Listening for God Through James

Lectio Divina, Latin for divine reading, is a series of Bible studies that calls Christians to slow down, read Scripture, meditate on it, and prayerfully respond as they "listen to God" through His Word. During Jesus' public ministry, younger brother James seems to have been a doubter (John 7:5). Yet the resurrected Christ appeared especially to this brother, and James was among the believers as they gather in the upper room in Acts 2. So, at some point, James became a true spiritual brother of his earthly brother. The content in the book of James is focused on the practical, day-to-day living out of the example of Jesus, in word and in deed. One key theme is that the little sins we consider more acceptable (like gossip, jealousy, favoritism, and hoarding wealth) are as ugly in God's eyes as the biggies. Its instructions have everything to do with how true believers - then and now - live as Christ-followers in the real world.