These notes are from the NLT Life Application Study Bible (LASB), the ESV Study Bible (ESVSB), and Richard Carr

The commands and do what it says (James 1:22) are highlighted in red.  

1. Things God clearly wants us to do are

Throughout the day keep asking God to help you do his commands.

Dec 5 - James 4:1-10 Commands 

App: May God's promise of coming close to me IF I come close to Him motivate me to come closer to Him today - James 4:8

1. Ask God for what you want instead of quarreling and fighting for it - James 4:1-2
2. But must ask with right motives - James 4:3
   1. Not to give you pleasure v3
   2.  1 Peter 4.2 "You won’t spend the rest of your lives chasing your own desires, but you will be anxious to do the will of God." NLT
   3. Matthew 6.24 "You cannot serve both God and Money." NIV
3. Don't be an spiritual adulterer (friend with the world) - James 4:4
   1. That will make you an enemy of God!
   2. --What is friendship with the world?--
   3. "imitating worldly ways of thinking and worldly activities"  ESVSB
   4. Not serving God  Matt 6:24
4. Humble yourself before God - James 4:7
   1. Because God opposes the proud but helps the humble v6
5. Resist the devil - James 4:7
   1. Promise: the devil will flee from you
   2. But need to do rest of James 4:1-10
6. Come close to God - James 4:8
   1. Promise: God will then come close to me
   2. How?  See LASB study note on 4:7-10
7. Wash your hands - James 4:8
   1. you sinners
8. Purify your hearts - James 4:8
   1. because your loyalty is divided between God and the world
9. Cry, be sorrowful, have deep grief, sadness, gloom for your sin - James 4:9
10. Humble yourselves before the Lord - James 4:10
    1. Promise: God will lift you up in honor

Dec 4 - James 3 Commands 

App: Be willing to yield to others, especially Kathy - James 3:17

1. Not many of you should become teachers in the church - James 3:1
   1. But we are ALL to be teachers of our children & friends Deut 6:6-7, Eph 6.4, Heb 5.12
   2. Motive should not be bitter jealously or selfish ambition - James 3.14
2. Control our tongues - James 3:2
3. Be wise and understand God's ways - James 3:13
4. Prove I'm wise and understand God's ways by living an honorable life.  Which is doing good works with the humility that comes from wisdom - James 3:13
5. Don't be Jealous - James 3:14
6. Don't have selfish ambition - James 3:14
7. Don't cover up the selfish ambition with boasting and lying - James 3:14
8. Be pure - James 3:17
   1. ---How to be pure?---
   2. Spend MUCH time with God and in his word
   3. Ps 119.9-11  "How can a young man keep his way pure? ... I seek you with all my heart ... I have hidden your word in my heart"
9. Be peace loving - James 3:17
10. Be gentle at all times - James 3:17
11. Be willing to yield to others - James 3:17
12. Be full of mercy - James 3:17
13. Have the fruit of good deeds - James 3:17
14. Don't show favoritism - James 3:17
15. Be always sincere - James 3:17
16. Plant seeds of peace  - James 3:18
    1. So we can reap a harvest of righteousness

Dec 3 - James 2:14-26 Commands 

App: Determine who are Christians by seeing if their actions back up their faith - James 2:17 (Luke 3:8-9, 13.5, Acts 26:20) 

1. Show my faith by my actions - James 2:14
2. Have a faith that produces good deeds - James 2:17
   1. Just like Luke 3:8-9, Luke 13.5 & Acts 26:20
3. Show my faith by my good deeds - James 2:18
   
   1. Faith without good deeds is useless v20
   2. Abraham was shown to be right with God by his actions v21
   3. Paul and James had different meanings for justified and faith.  
   4. His actions made his faith complete v22
4.  Need to believe God like Abraham did - James 2:23

Dec 2 - James 2:1-13 Commands 

App: Remember God will judge ALL I say and do - James 2:12

1. Don't favor some people over others - James 2:1
   1. Otherwise how can you claim to have faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ. v1
2. Don't give special attention and care based on their wealth - James 2:3
   1. Favoritism comes from evil motives v4
   2. It's the poor that God has made rich in faith v5
   3. It's the poor that will inherit the Kingdom v5
   4. Don't make appearance more important than character.
   5. Promise: those who love him will inherit the Kingdom v5
3. Don't dishonor the poor - James 2:6  
   1. By giving them less attention than I give the rich
   2. It's the rich that oppress you v6  (Merchants and landowners taking land and possessions from the poor James 5:1-6.  The wealthy often used the court system to steal from the poor)
   3. It's the rich that slander Jesus Christ v7
4. Love others as myself - James 2:8
   1. The royal law (John 15.12, Lev 19:18, Mark 12:30-31, Rom 13:8, Gal 5.14)
   2. Don't treat people based on what they can do for you
5. Don't favor some people over others - James 2:9
   1. I break the law when I show favoritism v10
   2. If I break one law I'm as guilty as a person who breaks all of God's laws v10
   3. Confess, turn from my sin and receive God's forgiveness 1 John 1:9, Prov 28:13
6. Remember God will judge ALL I say and do - James 2:12
   1. Jesus sets me free from the power of sin John 8:31-36
   2. So ask for and rely on God to give you both the desire and the power to obey him Phil 2:12-13
   3. Every Christian will be judged by God (Matt 12:30, Cor 3:12-15, 2 Cor 5:10, 1 Peter 1:17)
7. Be merciful to others - James 2:13
   1. Promise: There will be no mercy for those who have not shown mercy to others. v13
   2. Promise: If I have been merciful, God will be merciful when he judges me. v13
   3. Mercy is compassion or forgiveness.
   4. Mercy is one of the top three aspects of the law 
   5. Mercy is required Matt 6:12, 14-15, 18:21-33, 25:34-40, Eph 4.31-32

Dec 1 - James 1:19-27 Commands  

App: To Obey the Bible I need to study the Bible CAREFULLY and NOT FORGET what I've learned - James 1:25

1. Be quick to listen - James 1:19  (these first 3 are key ones for a successful marriage)
2. Be slow to speak - James 1:19
3. Be slow to get angry - James 1:19
   1. Why?  Human anger does not produce the righteousness God desires
   2. Doing #1-3 allows us to do "Don’t use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them."  Eph 4:29
4. Get rid of all the filth and evil in your lives - James 1:21  
   1. Includes getting rid of pride, arrogance, corruption, and perverse speech Prov 8:13
5. Humbly accept the word God has planted in your lives - James 1:21  
   1. Why?  It can save your soul
6. Don't just listen to God's word, you MUST do what it says - James 1:22  
   1. Why?  Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves
7. Look carefully into the Bible - James 1:25  
8. Do what the Bible says - James 1:25 
9. Don't forget what you learned - James 1:25  
   1. If I do all 3 of the previous commands THEN God will bless me for doing them!!!
   2. To Obey the Bible we need to study the Bible carefully and not forget what we learn
   3. How not to forget?  I need to set up a good review system and review them at least weekly.
10. Control your tongue - James 1:26
11. Care for orphans and widows in their distress - James 1:27
12. Refuse to let the world corrupt you - James 1:27
    1. Restrict my TV and music so it won't corrupt me(plague our minds)

Nov 30 - James 1:1-18 Commands

App: View every trouble/trial with joy because they are opportunities for growth - James 1:2

1. Consider troubles and trials an opportunity for great joy - James 1:2
   1. View every trouble/trial with joy because they are opportunities for growth.
   2. Have a positive outlook because of what troubles can produce in our life.
2. Improve your endurance - James 1:4
   1. By passing the test (by maintaining my faith in God's goodness and desire to help)
   2. Goal is to become rich in faith - James 2.8
3. When I need wisdom ask God - James 1:5
   1. Prov 3:5-6 Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding.  Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.  More verses: Mark 11:22-24
4. When asking God for wisdom have complete faith in God and do not doubt - James 1:6
5. Do not waver in believing God is good and that he will give me wisdom - James 1:6
6. The Rich should boast that God has humbled them - James 1:10
7. Patiently endure testing and temptation - James 1:12
8. Don't be misled - James 1:16

Notes:

1. Most likely written by James the Just (brother of Jesus (Matt 13:55) and leader of the Jerusalem church (Acts 15).
2. He was executed in A.D. 62
3. Written most likely to a groups of Jewish Christian house churches outside of Palestine.
4. As a result of troubles, conflict has entered the churches and they have splintered into fighting factions.
5. James primary theme is living out one's faith, being a doer and not just a hearer of the word.
6. There are over 50 imperative commands in the book's 108 verses
7. God allows tests and trials (1:2-4), but temptation comes not from God but from self and Satan.  The required response is patient endurance.
8. The primary trial is poverty and oppression from the rich.

Outline

The Testing of Faith (1:2-18)

1. Joy in trials v2-4
2. Wisdom from God for trials v5-8
3. The place of rich and poor before God v9-11
4. Reward for those who endure v12
5. The process of temptation v13-18