Session Seven: Day Three- Not One Stone

"Not one stone will be left here on another that will not be thrown down!"

Matthew 24:2

As someone who loves history, today's lesson really helped me to solidify exactly when certain events took place, and I loved it! My timeline looks like this:

.AD62________AD64________AD66________AD68________AD70

James' Death     Roman Fire      Jewish Rebel    Nero Suicide    

                                                     against Rome    Paul and Peter Die

What does Galatians 3:29 mean to you about your identity?

It says that if you belong to Christ you are Abrahams seed and heirs according to His promise.
Jill:  Mine said something very similar.  I like how we are heirs and receive the full benefits of His promise.

The Jewish rebellion during AD66 sparked a war that lasted four years, culminating with a Roman victory.  Jewish prisoners were put to death in public places, the temple was looted and by AD 70 only John remained of the original "Three pillars" who had extended the hand of friendship to Paul.  

What did Jesus specifically prophesy in Luke 19:43-44?

That enemies wiould encircle on every side of Jeruselem and no stone would be left.
Jill: Before long your enemies will build ramparts against your walls and encircle you and close in on you from every side. ⁴⁴They will crush you into the ground, and your children with you. Your enemies will not leave a single stone in place, because you did not accept your opportunity for salvation.”  This is a bit daunting isnt it. 

But John writes in Revelation that the city would be rebuilt and Jesus says in Matthew 16:18 the following words:

I will build My church and the forces of Hades will not overpower it.


Jill that quote makes me feel better, 

Session Seven: Day Two- Precious In His Sight

You have condemned- you murdered- the righteous man, he does not resist you.

James 5:6

Yesterday we left Paul being dragged from the temple.  For two years he remained a captive, through Porcius Festus taking the place of the governor named Felix and still he remained in prison.    Shortly thereafter, James was seized, a formal trial called against him and he was charged with "offenses against the law."

It is thought that the Jewish high priest sought to silence the man who has spoken so often about peace but who also had encouraged a belief in Christ.  Perhaps it was retribution for what happened with Paul.  One has to believe that whatever the reason for his being put to death, that at the end he saw Christ in all his glory.

Look up Acts 7:56 and record what another martyr, Stephen, said.

Look, I see Heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.

What would you most like to ask James should you one day meet him in Heaven?

Session Seven: Day One- Scripture's Last Glimpse

When we reached Jerusalem, the brothers welcomed us gladly.  The following day Paul went in with us to James, and all the elders were present.

Acts 21:17-18

James was in Jerusalem because he was the the bishop of the Jerusalem church.  When Paul arrived James took him into a house to stay, along with up to 70 other elders who were there.  The struggle for James, given the prophetic warning that Paul received, must have been how to stay faithful as a witness to his nation while still helping Paul.

In what ways do you feel a struggle between remaining faithful while still reaching out in our society?

For me I have to constantly remember that although I am friends with the "world" and trying to reach them, if I am not careful to be in God's Word and in prayer, I can be swayed into acting and speaking like the unsaved.  I want to be the one impacting them, not the other way around.

Jill:  It is so amazing to me how on every commercial we are tempted to become friends to the world by needing to purchase this shiny thing or that cool gadget, etc.  But it is socially unacceptable to have any Christianity reminders out in public.  So it is difficult to be constantly tempted.  It is a fine line to be in the world with out becoming tempted by the world.

During this early time of Christianity, the Gentiles had nothing they needed to give up and yet the Jews held the law very dear to them.  This conflict of believing seemed to take all of that away from them.  Enter Paul, a Gentile, coming to their city and being received by James.

Jill:  I was under the impression Paul WAS a Jew, and such a jew that he had a very high position with in the Jewish Faith, even a Roman Citizen.  That was why he Hated the followers of Christ so much and persecuted them.  

What happened in Acts 21:20-25?  What did James and the elders request of Paul?

They asked him to purify himself according to the Jewish custom.
Jill:  and to pay for the 4 men to have their heads ritually shaved.

Paul did as they asked and 1 Corinthians 9:20 explains why.  What was his perspective?
Jill:  James lived under the law to bring others to Christ, it seemed  his way of appeasing people.

James then gets the news that Paul has been dragged from the temple (Acts 21:30-36).  Can you imagine if something you said or did caused such a drastic outcome?  How do you think you would have responded to this news?

I would have been devastated and wondered why I didn't trust God to take care of Paul without my intervention.

James probably hoped that God could use this incident for good.  Sometimes we mean well and things just don't turn out well.  Thank goodness God can use even our biggest blunders for His purpose and scripture is full of examples of Him doing just that.

Jill:  AMEN to that

Session Six: Day Five- To Pray and To Be Prayed For

The urgent request of a righteous person is very powerful in its effect.

James 5:16

Perhaps the most important lesson in Session Six, today we talk about prayer.  Given how powerful our time together was on this day, there isn't much that I can say to do justice to this portion of James.  In that line, today I am just going to lay forth the questions asked of us throughout the lesson.  Know that I am still praying daily for each of you and I am blessed to know that you also pray for me.  Truely you are a gift in my life.

Could you use a reminder right about now that prayer is never a waste of time?  If so, why?

Reread James 5:14.  What are the conditions and instructions?

Pray and anoint with oil.

Exactly what did Asa do to displease the Lord?

He did not seek the Lord.

What does James 5:15 say?

If you pray in faith and in trust God will hear your prayer and heal, raise up and forgive.

What do you honestly think about healing?

Fill in the blanks:

If he has SINNED he will be forgiven

Therefore CONFESS to one another.

 

Session Six: Day Four- Something We Can Do

Is anyone among you suffering? He should pray. Is anyone cheerful? He should sing praises.
James 5:13

I don't know about you guys, but in my life, there have been multiple times where I life circumstances were so overwhelming that I actually thought that there was nothing else that I could do.  I said out loud,  "By this time next year things will be different.  If I can just make it through the next twelve months."  Essentially I was saying there is nothing else I can pray, no other action I can take no other thing I can do to survive what I was going through.

In verses 13-14 James talks about three conditions and the prescriptions for them.  They are:

1. In trouble - then pray
2. Happy- then sing songs of praise
3. Sick- then call the elders and have them pray and anoint with oil

Even when we desperately feel there is nothing else we can do, we can pray with and for one another.  The prayers of my beloved friends is what carried me through my darkest days and sometimes my own prayer was a simple, "Please God...."

Name a few reasons why we can't be healthy believers if we disassociate all of our good feelings or merriment from God.
Because God gives us the ability to be happy.  It isn't something that He takes away from us.  He wants us to rejoice in the good things, no matter how simple or profound they are.  Joy lifts our spirit and allows us to hold on to the hope of good things to come.  


Complete the following:

Is anyone cheerful? He should sing songs of praise.

Can you think of any reason for this particular prescription for Be the glad hearted?
It's important to spend time with God in prayer when things are hard, but equally important to spend time with Him when things are good.  It's the give and take of the relationship.

Session Six: Day Three- A Yes Kind Of Yes

Above all, my brothers, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath.  Your yes must be yes and your no must be no, so that you won't fall under judgment.

James 5:12

One of the things that I love the most about studying one book of the bible, is the ability to focus on just one scripture and have it pulled apart, dissected and explained to me.  The issue of this one verse that we are studying today appears to be an issue of simply staying true to our word.  

In Hebrews 6:13, how does it say God is unique regarding oaths?

He has to swear to Himself because there is no one greater than Him.

Deuteronomy 23:21-23 says that if you make a vow to the Lord and are slow to pay it, then you are guilty of SIN.  Whatever you vow, you are to do it fully and quickly and only make vows you willingly intend to keep.

That is a pretty powerful scripture.  Especially when it is considered sin to break a vow.  This causes me to think about whether I have made promises I haven't been able to keep. Perhaps it is because I have children who often ask for things and my standard answer is "We'll see," but I cannot think of any.  I try very hard not to say yes to something I cannot follow through on.  

Satan gets great joy out of seeing us go back on word, even when it seems to be something insignificant to us.  Why do you suppose that is?

Because it gives him a toe hold and keeps us on the spectrum away from God.

In Matthew 23:16-22, Jesus tells us to forgo swearing all together and James echos the same thing.  We simply need to let our word be our truth and do the things we say we will do. 

Session Six: Day Two- To Prove The Lord's Boasts

You have heard of Job's endurance.

James 5:11

Patience.  

Quite possibly one of the things that I have the most difficult time with.  It is not something that comes easily to me and it is not something I enjoy having to work through.

List three reasons why patience might be infinitely more challenging in our current culture:

1. We live in a culture of immediate gratification
2. Everything happens at lightening speed.  No waiting for anything
3. Our culture gives us immediate control over everything  

In learning to be patient, we learn that we cannot rush God.  We cannot make Him do things any more quickly than His perfect plan for us calls for.  We can want what we want and we can pray and tell Him so.  But being patient requires us to take a deep breath and remember:  God has a plan and His timing is always perfect.  Without waiting for it, we might not even begin to understand the blessing that He has planned to give us.

When we live patiently under the blessing and plan of our Heavenly Father, we give Him cause to boast of us.  After reading the portions of Job, we begin to see that God does not put us to tests that He knows in advance we don't have the ability to pass.  Read Job 42:1-6.
I know you can do all things.  Once I had heard, now I see.  Again in Job 42:5 it says My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you.  Being patient and walking through the trials of life give us an opportunity to not just read the word of God and hear it, but to look back after our trials and testing and actually see where He held us, blessed us and brought us through.


What was the outcome from the Lord according to Job 42:12?  
The Lord blessed the latter part of Job's life more than the first.   He went through trials and came out the other side with more than he had lost.  Isaiah 61:7 tells us that God's people will receive a double portion and because we are His children, as believers, that includes us.

Whatever trial you, my dear friends, are struggling with today, know this deep in your hearts.  This lesson is for all of us.  God loves us so much and His plan is perfect.  We don't know what the other side will look like but He promises us a double portion of blessing.