Max Lucado's Daily Devotional: A God Thing

This is Max Lucado's Daily Devotional found on his UpWords website:


Works Matter
By Max Lucado

'“If people say they have faith, but do nothing, their faith is worth nothing. Can faith like that save them?”  James 2:14

James’ message is bare-knuckled; his style is bare-boned. Talk is cheap, he argues. Service is invaluable.

It’s not that works save the Christian, but that works mark the Christian. In James’ book of logic, it only makes sense that we who have been given much should give much. Not just with words. But with our lives."



I think the world of Max Lucado's preaching but, I do not go to his website regularly.  I just began this site and finding something that fits so perfectly at the very beginning of building this site is really cool! I am going to count this as a "God Thing" that I happened upon this devotional at exactly the right time.

James 1: 1-8

James 1: 1-8
1James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,
      To the twelve tribes scattered among the nations:
      Greetings.

 2Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 5If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. 6But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; 8he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.


In the first verse James proclaims who he serves - who knows that might not be a bad idea in the letters that we write today.  "Bob Wynn, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ"  may seem a little silly but write that with your own name in place of James' or my name.  There is a reminder and power in that even if we do not write this at the beginning of all our letters or emails. Make no mistake the part that follows is addressed to you and me.  We are part of "the twelve tribes scattered among the nations." Greetings - y'all!


Verses 2-4 are great strengths when you are face with a tough situation.  Next time you face a "trial" try to remember that these times of trial are the very times when you are becoming a mature and finished work.  And remember that God's work is perfecting not simply finishing. When we are going through these times it is sometimes frustrating to be reminded "in the moment" of verses 2-4 and on those occasions (when the perspective of verses 2-4 are kind of frustrating) verses 5-7 are the perfect words.  If you lack wisdom ask for it and truly believe that you will receive it.  I also have found that when I feel like I am "double-minded", like I am being tossed back and forth with waves of uncertainty at the many choice before me, that is the time when I need to stop, pray and remind myself that God is there ready, willing, and able to take on all challenges and all challengers.  All he asks is that I ask for his help and know that I will receive it.   

James 1: 9-11

James 1:  9-11


9The brother in humble circumstances ought to take pride in his high position. 10But the one who is rich should take pride in his low position, because he will pass away like a wild flower. 11For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way, the rich man will fade away even while he goes about his business.


On face these verses seem to be simply saying that we should be viewing our circumstances exactly the opposite of what the world might expect.  If you are in a humble circumstance, be proud of your high position.   If you are rich, be proud of your low position.  What may require a bit more thought is: "Why should the rich man be proud at all?" especially after the description given of him whithering like a shriveled flower.  On the other hand, maybe what these verses are saying is that we should take pride in whatever circumstances that we find ourselves in.  The humble man can already see that his situation is humbling so he merely needs to be reminded that he should hold his head up and not be ashamed.  Whereas the rich man maybe be in a situation where is already proud but for the wrong reason, namely: his material wealth. Both men should take pride in something other than there circumstances because in reality all of us are truly blessed.

James 1: 12-15

James 1: 12-15

 12Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.


 13When tempted, no one should say, "God is tempting me." For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; 14but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. 15Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.


We will all be faced with trials and temptations.  Dr. Pat Day in a recent sermon said that once you make a commitment to Christ and to living for Christ, expect to be challenged by the world.  When you choose life, the world is going to challenge that commitment.  If you choose a living death, you can pretty much watch life pass you by.  These verses tell us that it is not God that is challenging our resolve.  These verses also tell us that if we choose to stand in the face of adversity that the reward is "the crown of life that God has promised to those that love him" and that if we choose the other path of desire we will commit and/or condone sin and that sin with out a doubt leads to death.  

James 1: 16-18

James 1: 16-18


16Don't be deceived, my dear brothers. 17Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. 18He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.


Verse 16 is a warning that few of us realize when "we" have won a victory or "we" have "earned" some wonderful gift or "we" have impressed someone with "our" talent.  Because verse 17 reminds us that "Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father . . . ." We have won no victories, or earned anything, nor have we impressed anyone with our talent.  All of these good things are gifts from God and we should be thankful and overjoyed that God has blessed us with these things.  In verse 18 we are reminded that the reason we have been given these good and perfect things is because of our rebirth in Christ (the living "word of truth").  And because of our rebirth through Christ we have also become living gifts ("a kind of firstfruits") of all he created. 

James 1: 19-21

James 1: 19-21


19My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, 20for man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires. 21Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.


If I had to choose only one part of one verse in this chapter of James as the very most important partial verse it would be "Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, . . . ."   What a world this would be if only we could take this advice to heart.  I can think of countless times when I have gotten in trouble as a child and even as an adult because of a lack of these words.  I am repeating "be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry" like a mantra to my children because since they are my children, I know that these are words that will serve them well. Verses 20 and 21 explain why you should follow these words. Unfortunately, most of us can come up with some examples of why we should follow these words.

James 1: 22-25 (with Commentary)

James 1: 22-25


22Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror 24and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.25But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does.


These are the verses that tell us that reading the word is not enough.  This is the living word of God and you are expected to act upon the directions for living that God provides for you in his Holy word.  "Knowing" and "doing" are very different things.  I may know that I should offer words that build up others.  I know that I should not hesitate to provide assistance to everyone that I possibly can.  Doing those things that I know that I should do makes all the difference.





James 1: 26-27 (with Commentary)


James 1: 26-27
26If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless.27Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

For me, verse 26 is a clear reference to verse 19 to be "quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry." And honestly if verse 26 is a reminder intended to emphasize the advice from verse 19, that is sufficient.  However, when I considered verse 26 alone without reference to verse 19; I felt like the message is clearly that an undisciplined approach to religion is an approach that is self deceiving and ultimately worthless.  Such a faith is filled with none of the promises that true and disciplined faith offers.  For many of us keeping a "tight rein" on our tongues is a monumental challenge. Anyone who has spoken without first considering their words can confess that it is usually a bad idea. We should all strive to watch what words come out of our mouths.  When we are about to discuss religion with someone, it is a good idea to pray and meditate before a single word leaves our mouths.  Those that have heard me think out loud know that I will need your prayers that I should take heed to verse 26 of the first book of James.

For me, verse 27 is very plain and straightforward: care for those that are most vulnerable and avoid giving into the ways of this world.  Widows and orphans even today are often the most vulnerable people in the world.  I believe that we should probably extend "widows and orphans" to anyone that seem like they are unable to protect themselves from the predators of this world. The second part of verse 27 "keeping oneself from being polluted by the world" is not a charge to shut ourselves off from this world.  Much of James 1 is in fact dedicated to living your faith through good deeds. I think that this part of the verse is coupled with the first part about protecting those who are vulnerable to remind us not to fall into the "ways of the world" by taking advantage of our position while protecting the weak and innocent.  It also may be a reminder to not fall into a false sense of pride (a worldly way) for the protection/aid/assistance that we have provided to those who are vulnerable.  Remember, taking care of "widows and orphans" is something that the word of God has directed and give the credit and glory to God for the work he has directed through you.  

James 5


James 5 (New International Version)


James 5

Warning to Rich Oppressors
 1Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming upon you. 2Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. 3Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days. 4Look! The wages you failed to pay the workmen who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty. 5You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter. 6You have condemned and murdered innocent men, who were not opposing you.
Patience in Suffering
 7Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord's coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the autumn and spring rains. 8You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord's coming is near. 9Don't grumble against each other, brothers, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door! 10Brothers, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. 11As you know, we consider blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job's perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.
 12Above all, my brothers, do not swear—not by heaven or by earth or by anything else. Let your "Yes" be yes, and your "No," no, or you will be condemned.
The Prayer of Faith
 13Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. 14Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. 16Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. 17Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years.18Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops. 19My brothers, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring him back, 20remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins.

James 4


James 4 (New International Version)


James 4

Submit Yourselves to God
 1What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires that battle within you? 2You want something but don't get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God.3When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. 4You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. 5Or do you think Scripture says without reason that the spirit he caused to live in us envies intensely?6But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says:
   "God opposes the proud
      but gives grace to the humble."
 7Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.
 11Brothers, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against his brother or judges him speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it. 12There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you—who are you to judge your neighbor?
Boasting About Tomorrow
 13Now listen, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money."14Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. 15Instead, you ought to say, "If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that." 16As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil. 17Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins.

James 3


James 3 (New International Version)


James 3

Taming the Tongue
 1Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. 2We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check. 3When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. 4Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go.5Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark.6The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.
 7All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, 8but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.
 9With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness. 10Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. 11Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? 12My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.
Two Kinds of Wisdom
 13Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom.14But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. 15Such "wisdom" does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil. 16For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice. 17But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. 18Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness.

James 2


James 2 (New International Version)


James 2

Favoritism Forbidden
 1My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don't show favoritism. 2Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in shabby clothes also comes in. 3If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, "Here's a good seat for you," but say to the poor man, "You stand there" or "Sit on the floor by my feet," 4have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? 5Listen, my dear brothers: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him? 6But you have insulted the poor. Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court? 7Are they not the ones who are slandering the noble name of him to whom you belong?
 8If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, "Love your neighbor as yourself," you are doing right. 9But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers. 10For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. 11For he who said, "Do not commit adultery," also said, "Do not murder." If you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, you have become a lawbreaker.
 12Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, 13because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment!
Faith and Deeds
 14What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? 15Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. 16If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? 17In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. 18But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds."
      Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.
 19You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.
 20You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? 21Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. 23And the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness," and he was called God's friend. 24You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.
 25In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? 26As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.

James 1


James 1 (New International Version)


James 1

 1James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,
      To the twelve tribes scattered among the nations:
      Greetings.
Trials and Temptations
 2Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 5If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. 6But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; 8he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does. 9The brother in humble circumstances ought to take pride in his high position. 10But the one who is rich should take pride in his low position, because he will pass away like a wild flower. 11For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way, the rich man will fade away even while he goes about his business.
 12Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.
 13When tempted, no one should say, "God is tempting me." For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; 14but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. 15Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.
 16Don't be deceived, my dear brothers. 17Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. 18He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.
Listening and Doing
 19My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, 20for man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires. 21Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you. 22Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror 24and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.25But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does.
 26If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless.27Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.