What to Do? part 2

James 1:1 James, a bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad: Greetings.

2 My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials,

3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.

4 But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.

5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.

6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind.

7 For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord;

8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

Let me ask you,

Is our brother James the only one who was called to be a bondservant?

As a Christian, are you called to be a bondservant?

What is a bondservant?

Simply put, a bondservant is one who has willingly given up their own freedoms to serve the needs and desires of someone else.

James, a bondservant…

Sounds cool and authoritive doesn’t it?

Put your name in there and call yourself a bondservant of Jesus Christ.

Really, write it down.

Put it on paper.

Look at it.

Doesn’t feel right does it?

I mean, we fall so short.

We feel so inadequate and unable.

Any true Christian man, or woman of God for that matter, knows that if Jesus went by His feelings, any chance for our redemption would have ended in the Garden of Gethsemane .

I know that things are not as simple as I sometimes make them, but Jesus put aside His rights just to serve you.

Ya, you who wrote down that you are a bondservant of Jesus Christ.

You just can’t match up to the sacrifice.

And guess what?

That’s exactly what every born again believer has to come to the knowledge of.

You aren’t Jesus.

Never were, never will be.

You will never do as good a job as He did.

You will never be as faithful as He is.

You will never match up or compare.

I ALWAYS THOUGHT THAT MY OBEDIENCE TO GOD WOULD BE MOTIVATED BY MY LOVE FOR GOD.

AND I FOUND OUT THAT IT DOESN’T WORK.

MY LOVE IS SELFISH,

MY LOVE IS WORLDLY,

MY LOVE IS BASED ON MY SITUATION.

MY LOVE, IS

UNSTABLE.

But what, as a man, can I do?

I can be a bondservant.

I can be an even better bondservant by just being available.

No special talent or gift.

No special training or equipment.

Just a willingness to serve.

Bob, a bondservant of God and of the LORD Jesus Christ!

I am what He made me,

and not the inadequate,

untrained poor excuse for a Christian

that I sometimes feel that I am.

Imagine if Jesus has that same attitude!

James, our older brother in the faith then says…

2 My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials,

THAT WORD, TRIALS,

IS ACTUALLY TEMPTATIONS.

James is telling us something really, really important here.

NOT ONLY WILL TRIALS AND TEMPTATIONS COME,

BUT WE WILL FALL INTO THEM…

Part of being a stable man is to be a man who knows that from time to time the devil, or maybe just your own flesh, is gonna have a trap set for you and you are going to spring that trap on yourself.

It’s a fact of life.

It’s also a major trick used by the devil to get us men to give up our leadership role.

We think that we need to portray this image of infallibility.

 That my friend, is not being stable.

I am gonna stop for now, but we really need to decide right now, 

before we go any further in this first chapter of James, 

if we are thinking, speaking and acting like a bond servant of Jesus.

Truth is, I already am what God has called me to be.

1Cor 7:22  For he who is called by the Lord as a slave is the Lord's freedman. Likewise he who is called as a free man is Christ's slave.

23  You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men.

24  Brothers, each person should remain with God in whatever situation he was called.
Remember Jesus in the Garden?

I am so thankful that Jesus remained with God in whatever situation He was called...