Endurance

Don't Quit (1)

After noting his claim to fame was not in who his older brother was nor his position, James defined himself as a servant of Jesus and directed his letter to the dispersed living in the Persian region (1).

Find Joy (2-4)

James called upon those following Christ to greet trials with joy (2); trials had the capacity to turn faith into endurance (3), which caused a person to become who God had created them to be (4). They were “perfect,” not in the moral sense, speaking of sinlessness, but meaning to end up at the destination God had planned all along.

Find Purpose (5-8)

James then encouraged followers to begin to pray for wisdom—the ability to perceive how Christ works circumstances out to His will and our good as we obey Him (5). Of course, they were to ask for wisdom in faith, not doubting God would give them wisdom or show them how even trials would benefit those committed to following Him (6). Those who doubted God loved them enough to give them wisdom were dubbed inconsistent, double-minded, and unstable (7-8).

Find Perspective (9-11)

Knowing perspective is important. James called upon followers to recognize who they were. If lowly, then exalted by the Lord; if rich, then humiliated. Everyone faced trials, but the rich (meaning those who thought they could do it without God) would fade away from God in all their pursuits (9-11).

Find Hope (12)

So the great hope of every genuine follower, James wrote, was to remain faithful under trial, standing the test and receiving the promise (12).

Don't Quit Seeking God (13-18)

James then gave some reasons they should not quit seeking God when under trials: first, because God would not tempt anyone to do evil when in difficulty (13). When we want to behave lustfully to satisfy some feeling and relieve some present pain or stress, we can be sure that temptation is not coming from God, but our own desire is being tempted by the devil (14). Once the devil’s temptation has made love with our desire, sin is born; when sin grows up, it kills us (15). We are not to quit pursuing God through some deception in our hearts telling us God is not good. God is good; He only gives good things to us and only wants to birth good things in us (16-18).

Don’t Quit Following God’s Promptings (19-27)

Lastly, James called upon us not to quit following the promptings of God to be slow to speak and slow to anger (19-20). He urged us to heed God's prompting to be quick to receive God’s word as implanted in our hearts versus the temptations of the devil seeking to make love with lust (21). In other words, God is prompting us to be not only hearers but doers. Doers are those who see the reflection of Jesus in the mirror of the gospel and remember the liberty in their own hearts. Instead of forgetting their reflection as those completely liberated, they remember what they saw; they stop their angry and harsh tongues and are blessed for acting as those set free (22-25). What they would now be prompted to do would be a response of devotion, having a heart for the afflicted and hurting and a commitment to stay unstained by worldly lust (26-27).