chelseaxcho-blog

[chelseaxcho-blog]

Book of James - Day #18 (2/6/2017)

James 4:13-17 

Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit.” Yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin. 

We can forecast, but none of us can truly know what the next hour will hold, much less the next week. As much as time might seem like our own, time is ultimately in the hands of God. Therefore, it is arrogant to plan without planning for God. And we need to learn to let love inspire and drive our planning, for it is love for others that fulfills Gods law. But even when we aim intentionally to let love motivate our actions, none of us execute perfectly, or even adequately. However, John Piper said this, “God holds out this hope as we learn to love by managing our time: redeem your wasted time by letting them drive you to Jesus, and inspire you, by faith, to more carefully count the days still ahead.” When the gospel fills our lives, we know deeply that the Lord has made us his own and that in all our imperfections, we are still able to press on! His mercies are new every HOUR and our weaknesses are made perfect in his strength. 

[chelseaxcho-blog]

Book of James - Day #17 (2/4/2017)

James 4:7-10 

Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you. 

Satan tempts us to sin and takes God’s word out of our hearts because he hates faith which God’s word produces. Satan is our greatest adversary and wants so desperately for us to turn away from Christ. But the more Satan appears in our lives, the more precious the victory of Christ becomes to those who truly believe in him. For when Christ died and rose again, Satan was defeated. And there is therefore now no condemnation for those who abide in the Lord. So draw near to him, for there is no sin big enough that God can not forgive and that can make him from love you any less. Humbly confess to him your sins; he wants to know them and he wants to redeem you from them. 

[chelseaxcho-blog]

Book of James - Day #16 (2/1/2017)

James 4:4-6 

You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore, whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealousy over the Spirit that he has made to dwell in us”? But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” 

 I find it someone endearing that God is jealous when our hearts turn away from him and go after other things. He wants our undivided love and devotion. But I should also be fearful of his jealously because he responds with immense wrath against those who are lured by deceptive attractions. Because we are sinners, we are drawn to and easily tempted by worldly things/desires, whether it’s money, fame, success, etc. But knowing our nature, God still shows us grace and mercy. He just simply asks us to humbly admit to our sins and shortcomings. This might seem like an easy task, but it’s so hard to actually do this because we are so prideful in our ways. We do not like confessing out faults. But if this is what draws us closer to Christ, isn’t he worth setting aside our pride? 

[chelseaxcho-blog]

Book of James - Day #15 (1/31/2017)

James 4:1-3

What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. 

I love that James never beats around the bush, but just tells it how it is. And he’s telling us that at the root of relational conflict is the heart problem of selfishness. This is evidenced by our attitude when we are in a fight with someone; we subconsciously think within ourselves: “I’m going to win. I’m going to say everything I want to say. I have to prove my point.” But later on in the chapter (verse 6), we learn that God opposes the proud and gives grace to the humble. We are called to humbly seek the good in the relationships and friendships we have, even when we are angry and wounded by the inevitable conflicts we will encounter. As I look back on some of my own conflicts that felt like victories, none came to mind where I won an argument, but rather, when my friend and I walked out of a conflict loving each other even more deeply. And this is how God intended relationships to be like. He didn’t create them because he enjoyed the drama that stems from our quarrels. He created them because he knew we had to be surrounded by a community that can genuinely teach, rebuke, counsel, encourage, love, and constantly keep us accountable. To resolve relational conflicts, we have to first look within ourselves. And when we acknowledge our selfishness, we can go on to addressing the conflict at hand in a way that pleases the Lord. 

[chelseaxcho-blog]

Book of James - Day #14 (1/17/2017)

James 3:13-18 

Who is wise and understanding among you? By his wise conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. but if you have bitter jealously and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceful, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace. 

John Piper say, “Wisdom is the ability of the soul to perceive God-glorifying, Christ-exalting, gospel-fashioned, people-helping ways to live, with the knowledge God gives us. Wisdom is not the ability to memorize specific bible rules of behavior. Wisdom is needed because so any of our decisions are not explicitly regulated by specific rules in the bible.” If we gain wisdom with a heart of selfish ambition or jealously, that is earthly and unspiritual wisdom. We learned in Proverbs that true wisdom, or in this context, “wisdom from above”, is more than just head knowledge; it is the ability to live in a manner pleasing to God because we understand the truth of the Gospel and live in constant submission to him. 

[chelseaxcho-blog]

KCM GM Notes (1/16/2017)

Pastor Richard from GLMC spoke on John 3:16 - “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” God designed love to function in a reciprocal way; so when we receive love, we should also give love. And God commands us to love each other, encourage one another, pray for one another, etc. However, here on earth, relationships are never perfectly reciprocal; and this leads to pain. Imbalanced relationships cause us pain because God created us for intimacy. We are designed to give and receive love. God’s love was never a currency for intimacy, meaning that he did not spend love specifically on us so that, in return, we can give him love. But rather, when God loved us, he expected to be rejected. Yet, even with these expectations, he gave love to a world he knew would not love him back. Even when we break intimacy with God through our sins and shortcomings, God will still keep loving us. And when we believe in this truth, we start loving those who do not love us, who do not care for us, who reject us. Because that is exactly what Christ did for us. God is calling us to go beyond love for the sake of intimacy. He is calling us to open our hearts to those we closed our heart to. 

[chelseaxcho-blog]

Book of James - Day #13 (1/13/2017)

James 3:1-12 

Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. For we all stumble in many ways, and if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body. If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a small rudder wherever the pilot directs. So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among out members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell. For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. For the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water. 

In this passage, James is telling us that genuine faith yields to Christ’s lordship over our tongues. And it’s really interesting that he never really gives us any advice on how to control our tongue. He just tells us how huge of a problem the tongue can cause if we are not constantly taming it. And I think the point James is trying to make is that to tame out tongues, we must first recognize the tremendous magnitude and power of the tongue itself. And so, to tame the tongue, we must first realize that we will be held accountable for what we say. Our words either validate that we are true believers or reveal that we do not know God. If we sin with out speech, we need to ask God for forgiveness and also forgiveness to the one we sinned against. Genuine believers have this sense of accountability for their speech. Also, to tame the tongue, we must recognize its power for good or for evil. If you control your tongue, it can direct your whole life to what is acceptable in God’s sight. If you don’t, it will get you into great trouble. Thus, the tongue must overcome the contrary force of the flesh and be under God’s wise control if it is to accomplish anything good. If we want to tame the tongue, we must look into our hearts and ask God daily to help us to be obedient to Him. 

[chelseaxcho-blog]

Book of James - Day #12

James 2:18-26

But someone will say, "You have faith and I have works." Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe - and shudder! Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed with his works; and the Scriptures was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness"- and he was called a friend of God. You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. And in the same way was not also Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she received the messengers and set them out by another way? For as the body apart form the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.

John Piper said this, "To put it yet another way: When Paul teaches in Romans 4:5 that we are justified by faith alone, he means that the only thing that unites us to Christ for righteousness is dependence on Christ. When James says in James 2:24 that we are not justified by faith alone he means that the faith which justifies does not remain alone. These two positions are not contradictory. Faith alone unites us to Christ for righteousness, and the faith that unites us to Christ for righteousness does not remain alone. It bears the fruit of love. It must do so or it is dead, demon, useless faith and does not justify. The glory of Christ in the gospel is not merely that we are justified when we depend entirely on Christ, but also that depending entirely on Christ is the power that makes us new, loving people. Depending entirely on Christ is how we are justified and how we are sanctified. Paul struck the one note. James struck the other. Both are true and together they bring Christ the glory due his name."

And the God we glorify is one who makes even demons shudder, one who Abraham would have sacrificed his son for, one who can transform and change any heart. We believe in a God who is so great and so mighty! A God who gave His son for sinners like us. His sacrificial love and unending grace should inspire us to go out and share our personal love story with the Lord to others. And through our story, would unbelievers come to know the God we praise.  

[chelseaxcho-blog]

Book of James - Day #11 (1/10/2017)

James 2:14-17

What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and filled," without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. 

Loveless faith is useless, it does nothing to further God's kingdom. However, if we are a people of real faith, then we produce loving behavior. In Romans, it says that we are justified by faith alone. However in James, it says we are justified by our work. John Piper beautifully and clearly explains this contradiction: "In union with Christ by faith alone, as we enjoy God's being 100% for us, we now, by the power of the Holy Spirit, through faith in God's future grace, work out our salvation, bearing "the fruit of the Spirit", in a life of practical righteousness, and we thus confirm our saving faith, and our union with Christ, and in this way obtain the inheritance of salvation. Our inheritance is not earned by our loved-out righteousness, but belonging to the family and being and heir is confirmed by it."

[chelseaxcho-blog]

Book of James - Day #10

James 2:8-13 

If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, "You shall love your neighbors as yourself," you are doing well. But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it. For he who said, "Do not commit adultery," also said, "Do not murder." If you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty. For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown to mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment. 

If we do not show mercy, we have not known Christ. A Christian is a person who has seen and lives on the mercy and grace of Christ. If there is no mercy in our hearts, and if we show partiality because of our standards/preferences, and come to no remorse and no repentance, we do not know God and we will perish. However, if we have experienced his mercy and treasure it, and live in the liberty of his love, then we will show mercy and that mercy will be the evidence of our faith which carries us through his ultimate judgment. His mercies are new every morning; let us also strive to be merciful everyday! 

[chelseaxcho-blog]

Book of James - Day #9 (1/8/2017)

James 2:1-7 

My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, "You sit here in a good place," while you say to the poor man, "You stand over there," or, "Sit down at my feet," have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? LISTEN, MY BELOVED BROTHERS, HAS NOT GOD CHOSEN THOSE WHO ARE POOR IN THE WORLD TO BE RICH IN FAITH AND HEIRS OF THE KINGDOM, WHICH HE HAS PROMISED TO THOSE WHO LOVE HIM? But you have dishonored the poor man. Are not the rich the ones who oppress you, and the ones who drag you into court? Are they not the ones who blaspheme the honorable name by which we were called? 

Partiality is so dangerous. It contradicts faith in Jesus as our Lord, reveals a judging heart and evil thinking, and dishonors people created in the image of God. And in the context of this specific passage, showing partiality to the rich goes against God's heart, because he has chosen many of the poor for himself. While meditating on these verses, I began to wonder who I show partiality too. After some thought, I realized I show partiality to those I consider weird or lame. I care about my reputation so much that I don't like spending time with people who, I think, are out of the norm and would tarnish the reputation I built up. But, James really humbled and rebuked me. God does not show partiality. He condemns it. And I can not be partial in my attitudes and actions towards others because if I trust that Christ is the Lord of Glory, who is infinitely strong, infinitely wise, and infinitely loving, then I will not be controlled by the craving for human glory and exaltation! Christ is my glory, all the glory I will ever need! And so, I ask that God would help me to get rid of the spirit of partiality in my heart, and instead be an overflow of his love to all of his children. 

[chelseaxcho-blog]

Book of James - Day #8 (1/7/2017)

James 1:26-27

If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.

Previously, in verses 22-24, James shows us that hearing the word without doing it leads to deception. He illustrates this in verse 26 with the man who claims to be religious, but who does not “bridle his tongue”. In this context, a man who does not bridle his tongue is a man who does not control himself from speaking from a place of resentment and anger. This conveys the idea that there is an inherent danger to hear the word often, but not putting it into practice, and can lead to delusion. However, in verse 25, James shows us that hearing the word accompanied by doing it leads to blessing (not just the gift of blessing ourselves, but of blessing others). He illustrates this with two examples in verse 27: caring for orphans and widows; and, keeping oneself unstained by the world. This drastic contrast between the man who only hears the word but does not do it, and the man who, both, hears and does the word, emphasizes the importance of applying God’s word into our lives.

[chelseaxcho-blog]

Book of James - Day #7 (1/6/2017)

James 1:22-25

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is a man who looks intently at his natural face in the mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he looks like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.

Hearing the word without doing it is the default mode of our fallen and sinful hearts. Like Adam and Eve when God confronted them, we are also quick to blame others and intentionally ignore our own responsibility for our sins. However, James is telling us that to be doers of the word requires us to focus on our sins and work towards fixing them by applying the word into our lives. Obviously, we are far from perfect, but the word reveals to us the very thoughts and intentions of our hearts and helps us to address our problems. It frees us from our bondage to sin and helps us overcome it. Let’s not be like the man who forgets his own reflection. Let’s strive to be a person who remembers the need to read God’s word because it’s more important compared to other priorities in our lives. Not only that, but to be hearers and doers of the word means that we will be blessed! And He will bless us by transforming our hearts and our characters to be more like Jesus!

[chelseaxcho-blog]

Book of James - Day #6 (1/5/2017)

James 1:19-21

Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.

God’s words transform our hearts and helps us to be more like Him. His words give us life and sustain our souls. And when we open up our bibles, and are about to receive his words, we need to do so with meekness. Because when we adopt this attitude of meekness and humility, it shows God that we trust him, submit to him, and need his help to incline our hearts to love his words and open our eyes to see the greatness and value of every word we read. And we need to be rooted in his word everyday.

“Rooted in every season.”

[chelseaxcho-blog]

Book of James - Day #5 (1/4/2017)

James 1:16-18

Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

Our God never changes, he is always constant, and he loves to shower goodness on his undeserving children. His gifts come in many different forms in our lives – people, safety, health, provision, etc. – and they’re all “from the Father of lights”. Even when we were dead, and when we had no place for the word of God in us. When we accept and believe that Jesus Christ is our Savior, the Holy Spirit carries the word into our dead hearts and causes us to see the truth of Christ as we never have. And we are given new life through His holy words!

I am so thankful for a God who never changes, is always faithful, and shows us so much grace and goodness even when we don’t deserve it. We did absolutely nothing to gain his affections, yet, he still calls us his own. I’m learning more and more as I’m reading the book of James what it really means to be called his beloved.

[chelseaxcho-blog]

Book of James - Day #4 (1/3/2017)

James 1:12-15

Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.

Even when we are adopted into God’s family and experience the love and grace of our Father, there is still a part of us that is prone to wander and that is addicted to things that steal life from us. James warns us of these temptations that stem from our worldly desires and capture our hearts.

He says, “Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.” Before we participate in a particular act, James wants us to see where it leads. And the way temptation works is that it’ll often present just a part of the story. That’s what happened with Adam and Eve. The serpent said that they’ll receive knowledge like God if they ate the fruit. Adam and Eve got that knowledge! But, what the serpent did not tell them was that they would also get shame. And so, James tells us that before we participate in an act, see where it leads and ask ourselves if that’s a place we want to go. Often times, a desire will seem less attractive if you see some of the devastation it can cause.

Let’s pray that we will not be tempted by our own desires. But that we would be wise and have discernment when making decisions.

[chelseaxcho-blog]

1/2/2017 QT

Yesterday, my pastor preached a sermon on the topic of prayer. And dang, it hit me so hard. I usually never get super emotional, but my whole family was bawling our eyes out thinking about how much our prayer lives were lacking. And I wanted to share his message with you all because prayer is so vital in growing our relationship with God!

Quality of relationships are built on conversations. The quality of our relationship with God is the same; it is built on prayer. Romans 12:12 says, “Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, BE CONSTANT IN PRAYER.” And God is always faithful when it comes to answering our prayers (Matthew 21:22 – “If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.”). But sometimes, prayer doesn’t seem that extraordinary and God doesn’t always answer and honor our prayers in the way we want him too. In fact, sometimes our prayer life can be very mundane. But if God always responded to us in extraordinary ways, he would be training us to tune him out until he raises his voice. God doesn’t want that. He’s interested in training us to hear him even in the mundane times of prayer, when it seems like God is completely silent.

1 Kings 19:11-13 says, “And he said, ‘Go out and stand on the mount before the Lord.’ And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire the sound of a low whisper. And when Elijah heard it… there came a voice to him and said, ‘What are you doing here, Elijah?'” 

You see, God wants to train us to hear the gentle whisper of his voice, not just in times of storms and fires, but even in the ordinary and monotonous times.

We always make time for something/someone we value. Let’s make time every single day to truly meet with the Lord because HE IS VALUABLE!

1 Thessalonians 5:17 – PRAY WITHOUT CEASING!