He's at the Door

James 5 cont’d:

…strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near. Do not complain, brethren, against one another, so that you yourselves may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing right at the door. 

Have you ever had to appear for jury duty?  If you haven’t, you most likely will.  You sit with a crowd of people waiting to see if you’ll be picked for the jury, and as you all file in and find your seat, the judge comes into the room in his robe, and takes his place at the front.  Then the selection process begins.  It’s long, it’s sometimes boring, and it’s always annoying to be pulled away from work to see if the judge is going to choose you or not.

Did you know the Lord is our righteous judge?  He’s not like the judge at jury duty, the one who decides whether or not we’re guilty of a speeding ticket, or the one who checks to see if we’ve done everything “by the book” and therefore worthy to go free.

The Lord is coming, and he will judge all of us. And the warning in these verses is that while we wait, we are supposed to strengthen one another…not complain against each other.

Our judgment will come as the Lord looks at our hearts, and the actions that came out of our the attitudes of our hearts. 

Our hearts must be strong in faith, strong in love, and strong in purity.

How do we make sure that the Lord, our Judge, chooses us?  He already has, through his son Jesus Christ.  He has taken our place as the guilty one, and all we have to do is surrender to him, and when the Judge appears at the door – we don’t have to fear that his gavel will come down in a guilty judgment.

We have been set free to live.

Be Patient

On to James 5, the last chapter of this book:

You have lived luxuriously on the earth and led a life of wanton pleasure; you have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. You have condemned and put to death the righteous man; he does not resist you…Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious produce of the soil, being patient about it, until it gets the early and late rains.

The beginning of this chapter is a warning to those who seek riches, those who seek only that which fulfills all of their desires for pleasure, those with “fat hearts,” those who live a self-absorbed life apart from God.

And after that warning comes the instruction to be patient for the coming of the Lord, using the analogy of a farmer waiting for the fruits of his seed that he has planted.  He not only waits, but he waits patiently, for the early and late rains.

Impatience is one of the characteristics we see in our kids at an early age.  They want their milk, and they want it now!  They want that toy, and they must have it now!  They want their way, and they stomp until they get it now!

However, as any good parent does…she teaches her kids to wait for what they want.  

Waiting teaches us patience.  Waiting sometimes is realizing that what we wanted wasn’t really what we wanted, or needed, after all.  And waiting patiently results in a thankful heart when that want is fulfilled.

When we go after riches, or things in this life that can burn up and go away as easily as they come, we are not wise.

But when we are patient, serving the Lord with gladness of heart, we can be sure that the rain will come, and the “precious produce of the soil” will appear in due time.

Be patient.

Instead...

The last of James 4:

Instead, you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that.” But as it is, you boast in your arrogance; all such boasting is evil. Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin

If you didn’t read yesterday’s devo, go back and read it so you’ll know what comes before “Instead…” here in these verses.

Why is it important to actually say the words, “if the Lord wills…” before we make our plans? 

I think it’s because when we say aloud and agree with God regarding our lives and all that we have planned, we are laying down our own desires in favor of His.  When we can’t say that our plans are only operable if it be His will, we are being arrogant, self-sufficient…and that’s “evil.”

Wow. 

Boasting about what all we have planned for our future and how we’re going to turn a profit by doing it is not right. 

And here at the end of James comes a verse I’ve heard all of my life, but never realized the context in which it sits.

When we know the “right” thing to do and choose to not do it, it’s sin.

Here in these last few verses the “right” thing is to acknowledge the sovereignty and rule of God in our lives, to submit every plan, every thought, every word, and every deed to His will for our futures.

Anything less than that is sin.

I think I need to pray and repent, and acknowledge God and his ways once again. In fact, it’s good to do this daily.

And it sure brings a lot of peace when all of our plans are submitted to him.

The Umbrella

James 4 cont'd:

Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.” Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away.

We’re coming to the end of chapter 4 in James, and we are not instructed to not make life plans?  Really? 

I don’t think this is saying to not make plans.  We have to plan ahead, save for our kids’ college, make wise decisions regarding our jobs and future, etc.  But note the part where it says “spend a year” and “engage in business” and “make a profit.”

Those kinds of priorities – where we dictate to God and everyone around us just how “we” are going to be rigid on our own timelines, spend our time engaged and engrossed in our jobs in order to make money – are not wise.

Remember, these verses come after stern warnings to repent and humble ourselves before God.

Part of that  humility is remembering that our lives are like a vapor – they appear for a short time on the earth – and then we’re gone.

All of our plans, our timelines, and our profits must come under His plans, His timeline for our lives, and His blessings, for His glory.

When we pray about our future, our jobs, our families, and all that pertains to ensuring a safe and happy live here on earth, we must be reminded of why we are here – to worship and bring God glory.  And everything we do must fall under that umbrella.

We’ll read the last verses of James 4 tomorrow.

The Tongue Again

James 4 cont’d:

Do not speak against one another, brethren. He who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks against the law and judges the law; but if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge of it. There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the One who is able to save and to destroy; but who are you who judge your neighbor?

Here we go…more verses about our tongue.  What’s up with James, anyway?  He really likes to speak harshly against that which comes out of our mouths.  It must be really important!

Gossip is bad.  And to gossip about those with whom we serve the Lord is downright awful!  But we all do it.

God is the one true lawgiver and judge.  And when we talk against a fellow believer, we are in effect trying to take His place by passing judgment on them.  Then we sometimes go further and reach a verdict and find them guilty of all that we’ve judged them for!

When a Christian friend wrongs us, commits a sin, or is behaving badly, it’s okay to go her in love and confront her…if it’s done in love…with the purpose of restoration.

But it’s never okay to slander her, talk behind her back, or judge her as evil, because in doing so we commit “murder” of the most horrific kind – the kind that destroys friendships and relationships.

These verses come right after James’ instructions to repent and come clean.

And that includes repenting over what we say about others when they’re not around.

Humble Weeping

James 4 cont'd:

Be miserable and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.

These verses must be read in context, not just pulled from the chapter.

We are told her to be miserable and mournful.  Right before these verses, we were told to cleanse ourselves and purify our hearts, drawing near to God, in order to see the devil flee.

These verses refer to repentance, something we don’t hear a lot about these days, unfortunately.

True repentance (sorrow for sin and a decision to turn from it) involves mourning and weeping.

When we are truly sorry for hurting a friend or a family member, it hurts our hearts that we’ve done something that caused another person grief. And we come in humility to ask forgiveness, with a heavy heart of repentance, hoping they will forgive us.  Sometimes they do…and sometimes they don’t.

However, God forgives us when we repent.  When we truly humble ourselves to him and repent over lust, believing lies, thinking evil thoughts, etc. and it causes our heart to mourn before him, he receives us and forgives us….always.

And then…he exalts us.  He doesn’t exalt us above others.  He exalts us to the same place his son Jesus has…that of sonship…right next to his throne.

Pretty cool, isn’t it?

Repentance does involve sorrow and gloom because we feel heavy over what we’ve done.  But the good part is that joy comes when we are forgiven…and restoration.

He remembers our sins no more.

Watch Him Run!

Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

I’ve heard these verses many times.  But this time when I read them, I realized something.  I often want the devil to flee from me and leave me alone, without my submitting to God.  I want the devil to stay away from harassing me without really resisting him. And basically, I just want him to disappear.

He’s not going to disappear…yet…

So while he’s around pestering good folks like you and me, we have to submit to God – and his word.  We have to know his word and what it says so that we have the ability to resist the devil.  If we don’t know his word, we can be blindsided by Satan's lies.  And we must draw near to the Lord through prayer and praise.

The next part of the passage is interesting, as well.  It tells us to cleanse our hands and purify our hearts.

Wait!  I thought that was the work of Jesus on the cross – and not something I have to do!  Salvation is.  But walking on in purity and cleanness of thought and heart is something we must choose to do.

Feeling harassed, pestered, and lied to?

Dig into the Word, praise the name of Jesus, and stand up against all lies against you and your family. 

Then watch the devil run!