Do you need encouragement to stand firm for the Lord? Today’s reading in the book of James is for you. James is writing to the believing poor and the persecuted. He encourages them to finish strong by being patient and not grumbling. They are to keep the Lord’s coming in mind. One day soon He will return and make all things right.

James gives the example of a farmer waiting for his crops to grow (v. 7). The farmer depends on the early and late rains. Unlike farmers today, farmers in those times were at the mercy of the weather and could only pray, watch, and wait. James wants his readers to be patient, knowing that the Lord is near to them also. When He comes, it will be worth the wait.

James addresses our attitude while we are waiting. We should not be grumbling. It’s easy to blame others when things aren’t working out for us. We might be tempted to think that life would be easier if someone else did this or that. For instance, “If Jacob wasn’t so lazy, he could help me with this.” Or, “If Becky got her act together, we would have done better.”

If patience is the ability to wait on God, perseverance is the ability to trust God despite the obstacles. Grumbling and complaining indicates our lack of both. James reminds us that not only is the Lord coming (v. 7) and near (v. 8), but the Lord, our Judge, is standing at the door (v. 9), listening to all that we have to say. So, we need both patience and perseverance while we wait. Job is highlighted for his perseverance through trial. Although he had no indication that things would ever get better, he trusted in the Lord.

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While the Bible does not declare that wealth is evil, Scripture does shine a spotlight on the dangers of money and our relationship with it. In James chapter 5, the author addresses wealthy landlords who were oppressing their workers. “Now listen,” he writes in verse 1, saying that they will soon “weep and wail” because of the misery that is coming. James describes how they look from God’s perspective. “Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes” (vv. 2–3).

On the day of judgment, their corroded gold and silver “will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days” (v. 3). Why were they meeting such harsh judgment? The answer is in verse 4: “The wages you failed to pay the workers who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty.” Did you catch that? Even their wages were crying out to God!

These rich oppressors had lived in luxury and self-indulgence, treating themselves to every pleasure (v. 5). Because they ignored the needs of the poor, they were sentenced to death (v. 6). Jesus told of a wealthy man named Lazarus and a beggar who sat by his gate, waiting for table scraps. After the beggar died, the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. Then the rich man died also. Jesus said, “In Hades, where he was in torment, [the rich man] looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue’” (Luke 16:23-24). “But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony’” (v. 25).

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While in college, my brother visited a friend in Louisiana where they went crabbing. When his friend put the first crab in a large bucket, he put a top over the bucket to keep it from getting out. But when he caught the second crab, he left the top off. Evidently, every time a crab crawled near the top, the other crab would pull it down and get on top. This is the perfect picture of slander. We tear one another down to try to gain a position of authority.

James warns that there is no place for one-upmanship in the body of Christ. In yesterday’s reading, we were told: “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up” (4:10). In today’s passage, James instructs, “Brothers and sisters, do not slander one another” (v. 11). Slander builds us up by putting others down.

When we do this, we make ourselves a judge over them. But more than that, we have become a judge of the Law. James picks up a theme from earlier in his letter. “If you really keep the royal Law found in Scripture, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself,’ you are doing right. But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers” (2:8–9). When we slander our brother or sister, we are not only breaking the Law (by not loving them) but we are setting ourselves above the Law by acting as a judge.

A good judge has a full knowledge of the law. A qualified criminal law judge can assess a person’s behavior based upon criminal law. A qualified civil law judge can assess based upon civil law. But only a qualified judge of God’s divine Law can properly assess a person’s behavior, motives, and intent, and that Judge (who wrote and knows the Law fully) is not us.

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In my younger days, older people had some unusual sayings. I didn’t realize then that many of them were based on Scripture. One saying I would hear often is “Lord willing and the creek don’t rise.” Young and naïve, I didn’t understand why they had to say “Lord willing,” and I sure didn’t understand anything about a “creek rising.” We find the origin in James 4:15.

James says that, instead of announcing our plans, we “ought to say, ‘If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that’” (v. 15). We don’t say this much anymore. Maybe we know that our next breath is dependent upon the Lord, but we don’t verbally express it. Clearly, the audience James is addressing did not say it or believe it. His caution was aimed at people who believed they were in control of their own destiny, particularly high-power businesspeople.

James was not disparaging those who make money or have their own business. In fact, that would contradict Scripture. Look at the woman in Proverbs 31: “She considers a field and buys it; out of her earnings she plants a vineyard” (Prov. 31:16). “She makes linen garments and sells them, and supplies the merchants with sashes” (31:24). Rather, James is addressing the attitude of those who don’t consider God’s grace in their life. He identifies this attitude as boasting in your “arrogant schemes” (v. 16).

At first glance, verse 17 seems to be out of place. To properly apply this verse we need to answer the question: “What is the good to which James was alluding?” Doing business with the right attitude regarding God’s grace in your life. That is good. It is only by God’s grace that we can live, travel, conduct a business, and make a profit. These are gifts from God.

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Most of the letters written by the apostle Paul were written to address a problem in the church. The letter written by James is no different. In chapter 4, he points to division and disagreements within the body of Christ. James begins by asking, “What causes fights and quarrels among you?” (v. 1).

The answer boils down to covetousness: “You desire but you do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight” (v. 2). I have often thought of the tenth commandment as the “invisible” commandment: “You shall not covet” (Ex. 20:17). Here’s why. Commandments 6 through 9 can be observed. “You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor” (vv. 13–16). But the 10th commandment about covetousness is a matter of the heart that can produce murder, adultery, theft, and lying.

Rather than desiring what somebody else has, James says we should make our requests known to God (v. 2). Consider Jesus’ teaching on prayer. He says to His disciples, “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!” (Matt. 7:9–11).

Rather than coveting what others have—position, power, status, money, material goods—we should share our desires with our good Father and trust Him to provide according to His will. We can trust the Lord to provide exactly what we need. “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up” (v. 10).

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On November 19, 1863, Abraham Lincoln delivered the “Gettysburg Address.” Although you might not be able to recite the entire speech from memory, you probably remember his opening words: “Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth, upon this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.”

Words create lasting impressions. We can use words to lift others up or tear people down. James points out that, because of the duplicity of our heart, we use words both ways. Even as believers, we may speak love at one moment and communicate hate the next. This should not be!

James addresses the issue of our speech because the tongue is difficult to control. While we may have learned how to tame the largest and wildest of animals, we seem to have limited capacity to control our own tongues (vv. 7–8). Why? Because our mouth expresses what is in our heart (Matt. 15:18–20). James directs our attention to the way we communicate with others. We may slander them directly or tear them down behind their backs. Why do we say such things? Because of an issue within our own heart. There may be many causes, but the outcome is always the same.

Perhaps instead of talking to other people, we should talk to God first. We can ask Him, “God, show me the source of my anger, insecurity, fear, etc. Why do I want to verbally respond in the way that I do?” After we prayerfully confess our sinful impulse, we can ask, “Holy Spirit, provide the power I need to respond in a way that glorifies You.” You might not be able to control your tongue, but God can.

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As a parent, I cannot imagine telling my children that I love them and then never providing food for them to eat or clothes for them to wear. You would be right to question if I truly loved my children at all. My actions would betray my words.

In James chapter two, he talks about the connection between our faith and our works, what we say we believe and what we do. A reader may ask at this point, “So, how are we saved? By keeping the Law?” This is a legitimate question. But James is explaining that our internal faith expresses itself in outward action. Some have misunderstood, assuming that James is saying both faith and works save us. In fact, some have tried to discount this letter altogether because of this misunderstanding.

But James is stating something totally different. He says true faith will naturally express itself in demonstrable works. In verses 15 through 19, he gives the example of loving a neighbor in need. If we look at someone who is suffering and simply say, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but offer no assistance, our words mean nothing (v. 16). James uses strong language in conclusion: “In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead” (v. 17).

The example James chooses reminds us of Jesus’ response to the expert in the Law in Luke 10. When asked how to gain eternal life, Jesus told the parable of the Good Samaritan. Two religious men (the priest and the Levite) walked across the street and did not help the man in need. It was the Samaritan who took care of the man who had been robbed, beaten and left on the side of the road. The religion of the priest and Levite was not worth anything, especially to the helpless man (Luke 10:25–37).

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