James 5:1-16

For Reading and Meditation:     Psalm 22:1-11

We continue looking at the attitude of the psalmist, who does not hesitate to tell the truth about himself. As we saw, he admits that his feet had well-nigh slipped and his faith had almost gone. I find the psalmist's honesty both stimulating and refreshing, especially when compared to the tendency of many in today's...

For Reading and Meditation:     Proverbs 12:11-28

There are people in our world who, even though they are not Christians, catch sight of the fact that the universe is made for wisdom and that to live effectively on this earth one has to search for wisdom and cultivate it. Through rational thought and intuition these people come to the conclusion that without...

Our God is a God of patience. The Lord Jesus is the great Example of patience. The Holy Spirit is the Agent producing patience. Trials, troubles, and disappointments, are the means which exercise and strengthen it.

The patience required, is a disposition to bear all that God has appointed for us, without complaining; yea, with resignation and hope: to wait God's time for the mercies we need, or for answers to the prayers we put up. Patience is the daughter of faith; and it is only as...

"Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the LORD draweth nigh." James 5:8

The last word in the Canticle of love is, "Make haste, my beloved," and among the last words of the Apocalypse we read, "The Spirit and the Bride say, Come"; to which the heavenly Bridegroom answers, "Surely I come quickly." Love longs for the glorious appearing of the LORD and enjoys this sweet promise - "The coming of the LORD draweth...

As an encouragement cheerfully to offer intercessory prayer, remember that such prayer is the sweetest God ever hears, for the prayer of Christ is of this character. In all the incense which our Great High Priest now puts into the golden censer, there is not a single grain for himself. His intercession must be the most acceptable of all supplications-and the more like our prayer is to Christ's, the sweeter it will be; thus while petitions for ourselves will be accepted, our pleadings for...

The mercy of God is His pity, lovingkindness and compassion on those who are guilty, failing, distressed or needy. The Scriptures emphasize that God is rich in mercy (Ephesians 2:4) and plenteous in mercy (Psalms 86:5). His mercy is abundant (1 Peter 1:3); it is great unto the heavens (Psalms 57:10). "For as the...

A verse like this raises an interesting question. If we have not because we ask not, what great things are we missing in life simply because we do not pray for them?

A similar question arises from James 5:16, ""The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." If this righteous man doesn't pray, then does it not follow that little is accomplished through him?

The trouble with most of us is that we do not pray enough, or...

As we approach the end of the age, it is predictable that many will abandon the hope of Christ's any-moment return. But the truth is still there whether men hold it or not.

The fact is that the Lord Jesus may come at any time. We do not know the day or hour of the Bridegroom's return for His bride; this means that He could come today. There is no prophecy that needs to be fulfilled before we hear His shout, the voice of the archangel and the trump of God. True, the church expects to...

Because, first, there is no doubt about that coming. His first coming was the most wonderful, the most staggering to faith. That the Son of God should have been found in fashion as a man, without form or comeliness, with but rare coruscations of his glory, enduring the contradiction of sinners, and dying on the cross; this is a marvel that swallows up all marvels, and frees from all embarrassment the question of his second advent.

Because he will come in glory such as no heart of man...

Few believe this. Men know what pitifulness is. They know how a very pitiful parent will act towards a suffering child: how he will show himself tenderly solicitous to staunch its wounds and alleviate its sorrows. They do not view God as characterized by this sympathizing tenderness and pitifulness. They regard him as a physician, who, by long familiarity with suffering, is able to look upon it without emotion, and coldly to calculate what remedies are best.

If we choose to see God...