James
James: The Steadfast Life
By: Jeremy & Kristin Schmucker (The Daily Grace Co.)
“The Christian life is not just about giving our hearts to Jesus, but about surrendering every word, thought, deed, attitude and moment to Him.”
I am a fan of The Daily Grace Co. studies and resources. I’ve reviewed several on my website.
James is a popular book of the Bible. It’s most known for the ‘taming of the tongue’ section, but I hadn’t realized how much of the book refers to Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount.
The Schmuckers have written a great study resource for the book of James that helps us see the intent of the author and always points to the gospel.
The author of James is James, the half-brother to Jesus.
The Schmuckers begin the book by cluing us into the themes James writes about so we can keep our eyes open for them in each section we read. This is a good practice for me and grows my ability to study the Bible on my own as I pick up more and more on themes, commands, and repeated phrases.
The themes of James they point out are the commands and calls to obedience, the references to the Sermon on the Mount, the upside-down kingdom, and the relationship between works and faith.
The indexes they supplied at the back of the book were helpful: an outline of the book, an author profile, cross-references to wisdom literature, and a list of Sermon on the Mount references.
As is typical of Daily Grace Co. devotionals, it divides the book into chunks of verses spread across several weeks (7) that include reflection questions. Each week has a memory verse and a separate reflection section that asks us to think about what we’ve read and what it tells us about mankind, God, the gospel, and how we can actively be applying it to our lives.
And also typical of these studies, it comes with a sleek design and pretty images. The version I got of this study is the ‘men’s’ edition so no flower pictures!
This study can easily be done individually or in a group (week to week).
I like that they titled this study ‘The Steadfast Life.’ Steadfast means resolute, unwavering. James exhorts us to be steadfast and patient in trials and suffering, but there is also this thread of steadfastness in conviction, in wisdom, and in obedience.
A major principle of the book of James is faith in action. Genuine faith results in works. A healthy tree bears fruit. A faith that is rooted in Christ can’t help but bear fruit— works and obedience. Resoluteness can’t help but show up in the self-control of our actions and our words, our commitment to obey, and a trust in the One in whom we have rooted our lives in.
There is so much to glean from the book of James. It’s not hard to see its relevance to our lives today.
Even though I’d read the book many times before, having this devotional as an aide was a great help in understanding, applying, and making connections to other parts of Scripture.
I definitely recommend this and other Daily Grace Study to enrich your Bible study and engage you with God’s Word.
You can order a copy of this book on the The Daily Grace Co. website. As of the time of this writing, I can’t find it on Amazon.
Share this book review to your social media!