This is the first devotional in a short series on Deuteronomy 1-2.

The Gospel says in a painfully straightforward way that all that we desire, long for, dream about, and work to acquire or achieve or accomplish--in short, what every fiber of our being pulls toward and every moment of our life is devoted to--we miss.

If anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. (Jam 1:23-24)

A big contribution The Letter of James makes to our faith, to a healthy understanding of the Christian life, and to the canon of Scripture, is how uncomfortable it makes us. Luther called it, "an epistle of straw." Many believers feel oddly about James, like it's either a regressive book too connected to Judaism, or it's somehow truer and more real with its "pull-no-punches" approach.

"The LORD sent from on high, he took me; he drew me out of many waters." (Psa 18:16)

[Pause from church ministries series. Reflecting on James's many commands...]

Our King who commands and our Shepherd who comforts are One!

One of my favorite things about God’s works is that God is never doing just one thing. His grace is full of wisdom. 

"What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you?" 
Wouldn't you love to know the answer to this? 

We live in an age where, if you didn’t do it alone, it doesn’t really count. But what the wise observe is that, if you don’t do it together, it doesn’t actually happen.

We want everything we do to be done with GRACE FIRST. We want our church to be a Chapel of Grace. A set-apart place, out and away from the burdens of the world, where “if anyone thirsts” they might come and find the grace of God in Jesus. (John 7:37)