"Liksom en kropp utan livsande är död, så är tron utan gärningar död. (James 2.26)

"Like a body without the spirit is dead, so is faith without works dead."
- James 2.26

We had a spine-tingling, goose-pimple inducing word at church yesterday about REVIVAL. I've been reading James in the New Testament and wanted to do a quick recap on what I read last week. Reading it this morning I was struck by how much it corresponds with what we heard about revival yesterday.

The man speaking spoke about barriers to revival and qualities needed in order to make room for revival. Here are the two lists:

Barriers to revival:
Pride
Rationalism
Unbelief
Fear of rejection
Apathy

Qualities needed to make room for revival:
Purity in all parts of our faith
Prayer
Praise

Rereading James 1.22 I was particularly reminded on what he said about Apathy. James says here that we need to be 'doers' of the word not just 'hearers'. Often times I myself have been a person who turns up to church, sits, hears and observes but does nothing.

In order for revival to take place we actually need to DO SOMETHING.

It's all well and good having faith but faith should produce action. James 2.22 talks about Abraham's faith... and says it 'samverkade' (the Swedish word is SO much richer in meaning, it literally means 'same worked', in the NKJV it says 'worked together' which sounds a lot less exciting) with his 'works' (actions).

Faith and works go hand in hand. Without faith, works are empty, they are like trying to score righteousness points with God through doing 'good stuff' which God says clearly is not enough. Faith without works isn't real faith at all, real faith forces you to make decisions and choices; in short, ACTIONS.

James 2.26 talks about how a body without the spirit is dead and faith without works is the exact same thing; dead.

The reason this struck me even more poignantly today is because, if we are think about what the bible says about us the church... we are Christ's body (1 Corinthians 12.27, Romans 12.5, Ephesians 4.12). We are His hands and feet, here to show the world Him and His love through our lives.

Now if as His body, we try to operate without Him at the centre, i.e., without the spirit of life, we are lifeless, the impact we have on the world is minimal at best.

BUT. But if we the church, as His body, both together AND as individuals, have a real, faith and belief in Jesus, it will spur us into action. Pride and fear of rejection will fall away as we realise it is all about Him and not us. The restricting chains of rationalism will disappear as we allow God whose ways are higher than our own to do things in His perfect way, even if we don't get it, and apathy will vanish as we become helplessly devoted to sharing the love of Christ with the world. Purity, prayer and praise will become the default mechanisms of those who not only hear the word but do it too, and thus...revival, starting in the church and overflowing out, will come.

Saying, 'I'm sorry'

I'm a bit of a romantic, and in order to kick back the other day I decided to watch Letters to Juliet. I won't go into the entire film, but I do want to draw something out to you from a scene within it.

The male lead is rude, and in the wrong, and his grandmother forces him to apologise to the female lead, looking her in the eyes and saying I'm sorry.

How often do we do that?

I remember doing so as a kid, if I was rude or mean or hurtful, being told to apologise sincerely, but I think somewhere along the line in adulthood we lose that practice.

Forgiveness and apology are vital parts of relationship. Why? Because in a relationship with someone you are close to, inevitably, at one point in time or another, one of you will upset the other. When this happens, there are two ways to move forward, either the one who was in the wrong apologises and the one who was wronged forgives, or the one in the wrong refuses to acknowledge their wrongdoing and the one who was wronged refuses to forgive and let go.

In my limited experience, the first way of action yields much better fruits than the latter, which leaves both parties bitter and resentful.

I think this especially important in Marriage. I can't help but wonder how many people might still be together today if they had sucked up their pride and done their part to resolve the situation. The problem is very often within each of us and not the other person.


"Where do wars and fights  come  from among you? Do they  not  come  from your  desires for  pleasure that war in your members?"

- James 4.1

"But brother goes to law against brother, and that before unbelievers! Now therefore, it is already an utter failure for you that you go to law against one another. Why do you not rather accept wrong? Why do you not rather  let yourselves  be cheated? No, you yourselves do wrong and cheat, and  you do  these things  to your  brethren!"

 - 1 Corinthians 6.6-8

1 Thessalonians 4,5

I've been working my way through the New Testament, and hit 1 Thessalonians. I read it initially, taking my time to work through the verses and allow the Holy Spirit to help me and speak to me from them.

I found it so difficult.

The earlier books; Acts, Romans, 1&2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians and Colossians, I found much easier to read through and get blessed by.

I was extremely tempted to just forget about 1 Thessalonians and move onto the second book, but I didn't want to miss out on anything in there that God wanted to say to me. So I tried again.

On the YOU Version Bible App, there is a function on some translations that allows you to listen to the chapter as you read it, so this time as I read through 1 Thessalonians, I listened to it at the same time.

Massively helpful.

God really blessed me through the last two chapters, so I just thought I'd share with you guys what stuck out for me. Hope God blesses you with this too!

Ch.4 v.3-8

"For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality; that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in passion of lust, like the Gentiles who do not know God; that no one should take advantage of and defraud his brother in this matter, because the Lord  is  the avenger of all such, as we also forewarned you and testified. For God did not call us to uncleanness, but in holiness. Therefore he who rejects  this  does not reject man, but God, who has also given us His Holy Spirit."

These verses talk about 'sanctification' (the setting apart of ourselves as Holy to God), keeping our bodies free from sexual sin in particular, remembering that our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit (1Corinthians 3.16, Acts 13.52), and should be used to glorify God (show to unbelievers how awesome and great He is). I was particularly struck here by two things; first, that if we go ahead with sexual sin, not only are we sinning, but we are 'taking advantage of' and 'defrauding' the person we commit it with; and second, that when we reject this instruction, and deliberately choose to sin anyway, we aren't rejecting the person who told us we shouldn't do it, we're rejecting God, whose instruction it is.

Ch. 4 v.11-12


"that you also aspire to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you, that you may walk properly toward those who are outside, and  that  you may lack nothing."

It's more verse 12 that I like, but the latter part of verse 11 I found very interesting as well. The whole concept of minding our own business and working with our own hands. We do not need to be busy bodies!!! There is a tendency in church, especially in smaller ones, to talk about what other people are doing all the time, and I also think a lot of the time this is when judgement can occur. God wants us to mind our own business and be quiet, we need to constantly be focusing on our own walk with God so that we can 'walk properly toward those outside'. For those of you who are Christians, you've probably heard the saying 'you might be the only bible/Jesus someone ever gets to read/see.' It's so important that we keep ourselves in check with God; number one, so we make sure that we stay on the right path, and also number two, so that others can see what it's really like to know Jesus, and how it affects our lives. I like to think of it as infectious Christianity, so that when people see how awesome it is to be in relationship with God, they can't help but feel a little bit jealous and want in.

Ch. 5 v.14
"Now we exhort you, brethren, warn those who are unruly, comfort the fainthearted, uphold the weak, be patient with all."

This verse speaks for itself really. (But if you aren't familiar with biblical terms, exhort means  to charge, or to commission, or to task someone to do something). It talks about how we are to relate among one another, and I believe this applies to how we treat everyone (Christians and non-Christians alike).

• Warn those who are disruptive and disobedient
• Comfort and encourage the fainthearted
• Lift up the weaker people
• Be patient with everyone

Ch. 5 v. 16-22

I won't quote this one because I'm literally about to go through it word for word, but feel free to look it up on Blue Letter Bible or Bible Gateway.

v. 16, 18 - Rejoice always/in everything give thanks; no matter what we go through in this life, as Christians we always have something to be thankful and praising God for. First, our salvation, and second, the way in which our salvation opened up the way for us to have relationship with God, the creator of the entire universe.

v.17 - Pray without ceasing; We serve the God who hears and sees, so even when we've been praying for a while and have not seen the desired effect, God wants us to keep on praying. Prayer is less about us getting what we want and more about us recognising God's sovereignty (how powerful He is), so every time we pray, we humble ourselves before God and tell Him we can't do anything without Him, that we need His help in all things and that because we know He is good, strong and knows what is best for us, we trust Him entirely. Pray until something happens.

v.19 - Do not quench the Holy Spirit; I think there are two ways in which we can do this. First, by grieving the Holy Spirit with our sin (Ephesians 4.30, Isaiah 63.10), and secondly, by not intentionally spending time soaking in God and His word and working on our gifting (speaking in tongues, prophesying etc. 2 Timothy 1.6)

v.20 - Do not despise prophecies; we can have no doubt that what God says will happen, will happen. What God says, happens. He said let there be light, and there was light. He said the walls of Jericho would fall down and they did. His word never goes out without accomplishing what it says it will (Isaiah 55.11). So when God says He's going to do something, trust Him that He will, hold onto it.

v. 21 - Test all things; hold fast what is good; In the same breath as verse 20, we are warned that whatever prophecies we do hear, we weigh them up with the truth. Anybody can say they heard from God, but we need to make sure that we aren't taking just anything that we hear to be gospel. God is still speaking to us now in the same way He spoke to people then, but He does not contradict Himself. Check that what you are told is in line with God's scripture, and if it is, hold on to it.

v. 22 - Abstain from every form of evil; this goes back to chapter four and the verse about sexual immorality, but this isn't just about sex. As Christians we need to live lives that show we are God's people and have chosen to live our lives differently (Matthew 3.8, Luke 3.8, Romans 12.2, Ephesians 5.27).

1 Corinthians 1.25

"Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men."

Wiser, higher, stronger, greater, better.

But even more than that;

Wisest, highest, strongest, greatest, best.

There's a verse I love in the bible (one of many!). In the verse, God (speaking through Isaiah) says this; "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts." (Isaiah 55.9)

On a personal level, I'm in a kind of wilderness at the moment. I'm in London, when I was hoping to be making tracks to Stockholm. I'm a little lost because I'm not a one hundred percent sure what I'm doing here right now. I'm in an Internship, which I am thoroughly enjoying, but it's in London, not Stockholm.

I'd be lying if I said that I was sure about what I'm doing or where I think I'll be in the next year. God has a way of surprising us and taking our plans and turning them on their heads. So I don't know.

However, one thing that has always comforted me, is the knowledge that all the stuff I don't know, God knows. And I trust God. I believe that His wisdom, planning, foresight and provision are far better than mine will or could ever be. And I believe that He has a plan for my life and that it's a good one (Jeremiah 26.11).

I can't remember if I've ever shared this here, but something that struck me when I read the story of Noah in the Old Testament was the fact that there was only one window in that ark, which in a boat of such size, filled with that many animals, would have made it difficult to see what was going on outside.

Now, whilst Noah knew how long it would rain for, he didn't know how long he'd be on the waves for, and he didn't really have that much of an insight into what was going on around him. But he did know that God was with him, and had put him in the ark in a place of safety, to preserve him despite what was taking place around Him.

God's done the same for me. He's got a plan for me, and even amidst the change going on around me, I know I'm where I am now for divine purpose (because God has organised it for a reason of eternal (everlasting) significance) and that He's with me and will never leave me (Matthew 28.20b)

It might not make sense to me, but it makes sense to God, and with wisdom like His, what more do I need?

The Prize

"And He [the Lord] has made from one every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their pre-appointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and have our being..."

- Acts 17.26-28a

God's heart's greatest desire is that we might know and love Him above all else. This life is not pleasant; and God tells us that we will see trouble in this world, but that He has overcome it [John 16.33]. He says this because it is when we see that God is beyond whatever it is that we are going through that we get breakthrough. Breakthrough is not the solution to our problem. Real breakthrough is Jesus. Real breakthrough comes when we see beyond our situation, and see Jesus.

In his letter to the Corinthians Paul talks about running a race for a prize that is imperishable. Jesus is the prize. When Olympic athletes train they face obstacles and difficulties and push through. In our times of distress, loss, sadness, disappointment and unhappiness, God wants us to grope for Him, to fight to find Him, because He is worth fighting for. He is the bigger picture, the breakthrough, the prize worth fighting for.

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LOVE

One of the big things I think you'll find most human beings, irrelevant of race, culture or religion; will agree on, is the existence of love. People explain it in different ways, and not all of them have experienced it first-hand, (which is an extremely sad thing if you think about it), but most will agree that it exists. Love of money, love of popularity, love of objects, love of people...the list could go on, but what is real love? How do we spot the real thing from the counterfeit?

Films have been made about it. Stories written about it. Chemical equations have been formulated to discuss the scientific explanation of it. Even in the bible itself we see countless examples of relationships with 'love'. Samson and Delilah, Rebekah and Isaac, David and Bathsheba, Jacob and Rachel...

But the only relationship in the bible with a love described as 'real' is that relationship between God and us:

1 John 3.16 - We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us. So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters.

1 John 4.10 - This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.

The love that God has for us, as described in the bible, is multi-faceted. In Hosea; we see the jealous love God has for us, like the love between a man and wife; in Jesus, we see the compassionate love God has for us, and the most popular presentation of God's love is much like the love a parent has for a child:

Jeremiah 3.19 - "I thought to myself, 'I would love to treat you as my own children!' I wanted nothing more than to give you this beautiful land— the finest possession in the world. I looked forward to your calling me 'Father,' and I wanted you never to turn from me.

Jeremiah 31.20 - "Is not Israel still my son, my darling child?" says the LORD. "I often have to punish him, but I still love him. That's why I long for him and surely will have mercy on him.

According to the bible, our ability to love, originates from the love that God has for us:

1 John 4.19 - We love each other because he loved us first.

1 John 4.7 - Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God.

But probably the most notable thing about the way in which the bible defines real love, i.e. God's love, is that it is unconditional:

Romans 5.8 - But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.

God's love is not a reaction to good behaviour, it is given freely to all who wish to accept it, regardless of sin. God's love is so patient, that even to those who reject Him in this life, He offers a second chance at knowing Him. God's love is so kind, that He chose to extend the capacity of it to include those who were not even relations of those whom He first made the promise of love to. God's love is so humble that it came in the form of a baby boy born to a carpenter in an animal feeding trough. God's love is so unselfish, that it gave itself up for those who did not deserve it, rewarding them with a gift they could never have earned. God's love is so hopeful that it comes with mercies new every morning. His love is so faithful that even when others renounce and deny it, it holds on. And God's love is so persistent that nothing; not life or death, not angels or demons, not fears and worries, and not even the powers of hell itself could separate us from it. [1 Corinthians 13.4-6, Romans 8.35-39]