James 5
Remember growing up when you had to work on a project together as a team! At first it was shaky but then as you grew together you were able to do so much more than you thought you could ever do? That’s how James leaves us…though he goes about it a little different way than Paul with encouragement and instead with be ready!
- TREASURE
- This is how we live out the Kingdom mentality! How we treat all that we have in respect to others is what makes the love of God show and bring His name fame. We often forget when we are in a leadership position that we are co-laborers not oppressors. Oppressors rob the people they lead from being part of the blessing God has for them…as followers of Christ we aren’t to rob others of God but instead give them more of Him! We do that by working everything He puts in our hands to the benefit of others not ourselves…that’s what team is all about!
- PERSEVERANCE
- Our world is so full of instant that we even have multiple news cycles per day…don’t get me wrong instant is pretty cool and it’s an AMAZING time to be alive, but when we get so caught up in instant that we don’t trust the process we miss out on the life we were made to live. When James is writing this the Church thinks Jesus’ Return is imminent any day (which we seem to have forgotten in our time) and they aren’t wasting time here on earth but they understand that having an instant mentality makes them miss the season they are in—even if it’s suffering! They trust the process…so much so that they aren’t to judge those (even those who oppress them) but should only give a “yes” or “no”! James uses Job to remind us that in due season we will reap the harvest but in the meantime we are to sow the seeds of faith and water them with hope!
- PRAYER
- This is the story we all stand in on! We have been pursued by God from the beginning…even in our wandering He still pursues us. He is so in love with us that He gave everything just for the opportunity to have a relationship with Him. Prayer is a way we get to communicate with God and the way we have purposeful prayer over aimless talk is to be at right standing with God (that means we approach Him with confession and repentance). When we are in right standing with God we get to experience Him like never before and get to experience His answer to our prayers (yes, no and maybe) as opposed to treating Him like a genie in a bottle.
Take Away:
How are you storing your treasure?
How can you prayer bring power in your life?
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Tyler West 