Thursday, May 25, 2017
Don’t grumble about each other, brothers and sisters, or you will be
judged. For look—the Judge is standing
at the door! For examples of patience in
suffering, dear brothers and sisters, look at the prophets who spoke in the
name of the Lord. We give great honor to
those who endure under suffering. For
instance, you know about Job, a man of great endurance. You can see how the Lord was kind to him at
the end, for the Lord is full of tenderness and mercy. But most of all, my brothers and sisters,
never take an oath, by heaven or earth or anything else. Just say a simple yes or no, so that you will
not sin and be condemned. James 5:9-12(NLT)
We are
looking at practical applications of living in an intentional way as people who serve a sovereign God, and
therefore what our attitudes and actions must reflect. Today we see three more instructions from
James, the most practical apostle.
Witness
– We Must Proclaim the Kingdom like a Prophet
Living your
life in a manner worthy of eternity means you will stand for that which will
stand in eternity. That means sharing your
faith in God with people.
It’s never
been part of my comfort zone
to go out on a limb with my faith.
Nobody likes being thought a fool or being mistaken for an offensive
religious bigot. Sharing your faith is
hard work; it’s not an activity for the faint of heart. But then, farmers and prophets are not lazy
people!
Perseverance
– We Must Have an Attitude like Job
Job had it
all; then he had it all taken away. He
went from hero to zero in an afternoon.
His wife got so discouraged she told her husband, why don’t you just curse God and die?
But Job hung in there. He wasn’t patient like some say – he was
actually ticked, and wanted an answer.
But he did
hang in there, and that’s what perseverance is all about. You know that God is in charge, so you play
by His rules, and leave the results to Him.
Language
– We Must Keep Our Speech Clean
James said
a word about our words. Folks, what
proceeds out of the mouths of even Christians these days would have made our
grandparents turn purple if they’re alive, or turn over if in their
graves.
All of your
words are worship. What James is saying
is, don’t offer slop to our Lord! He is the sovereign God of the universe – not
the man upstairs. He hears our words and attributes each of
those words to us as our contribution to either praise or putrification of His
name.
Be careful
with your words!
For You Today
Proclaiming
the Kingdom of God with clean mouths and persevering hearts and minds – this is
anything but self-serving or bigoted; this is work for children of the King!
NOTES
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