make you a Christian. It’s highly recommended for spiritual growth, but it’s not enough. Marrying a believer doesn’t make you a Christian. Your spouse’s faith doesn’t count for you.

Living a moral life doesn’t make you a Christian. You can’t follow Jesus on your own terms. In John 2:23–25, we read, “Because of the miraculous signs Jesus did in Jerusalem at the Passover celebration, many began to trust in him. But Jesus didn’t trust them, because he knew all about people. No one needed to tell him about human nature, for he knew what was in each person’s heart” (NLT).

The people wanted what Jesus had to offer, but they weren’t willing to commit to Him, to put their faith in Him, to give their lives to Him.

Let’s make this clear. You become a Christian by admitting that you’re a sinner and that your sin has broken your relationship with God, recognizing that God’s punishment for sin is death, believing that Jesus died to take the punishment for your sin and rose from the grave to destroy the power of death, believing that Jesus’ death and resurrection is the only way to salvation and eternal life, and by confessing your sins to God, asking Him to forgive you, and inviting Jesus into your life.

Reflection question: How do you know that you’re a Christian?

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“Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry.” (James 1:19 NLT)

You can tell a lot about people by the things they’re quick to do and the things they’re slow to do. For instance, some people are slow to get to a party and quick to leave. Some people are quick to make a mess and slow to clean it up. Some people are slow to promote themselves and quick to praise others.

How would your family, or the people who know you best, describe you in terms of being quick to do one thing and slow to do another? How would you describe yourself? What do you think that says about you?

How well do you align with James’ model in the verse above—being “quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry”? Most of us get it completely backward. We’re slow to listen, quick to speak, and quick to get angry.

We listen just long enough to convince ourselves that we have pearls of wisdom to contribute. We’re quick to interrupt by offering advice or steering the conversation where we want it to go. And if our pearls of wisdom or attempts to “solve the problem” aren’t appreciated, we get angry and blame the other person.

This is a challenge many married couples face. When your spouse comes to you with a problem, instead of cutting him or her off by saying, “Here’s what you need to do,” try saying something like, “Tell me why this is bothering you.” And then listen—closely, and for as long as your spouse needs to talk. Even—and especially—if your spouse’s problem is with you.

Resist the urge to dismiss the problem as something insignificant. Find a way to work it out calmly. Avoid raising your voice. If you feel rage boiling up inside you, walk away until it goes away. Follow the advice of the apostle Paul in Ephesians 4:31–32: “Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior. Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you” (NLT).

Ruth Graham, the wife of Billy Graham, once said, “A happy marriage is the union of two good forgivers.” That’s part of being slow to get angry. You must learn how to forgive, how to keep short accounts, how not to bring up things that happened twenty years ago. Remember, your goal is to work things out and find a resolution. Paul also says in Ephesians 4:26, “Don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry” (NLT). So don’t go to bed angry at each other. Fight to resolve, not to win.

Of course, you can often avoid the anger by being quick to listen. And by being slow to speak—and making sure that when you do speak, you’re considering your spouse’s needs in that moment. And by keeping a long fuse on your anger by refusing to get mad about things that ultimately don’t matter.

Reflection question: How can you become quicker to listen, slower to speak, and slower to get angry?

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“What you ought to say is, ‘If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.’ Otherwise you are boasting about your own pretentious plans, and all such boasting is evil.” (James 4:15–16 NLT)

James is talking to successful Christian business leaders. These are people who worked hard to reach the top of their field. You’ll notice that he doesn’t rebuke them for their success or their efforts to be the best.

No matter what you do for a living, if you’re a follower of Christ, you should strive to be the best at what you do. You should work harder than anybody else. You should arrive early to your job. You should leave a little later than others do. You should work cheerfully. And you should do everything for the glory of God, wherever you are.

God hasn’t called everyone into so-called ministry. He hasn’t called everyone to be a preacher. But He has called us all to minister and to serve Him and to bring honor and glory to Him, whatever our profession is. If you’re a doctor, attend to your patients for the glory of God. If I need surgery, I don’t want a preacher. I want a godly surgeon who knows what he’s doing. I may need a Christian attorney. I may need someone else in another field—in construction, in music, in art, in politics. We need strong believers in all fields to represent us well.

But in your striving to be the best, you need to maintain your focus and priorities. That’s what James is saying. He offers you a valuable reminder. He gives you the key to maximize your success.

The people James was talking to had lost their focus. They were believers, but they were living like atheists. They weren’t factoring God into their plans. So James reminded them to keep God’s will at the forefront of their lives.

Ultimately, every plan anybody ever makes is dependent on “if the Lord wants us to.” If you humbly acknowledge that and plan accordingly, God will bless your plans. That’s why Paul told the believers in Ephesus, “I will come back later, God willing” (Acts 18:21 NLT). And it’s why he wrote to the believers in Corinth, “I will come—and soon—if the Lord lets me” (1 Corinthians 4:19 NLT).

God’s will covers a lot of ground—everything you do, in fact. If you’re going to give it the consideration it deserves, it must be one of the first things you think about in the morning and one of the last things you think about at night. It needs to be a frequent topic of conversation with your spouse or loved ones. It needs to be the main focus of every prayer, every business meeting, and every decision-making process.

No matter what field you’re in, keeping God’s will at the forefront means thinking about what you’re sacrificing, thinking about what you’re prioritizing, thinking about how you’re using your resources—including your time, finances, and people—and making sure that they align with God and His will.

You can glorify God wherever you are and in whatever you do. Just remember to factor in His will.

Reflection question: How do you factor God’s will into your workday?

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“Elijah was as human as we are, and yet when he prayed earnestly that no rain would fall, none fell for three and a half years!” (James 5:17 NLT)

The showdown between Elijah and the prophets of Baal in 1 Kings 18 is one of the most triumphant scenes in the Old Testament. One man of God versus 450 false prophets in a winner-take-all contest to determine whose God was the true God of Israel.

The rules were simple. Elijah built one altar and placed his sacrifice of a bull on it. The false prophets built another altar and placed their sacrifice of a bull on it. The god who sent fire to burn his sacrifice would be declared the true God.

The false prophets went first. They prayed for hours, begging their god to respond. They worked themselves into a frenzy. They cut themselves, hoping their blood would get Baal’s attention. But nothing happened.

When Elijah’s turn came, he instructed people to pour water on his altar until it and the ground around it were flooded. He wanted to make it impossible, in human terms, for his altar to ignite. And then he prayed. And God sent fire from Heaven that consumed Elijah’s sacrifice and altar, as well as the ground around it.

The Lord left no doubt as to who the true God of Israel was. Yet Jezebel, the queen of Israel, stubbornly refused to acknowledge Him. When she heard what had happened, she sent word to Elijah that he would be killed the next day.

Like that would scare a prophet of the one true God. A man who’d just played a role in God’s miraculous display of power. A guy who literally had just come down from a mountaintop experience. A man brimming with confidence and courage, knowing that he enjoyed the protection and blessing of God.

First Kings 19:3–4 describes Elijah’s memorable response this way: “Elijah was afraid and fled for his life. . . . He sat down under a solitary broom tree and prayed that he might die” (NLT).

Wait . . . what? Why? The simple answer can be found in the passage from James 5 above: “Elijah was as human as we are.”

People tend to put spiritual leaders—teachers, preachers, evangelists, podcasters, influencers—on pedestals. Oh, they’re so spiritual. They never get down. They never struggle with depression or anxiety like I do. Every day is great for them. Not true. Every spiritual leader you admire is just as human as you are and struggles with vulnerabilities and weak moments, just as you do.

The devil knows that the most vulnerable time for many Christians—leaders and laypeople alike—is right after a spiritual victory. Maybe you’ve experienced that. Maybe you took a bold step of faith to do something for God’s glory, and it went well. But immediately afterward you faced a spiritual attack. Maybe your marriage foundered. Or your kids turned from Christ instead of to Him. I’ve experienced these attacks. Waves of depression have hit me after great spiritual victories, such as any crusade we’ve ever done.

Don’t focus on your emotions. Focus on God. Remember, you’re not as good or as bad as people think you are. You’re God’s servant. Just do your job. Give Him the glory and keep moving, whether you’re a leader or a layperson.

If you’re married, you and your spouse can work together to keep one another on an even spiritual keel. You can lift up one another or gently keep one another grounded, as necessary.

Understanding that leaders are as human as you are helps you resist the urge to put them on pedestals. It helps you be more realistic about your expectations for them. It helps you empathize with their responsibilities.

Perhaps most importantly, though, it encourages you to pray for them. The best thing you can do for the spiritual leaders in your life is to ask God to give them the strength, compassion, wisdom, discernment, and patience they need to accomplish God’s work.

Reflection question: What prayer requests will you take to God on behalf of the spiritual leaders in your life?

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“Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it.” (James 4:17 NLT)

Name a reason you might not use a gift that someone gave you. (You can imagine that you’re playing Family Feud, if it helps you think better.)

Maybe the gift isn’t practical—you have no use for it. Maybe it’s not your style or size. Maybe you think you don’t deserve it. Maybe you don’t have a good relationship with the gift giver.

Now name a reason you might not use a gift that God gave you. That’s a harder one, isn’t it? It’s not a theoretical exercise. God has given you a gift. The apostle Peter wrote, “God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another” (1 Peter 4:10 NLT).

Since God is the One who gave it, your gift is perfectly practical. And since He created and knows everything about you, it’s exactly your size and style. It’s true you don’t deserve it—but then again, none of us deserves any good thing from God. He gives because He’s merciful and gracious. And if you want to enjoy a healthy relationship with your Gift Giver, you’ll learn how to maximize your gift.

If that’s not motivation enough, there’s always James’ words in James 4:17: “Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it.”

There are countless people who will benefit from your putting your spiritual gift to work. If you choose to ignore your gift, you’re choosing to ignore them. You wouldn’t dream of neglecting your spouse or your family members or the people closest to you. And you should carry that same attitude toward the people in your church.

Romans 12:4–5 says, “Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other” (NLT). Christianity is not an individual pursuit. Everyone who trusts Christ becomes a member of His body. Biology teaches us that each part of the human body plays an important role. Your eyes, ears, fingers, toes, and internal organs all perform vital functions.

God’s Word teaches us that each member of Christ’s body plays an important role. Your role is determined by the spiritual gift God has given you. In 1 Corinthians 12:18, the apostle Paul says, “But our bodies have many parts, and God has put each part just where he wants it” (NLT). One verse earlier, he asks, “If the whole body were an eye, how would you hear? Or if your whole body were an ear, how would you smell anything?” (NLT).

His point is that God has a plan for His people to use their individual gifts to benefit the church, the body of Christ. He helps mesh believers’ different gifts so that they work together as one.

The takeaway is that we all have a part to play in the body of Christ. God has seen to that. If God has given you a gift, it’s irresponsible to not use it. Look at the words of James 4:17 again. And then ask God to show you what your supernatural gift is so that you can begin to use it.

Reflection question: How can you use the gift God has given you in your church community?

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“People can tame all kinds of animals, birds, reptiles, and fish, but no one can tame the tongue. It is restless and evil, full of deadly poison. Sometimes it praises our Lord and Father, and sometimes it curses those who have been made in the image of God.” (James 3:7–9 NLT)

If you’ve ever ridden a horse, you know the awesome (and occasionally uneasy) feeling of having its power and strength in your hands. The reins you hold and the bit in the horse’s mouth allow you to control the movement of this incredible animal. Experienced riders can control a whole team of horses that way. Years ago, at the Rose Parade, I saw a man riding a buffalo. He was able to control it with a bit in the animal’s mouth as well.

Human beings have managed to tame many different creatures. Lions and tigers and bears. Killer whales and crocodiles and cockatoos. Name an animal, any animal. Chances are good that someone, somewhere, has tamed one—and probably taught it to do a goofy trick.

The one thing in this world that we haven’t been able to tame, as James points out in the passage above, is the tongue. And that failure rocks us to our core. Because what we say reveals who we are. Socrates once said to a young student, “Speak, so that I may see you.”

The idea of “being seen” by our words applies even more so to believers. The tongue is a barometer of Christian maturity. If your life is really transformed by Jesus Christ, your words will be transformed as well. Your faith will impact you in what you say and what you don’t say.

Jesus said, “A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. What you say flows from what is in your heart” (Luke 6:45 NLT).

As Christians, we may take pride in the fact that we don’t do certain sinful things anymore—and that’s certainly a sign of spiritual maturity. But if we don’t also rein in our words, there’s no gain. We would never think of having someone we don’t like assassinated, but we would assassinate their character over Sunday brunch. We would never think of pulling out a knife and stabbing someone, but we would think nothing of plunging the blade of slander into someone’s back.

People who tame wild animals command respect. Crowds breathlessly cheer lion tamers at the circus. People who tame their tongue command the respect of others, too. Others will notice when you refuse to join a gossip session. Or when you talk about people’s good qualities behind their back instead of slandering them. Or when you offer sincere words of praise or encouragement. Because they’ll see that it’s coming from your heart—a heart that’s been transformed by Christ.

The people closest to you—your spouse, your family members, your friends—will be the first to notice. Especially if you’ve never given much thought to taming your tongue in the past. It may take a while to convince them that you’re serious. But in time, they will respond to your transformation.

Taming your tongue is the big battle. If you fight it valiantly, you open the door to other victories. James 3:2 says, “Indeed, we all make many mistakes. For if we could control our tongues, we would be perfect and could also control ourselves in every other way” (NLT).

Reflection question: Based on your words in the past week or so, what’s in your heart?

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“Look here, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we are going to a certain town and will stay there a year. We will do business there and make a profit.’ How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow?” (James 4:13–14 NLT)

The Scottish poet Robert Burns wrote, “The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.” If you’ve ever tried to, say, stick to an itinerary on a family vacation, you likely know what he’s talking about.

An old Yiddish expression brings this idea into the spiritual realm: “Man plans, and God laughs.” Or, to put it another way, “If you want to make God laugh, tell Him your plans.”

That’s not strictly true, of course. It’s not unspiritual to plan. In fact, it’s very spiritual. Proverbs 6:6–8 says, “Take a lesson from the ants, you lazybones. Learn from their ways and become wise! Though they have no prince or governor or ruler to make them work, they labor hard all summer, gathering food for the winter” (NLT). Check out the ants before you step on them. They work hard. They’re always busy. Little ants moving big stuff around, getting ready for the future.

Our nation was built by planners who worked hard, following the example of the ants, to make their plans a reality. We must continue that legacy of forward thinking and hard work. That’s what makes our country strong and prosperous. The apostle Paul warns in Romans 12:11, “Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically” (NLT).

And include Him in your plans.

That’s the unspoken part of the old Yiddish saying. God doesn’t laugh at all plans—just the ones that don’t factor in Him and His will.

In James 4, James is talking to Christians who had done quite well in business. He commends them for their success but reminds them to keep God at the forefront of their lives. He wants to make sure that they never lose sight of the truth that everything they accomplished was due to God.

And that advice goes for us, too. When we make plans, we must make sure that God is at the center of them. We must figure His will into everything we do. We start by studying His Word. We familiarize ourselves with God’s will—and what it looked like in the lives of Bible characters. We look at how God figured into their daily lives. We examine how the heroes of the faith reacted when their plans suddenly changed. We include our spouse and family in the process and seek their input and wisdom.

And then we make sure that our planning process begins, continues, and ends with prayer. We talk to God about our plans. We ask Him for wisdom and strength to carry them out. We pay attention to the prompting and guidance of the Holy Spirit inside us.

And finally, we acknowledge the possibility that success—at least, as we picture it—may not be God’s plan at a given moment. He may very well allow us to experience a season of struggle. We need to prepare ourselves for challenges and setbacks. We need to stay close to Him so that our faith doesn’t waver. We need to remind ourselves that in the big picture of things, trials can be just as valuable to us as success. Remember, God’s ultimate plan for us is not that we become wealthy or successful. It’s that we become humble servants who bring glory to Him.

Reflection question: How does God’s will figure into your personal plans for the future?

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