🙌 James 1:27 | What God Is Actually Looking For

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Happy Friday, {{first_name | everyone}}!

You made it to Friday, and I hope time in the book of James has filled your cup in the same way it has filled mine.

Let's recap everything we covered this week and usher you into the weekend.

In today’s email…

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Religion ____ __ ____ and ________ before ___ ___ ______ __ ____: to _____ _______ and ______ in their _________, and __ ____ ______ unstained ____ ___ _____.

James 1:27

Here’s everything we covered this week.

On Monday, we met James.

James was Jesus's half-brother, a man who grew up in the same house as the Son of God and didn't believe a word of it until the resurrection changed everything. We learned that he became the primary leader of the Jerusalem church, was called "James the Just" for his piety, and wrote this letter to scattered Jewish Christians who were poor, persecuted, and in need of practical wisdom.

This letter is a collection of sharp, practical wisdom sayings designed to get in your business and challenge how you live. The BibleProject describes it as "twelve short teachings that call God's people to wholehearted devotion to the way of Jesus."

And verse 27 is the punchline of the whole opening chapter.

On Tuesday, we looked at where verse 27 sits inside the larger passage.

James chapter 1 works like an overture, so every theme in chapters 2-5 gets previewed here.

And verse 27 is the crescendo: a hearing-to-doing progression that builds from "be quick to hear" (v19) to "don't just hear, do" (v22) to "worthless religion" (v26) to "here's what pure religion actually looks like" (v27).

Pure religion is to both care for the vulnerable and keep yourself unstained from the world.

On Wednesday, we looked at the Greek behind three words.

The vocabulary of this verse is the vocabulary of the gospel itself.

And on Thursday, we looked at the connection between James 1:27 and Jesus.

James 1:27 is a portrait of the life James got to watch up close for thirty years.

You've spent a week with James’ words. Before you close this email, take two minutes to do the following:

🙏 Pray

Father, thank you for teaching me what pure and undefiled religion looks like this week. I repent of the ways I’ve allowed the world to shape me more than you. I repent of showing partiality to those who seem to “have their life together.” Show me one person in my life who you want me to “visit” and reflect your love in doing so. Please continue to shape my heart to look more like yours. Amen.

You just spent a week with James's words. You know what episkeptomai means now. You know this not a polite “stopping by” but rather a meaningful intervention.

Serving Orphans Worldwide is living out this verse in a real way, and we have the opportunity to join them in their work. SOW runs partner homes across Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, and Latin America — homes that are often the only stable thing a child has ever known.

100% of what’s given goes directly to food, formula, care, education, and the gospel. Plus, $12 feeds a child for a full month and puts God's Word in their hands.

We're grateful to have partnered with them this week. If James 1:27 stirred something in you, this is a good place to let it land.

Here are a few resources to help you dig deeper into our verse and theme this week:

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Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.

James 1:27