SPIRITUAL
DIARY
Date: 10-31-03
My
Worship Time Focus: The way they get
their wealth
Bible
Reading & Meditation Reference: James 5:4, 6a
1. Message of the verse: “For listen! Hear the cries of the field
workers whom you have cheated of their pay. The wages you held back cry out
against you. The cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord
Almighty. You have condemned and killed good people who had no power to defend
themselves against you.” (NLT) “Behold, the pay of the laborers who mowed
your fields, and which has been withheld by you, cries out against you; and the
outcry of those who did the harvesting has reached the ears of the Lord of
Sabaoth. You have condemned and put to
death the righteous man; he does not resist you.” (NASB)
The fifth
point in the outline that is in titled “The Marks of the Mature Christian” is
“HE IS PRAYREFUL IN TROUBLES” and the first point under that is “Economic
troubles,” and that goes from 5:1-9. The
name of this chapter is “Money Talks,” which goes covers 5:1-6.
There are two themes that run
through chapter five, one of them is trouble and the other theme is prayer, and
thus we get the fifth point “he is prayerful in trouble.” The mature believer will first of all pray
when trouble comes his way while the immature believer will trust in his own
experience and skill, or will turn to others for help. As believers we are to seek console when
trouble comes, but I would think that we should first of all pray. I would also think that one of the things
that a mature believer could do when trouble comes is to praise the Lord, and
that may not seem like something that is natural when trouble comes, however I
think when we praise the Lord we are saying that God is in control of all
things, even the trouble that we are facing at this very moment. Paul says that we are to in every thing give
thanks for this God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. As stated in an earlier lesson our lives are
like a tapestry that can only be view by us from the bottom, which does not
look very good, but God can see the top and He is the one who will make it
beautiful. Another thing we can do when
trouble comes is to sing praises to the Lord.
Paul and Silas were beaten because of their testimony of Jesus Christ in
Philippi and were put in stocks in prison, and their reaction was to sing
praises to the Lord, for they knew that He knew more than they did and were
praising Him because He was in control.
They were trusting God in spite of circumstances or consequences.
In the AV
of James 1:1, “Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you,”
we see the exhortation, “weep and howl” used, and James gives three reasons for
using it.
1.
Holding
back wages (5:4). The OT Law had much to say about how an employer was to
treat his employee. Deu. 24:14,15: “Do not take
advantage of a hired man who is poor and needy, whether he is a brother
Israelite or an alien living in one of your towns. Pay him his wages each day before sunset,
because he is poor and is counting on it. Otherwise he may cry to the LORD
against you, and you will be guilty of sin.” Lev. 19:13:
“Do not defraud your neighbour or rob him. ‘Do
not hold back the wages of a hired man overnight.’” Jer. 22:13: “Woe
to him who builds his palace by unrighteousness, his upper rooms by injustice,
making his countrymen work for nothing, not paying them for their labour.” In the truest sence these people were
stealing from the poor people. As
believers today we can learn from this that we are to pay those to whom we owe,
and not hold back the money.
2.
Controlling
the courts (5:6a). As we look at our
nation today we can see this in action firsthand. God set up a system of courts and judges in
the OT Law and we will look at five principles from it.
a.
Judges were not to be greedy (Ex.18:21). “But select capable
men from all the people—men who fear God, trustworthy men who hate dishonest
gain—and appoint them as officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens.”
b.
Not to be partial to the rich (Lev.19:15). “Do not pervert
justice; do not show partiality to the poor or favouritism to the great, but
judge your neighbour fairly.”
c.
Do not tolerate perjury (Deu. 19:16-21). “If a malicious
witness takes the stand to accuse a man of a crime, the two men involved in the dispute must
stand in the presence of the LORD before the priests and the judges who are in
office at the time. The judges must make
a thorough investigation, and if the witness proves to be a liar, giving false
testimony against his brother then do to him as he intended to do to his
brother. You must purge the evil from among you. The rest of the people will hear of this and
be afraid, and never again will such an evil thing be done among you. Show no pity: life for life, eye for eye,
tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.”
d.
Bribery was condemned (Isa. 33:15,16). “He who walks righteously and
speaks what is right, who rejects gain from extortion and keeps his hand from
accepting bribes, who stops his ears against plots of murder and shuts his eyes
against contemplating evil—this is the man who will dwell on the heights, whose
refuge will be the mountain fortress. His bread will be supplied, and water
will not fail him.”
e.
Amos spoke out against unjust judges (Amos 5:12). “For I know how many
are your offences and how great your sins. You oppress the righteous and take
bribes and you deprive the poor of justice in the courts.
The
Bible has much to say about wealth and money and how what we are supposed to do
with it when we get, and also how we are and are not suppose to accumulate
wealth. Money is neutral, it is what we
do with it and how we handle it that will determine whether or not we sin with
it of worship with it. All of you
probably know the struggles that some of us in the room are going through
because of a person who has the wrong idea about money, and being rich. As believers we will not always do the right
thing in every area of life, but when we make mistakes we must have a tender
heart, like David did, and be ready to get up, dust ourselves off, and go out
again to worship and serve the Lord, for He knows that we are made of dust.
2. Spiritual meaning for my life today: Praying in times of trouble is a habit that I
surely need to do more of in my life, for it seems that there are many troubles
that are happening in my life at this time.
God desires me to worship Him and pray to Him in times of trouble.
The Word of God was challenging to my heart as I read it
this morning.
My
Steps of Faith Today: To
trust in the Lord who has all of the answers to all of the trials that I am
going through today. He is gracious and
kind, full of mercy, and His judgments are Holy and righteous all together.
Memory verses for the week:
James 1:5
5. But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask
of God, who gives to all men generously and without reproach, and it will be
given to him.
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