The Everyday Prayer

Re:Verse passage – James 5:7-11 (day seven)

Patience is not something that western culture is particularly proficient at. We have been spoiled by our own ingenuity. We have fast food, microwaves, smart phones, robot vacuums (just to name a few) all designed to make life faster. We are always looking for a quick fix, so when God asks us to be patient, we often expect the results of our patience to be put in a microwave as well.

“The farmer waits for the precious produce of the soil, being patient about it, until it gets the early and late rains.” vs 7

The farmer is patiently waiting for the rain, but what happens if there is a drought? What if the rain doesn’t come? Our tendency in this scenario is to look for the quick fix. We think we can help God by taking matters into our own hands. Our ingenuity may create relief in the moment, but the quick fix never solves the problem permanently.

Even when the rain doesn’t come, what God has in store is better than anything we could ever attempt to create! Even when the rain doesn’t come… it is well!

Re:Verse passage – James 5:7-11 (day six)

⁹ Don’t grumble about each other, brothers and sisters, or you will be judged. For look—the Judge is standing at the door! James 5:9

When tensions rise we can be tempted to turn on one another. We have the inclination to grumble, complain, gossip, or slander. Pastor James offers a stern warning-God does not approve of that behavior, especially when things get tough.

Why do you suppose? Is it just considered bad behavior, unkind, or immoral?

Or perhaps Pastor James wants us to know that when life gets tough that’s when we need each other most. Replacing grumbling, with words of grace, we discover the faith to have the patience Pastor James prescribes.

Re:Verse passage – James 5:7-11 (day five)

“Brothers and sisters, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.”

I am by nature a visual learner, meaning that often times I can understand or grasp a truth or principle if I can see it or visualize it. I suspect I am not alone. Our Re:Verse passage this week has helped me see (in James’ word pictures) that patience is not an inactive or idle task. Whether in waiting or suffering, patience goes hand in hand with activity.  While the farmer waits for the rain, he still must work and tend the land. Weeds removed. Fertilizer added. Patience while waiting requires me to tend my heart (the soil of the gospel).

Patience while suffering looks like activity.  See what the prophets did?  They spoke the Word of God. When I suffer, I can do the same thing. First, I can speak the promises and character of God to myself, then by His grace I can share it with others.

Whether I’m waiting and/or suffering, James shows me what I can do. I can work and serve, I can preach and teach (to myself and others). Thank you, Lord for your helpful pictures and wisdom!

Re:Verse passage – James 5:7-11 (day four)

James uses a farming metaphor to teach patience.  The farmer recognizes the value of the produce of the soil…James calls it precious…and is willing to wait for it.  Likewise, the prophets knew the value of the word of the Lord…it was worth waiting for.  When God promised Abram and Sarah a son, they waited twenty five years for fulfillment of the promise.  They knew it was worth it.

If we give value to something, it is easier to wait to receive it.  Who wants to wait for something if you really didn’t want it in the first place?  James tells us that whatever God has for us, has worth.  Once we settle that truth in our heart, it is easier to wait for the early and the late rain.

God has made many promises to us…all have not been realized.  God is full of compassion and mercy and James teaches that if we endure and are patient, we will be blessed.  Have you given up on any of God’s promises?  Wait on the Lord!

Re:Verse passage – James 5:7-11 (day three)

“You too be patient; strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near.” 

Few attributes seem as devoid of life as the characteristic of patience. Perhaps thinking of past attempts at patience brings to mind memories of stifled emotion, forced calm, mind-numbing hours, anger-inducing delays, or the like. It seems exhausting, oppressive, infuriating, useless, wasteful of everybody’s time. Shall we just smash all the clocks and burn all the calendars? Such so-called patience is actually impatience. True patience, on the other hand, will only become possible as one contemplates reality instead of pretense. When you fancy that a new job will make possible all your treasured ambitions, that’s mostly fantasy. When you become increasingly familiar with the qualities of the kingdom of God, you will treasure patience as that space that will allow you to grow into the joy of it.

Re:Verse passage – James 5:7-11 (day two)

We count those blessed who endured. vs. 11 a

Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, ³ knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. ⁴ And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.  James 1:2-4

As James completes his letter by gently restating his observation about enduring trials. This time he doesn’t say “count it all joy,” but he reminds us of those who have come out of the fire and how we all have admired their faith as a result. Be like them, he would say to us. Have you read “The Hiding Place” by Corrie Ten Boom? It is an incredible testament to this sort of faith. Her story of perseverance during the Nazi occupation of her homeland was extraordinary, and it continues to be a reminder to us of how the Lord is faithful during all chapters of our lives. Hang in there, the Lord is near. Your devotion at this time will be a defining moment in your journey.

Re:Verse passage – James 5:1-6 (day seven)

Did you think that peer pressure ended when you left your teens and entered adulthood? It never stopped, it just changed vehicles. Instead of popularity in school, it became standing in the community. Instead of the words of a bully in the lunch line, it became the condescending look from the other moms in the pick up line. Instead of the gossip in the locker room, it became the gossip around the water cooler. No matter where we are at in life, there is pressure to conform to be more like those around us.

I imagine the wealthy Christians in the first century were much like you and me. I doubt they set out to marginalize the poor. I imagine they were “keeping up with the Joneses” and just trying to maintain their social status. In doing so, they conformed to be like any other rich person, lording their status at the expense of the laborers. Their conformity came at a cost.

Romans 12:2 “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind…” The only conformity a believer should experience is conformity into the likeness of Christ.

Re:Verse passage – James 5:1-6 (day six) 

Where you treasure is,  that’s where the desires of your heart will be. -Jesus, Matthew 6:21

Pastor James’ intent is to teach his readers that Jesus takes our treasure seriously. Our treasure, like an x-ray, gives us the clearest image of our heart. It never lies about our truest desires; what we leverage our time and energy to obtain.

And those desires have real and lasting consequences, literally life and death. Your desires can bring life to others, or bring great harm. They can bear the fruit of righteousness, or eternal death.

So, Pastor James would say, don’t be cavalier with the desires of your heart. Jesus isn’t.