RIGHT BELIEF leads to RIGHT ACTION which leads to RIGHT CHARACTER (Virtue).

October 4, 2009

James 5:7-20

Main Point: RIGHT BELIEF leads to RIGHT ACTION which leads to RIGHT CHARACTER (Virtue).

A controlling belief is the primary belief that ‘pushes’ the character. It shapes and colors every action and reaction and serves as the motor or engine that motivates the character.
Beliefs answer, “Why does he or she want it? The belief if the core of the character. You can ask what a person wants...but more important...why do they want it?”

"Character is like the foundation of a house. Most of it is below the surface."
- Unknown
"Every man has three characters -- that which he exhibits, that which he has, and that which he thinks he has."
- Alphonse Karr
- _Instant Quotation Dictionary_, p. 54.

1. vv.7-8
Dear God, please grant me patience. And I need it RIGHT NOW!

God's love and patience are unfathomable. He does not give up, even though reaching a rebellious people!

I heard a story the other night about a truck driver who dropped in at an all-night restaurant in Broken Bow, Nebraska. The waitress had just served him when three swaggering, leather-jacketed motorcyclists -- of the Hell's Angels type --entered and rushed up to him, apparently spoiling for a fight. One grabbed the hamburger off his plate; another took a handful of his French fries; and the third picked up his coffee and began to drink it. The trucker did not respond as one might expect. Instead, he calmly rose, picked up his check, walked to the front of the room, put the check and his money on the cash register, and went out the door. The waitress followed him to put the money in the till and stood watching out the door as the big truck drove away into the night. When she returned, one of the cyclists said to her, "Well, he's not much of a man, is he?" She replied, "I can't answer as to that, but he's not much of a truck driver. He just ran over three motorcycles out in the parking lot."
• BELIEF = The coming of the Lord is near(v.8).
• ACTION = Waiting for the right time, like the farmer (v.7)
• VIRTUE = Patience
2. vv.9-11
• BELIEF = The Judge is standing right at the door (v.9), and He is full of compassion and is merciful (v.11).
• ACTION = Do not complain (v.9)- in other words, either remain silent or speak encouraging words.
• VIRTUE = Endurance (v.11)

3. v.12

Always do right - this will gratify some and astonish the rest.
More funny Mark Twain quotes

An investment counselor went out on her own. She was shrewd and diligent, so business kept coming in. Pretty soon she realized she needed an in-house counsel, and so she began interviewing young lawyers.
"As I'm sure you can understand," she started off with one of the first applicants, "in a business like this, our personal integrity must be beyond question." She leaned forward and continued, "Mr. Peterson, are you an honest lawyer?"
"Honest?" replied the job prospect. "Let me tell you something about honest. Why, I'm so honest that my father lent me fifteen thousand dollars for my education and I paid back every penny the minute I tried my very first case."
"Impressive. And what sort of case was that?"
The lawyer squirmed in his seat and admitted, "He sued me for the money."
The religion section of the {Tacoma News Tribune} (Saturday, November 6, 1993) carried an article commemorating the birthday of Billy Graham. Religious News Service writer, Randall Balmer, said, "Graham has had a remarkable career and there will never be another like him, who could combine charisma, conviction, integrity, and media savvy to become a speaker known and respected throughtout the world." He went on to point out that in Graham's lifetime there have been many other evangelists who have fallen because of various moral indiscretions. But throughout a career that has spanned fifty years there had never been a serious charge of malfeasance - financial, sexual, or otherwise - leveled against Graham. That was not left entirely to chance. Early in his career Graham gathered his associates - "the team," he called them - into a hotel room to discuss how they might avoid some of the pitfalls that had "done in" other evangelists. What emerged was what Cliff Barrows, Graham's longtime associate, called "the Modesto Manifesto." Graham and his organization resolved never to exaggerate attendance figures at their meetings and to accept only fixed salaries from their organization, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, rather than a percentage of the offerings. The team agreed not to criticize fellow members of the clergy, and they set up elaborate precautions to protect themselves from sexual temptation or even the appearance of sexual impropriety. The writer then suggested that in an age that has seen evangelists succumb to all manner of spectacular scandals, Graham's greatest legacy may be his integrity.
- Paul W. Powell, {Taking the Stew Out of Stewardship, }(Dallas, TX: Annuity Board of the Southern Baptist Convention, 1996) 11-12
You see it all the time. People achieve success, and then their personal lives seem to fall apart. As someone once said, success has made failures of many men. But does that have to happen? STANDING FIRM The September 1996 issue of "Standing Firm" magazine contains a great story about Bobby Bowden. Bowden is head football coach for Florida State University. His team's winning record places him near the top in wins among active coaches at the Division I level. Bowden's record of successes in bowl games is the highest winning percentage in NCAA history. So he is successful in his chosen career. Whether you are a fan of F.S.U. or not, you have to admit that Bowden is a successful coach. But there is more to Bowden than the statistics you read in the sports pages. He is a man of faith, and makes no apologies for that. During his team's Friday evening meetings before their Saturday games, Bowden uses valuable time for team devotionals, which he leads. As for his ongoing leadership of the team's staff, each day he meets with his staff for devotions and prayer prior to their regular staff meetings. Each year, Bowden takes his entire team to a predominantly black church for worship. The following Sunday, he takes the team to a predominantly white church. There is no deception involved -- he writes a letter to each athlete's parents or guardian to tell them about the church visits and obtain their approval. "I'm trying to show these kids that they are accepted in church whether they are white or black," Bowden said. So what is the point of this and the many other ways Bowden walks his walk of faith? Bowden says, "I want to show these kids that you can be a Christian, you can be a God-fearing man, you can abide by the rules, and you can still be successful." HOW DOES THIS APPLY TO OUR LIVES? A number of social commentators have asked the questions, "Where are our heroes?" and "Where are the role models for today's youth?" That is because we constantly read about people who were considered heroes, but turned out to be villains who compromised their values, and broke the rules. Is it necessary to compromise your values to make it in life? Bowden's story shows that it isn't. No, Bowden is not perfect. But there is a core to his life. Bowden stands firm in his beliefs -- and is successful. What is the difference between the Bobby Bowden's of the world, and others? Simply put, some people are like onions. They have no core, just layers. And when you peel away all the layers, nothing is left. Don't glorify the "onions" of the world. Instead, lift up people like Bowden- -men and women with a core to their lives, who exhibit integrity and faith. Help them touch others. Encourage them. Pray for them. Finally, build and strengthen your own core. Start by placing your trust and confidence totally in God. Trusting in God does not guarantee you worldly success or great riches, but the Bible teaches that something far more important will result, blessings from God. "Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him." \reference{Job 17:9}{Job 17:9}

• BELIEF = We will be judged according to what we say (v.12)
• ACTION = Say what you mean and mean what you say (v.12).
• VIRTUE = Integrity
4. vv.13-20
• BELIEF = The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much (v.16).
• ACTION = Pray (vv.13,16), sing (v.13), take care of the sick (v.14), forgive (v.15), confess (v.16), and watch out for one another (vv.19-20).
• VIRTUE = Selflessness or Other-centeredness

Ultimately we do everything for one of tow reasons: to serve ourselves, or to serve God.

The man who keeps busy helping the man below him won’t have time to envy the man above him.- Henrietta Mears

The high destiny of the individual is to serve rather than to rule.- Albert Einstein

A GREAT man is always willing to be LITTLE.

a. Pray with those suffering.
b. Sing praises with the cheerful.
c. Take care of the sick.
d. Forgive the sinner.
e. Confess your sins to each other.
f. Pray for each other.
g. Watch out for your brother and sister to guard them from sin.

The Christian character is simply a life in which all Christian virtues and graces have become fixed and solidified into permanence as established habits. It costs no struggle to do right, because what has been done so long, under the influence of grace in the heart, has become part of the regenerated nature. The bird sings not to be heard, but because the song is in its heart, and must be expressed. It sings just as sweetly in the depths of the wood with no ear to listen, as by the crowded thoroughfare. Beethoven did not sing for fame, but to give utterance to the glorious music that filled its soul. The face of Moses did not shine to convince the people of his holiness, but because he had dwelt so long in the presence of God that it could not but shine. Truest, ripest Christian life flows out of a full heart -- a heart so filled with Christ that it requires no effort to live well, and to scatter the sweetness of grace and love.
It must be remembered, however, that all goodness in living begins first obeying rules, in keeping commandments. Mozart and Mendelssohn began with running scales and striking chords, and with painful finger-exercises. The noblest Christian began with the simplest obedience. The way to become skillful is to do things over and over, until we can do them perfectly, and without thought or effort. The way to become able to do great things, is to do our little things with endless repetition, and with increasing dexterity and carefulness. The way to grow into Christlikeness of character, is to watch ourselves in the minutest things of thought and word and act, until our powers are trained to go almost without watching in the lines of moral right and holy beauty. To become prayerful, we must learn to pray by the clock, at fixed times. It is fine ideal talk to say that our devotions should be like the bird's song, warbling out anywhere and at any time with sweet unrestraint; but in plain truth, to depend upon such impulses as guides to praying, would soon lead to no praying at all. This may do for heavenly life; but we have not gotten into heaven yet, and until we do we need to pray by habit. So of all religious life. We only grow into patience by being as patient as we can, daily and hourly, and in smallest matters, ever learning to be more and more patient until we reach the highest possible culture in that line. We can only become unselfish wherever we have an opportunity, until our life grows into the permanent beauty of unselfishness. We can only grow better by striving ever to be better than we already are. and by climbing step by step toward the radiant heights of excellence. -- Miller.
By J. Wilbur Chapan, "Present Day Parables."