See what God hears

The ears of the Lord.......

In James 5:1-6, we have a word of impending judgement that is coming upon those rich persons who had defrauded their workers, and had acquired their wealth by ill gotten means. In other words they were crooked and corrupt.

James was not saying that God condemned these people, but rather they had brought this coming judgement upon themselves. In fact, James was calling them to face their sins, and hopefully repent while they still had the time to.

But, he states .......

Miseries are coming upon you.

Your riches are corrupted and moth-eaten.

They had ill gotten wealth.

Their wealth would be a witness against them.

They had heaped their treasures together in the "last days"

Un-paid wages were crying out to God.

Un-paid workers were crying.

Their cries had come to God's ears.

They had lived in luxury and pleasure.

They had condemned others.

They had murdered others.

The oppressed were not resisting those who oppressed them.

All of this, the Lord was hearing. But, here's something else about the ears of the Lord.

He hears the cry of anyone who will cry out to Him for forgiveness.

So, these corrupt people were not beyond being rescued by the Lord.

He could and would save them, if they would cry out to Him.

He would hear them.

God's ears are open to the cry's of people.

Some people cry because they are being hurt. And some people cry because they have hurt others. But, regardless of which one you are, God will hear you. His ears are open today to your voice and your cries.

Let's pray. Father, thank You for the truth of Your Holy Bible. How comforting it is to read it, and to consider what You say, and to be directed by it. We love You, and lift up our voices to You today in praise. And we stand with any who are this very day crying because of their situation and circumstance. Lord have mercy we pray. In Jesus name. Amen

Pastor Bob Grenier

Calvary Chapel Visalia

Application/Promise

1. God's ears can hear any and everyone.

2. God does not respect one above another.

3. He hears with perfect hearing.

4. He understands each tear, and why it's shed.

5. He is merciful and gracious.

6. May His face shine upon you.

The will of God

Five truths about "the will of God"

James is talking about the will of God here. And doing so in the context of businessmen who are making their plans for business. ( But, there are principles that have application to any Christian )

James 4:13 Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit";

James 4:14 whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.

James 4:15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.”

James 4:16 But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.

James 4:17 Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.

Here are the five thoughts.......

First of all, James invites them to come or to pay attention to what he is going to say to them about making their plans. They were doing the needful things of making plans about their future business dealings. He is not telling them not to make plans as we will see.

Secondly, he reminds them that they do not even know what will happen tomorrow. And, that their lives, ( as our, our lives ) are a vapor that appears and vanishes away. In other words, they did not even know if they would be alive tomorrow, nor do we.

Thirdly, he explains that this is what they ought to do and say. “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.” The will of God in Scripture, means among other things that which is pleasing to God. It's His intentions for us, based on His wisdom, love, grace, mercy etc, those things that would be pleasing to be in our lives.

Fourthly, James says that to forget God in our plans and planning, is boastful and arrogant and evil, or destructive and hurtful. Pride, or when we live as if there is no God comes very naturally to our lives through our human nature. God does not call us to live through our human nature, but rather under the leadership of His Holy Spirit.

Fifthly, and in application, James calls his readers to put this truth about God's will into application in their lives. You know what is good he is saying, "live with God's will in mind" and if you don't do that, and you live as if there is no God, then, that is sin. So, keep God's will in mind, and follow His will and His leading.

James 4:17 Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.

We can forget that God has a will, and that will is defined as what is pleasing to Him.

It's very easy to forget that there are some things that He may want us to do, and some things He may not want us to do. They may or may not be pleasing to Him.

Thank You Lord for this reminder, and remind us to live with Your will in mind, day by day.

Application/Promise

1. God's will and making plans are not at odds.

2. God wants to lead us in making our plans.

3. God does have a plan, and it's easy to forget that.

4. God's will is the best thing for us.

5. God's will for us, is pleasing to Him.

6. God's will is for each day, one day at a time.

7. God's will, will one day mean we see Him face to face.

Love one another, do not speak evil of one another.

Do not speak evil of one another, brethren.

That's in James 4:11.

James goes on to say, about speaking evil to say........

James 4:11 Do not speak evil of one another, brethren. He who speaks evil of a brother and judges his brother, speaks evil of the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge.

James 4:12 There is one Lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy. Who are you to judge another?

What does all this mean?

Speaking evil, includes the idea of being critical of a brother or sister in Christ, and of accusing, and or maligning one another. We are just told not to do it period. We are also given an explanation, that if we do speak evil of one another, then we judging our brother, and we are speaking evil of God's law, ( which calls us not do such things ) and, we are judging the law.

Then, we have become judges of the Law, and not doers. We are not called to judge God's law, but rather to do it. Finally, we are reminded by James of 3 things.

1. There is one lawgiver, and that is of course the Lord.

2. God is the one who can save, or can destroy.

3. Who are we to judge another? We are not to presume is the idea.

I'm afraid this can be something that as Christians we all can do to easily, and fail to realize that we ought not to be doing this. But, here it is in black and white.

Another perspective, is that we don't need to worry about what someone else is doing. The Lord has not called us to that kind of responsibility. He will take care of His own children. He has not saddled us with that calling.

Let's pray together. Lord, we would first of all, ask that You might forgive us for any and all sins in this area. Wash us and cleanse us Lord. And, we pray that You might help us to be deeply convicted about this kind of thing, and to learn by Your grace, to resolve never to say an unkind word about another person ever again. In Jesus name we pray, amen.

Pastor Bob Grenier

Calvary Chapel Visalia

Application/Promise

1. God is the judge, not us.

2. God has called us to love.

3. God knows just what He is doing.

4. God calls us to be encouragers, not judges of others.

5. God does not accuse us, so, we ought not accuse anyone.

6. God has better things for us to do, and give ourselves to.

Time flies by.