Anyways, since I haven't posted in a while, I figured now would be a great time to make a new one! Today we will start looking at the book of James. There are a lot of great truths in it! 
Check out the passage we will be studying today:James 1:1
1 James, a bond-servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,
To the twelve tribes who are dispersed abroad: Greetings.
Lets start with the early part of verse 1. Here, we see that the author of James is of course the Disciple James.
Let me show you a little bit about who James is, and where we hear about him in the scriptures.We believe that the James(There are several James' in the Bible) that wrote the book of James was one of Jesus' brothers. Surprisingly, although they grew up with Him and observed firsthand His sinless, perfect life, Jesus’ brothers did not at first believe in Him. John records their unbelief exhibited by challenging Jesus to reveal Himself openly in John 7:2-5 What happened to change His skeptical, unbelieving brothers into devoted followers? Paul gives the answer in 1 Corinthians 15:7, noting that after Jesus’ resurrection, “He appeared to James.” Doubtless as a result of that personal, post-resurrection appearance, James came to saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
It's pretty amazing how Jesus worked in His brothers life to bring them to salvation isn't it?
Now that you know a little bit about James, lets move on to the next section of verse 1 "a bond-servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,"
In spite of James being the brother of Jesus, he does not describe himself as Mary's son, the Lord's brother, the head of the Jerusalem Church, or that Jesus Christ personally appeared to him. Instead, he describes himself simply as a bond-servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. "Bond-servant" portrays that James is a slave, a person deprived of all personal freedom and totally under the control of his master. Absolute loyalty and obedience was required of every slave to his master. James had become a slave by his new birth through Faith in Jesus Christ. To be a slave of God was considered a great honor in the Jewish culture. By taking that title, James numbered himself with those honored not for who they were, but whom they served—the living God.
Lets move on to the last part of the verse: "To the twelve tribes who are dispersed abroad: Greetings."
The Bible often references "The twelve tribes", when it does this, it means Israel, which was God's chosen people in the Old Testament. The people in this Country were called Jews. James was therefore addressing all Christian Jews who were "Dispersed abroad" meaning all over the world. This is clear as you read the book of James, because James starts his chapters in the book saying "To my brothers", or "My brethren", not because they were actually his brothers, but because they were his spiritual brothers through Christ, because they were all Christians. But, now God has given this "Letter" to everyone through the Bible.
I hope you guys all learned something! I know this is a lot to take in, so let me know if you have any questions at all!
I'm really excited to start digging into the book of James in Verse-a-Day. ~Tiger
