ACC ~ James 1 v8

COUNTING ON GOD’S MERCY. HERMAS: Put away doubting and do not hesitate to ask of the Lord. Do not say to yourself: “How can I ask of the Lord and receive from him, seeing that I have sinned so much against him?” Do not reason with yourself like this, but turn to the Lord with all your heart and ask of him without doubting, and you will know the multitude of his tender mercies, that he will never leave you but fulfill the request of your soul. SHEPHERD 2.9.

THE UNSTABLE. ORIGEN: We who do not follow our Lord with complete and perfect faith but yet have withdrawn from foreign gods dwell in a no-man’s land. We are cut down by the foreign gods as deserters, but because we are unstable and unreliable, we are not defended by our Lord. SERMONS ON EXODUS 8.4.

PRAYING WITH AN ACCUSING CONSCIENCE. BEDE: A double-minded man is one who on the one hand prays to God and on the other hand fails to obtain anything from him because inside his conscience is accusing him all the time. A man is double-minded when he wants to have fun in this world but also reign with God in heaven. Likewise, a man is double-minded when he seeks the approval of others for his good deeds rather than spiritual rewards from God. CONCERNING THE EPISTLE OF ST. JAMES.

TOSSED LIKE WAVES. OECUMENIUS: A double-minded person is someone who is unstable and unreliable. Such a person has no clear vision of the future and no sure grasp of the present but rather drifts about here and there, grasping at whatever he can. He may be compared with the waves of the sea which are tossed to and fro, or to a flower of the field which is here today and gone tomorrow. COMMENTARY ON JAMES.

Jas