{"id":5758,"date":"2014-10-30T02:24:54","date_gmt":"2014-10-30T02:24:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/?p=5758"},"modified":"2014-11-04T04:49:38","modified_gmt":"2014-11-04T04:49:38","slug":"james-125-abiding-and-blessed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/?p=5758","title":{"rendered":"James 1:25\u2014Abiding and blessed"},"content":{"rendered":"

But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does.<\/em>\u00a0 James 1:25<\/p>\n

The psalmist David wrote long before James\u2019 time, \u201cBless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget none of His benefits<\/em>\u201d (Psalm 103:1-2). He admonished his soul (about which James wrote, as well) to bless the Lord. He did so by blessing the name of the Lord and by forgetting none of the Lord\u2019s benefits.<\/p>\n

James, in verse 25, reveals how to keep this circle of blessing unbroken. The circle begins with blessing the Lord Himself as David wrote and moves into forgetting none of His wonderful benefits. James arrives on the scene centuries later and discloses how<\/em> you can put the benefits of God into active remembrance\u2014you look intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty.<\/p>\n

[The] one who looks intently at the perfect law\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

This is a description of you<\/em>. By prioritizing the Word of God, you are looking intently at the perfect law. Whenever you read the Bible or a Scripture-directed devotional or book, you are prioritizing the Word of God. Whenever you praise God with songs from the Scripture, you are prioritizing the Word of God. Whenever you think about a verse from the Bible and repeat it to yourself or in prayer, you are prioritizing the Word of God. As you continue in these behaviors, making them a part of your life\u2014in addition to listening to solid Bible messages at church, other meetings, or through the means of media\u2014not only will the Word build within you and give you more strength and clarity, but you will find that your time in the Bible is a joy and a fulfilling adventure as well. This is how you look intently at the perfect law, and this is how you forget none of His benefits.<\/p>\n

\u2026the law of liberty\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

When Bible truth comes on the scene, it brings liberty. Oh,\u00a0the Word will\u00a0correct behavior and attitude, make no mistake, but Jesus said, \u201cIf you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free<\/em>\u201d (see John 8:31-32). The law of liberty frees you from bondage to sin. The so-called freedom that pervades our society encourages<\/em> bondage to sin. The law of liberty will free you from the fear of man.\u00a0The supposed liberty of our generation makes you a slave<\/em> to the opinions of others. (Ever hear of\u00a0political correctness?)\u00a0There is a huge difference.<\/p>\n

\u2026and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

The psalmist wrote, \u201cForget none of His benefits.<\/em>\u201d You accomplish this by abiding by the Word of God. The Greek word for \u201cabide\u201d is paramen\u014d <\/em>and means \u201cto remain beside, continue always near\u201d (see http:\/\/www.blueletterbible.org\/lang\/Lexicon\/Lexicon.cfm?strongs=G3887&t=KJV<\/a> ). You keep His Word nearby; you continue with it close at hand. \u201cThe word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart<\/em>\u201d (see Romans 10:8). Another definition of paramen\u014d is \u201c<\/em>to survive, remain alive\u201d. If you abide by the Word, you survive by it; you remain alive due to it working within you. Jesus told the devil trying to tempt Him, \u201cMan shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God<\/em>\u201d (see Matthew 4:4), signaling the true path to finding sustenance in life\u2014God’s Word.<\/p>\n

The only way to avoid forgetfulness is to abide in this close relationship with the Word of God. This produces the power within you to become an effectual doer.<\/p>\n

\u2026this man will be blessed in what he does.<\/em><\/p>\n

David revealed the beginning of the circle of blessing: \u201cBless the Lord, O my soul,<\/em>\u201d and pointed further down the curve of its arc: forget none of His benefits <\/em>(see Psalm 103:1-2). James picked up the thread, demonstrating how to continue on the circuit of blessing\u2014abide by the Word. Don\u2019t be forgetful with it. Let it develop you into an effective doer.<\/p>\n

And as the circle winds back up to its start\u2014Bless the Lord<\/em>\u2014James wrote that this<\/em><\/strong> man <\/em>[you] will be blessed in what he does<\/em>.<\/p>\n

It is a good thing to bless the Lord. You do so by not forgetting any of His benefits. You can avoid forgetfulness by abiding in the magnificent Word of God\u2014the law of liberty. And as you allow\u00a0Bible truth\u00a0to abide within you, you\u00a0will not\u00a0forget it, and you will\u00a0grow in the grace and strength and effectiveness of the Word of God.<\/p>\n

And you will be blessed in what you do.<\/p>\n

Dorothy<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does.\u00a0 James 1:25 The psalmist David wrote long before James\u2019 time, \u201cBless the Lord, O my soul, and all that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5758","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-james-1"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5758","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5758"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5758\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5766,"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5758\/revisions\/5766"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5758"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5758"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5758"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}