JAMES 1:1-11

James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes in the dispersion, greetings. Consider it all joy, my brothers and sisters, when you encounter various trials, for you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. And let perseverance be perfect, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. But if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly, and he will be given it. But he should ask in faith, not doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed about by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord, since he is a man of two minds, unstable in all his ways. The brother in lowly circumstances should take pride in high standing, and the rich one in his lowliness, for he will pass away "like the flower of the field." For the sun comes up with its scorching heat and dries up the grass, its flower droops, and the beauty of its appearance vanishes. So will the rich person fade away in the midst of his pursuits.

MARK 8:11-13

The Pharisees came forward and began to argue with Jesus, seeking from him a sign from heaven to test him. He sighed from the depth of his spirit and said, "Why does this generation seek a sign? Amen, I say to you, no sign will be given to this generation." Then he left them, got into the boat again, and went off to the other shore.

The whole tendency of the age in which Jesus lived was to look for God in the abnormal. It was believed that when the Messiah came, the most startling and shattering things would happen. When false messiahs arose, as they frequently did, they attracted people to follow them by promising the signs. They would promise for instance, to make the city walls fall down. It was a sign like that that the Pharisees were demanding. They wished to see some shattering event blazing across the horizon, defying the laws of nature and astonishing people.

Now to Jesus such a demand was not due to the desire to see the hand of God at work. It was due to the fact that they were blind to the hand of God already at work in the world. To Jesus, the whole world was full of signs of God. The corn in the field, the flowers in the field all spoke to him of God. He did not think that God had to break in, in some staggering way, from outside the world. He knew that God was already in the world for anyone who had eyes to see.

For those who has eyes to see and a heart to understand the daily miracle of night and day, the daily splendor of all common things is sign enough of God’s hand at work in the world.

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Finally, we pray for one another, for those who have asked our prayers and for those who need our prayers the most.

Have a good day!

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