Still More on the Religious Spirit

I have a few fans, probably not enough to have to take off my shoes to count them. That is unless one counts persons related to me by blood or marriage. Most of them seem to be more or less on my side most of the time. Then we get into some impressive numbers. I tell you that because a couple of those few fans refuse to let me go to seed. They insist I continue doing some of the things I used to do before I became distracted with the things of life. That said, I have no idea where we were in this blog and without re-reading major portions of it, I may very well repeat myself, just so you know. However, speaking of repeating myself, that might do us all some good.
If you are like me, you rarely find much to disagree with in these writings. To be sure, you may be challenged or perhaps even offended. At my age, I am fairly confident that I am not the one doing the offending. If you do not understand that concept, you are likely also affected with the Laodicean spirit (Revelation 3:14-22, but especially see verse 17). Hey, I am not writing this to make friends. As I said, I already have a handful. My disclaimer, of course is, if the shoe fits you can always throw a fit before accepting the fact that your feet need the extra support. (If anyone understands that, please leave a comment. It is intentionally oblique--I think.) Seriously folks, I have a good imagination, but some of this stuff surprises me when I read it.
So, more about the religious spirit. Occasionally I have a flash of revelation and sometimes my mind is still sharp enough to grasp it. For those of you who think there is no longer revelation given, get over it. We do not have time for a Greek lesson here, but there are two words translated, "knowledge" in the New Testament. One of them means things we have learned, or experiential knowledge. The other is things we simply know. The latter speaks of things given directly by the Holy Spirit. To be clear, if you did not learn a thing, but you know it, it came to you by revelation. Hopefully your revelation comes from the Holy Spirit and not from what Yoda would call, "The dark side of the force."
James 3:13-18 are often, incorrectly lumped together with the previous verses in the chapter. However, if one looks closely, the thought changes so the end of the chapter stands alone.
13 Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom. 14 But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. 15 This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic. 16 For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there. 17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. 18 Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.
A pastor friend once told me that he felt impressed to preach from the book of James in his Sunday morning service. The message just would not seem to come. By Saturday he was almost in a panic because he still was not sure how to formulate his sermon for the following day. He walked onto the platform Sunday morning and suddenly realized all he was supposed to do was read the text as his sermon. He explained that he knew preaching from James would offend people because they would be convicted about their thoughts, actions, and lifestyles. He had no desire to offend anyone.
A wonderful thing about the Word of God is that it does not need any help to convict people. In fact Hebrews 4:12 tells us the Word of God is a sword that separates spirit and soul. Depending on one's perspective, it is either very freeing to have the spirit liberated from the soul or very painful to have soul trying to function without the spirit. That is to say, I am not going to give any further commentary on the passage from James above, at least not now. Meditate it if you dare. Pay careful attention to the phrases, "meekness of wisdom" and "bitter envy and self-seeking." Those are either or propositions. We all fall into one of those categories. Put on the shoe that fits and determine if you need a new pair. God willing, the next installment will not be so long in coming. God bless!