True Wisdom (Pt.2)

Part 2

“But the wisdom from above is first of all pure. It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others. It is full of mercy and the fruit of good deeds. It shows no favoritism and is always sincere. And those who are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of righteousness.”-James 3:17-18

When it comes to knowledge, we signify what we know by the degrees hanging on our walls, the certifications in our portfolios, and the experience recorded on our resumes. However, James states that we signify wisdom by living an honorable life, doing good works, and operating in humility:

“If you are wise and understand God’s ways, prove it by living an honorable life, doing good works with the humility that comes from wisdom.”-James 3:13

So what does the wisdom of God look like? According to James the wisdom of God is first of all pure, meaning that it is motivated correctly. It is not rooted in our own selfish desires, but birthed out of a loving relationship with God. It is peace loving meaning that it looks to foster and maintain unity.

Wisdom is also displayed through gentleness, meaning that it is free from a controlling spirit always looking to build rather than divide. The Wisdom from above, as described by James, is also characterized by a willingness to yield to others, esteeming others better than oneself.

This wisdom is full of mercy, accepting that others are not perfect and is made known through good deeds. Wisdom is more than just words, but action. Godly wisdom does not show favoritism. It is not swayed by position, power, or wealth and it is always heartfelt and sincere.

Those who operate in Godly wisdom sow peace in order to reap righteousness. Yes, they are concerned about the outcome, but they are also concerned about how you get there.

No discussion, however, of wisdom is complete without an understanding of Proverbs 9:10:

“Fear of the Lord is the foundation of wisdom. Knowledge of the Holy One results in good judgment.”

We cannot disconnect heavenly wisdom from a healthy reverence and fear of the Lord. He is the originator of all truth. He is the force behind all creation and all created things. He is the sustainer of all things. Knowing God is pivotal to our understanding of how to apply knowledge. True wisdom begins and ends with God!

Pastor Scott Burr
Dayspring Community Church

True Wisdom

(Part 1)

“If you are wise and understand God’s ways, prove it by living an honorable life, doing good works with the humility that comes from wisdom. But if you are bitterly jealous and there is selfish ambition in your heart, don’t cover up the truth with boasting and lying. For jealousy and selfishness are not God’s kind of wisdom. Such things are earthly, unspiritual, and demonic. For wherever there is jealousy and selfish ambition, there you will find disorder and evil of every kind. But the wisdom from above is first of all pure. It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others. It is full of mercy and the fruit of good deeds. It shows no favoritism and is always sincere. 18 And those who are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of righteousness.”-James 3:13-18

There is a quote that many of you may be familiar with that originated with Francis Bacon, but was used on several occasions by Thomas Jefferson: “Knowledge is power.” We live in a day and age where the pursuit of knowledge is valued. There seems to be a rush to know more, discover more, and experience more than any other time in history. The prophet Daniel saw these days coming when he wrote:

“But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.”-Daniel 12:4

Interestingly enough, however, God never instructed us to make accumulating knowledge our primary pursuit. According to Proverbs 4:5 were are to: “Get wisdom! Get understanding! Do not forget, nor turn away from the words of My mouth.”

It is important to be reminded that it is possible to be knowledgeable, yet not be very wise. It is possible to be brilliant, but have no common sense. Knowledge is an awareness or familiarity gained by education or experience. Wisdom is the soundness of action or good judgment with regard to the application of knowledge. Just because I know it, doesn’t mean I know how to apply it or use sound judgment in it’s application.

In James 3, the writer is making a distinction, not between good and bad knowledge, but heavenly and earthy wisdom. God does this because He is far more concerned with us understanding the application of knowledge than simply accumulating of a mass of intellect:

“If you are wise and understand God’s ways, prove it by living an honorable life, doing good works with the humility that comes from wisdom.”-James 3:13

If we are wise and understand God’s ways then we will prove what we know by living an honorable life, doing good works, and operating in humility. All of which have to do with application.

“But if you are bitterly jealous and there is selfish ambition in your heart, don’t cover up the truth with boasting and lying. For jealousy and selfishness are not God’s kind of wisdom. Such things are earthly, unspiritual, and demonic. For wherever there is jealousy and selfish ambition, there you will find disorder and evil of every kind.”-James 3:14-16

Bitter jealousy, selfish ambitions, boasting and lying! These are also expressions of wisdom. However, they are not God’s kind of wisdom. James describes them as earthly, unspiritual, and demonic. Meaning that they are rooted in man’s desires, disconnected from God, and driven by demonic interest. When applied they create disorder and spawn evil of every kind.

Pastor Scott Burr
Dayspring Community Church

Is your faith any good? (Pt.2)

(Part 2)


 “So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless. Now someone may argue, “Some people have faith; others have good deeds.” But I say, “How can you show me your faith if you don’t have good deeds? I will show you my faith by my good deeds. “You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror. How foolish! Can’t you see that faith without good deeds is useless?”-James 2:17-20

Just to show you how they had already begun to interchange the terms, look at the next line: “You say you have faith for you believe that there is one God.” They are trying to make the argument that they have faith because they believe something. So James throws them a curve ball: “You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror.”

Does that mean that demons have faith? No! James is pointing out that believing in something does not necessarily equate to having faith in it. These demons may acknowledge God, but they certainly did not live according to His will and His ways. James calls this kind of faith dead and useless. In fact, it isn’t really faith at all. Faith is putting what you believe into action.

“Don’t you remember that our ancestor Abraham was shown to be right with God by his actions when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see, his faith and his actions worked together. His actions made his faith complete. And so it happened just as the Scriptures say: “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.” He was even called the friend of God. So you see, we are shown to be right with God by what we do, not by faith alone.”-James 2:21-24

It is faith accompanied by action that makes our faith complete. Notice how beliefs led to faith; but it wasn’t faith until Abraham acted on it: “Abraham believed God (heart knowledge), and God counted him as righteous because of his faith (He acted on it.).”
It wasn’t faith simply because he believed it. Faith isn’t complete until we act on it.

We can verbally affirm that we believe something, but never really exercise any real faith in that area:

I can say that I believe in evangelism, but never demonstrate any faith in that area by witnessing to something and sharing the good news with them.

I can say I believe in tithing, but never demonstrate any faith in that area by giving.

I can say I believe in healing, but never demonstrate any faith in that area by coming forward to be prayed for or praying for someone else’s healing.

In reality, those areas of our faith are dead (incomplete); not because we don’t believe it, but rather because we are not acting on it. James cautions us that such faith is dead and lifeless:

“Just as the body is dead without breath, so also faith is dead without good works.-James 2:26

Is your faith any good? What areas of your faith are lying dead because of inaction? Let’s pray that God will breath new life into those areas and that we will once again put feet to our faith.


Pastor Scott Burr

Is your faith any good?

(Part 1)

“What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone? Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, and you say, “Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well”—but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do?”-James 2:14-16

As I was reading the book of James, I started wrestling with the differences between belief and faith. We have, so often, interchanged those words that I fear we have blurred the lines and have grown to see no real distinctions between the two.

Even our secular definitions of the two words seem to carry that same nuance:

Belief: something that is accepted, considered to be true.

Faith: strong believe or trust in someone or something. (Faith is characterized as a strong belief.)

The danger that we face with aligning the meanings of these two words is that a belief requires no action. It only requires our approval or agreement. It is internalized and although it may, at times, impact our thinking and behavior; it doesn’t necessarily need any other expression.

James recognized this tendency developing in the church. There was a lot of approval or agreement (verbally) with the things being taught and expressed, but there was little application taking place. People believed it, but they were not acting on it. That is the point that James begins with here in James 2. What good is it to know and even verbally affirm that the hungry need fed and the homeless need clothed and sheltered, but do nothing to help them.

What good does that do? More importantly, If that is faith, is our faith any good?

 “So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless. Now someone may argue, “Some people have faith; others have good deeds.” But I say, “How can you show me your faith if you don’t have good deeds? I will show you my faith by my good deeds. “You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror. How foolish! Can’t you see that faith without good deeds is useless?”-James 2:17-20

Real faith will always produce action. James goes a step further and declares, in fact, if it does not produce it is dead and useless. That makes sense right? Dead things don’t reproduce. How can you know that what you confess to believe is truly alive in you if there is no visible fruit of it in you life?

The super-spiritual among us would say, “Some people have faith, others have good deeds.” The argument being that the two can somehow be separated. James declares that real faith always manifests itself with action.

Pastor Scott Burr