Warning From James to the Rich

1 Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you.2 Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten.3 Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure in the last days.4 Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts.5 You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter.6 You have condemned and murdered the righteous person. He does not resist you.

-- James 5:1-6 ESV

This is a grave warning to those who have violated Yeshua's warning to store up your treasure in heaven where moth and rust do not destroy.  James is specifically warning people who hoard their wealth instead of giving it freely. The work of the church is limited by greed -- ultimately it is the fatherless and the widow that suffer most from this greed.

19 "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rustt destroy and where thieves break in and steal,20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
-- Matthew 6:19-21 ESV

can't do much about the national economy

"There's not a lot we can do about the national economy but there is a lot you can do about your personal economy." ~ Zig Ziglar


Is God calling you to do something big, and audacious, and maybe even way beyond your ability?  If He is calling you to start a business, go on mission, help your neighbor clean his gutter, whatever it is, do it!  Whatever you do, don't deny God's calling in your life because of fear.  Fear didn't come from God.  "For God has not given us a spirit of fearfulness, but one of power, love, and sound judgment." 2 Timothy 1:7


Commit, and He will act.

A God-sized Hole

A great pastor, Dr. Dave Foster, in Nashville, Tennessee, taught me about a God-sized hole in every person's heart that must be filled.  As I mature in Christ, that analogy rings more true.  That God-sized hole explains every sort of awful behavior in which man can engage.  There is a void, a massive bottomless pit in every heart that can only be filled with the love of Christ. 

C.S. Lewis was thinking along the same lines when he said, "I sometimes wonder whether all pleasures are not substitutes for joy."  C.S. is referring to the very same "joy" that Paul refers to in his letter to the Galatians 5:22, "the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith..."

If you have never known the joy that can only come from knowing the love of your heavenly father, don't let the sun go down again without experiencing it.  "God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that those who believe in Him, will not perish, but will have everlasting life." John 3:16.  If you accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of your life, pray, right now, that you accept his precious offer as a sacrifice on the cross, that paid your way into heaven. 

If you prayed that prayer for the first time today,  welcome to the family!  Find a Bible-believing church right away, and let them feed and nurture your new faith in Christ, that  you might finally experience a God-sized joy! 

Right, Wrong, or Crazy?

We have to decide for ourselves if Jesus was right, wrong, or crazy.  Was he telling the truth, or was he lying, or was he out of his mind?

Consider just a few outrageous claims Jesus made, and decide for yourself:

"I am the resurrection and the life. the one who believes in Me, even if he dies, will live. Everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die -- ever." John 11:26

"I am the way the truth and life, no one comes to the Father, except through Me." John 14:6


"Unless someone is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." John 3:3

"Anyone who believes in Him is not condemned, but anyone who does not believe is already condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the One and Only Son of God." John 3:18

The question is especially difficult when you consider the consequences.  If Jesus was telling the truth, then His way is the only way.

Jesus is the Messiah, the one and only son of the one true and living God, Yahweh.  Jesus was free of sin, yet offered Himself as a sacrifice to pay for your sins and mine.  The decision to accept His offer is yours alone.

You Can't Do It Alone

Moses was overwhelmed with judging the heavy case load that came before him.  Jethro, his father in law, gave  Moses some great advice, "What you are doing is not good. You'll wear out both yourself and the people who are with you, because the task is too heavy for you. You can't do it alone." Exodus 18:18

Kindness to the Poor is a Loan to the Lord

The economy of God is so far above our flawed understanding of economy, that's it's nearly impossible for us to grasp.

Consider the Proverb, "Kindness to the poor is a loan to the Lord, and He will give a reward to the lender." -- Proverbs 19:17 HCSB

Seriously!? Really!? No worldly math scholar could ever agree, that to give to a poor person, will net "a reward to the lender," from somewhere else.

His ways are higher than our ways. How else can we understand? When we do the math, it will never work.

You and I will be rewarded someday for the kindness we show to the poor today. God is scheduling a Divine appointment for you and I today. It will happen. You and I will be faced with an opportunity to act on this inspired proverb. We just don't know the timing or the amounts. There won't be a bolt of lightning, and there might be no witnesses, and we might overlook it, but the appointment will happen.

Boaz Didn't Have A Boss

Check out the Book of Ruth in the Old Testament. It's very short, an easy read, and a fantastic love story. So when Naomi and Ruth made their way back to Bethlehem with nothing, and were dependent upon the kindness of strangers, how did Boaz help them? Did he hand them the classifieds? Did he tell them to get a better education and start over? No way! Boaz was the boss, he provided. He was able to provide food and income to Ruth and Naomi in his own fields. Are you positioning yourself to help today's Ruth and Naomi, or are you just doing your job? Are you sewing your own fields or someone else's? As Christians, we owe it to the church to sew our own fields, to provide more.

Quick test... Are you able to stand up in your workplace and shout, "Jesus is Lord!" Well? Can you? Will you be fired? Will you get written up? Do you fear for your next promotion? If the answer is yes to any of these questions, you've made yourself a slave to the world. Get out from under that yoke, and sew your own field. Be your own boss. Whatever it is, whatever your skill, just do it! "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." -- Phil. 4:13