“16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. 17 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.” - James 1:16-17 “Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.” - James 1:18 NIV: “He chose to give us birth through the word of truth” - James 1:18 NASB: “In the exercise of His will He gave us birth by the word of truth,” - James 1:18 HCSB: “By His own choice, He gave us a new birth by the message of truth” - James 1:18 “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—” - Ephesians 2:4-5 “The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” - John 3:8 While the Apostle Paul often has a hyper focus on explaining what we should believe, James has a hyper focus on showing us how we should live in response to what we believe. “19 Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; 20 for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. 21 Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.” - James 1:19-21 “22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. 24 For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like.” - James 1:22-24 Our faith in Jesus leads us to live like Jesus. Action is evidence of acceptance. What does it mean to be ‘quick to hear’ in relation to engaging with God’s word? “he who has an ear, let him hear.” - Matthew 11:15, Matthew 13:9, Matthew 13:43, Mark 4:9, Mark 4:23, Luke 8:8, Luke 14:35 What does it mean to be ‘slow to speak’ in relation to engaging with God’s Word? What does it mean to be ‘slow to anger’ in relation to our engagement with God’s word? “for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.” - James 1:20 “receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.” - James 1:21 “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.” - James 1:25