James, a servant of God and the Lord Jesus Christ!-

The First Fruits Of All He Created

^"18He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.
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."
 

James has the gift of encouragement to be sure! He tells it like it is and it is great! God is great! What would we do without His Word? Verse 18 says that He chose to give us birth through the word of truth. If you have placed your trust in Jesus as your Savior, you are a true child of the living God, and it is by His choice. God wants us to be the firstfruits of (catch this) ALL He created. He wants His best for us and James warns us that our anger will not bring about the righteous life that God desires for us. If you have been reading Proverbs, there is much wisdom about anger. Anger is a hard thing to control, so let me urge you to go about it prayerfully. We need the power of the Word of God working in us to overcome our human behaviors. Good news is the word that is planted in you can change you into the likeness of Jesus.

Verse 22 tells us to not DECEIVE ourselves!!! but DO what the Word of God tells us to do because we are the firstfruits of all He created, live in a way that is pleasing to God. It is so very easy to give in to our human nature, it will take a humble attitude to accept God at His Word and do things His way. In our human pride we want to score all the points so we can take credit for winning. If we insist on working on our own power and refuse to obey the Lord, there is one thing you can be sure of, failure!

God loves you, He does not want you to fail.

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11