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1) James 1:1 NKJV
1 James, a bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad: Greetings.
a. What did James mean when he called himself a bondservant?
b. Who was James writing to?
2) James 1:2 - 8
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.
a. What does it mean to count (it all) joy, and why would we expect joy in trials?
b. What does patience mean, and what is patience's perfect work?
c. How does patience make us perfect, complete, wanting nothing?
d. Why should we ask for God's wisdom in trials? Should we expect an answer? Why?
e. Can you have faith and doubt at the same time? Can this affect our stability?
3) James 1:9 - 11
9 Let the lowly brother glory in his exaltation, 10 but the rich in his humiliation, because as a flower of the field he will pass away. 11 For no sooner has the sun risen with a burning heat than it withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beautiful appearance perishes. So the rich man also will fade away in his pursuits.
a. Why should the rich glory in his/her humiliation and the lowly in exaltation?
4) James 1:12 - 18
12 Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when 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 tempted by God"; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. 14 But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. 15 Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.
16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. 17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. 18 Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures.
a. Do temptations and trials come from God?
b. Where do temptations come from?
c. How is temptation and sin like the conception and birth of a child?
d. The best way to stop sinning is to keep from conceiving it. What is the best way to prevent the conception of sin?
e. Where do good and perfect gifts come from?
f. Does God ever turn His back on us?
g. God is good and the devil is bad. Where does bad come from?
5) James 1:19 - 27
19 So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; 20 for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God. 21 Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.
22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; 24 for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. 25 But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.
26 If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one's religion is useless. 27 Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.
a. What does becoming swift to hear, slow to speak, and slow to wrath say about your character?
b. Has the word of God been planted in the hearts of a follower of Jesus? And what does that enable us to lay aside?
c. What needs to happen to the implanted word to save our souls?
d. What is a doer (poet in Greek) mean and why stress this principle with this audience?
e. What is the mirror that we look for our reflection in that is the perfect law of liberty?
f. What does a doer do that a hearer doesn't?
g. How do we bridle our tongues, and how does controlling our tongue make our religion useful?
h. What is pure and undefiled religion?