James 5

The Ministry of Reconciliation {James 5}

8:30 AM

Today's Passage: James 5

Do you know of anyone whose faith-walk is not at all what it used to be? They used to be in church whenever the doors where open faithfully serving whenever and wherever they could. Giving to help others less fortunate, until one day you happened to noticed that they were gone from the halls of the church.

For some it seemed a slow-fade, excuses kept mounting up. The desire to serve, to attend even fellowships waned, until finally they didn't want to even talk about God's Word, or have anything to do with our faith.

What do you do when you come across someone like that?

Whenever I think of chapter five in the Book of James, I immediately think of the passage on prayer found in James 5:13-18, and I was prepared today to head there and write another article on prayer, but it was James' closing words that grabbed my attention this time:

"My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back,  let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins." James 5:19-20
 I've always loved the Book of James for it's so practical, and here in the last chapter he seems to be throwing in some eclectic thoughts as he seeks to wrap up his letter, which is why suddenly the thought  struck me, "why does he close so abruptly with this encouragement to go after those who have wandered from the faith?" 

 I don't think it was by accident that James writes these verses right after he writes on the power of fervent prayer,(James 5:13-18) do you? I believe James knew that that was where our ministry of reconciliation begins!

Father, Give me a heart of compassion that sees the wanderers as You see them. Give me a heart willing to leave my creature comforts to go after them to win them back to You. Give me a brave heart, that's ready to face rejection and still not be willing to give up on them. Go before me and give me the words needed to win them back to your truth and grace.  Help me Jesus, be "all-in" in Your ministry of reconciliation. Amen

 The great news is Jesus' whole ministry was a ministry of reconciliation for He Himself declared, “I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” (Matthew 9:13). Therefore, we know we have our Savior's heart when we set out to win others back to Him. 

 Paul pretty much spells it up for us in 2 Corinthians 5:18-19, "All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to Himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 

 Isn't that amazing!? That our Father, Lord and Savior would entrust us with the ministry and message of reconciliation?

 Oh beloved, there is a lost and hurting world out there and He has entrusted us with His message of reconciliation! O may we be about our Father's business, for His word promises us in Proverbs 11:30, "The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and whoever wins souls is wise."

 Blessings, 
sue

James 5

The Prayer of a Righteous Person is Powerful and Effective {James 5}

12:30 AM

A long time ago, a priest once told me that when I died, God would ask me, “What have you done with what I’ve given you?”  I’ve spent nearly 30 years thinking about that question.

I began my study of James 5 a few weeks ago, knowing I would be having surgery this past Friday.  I was led to focus on verses 13-16.  I wish I could count the number of commentaries I read before writing this, but I will say it has been a lot.  One I really enjoyed was this from John Piper.  https://www.desiringgod.org/messages/the-elders-the-people-and-the-prayer-of-faith

God always leads us to certain passages to make a point and I want to share where I was led.

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Luke 8:40-56.  This is where a woman with a bleeding disorder for a long time, reached out and touched Jesus.  She didn’t touch Jesus accidentally or was jostled by the crowd, but she purposely, reaching out in faith that He held the power to make her well.  This faith produced a remarkably different reaction – power went out from Him (v. 46).  Other people in the crowd did not receive this healing.  

We may suffer or see suffering for so long that we are tempted to lose sight of God’s power and love. 

Then I read Matthew 8:1-13.  Here Jesus reaches out and touches a man with leprosy (v. 3).  This man, who most likely was shunned by the rest of the world, asks the King of Kings to make him clean.  And what follows?  A centurion – a Roman commanding soldier in charge of upwards of 5,000 men, came up to Jesus and asks Him to heal a paralyzed servant.  This man in charge of over 5,000 people, acknowledged that he wasn’t worthy to have Jesus enter his home, but to just have Jesus speak and his slave would be healed.  

Philippians 2 reminds us to have the same mindset of Christ.  Which then led me to Luke 6:27-35, 22:39-53.  As followers of Christ we are to extend mercy.

As we end our study of James, I can’t help but have the words “miraculous” and “revolutionary” and “the greatest ever”  and "powerful", come to mind.  James is that “how-to” book on Christian living.   And we end it with yet another reminder to BE Jesus, not just admire or adore Him.  When we pray the “prayer of faith”, we are not referring to the sick person’s faith, but the person who is praying.  God heals, faith doesn’t, and all prayers are subject to God’s will.  But our prayers are part of God’s healing process.  That is why God often waits for our prayers of faith before intervening to heal a person.  

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