2002-01-01
Good Morning Faithful Ones,
Yesterday, I was unable to finish discussing the remaining part of the fifth chapter of James, JAS 5: 12-20, so that’s the subject of today’s message. As we have been getting better acquainted with our parent-apostle, we have found him to be a plain-speaking writer very willing to lay some tough, often convicting subjects right on the line. Immature readers of him might even take offense at his directness. However, mature readers take it differently. They feel blessed either to know that James has helped them discover subtle or hitherto undiscovered sin to work on getting out of their lives, or he has confirmed that a particular sin is not a problem in their lives.
JAS 5: 12 is directed at the way we make promises. “Above all, my brothers, do not use an oath when you make a promise. Do not swear by heaven or by earth or by anything else. Say only ‘yes’ when you mean yes, and ‘no’ when you mean no, and then you will not come under God’s judgment.” The point here is not about cursing, but about the lack of a need for anyone to attach any name (particularly that of the Lord) to testify to the truthfulness of his speech. If a person is known for producing the fruit of a righteous life in Christ, there is no need for proving the truth of what he says with the addition of saying it in some one else’s name. That person’s “yes” will mean yes and “no” will mean no. This passage could also be applied to forbid such needless expressions as “For heaven sake,” “As God is my Judge,” “By Jove,” and such minced oaths as “gee” (contraction for Jesus), “gosh” and “golly” (slang for God). We can think of the third commandment here, “Thou shalt not take the Lord’s name in vain,” EX 20:7. Christ taught the same principle in MT 5: 34-37, and I hope you will read His words.
The next passage in James deals with the power and importance of prayer in both physical and spiritual healing. JAS 5: 13-16, “Is anyone among you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? He should sing praises. Is there anyone who is sick? He should send for the church elders, who will pray for him and rub olive oil on him in the name of the Lord. This prayer made in faith will heal the sick person; the Lord will restore him to health, and the sins he has committed will be forgiven. So then, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, so that you will be healed. The prayer of a good person has a powerful effect.” Those of you who know me well know just how much of an issue this has been in my life in the last eighteen months. My husband was searching for a job, and God was convicting me that I needed to improve the quality of my own prayer life. Our awesome Lord worked on me by bringing a fellow member of my congregation to ask me to coordinate the e-mail portion of our 60-person prayer chain. By doing this, God gave me the opportunity to keep my own troubles in perspective. I could see how dire the troubles of others were. He also forced me to write prayers to others, thus learning to shift the focus of my life on to Him and away from my own suffering. Learning this was a great blessing, but there was more. Nothing convinced me more effectively of the power prayer has than seeing how it impacted the lives of the people about whom our prayer chain prayed. Not all these prayers were answered the way I thought I wanted them to be, but many of them were. My faith tells me that the ones that weren’t answered the way I wanted where dealt with by God in carrying out a part of His plan I don’t understand. I am assured of that, because I know deep in my heart that Jehovah is a totally righteous God, Who loves His children and has only what is in their best interest as His agenda.
If we go back to the story of Elijah in 1K 17: 1 and 18: 1, that of the prophet Elijah and the drought, we find a beautiful example of the powerful effect of prayer. King Ahab was king of Israel at the time of this story. “He sinned against the Lord more than any of his predecessors,” 1 K 16: 29. It was Ahab who married the vicious Jezebel, an evil Baal-worshipper who tried to convert Israel to that idolatrous practice. God directed Elijah to say to King Ahab, “In the name of the Lord, the living God of Israel, Whom I serve, I tell you that there will be no dew or rain for the next two or three years until I say so.” God told Elijah to go into hiding at Cherith Brook east of the Jordan, and that He would protect Elijah there. 1 K 18: 1, “After some time, in the third year of the drought, the Lord said to Elijah, ‘Go and present yourself to King Ahab, and I will send rain.’ “ JAS 5: 17-18, “Elijah was the same kind of person as we are. He prayed earnestly that there would be no rain, and no rain fell on the land for three and a half years. Once again he prayed, and the sky poured out its rain and the earth produced its crops.”
James ends his book with JAS 5: 19-20 revealed a wonderful way our lives can be blessed. “My brothers, if one of you wanders away from the truth and another one brings him back again, remember this: whoever turns a sinner back from his wrong way will save that sinner’s soul from death and bring about the forgiveness of many sins.” I have a very dear friend who was hugely upset at seeing a family member getting involved in a cult which was pulling this person away from the truth of God’s light. My friend shared this story with me and kept me posted on the suffering she went through with her relative’s criticisms of her, arguments about what she believed, and the wedge that was developing as this situation went on over an entire summer. My friend prayed for this relative, and so did I. During this crisis, neither of us knew for sure how God would respond to our prayers. But, eventually, He did in His own time. We saw the principle of PR 10: 12 demonstrated. “Hate stirs up trouble, but love forgives all offenses.” [See also 1 PET 4:8]. The relative has now come back into the Good Shepherd’s fold, and no one is happier about it than my friend and I, except our loving Abba. Today, this relative is a functioning and happy Christian serving the Lord and producing beautiful fruit for Him. Prayer is both powerful and precious. It is a gift the Lord gives us to serve Him and to bless our lives and those of others.
PRAYER: O Lord, any feelings of conviction we have from reading the words of James represent Your efforts to perfect us. When we act to expunge the sins of which they convict us, our lives are blessed. Those are the actions of an effective and loving Parent Who wants only the best for His children. Sometimes James’ words lead us to painful revelations about our characters and/or the content of our hearts. While at the same time bringing us to the task of getting subtle or overt sin out of our lives, You equip us to be victorious through our own prayers and those of others for us. Sanctification can be hard spiritual work, but You love us so much that You guide us, speak to us through the Scriptures, and give us prayer so we can have direct communication with You while it is in progress. For being the awesome God You are, you deserve our thanks, honor, praise, worship, and adoration. To You belongs all the glory! In Christ’s name, amen.
Tomorrow, it’s on to a new series. We are so blessed that we have such a superb and glorious God rooting for us to be victorious in sanctification and over the devil. Every day, He showers us with His love and guides us through our troubles. What more could anyone ever want? Peter and I send you our love too.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn