by Taylor Adams | Sep 28, 2015 | James
James 5: 13-15
Life gives us constant trials and consistently tests our faith. But God has proven himself faithful above all. Faith for so long has been defined as mere “believing in what we cannot see,” but this is actually not the case. Faith goes so much deeper than just belief. It is widely accepted in the Christian community that every word that Jesus spoke is true (as it should be). But if that is so; then when he says “ask anything in my name and it will be given to you through faith” or “with a mustard seed of faith cast these mountains into the sea,” it should be done. So why isn’t it always done that way? Because belief can be conjured up. I can convince myself of believing in something, but I cannot convince myself to have more faith. Faith is a gift from God, and it should be treated as such. Belief is not faith, but rather, it opens the door and invites faith to step in. Faith is mentioned several times as a spirit, and with deeper research into the original Greek, we actually come to find that it is the same word used for the “Spirit of Faith” is the same for the “Holy Spirit”.
Time and time again Christians will anoint the sick with oil to pray and believe for a healing or miracle in someone’s body (James 5), and if they don’t end up seeing the miracle straight away, they will try to pray harder, as if the words they say had any effect on the outcome. When we beg God for a miracle, we are subconsciously thinking ourselves more gracious than He is. They don’t realize that when the spirit of faith is present, the free gift of God is given, miracles just happen. We don’t have to beg or plea. We just invite the Spirit of God to move and He will. Jesus is the perfecter of our faith, and in Mark 8:24-25 we see that Jesus had to pray for a man twice to be healed of blindness. If Jesus had to pray twice, then I would say we have perfect license to pray until the job is done. We cannot convince God to do what we want Him to do, all we have to do is invite the spirit of faith and continue to press into his word. It takes the pressure off of us completely and places it all upon the grace freely given to us.
Photography: @alexandra_michon
by Taylor Adams | Sep 15, 2015 | James
James 3: 3-4
Words have power. With words, the earth was formed, the sick were healed, the dead were raised, and demons would flee. Our words have the power to create an atmosphere of either life or death (Prov.18:21) and reveal the secrets of our hearts and what is going on inside. Several years ago, a Japanese scientist named Masaru Emoto took two bowls of rice, with all of the same conditions except one. With one bowl he would speak with anger and hate, and the other he would speak with affection and love. For a period of several weeks he would repeat this process until by around day 20, the bowl that received hateful words was rotten, moldy and decayed, while the other began to ferment with a rather sweet aroma.
So often Christians will say harmful things, not believing or realizing the lasting effects that they have, and the realities that they have created with nothing but their words. If we repeat something over and over again, sooner or later we will begin to believe it as truth. God knew this and warned us over and over again about the effects that our speech and declarations have. Romans 12:2 says “Do not conform to the patterns of this world, but let God transform you by the renewing of your mind.” The most effective way of transforming the way we speak is to let God transform the way we think. You don’t have to watch what you say if you watch what you think.
It is no surprise that James draws a comparison of the tongue to a ship with its rudder, and a horse with a bit in its mouth. Both are extremely powerful and are capable of either great good, or devastating harm; but the one thing that controls the direction of their movement is such a seemingly unimportant member. The tongue, while being small and insignificant, can set the course for a life of building up, or a life that brings destruction to those around us. As believers, we are called to live a life that edifies and brings hope through the power of Jesus, the renewing of our minds, and the declarations we speak.
Photography: @alexandra_michon
by Taylor Adams | Sep 3, 2015 | James
James 1:5-8
Wisdom is the creative nature of God applied in every day life. It is actually a force that makes all other things possible. In 2 Chronicles 1, Solomon asked God for wisdom and became the wisest man to ever live up until that point. Out of his request for wisdom and knowledge, he gained wealth, possessions, honor and so much more. Not because those were things that Solomon sought after, but because a man who can steward wisdom, can steward much more. God gives us this very opportunity today when he said that if we lack wisdom, to ask, and when we ask, it will be ours completely. But wisdom is an active force. The more you use and apply it, the more you receive, but like any other gift, it can also be abused. The gifts and callings of God are irrevocable. We see that tested near the end of Solomon’s life as He fell away from the Lord, and allowed a different spirit to anoint his gifting, but yet it still remained. It is incredibly important to stay in touch with the Lord, and hear His voice in this journey of seeking wisdom, to allow him and others to prophesy into the destiny and purpose to apply the gifts He has freely and graciously given. The gift of wisdom, and the gift of prophecy have very similar jobs. That is why we see in the Bible, almost without fail, that the prophets were some of the wisest men to walk the earth in their time. Many times, the two giftings will work side by side, but they can operate completely separate from one another. Prophecy gives us the opportunity to see the things He has already created, while wisdom gives us the opportunity to create something out of the tools that He has given us. If you ask, you better believe that you will receive. But its what you do with the gifts after you receive that will change the world.
Photography: @brandon_nalley
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