A Look at the Book #426

A look at the Book #426


by Jesse Abel

Daily Devotional – A Look at the Book #426

A Though for today by Papa “J”

The vivid example of power out of control is not an earthquake or a tsunami as both of these natural disasters have obeyed God and returned to their abode to wait for another day. But the man made disaster of nuclear meltdown has not yet obeyed the works of man who created it, nor will it any time soon! Job 38:22-30

MORE THOUGHTS

Some of you have heard this story before but it is well worth repeating. One night around midnight the local ambulance service that I volunteer for got a call from a nursing home that one of the their male residents was having trouble breathing. We responded with a full crew to find a man in his fifties who weighed over three hundred pounds (closer to four would be more correct). Okay, I must be polite but here is the point! He was not having difficulty breathing, but the protocol for anyone with this complaint was to be given oxygen and a hospital trip by ambulance. (Our patient knew this) When we arrived he was placed in one of the emergency rooms and he immediately asked the nurse for a coke, which he received. I had asked him a few questions about his condition on the way to the hospital and noticed that he seemed angry about something. I questioned him about his anger but he refused to talk about it. After taking the second drink from his coke, it all came to light. He commented in a rather harsh way that he had now gotten revenge over his brother, who he had asked earlier in the day by phone to bring him a coke and his brother refused. The ride to the hospital for a coke cost the tax payers $400.00. Fraud, waste and abuse are the characteristics of sin and the welfare system is a main highway for sin.

The Epistle of James

James 1:4 – The word patience here in the New King James version is the Greek word for endurance or perseverance. Now why would that be important to know? Well, I could just set on my backside and wait on the LORD, which is being patient, isn’t it? This is not the patience that God is looking for in us. Couch potato patience is not biblical. Endurance is labor intensive so biblical patience requires action in that while one is waiting patently our ongoing enduring work is being tested and perfected by the LORD. The result is maturity, or a complete faith that God desires for all of us to have.

James 1:5 – Do you lack wisdom, I know that I do and find myself continually asking God for more. I love this verse of scripture because it plainly tells me that God pours out wisdom to all who ask in faith. Can you not see from this passage that faith is not some whimsical wish? Faith has as much need for endurance as patience does and God works both of these attributes together for good to those who love Him according to His purpose, get hold of Romans 8:25-30 and see the parallel.

James 1:6 – Patience requires a solid foundation and I simply mean that doubt has no role to play here. Ever run into someone who says they have faith, but always requires a life jacket to carry in a storm. So it is with many religious people who place their faith in an object of idolatry or some false teacher. These folks are tossed about like drunken sailors on an angry sea. They have no biblical faith, thus their endurance has no biblical foundation. Simply put these are unstable souls on the verge of being shipwrecked.