March 16-31
Daily Devotionals
by Pastor Larry Wilson
Are You For Real?: Meditations in the Epistle of James
March 16
Are You For Real? (James 4:6–10)
Scripture for Day 75—James 4:6–10
6 But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble." 7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.
Devotional:
In 4:1–6, God diagnosed a problem, worldliness. In 4:7–10, he prescribes its solution, repentance. People don’t want to hear about repentance today. Our modern generation would rather approach God as an equal. The problem boils down to pride. And that implies the solution, humility before God.
First, "submit yourselves therefore to God" (v. 7). Submission involves recognizing God’s authority. You’re already under his authority, but repentance involves willingly submitting yourself to it.
Second, "resist the devil and he will flee from you" (v. 7). How do you resist the devil? By submitting to God. Our Lord Jesus defeated Satan when he went to the cross and died for sinners. He conquered sin and death and then he arose victorious from the dead. Satan is a defeated enemy. But you experience that victory only when you submit to Satan’s Conqueror.
When I was a boy, my family had a little dog, a Pomeranian, with the "valiant" name of "Fluffy." It described her well—she really was a tiny ball of fluff. When my dad was working outside she would keep him company, following him around. But if ever a large dog wandered into our yard, she really was valiant in chasing it away—as long as my father was in sight. Sometimes my dad would play a joke and hide behind a bush or in the garage. If Fluffy ever lost sight of my dad, she would turn tail and run straight for our house. That’s a good illustration of the Christian’s warfare with the devil. It is only when the Lord Jesus is behind you that Satan will flee. Venture out in your own strength and expect to fail. If you catch yourself doing this, turn tail and run straight to the throne of grace. Submit yourself to God—day by day and moment by moment—and you will have the victory.
March 17
Are You For Real? (James 4:6–10)
Scripture for Day 76—James 4:6–10
6 But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble." 7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.
Devotional:
To repent from worldliness involves, first, your submitting to God. Second, it involves your resisting the devil. Third, "draw near to God and he will draw near to you" (v. 8). Remember the parable of the prodigal son? The younger son took his inheritance prematurely and took off into the world, where he managed to lose it all. In sorrow over his lost condition, he determined to go home and cast himself on his father’s mercy. He planned to come and beg his father to take him back as a lowly servant. But before he even got that far, his father saw him coming and ran out to meet him. That, my friends, is how God treats repentant sinners. If you "draw near to God … he will draw near to you."
Fourth, "cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded" (v. 8). Repent both outwardly ("cleanse your hands") and inwardly ("purify your hearts"). Make a decisive break with both sinful behavior and sinful attitudes.
Fifth, "be miserable and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning, and your joy to gloom" (v. 9). The notion is widespread today that repentance merely involves your adjusting your thoughts about Christ. But God says that genuine repentance goes much deeper. The repentance that God describes not only involves your mind, but also your emotions and your will. Repentance involves grieving and mourning over your spiritual condition. It entails seeing your sinful state the way God sees it. It includes hating and sorrowing over your sin with a genuine contrition.
But then, having cast yourself to the ground before the Lord, look at verse 10—"Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you." In sanctification—as well as in justification—it is the time of despair which opens the door to victory. It’s exactly when you come to the end of yourself and cry out to God in Christ that you experience the victory of God over sin and self and the world. When you seek to save your own life, you will lose it. But when you lose your life for the Lord’s sake, you will save it.
March 18
Are You For Real? (James 4:11–12)
Scripture for Day 77—James 4:11–12
11 Do not speak evil against one another, brothers. The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. 12 There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?
Devotional:
God speaking through James now returns to sins of the tongue. He rebukes "speaking against" other Christians. This might mean either to speak against someone falsely or to speak against someone truly. To slander is to spread false stories. To gossip is to spread true stores to those who have no business hearing them. Both gossip and slander are very common. But both are very wicked! And both come under the heading of speaking evil against others. William Tyndale translated this "backbiting." What a vivid word!
According to this Scripture, backbiting and judging are like two sides of the same coin—every time you backbite, you are passing judgment. This is a chief sin against gospel-humility. What does God tell you to do about it?
First, consciously consider about whom you are speaking. In Christ, we are brothers and sisters. "Do not speak evil against one another, brothers. The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother…" (v. 11a). And not only are we brethren, we are neighbors. The second greatest commandment is, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." "But who are you to judge your neighbor?" (v. 12b).
Second, consciously consider what is God’s standard for speech. "The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the law…" (v. 11b). The standard to which you are held to account is God’s law. The law this specifically refers to is the royal law of James 2:8—"If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself," you are doing well." But if you put your neighbor down with words instead of loving him, then you betray an attitude toward God’s law which is wrong. You actually speak evil against God’s law. "The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the law…" (v. 11b). Moreover, you presume to judge God’s law. "The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law" (v. 11b). Finally, having put yourself above God’s law, you rebel against it as having authority over you. "But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge" (v. 11b). God, be merciful to us sinners!
March 19
Are You For Real? (James 4:11–12)
Scripture for Day 78—James 4:11–12
11 Do not speak evil against one another, brothers. The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. 12 There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?
Devotional:
Backbiting and judging are like two sides of the same coin—whenever you backbite, you judge. This is a chief sin against gospel-humility. What does God tell you to do about it? First, consciously consider about whom you are speaking—your redeemed siblings in Christ. Second, consciously consider God’s standard for speech—his holy law.
Third, consciously consider who is truly supreme. "There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy." (v. 12a). Your attitude toward the law reflects your attitude toward the Lawgiver. In other words, a life wrongly related to fellow believers betrays a life wrongly related to God. "If anyone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen" (1 John 4:20). Let this fact especially sober you—God the Lawgiver is also God the Judge. "There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy" (v. 12a).
So finally, consciously consider who you really are. "But who are you to judge your neighbor?" (v. 12b). When you backbite, who do you think you are? Putting down others is, in fact, a subtle way to exalt yourself. This is thoroughly worldly. The world actually values the judgmental criticism of other people as witty and entertaining. Sometimes it’s malicious. Sometimes it’s just thoughtless. But it’s always sinful. And it’s always harmful. How many friendships have been broken, how many reputations have been ruined, how many homes have been wrecked—all thanks to careless backbiting? Who do you think you are to judge your neighbor?
Who are you really? Consider this especially in light of vv. 7–10. "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble." Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord…"
March 20
Are You For Real? (James 4:13–17)
Scripture for Day 79—James 4:13–17
13 Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit"—14 yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. 15 Instead you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that." 16 As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. 17 So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.
Devotional:
God urges you to put off the worldliness of presumption. The most striking thing about presumption is that it’s so common that it seems normal. "Come now, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit…'" (v. 13). What's so unusual about that? And yet, God says that presumption in speech betrays a worldliness in heart, and he uses a business illustration to make his point.
Now, he's not saying, "Don't plan." He's not saying, "Don't be good stewards of the resources that God has given you." He's not saying, "Don't budget." He's not saying any of that, but he is talking about a form of worldliness that readily pervades our own thinking and comes out in our speech if we don't consciously reject it.
What is striking in this brief illustration is that God is altogether ignored. And that's the point. James is talking to Christians who are not considering God in the stuff of their lives. They isolate God to Sunday morning for an hour, but, in everyday life they don't count him. There's no mention of God. There's no hint of his providence. There's no sign of prayer. There's no humility about what may or may not happen tomorrow. This unmasks a person who is so thoroughly worldly that he's not counting the most important factor of all, God.
March 21
Are You For Real? (James 4:13–17)
Scripture for Day 80—James 4:13–17
13 Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit"—14 yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. 15 Instead you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that." 16 As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. 17 So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.
Devotional:
One of the important functions of God’s Word toward us is to expose our sin. If you were asked to describe a proud, worldly person would you say — it’s someone who says: "Today or tomorrow I will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit"? No, that sounds too normal! It sounds too ordinary! And that’s exactly the point. This sin is so common that we take it for granted. And it comes naturally to our fallen hearts. "In the pride of his face the wicked does not seek [God]; all his thoughts are, 'There is no God.' His ways prosper at all times; your judgments are on high, out of his sight; as for all his foes, he puffs at them. He says in his heart, 'I shall not be moved; throughout all generations I shall not meet adversity.' ... He says in his heart, 'God has forgotten, he has hidden his face, he will never see it.'" (Psalm 10:4–6, 11).
We live in a day of personal digital assistants and planning mania. The very mindset of our culture encourages us to indulge our sinful propensity to presume in our approach to life. Again, the problem is not planning; the problem is presumption. "Presumption" is one word for it. What are some other words we might use? Imagined autonomy. Practical deism. Functional unbelief. We imagine that our choice is the deciding factor. We speak as if we have the ability to make ourselves succeed. That is the height of worldliness!
March 22
Are You For Real? (James 4:13–17)
Scripture for Day 81—James 4:13–17
13 Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit"—14 yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. 15 Instead you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that." 16 As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. 17 So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.
Devotional:
Presumption is sinful, but it is also stupid. "…yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that." (vv. 14–15).
Notice the three verbs — "you do not know … you are … you ought." These three things expose the folly of the practical unbelief of presumption.
First, the practical deism of presumption is stupid because there is so much that you do not and can not know — "yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring." (v. 14). Do you remember what you were doing on the morning of September 11, 2001 when Al Quaida operatives hijacked planes and used them to attack our country? I was on an airplane, with plans that fell completely to pieces.
Second, presumption is stupid because you are so fragile. "What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes." (v. 14b). How many plans have been cut short by an unintended heart attack or automobile accident? Blaise Pascal wrote, "Between heaven and hell is only this life, which is the most fragile thing in the world."
Third, imagined autonomy is foolish because it can only be imagined; it isn’t real. "Instead you ought to say, 'If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that'" (v. 15). God's Word is very clear — God upholds all things by the Word of his power. In him we live and move and have our being. In other words, whether we realize it or not, we are constantly and completely dependent on God.
Cornelius Van Til said that human sin is like a little toddler cradled in his father's arms slapping his father's face and saying, "I hate you," never realizing how totally he depends on his father to even be in that position.
Again, this is not an exhortation against planning. It is an exhortation against planning in presumption. You ought to plan, but you ought to plan in faith, not presumption. "Instead you ought to say,'‘If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that'" (v. 15).
March 23
Are You For Real? (James 4:13–17)
Scripture for Day 82—James 4:13–17
13 Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit"—14 yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. 15 Instead you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that." 16 As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. 17 So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.
Devotional:
Presumption might be common and expected by human beings, but it is not at all acceptable to God. It amounts to boasting in arrogance. "As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil" (v. 16). If you plan without considering the ultimate reality of God and his providence, then you are being arrogant; and if you are being arrogant, then you are boasting; and if you are boasting, then you are sinning.
And so God shows us something fairly commonplace—the act of thinking and planning without adequately depending upon him. And he says that this, in fact, is the sin of arrogance and boasting before the living God. And "all such boasting is evil." You are a redeemed child of God. Do not think and speak presumptuously like that.
Someone once said if you want to know what water is, the last person that you should ask is a fish. Why? Because it is so much his environment that he just takes it for granted and is unconscious of it. And, dear brothers and sisters, that is what presumption over against God is for us. It’s so normal both around us and within us, that we take it for granted. We are unconscious of it.
But in his mercy God comes to us and he says, "This is sin!" And, dear brothers and sisters, the fact that this sin—which in God's eyes is boasting and arrogance and evil—seems so normal to us shows us just how desperately we really do need the grace of God in Christ.
Presumption is not only sin, but indeed, presumption is the ultimate sin of omission. "So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin" (v. 17). This verse doesn’t hang in thin air. The word "so" means "therefore." The NEB renders it "Well then…" God is showing us that what we might consider to be trivial and ordinary feature of life—forgetfulness of our utter dependence on him—is actually the ugly and filthy pride which is the heart of sinfulness. So repent of your imagined independence of God. Recognize presumption for what it really is and consciously put off walking in the worldliness of presumption.
March 24
Are You For Real? (James 4:13–17)
Scripture for Day 83—James 4:13–17
13 Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit"—14 yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. 15 Instead you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that." 16 As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. 17 So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.
Devotional:
Put off the sin of walking in presumption. In reliance on God's grace, put on walking in the godliness of conscious, humble dependence on the living God. Remember the context of these verses. James 4:1–5 pointed out the symptoms of worldliness—of that friendship with the world which amounts to enmity with God. Then James 4:6–10 began prescribing the solution—"But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, 'God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.' Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you."
It's so remarkable —and so wonderful!—that the solution begins with the grace of God in Christ. "But he gives more grace" (v. 6). First and foremost, then, trust God through Jesus Christ. Trust him for forgiveness. At the same time, trust him for enabling to walk in newness of life. Then, in faith obey him.
Your obedience plays no role in your justification. It is Christ's doing alone, not yours, that secures your right standing with God. But in your sanctification it is different. In your sanctification, Christ works in you what he has worked for you. In your sanctification, God enables you to put off sin and to walk in good works (see Ephesians 2:8–10). He works his salvation into your everyday life, and you work it out with fear and trembling. —"But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, 'God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.'" Humble yourself before the Lord and seek his full and free grace in Christ.
March 25
Are You For Real? (James 4:13–17)
Scripture for Day 84—James 4:13–17
13 Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit"—14 yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. 15 Instead you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that." 16 As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. 17 So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.
Devotional:
Your obedience plays no role in your justification. It is Christ’s doing that secures your right standing with God, not yours. But in your sanctification, God enables you to walk in good works (see Ephesians 2:8–10). In this context, God specifically calls you to consciously and deliberately walk in light of his providence. "Instead you ought to say, 'If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that'" (v. 15).
Larger Catechism
Q. 18. What are God's works of providence?
A. 18. God's works of providence are his most holy, wise, and powerful preserving and governing all his creatures; ordering them and all their actions to his own glory.
Ephesians 1:11 — "He works all things after the counsel of his will."
Romans 8:28 — "And we know that God causes all things to work together for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purpose."
Now, God is not saying that you just need to incant the words, "Lord willing" or "if God wills" or "God willing," and that will magically create a spiritual mindset. But, he is saying that this does need very much to be your heart-attitude, which you reflect even in your speech, to show that you are humbly depending upon the Lord, rather than worldly self-centered, self-focused, and self-exalting.
What’s the bottom line? The bottom line is, seek by trusting and following your faithful Savior Jesus Christ to line up your thoughts, your words, and your behavior with the biblical truth summarized in Westminster Confession 5:1 —
"God, the great Creator of all things,
upholds, directs, disposes, and governs all creatures, actions, and things,
from the greatest even to the least,
by his most wise and holy providence,
according to his infallible foreknowledge,
and the free and immutable counsel of his own will,
to the praise of the glory of his wisdom, power, justice, goodness, & mercy."
In a nutshell, "practice the presence of God." Day by day, moment by moment, step by step, walk in the godliness of conscious, humble dependence on the living God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—your Creator and Savior and providential Ruler.
March 26
Are You For Real? (James 4:17)
Scripture for Day 85—James 4:17
17 So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.
Devotional:
"Sin is the transgression of the law" (1 John 3:4 KJV). When God commands, "Thou shalt not…" but you do it, that is sin. Accordingly, when God commands, "Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain" but you use his name irreverently, that is sin. When God commands, "Thou shalt not bear false witness" but you tell a lie, it is a sin.
But sin does not consist only in doing that which God forbids. Sin also consists in failing to do that which God commands. "Whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin." When God commands you to do something but you do not do it, then that too is sin. And so, when God commands, "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy" but you use the day mainly for yourself rather than keeping it holy (consecrating it) unto God, then that is sin. When God commands, "Honor your father and your mother," but you neglect this duty, then that is sin.
We call the former type—what the Bible calls "transgressions" (or "trespasses") —"sins of commission." We call the latter type, "sins of omission." In fact, this is what the Bible word, "sin," means. It means missing (or falling short of) the mark.
God's diagnosis is, "For all sin and fall short of the glory of God" (Rom 3:23). That is, we each fail to be and do that which we were essentially created to be and do. We were created to be "the image and glory of God" (1 Cor 11:7). Therefore, every moment of every day—in our every thought, in our every word, in our every deed—we are to be miniature, creaturely replicas of God, manifesting his glory. It is sin to fall short of the glory of God, i.e., to fail to be "godly" (a contraction from "God-like").
When Martin Luther came under conviction of sin, he reasoned that since the greatest commandment of all is "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul and all your mind and all your strength," therefore the worst sin of all is to fail to do just that. "Whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin."
The Bible also frequently uses another term to describe our sin—"iniquity" (related to the word "inequity"). It means that not only do we commit both sins of commission and sins of omission, but also that we have the inner bent to do just that. We are bent and need to be saved from both the guilt and the power of sin, and only the grace of God in Christ can do that. Like the rich young ruler, Saul of Tarsus (who later became the apostle Paul) genuinely believed that he had kept all God’s commands—until he came to the one that searched his heart and exposed his impure desires. See Romans 7:7–8.
"Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your steadfast love;
according to your abundant mercy
blot out my transgressions.
Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
and cleanse me from my sin" (Ps 51:1–2).
March 27
Are You For Real? (James 5:1–6)
Scripture for Day 86—James 5:1–6
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; you have murdered the righteous person. He does not resist you.
Devotional:
The key to this severe warning is found in verse 3b—"You have laid up treasure in the last days." This applies several New Testament principles to our present setting. First, it is critical that you realize that we are living in the last days.
* Hebrews 1:1–2 — "Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world."
* Galatians 4:4 — "But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law…"
* Hebrews 9:26 — "…he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself."
* 1 Peter 1:20 — "He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you…"
* Acts 2:17 — "‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams…"
* 1 Corinthians 10:11 — "Now these things happened to them [Old Testament saints] as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come."
* 2 Timothy 3:1–5 — "But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people."
* 1 John 2:18 — "Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour."
* Jude 1:18 — "In the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions."
We tend to think that "eschatology," the last things, must be way off in the future. But God says, "No, you are living in the last days right now."
March 28
Are You For Real? (James 5:1–6)
Scripture for Day 87—James 5:1–6
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; you have murdered the righteous person. He does not resist you.
Devotional:
The key to this warning is found in verse 3b—"You have laid up treasure in the last days." This applies several New Testament principles to our present setting. First, you are living in the last days right now. Second, the end of the last days will be the last day—the day when our Lord Jesus returns in power and glory to judge the living and the dead.
* John 6:39 — "And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day."
* John 6:40 — "For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day."
* John 12:48 — "The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day."
* This will be the day of judgment for all people — John 5:28–29 — "Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment."
Do you believe that? Do you daily cultivate and nurture your hope in the second coming of our Lord and Savior?
Because this is a certainty, in the meantime, God calls you to reorient all your priorities in light of the fact that you live in the last days and that the last day is coming.
March 29
Are You For Real? (James 5:1–6)
Scripture for Day 88—James 5:1–6
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; you have murdered the righteous person. He does not resist you.
Devotional:
The key to this warning is found in verse 3b—"You have laid up treasure in the last days." The last days are the final chapter of human history in what Galatians 1:3 calls "this present evil age." They are a time for God’s redeemed children to commit themselves to be pilgrims and exiles, a time for them to be Christian soldiers. In these last days, our Lord Jesus calls you to a pilgrim lifestyle. In light of your setting, he calls you to take risks in your generosity for the Kingdom of God:
* Matthew 6:33— "Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you"
* Matthew 13:44— "The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field"
* Mark 10:21— "One thing you lack: go and sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me."
* Luke 6:20— "Blessed are you poor, for yours is the kingdom of heaven… Woe to you rich, for you have received your consolation."
* Luke 9:58— "Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head … Follow me."
* Luke 12:15— "A person's life does not consist in the possessions that he has."
* Luke 12:20-21— "But God said to [the man who built even bigger barns], 'Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?' So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God."
* Luke 12:33— "Sell your possessions and give alms; provide yourselves with purses in heaven."
* Luke 14:33— "Whoever does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple."
* Luke 18:25— "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God."
* Luke 21:1— Jesus "saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins. And he said, 'Truly, I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them.'"
Again and again, our Lord Jesus insists on his radical call to an eternal perspective, to a pilgrim lifestyle, and to open-handed generosity—the poor widow "put in all that she had."
Only once does our Lord mention the Old Testament minimum of giving a tenth of your income — a tithe. And he endorses it. But then he immediately calls for a way of looking at life and money way much more radical than the mere tithe. "He said to the Pharisees, 'you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others'" (Matthew 23:23). In other words, "You tithe even your spices. That's right. You should tithe. But you should do much more."
March 30
Are You For Real? (James 5:1–6)
Scripture for Day 89—James 5:1–6
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; you have murdered the righteous person. He does not resist you.
Devotional:
The key to this warning is found in verse 3b—"You have laid up treasure in the last days." This applies several New Testament principles to our present setting. First, you are living in the last days right now. Second, the end of the last days will be the last day, the day when our Lord Jesus returns in power and glory to judge the living and the dead. Therefore, in the meantime, God calls you to reorient all your priorities in light of the fact that now is the last days and that their end is coming.
The text that seems to be on James' mind is Matthew 6:19–21—"Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."
Evidently there are two possible ways to live in the last days. You can either live with a view to accumulating the things that you value here on this earth. Or you can live with a view to accumulating the things that you value in heaven. Our Lord Jesus says that the mark of a genuine Christian is that you will set your eyes on heaven! You will gauge all your behavior by the effect it will have on heaven, on your everlasting joy with God.
In other words, the pilgrim attitude that John Bunyan commended in The Pilgrim’s Progress is not above and beyond the call of duty; it is the call of duty! Reorient all your priorities in light of the fact that—as 1 John 2:17 puts it—"the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever."
March 31
Are You For Real? (James 5:1–6)
Scripture for Day 90—James 5:1–6
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; you have murdered the righteous person. He does not resist you.
Devotional:
Look closely at this text. We’ve seen that it assumes several New Testament principles: (1) you live in the last days; (2) the last of the last days will be the Day of the Lord, the day when our Lord Jesus returns in power and glory; (3) therefore, in the meantime, you are to orient all your priorities in light of that glorious hope. How does it apply these principles?
For one thing, do not be like the wicked rich. The wicked rich get their wealth at the expense of their neighbors, who God commands them instead to love. "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" (v. 4).
Moreover, the wicked rich use their wealth for "self-indulgence"—to exalt and serve themselves rather than the Lord. "You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter" (v. 5).
Even worse, the wicked rich are so devoted to material things that they simply don’t care how their getting them and hanging on to them might hurt other people. "You have condemned and murdered the righteous man" (v. 6a).
Elsewhere, God warns that "…those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs" (1 Tim 6:9–10).
Do not be like the wicked rich. Above all, do not be one of them. Follow Christ and take hold of that which is truly life. "As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life." (1 Tim 6:17–19).
