Category Archives: Morning Thoughts

Morning Thoughts (James 5:11)

Morning Thoughts,

James 5:11, "Behold, we count them happy which endure, Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy."

This morning, it helps people to know that others share similar experiences with them.  People who can empathize with you (relate to your sufferings) are generally more welcome than those who can only sympathize (feel sorry for the suffering but without any firsthand experience).  When I lost my father about 12 years ago, expressions of grief and compassion from others that had lost a parent – particularly a father – seemed to resonate the strongest with me.  As they described their feelings and emotions going through their loss, I could relate to the feeling as I had it too.  Part of the joy that comes with marriage is that two people living as one have mutual "high times" to share and experience together.  These joys seem doubled as the couple enjoys them together.  It is one of the trademarks of our makeup, and the Lord's infinite wisdom employs this characteristic when He inspired His Book.

The Bible is replete with examples – both good and bad – that we can easily relate to in many circumstances that we face in life.  Have you been tempted or succumbed to temptation lately?  If so, reading David's prayer in Psalm 51 can be more poignant and quite powerful during such a time.  Have you had a mountaintop experience with the Lord in recent days?  If so, then recounting Moses' experience seeing the hinder parts of God's glory can have special experiential significance.  In our study verse, James has been describing reactions to suffering in the context.  One of his primary points through the lesson is to exhort and encourage his readers to patience in the situations of life.  However, he does not stop short with just some intellectual discussion on the concept of reaction to suffering or the outcomes of suffering.  James affords us a real life example to not only show the experience of suffering but the correct way to endure it with a promised outcome on the other side of suffering.

James points us to Job, who endured as much – and possibly more – than any other person, save Jesus Christ Himself.  He had a "day" that I would suspect all of us find impossible to empathize with and probably even imagine.  In Job 1, he lost all of his children and his entire livelihood through possessions of livestock.  This day was followed by another hard day in chapter 2 when he loses his health as well, and in the midst of all of this suffering, his wife tells him to curse God and die, and 3 "friends" show up like an inquisition to beat a confession out of him, already judging him guilty.  What a complete tragedy of one's life circumstances!

James points us to Job as our example of how to endure sufferings.  He was patient (though not perfect) in his trial, and he is worthy of patterning to a point when we experience loss and tragedy in our own lives.  Too often, we like to play the "blame God" game when things go wrong, but Job did the opposite.  He blessed God in the midst of his toughest season.  He endured patiently, and as such, James holds him up as a shining example of patience even in the midst of life's sorest trials.  However, James also points us from Job to the Lord with a promise of the Lord's character in the outcomes of trials.

Not only is Job's case one to draw strength from with Job's patience in trials, we can glean even more consolation from an understanding of the Lord's character in how Job's case ended.  The Lord is described as being very pitiful and of tender mercy.  This means that the Lord grants compassion and has an infinite supply of pity for our sufferings and state.  So, how did Job's case end?  In the last chapter of Job, we read that the Lord has set the record straight.  He commends and rebukes Job.  He rebukes him for speaking on behalf of God (God can and does do that Himself), and He commended him when speaking in condemnation to Job's 3 "friends."  God said Job was upright, whereas they were not.  Finally, Job received twice as much at the end as he had at the beginning.

James points us to this end of the Lord for our consolation and strength for our trials, and the unchanging character of the Lord demands that we understand that the Lord's pity and mercy to Job will be to us as well.  Now the obvious question arises, "Does this mean that if we stay faithful and patient to the Lord that we can expect a pleasant end to our lives here?"  The obvious answer is "no."  The Bible is brimming with examples of people that died in tragedy and never attained any kind of "well off" status on earth.  A quick perusal of the prophets of the Old Testament shows that many of them lived and died in ignominy in the eyes of the people for standing for the word of God that they faithfully proclaimed.  Jeremiah is a good example of this very thing.  Hebrews 11 even tells us that one of the outcomes of living by faith is being able to do great things like stop lion's mouths, quench fire's violence, and wax valiant in fight. (Verses 33-34) However, it follows up that list of glory by saying that a life of faith can also yield torture, bonds, stoning, and being sawed asunder. (Verses 35-38)

So, which is it?  Does the life of faith and patience in trials yield desirable or undesirable outcomes?  Notice the verse says the "end of the Lord."  Though God showed in glorious fashion that Job's life was more blessed and desirable at the end, it is the principle that James is pointing us to that all of us can share in and enjoy.  I sincerely hope that I will not lose my children, possessions, and health to be followed by scorning from my wife and miserable accusation from my good friends.  If I do, perhaps I will endure and stand fast patiently.  However, I should not expect that before I die I will necessarily receive twofold from the Lord of all that I lost.  Job did literally receive those things, but consider the principle of the end of the Lord.  What was manifested to Job literally in the natural realm will be manifested literally to all of us in the better world to come.

The Bible tells us in many places that the Lord gives us abundantly more (twice as much) in goodness for our evil.  Isaiah 40 promises double blessing from the Lord for all of our iniquities, and Romans 5 promises that grace much more abounds in spite of abundance of sin.  However, when it comes to suffering and trial, what comfort yields the most precious strength and hope?  Job was not guilty but suffered anyway.  Though we do suffer for our sins, what grants the comfort and strength needed for the day when we suffer having done nothing that merits it?

Zechariah tells us that we need to turn to the stronghold as prisoners of hope. (Zechariah 9:12) Though we have battles and soreness of trial in this old world, there is a refuge and stronghold that we can lean on, latch onto, and draw strength from.  What is the root source of that strength?  The verse says that the promise upon which hope is anchored is the Lord turning to render double to us.  Just as Job received twice as much at the end as he had at the beginning, so we can faithfully say that the Lord will render double to us in the world to come.  This promise of double equates to many things, but consider that the Lord gives us a double inheritance (as joint-heirs with the firstborn in God's house), double security (being in both the Father and Son's hands), and double standing (we were taken from the throes of sin and depravity past the innocence of Adam to a position of pure holiness and righteousness).  The Lord lifting us soaring through the clouds to the gates of glory is something that this world is not worthy to be compared to.  And when the Lord blesses us with that rich experience, He will also set the record straight.  Though we may die at the hands of unjust men with our blood crying out to God, God will appear and have “His Day” when the mouths of the wicked are stopped and the righteous are exonerated before all. (Matthew 25:31-46)

What do you need to help you get through the trials of life?  James supplies the case of Job for many reasons.  One reason is that none of us will say, "I suffered more than he did."  Another is that none of us can say, "But how do I know that things will be better for me later?"  Because Job's case is our example, we can feel the closeness and association with others in trials, but because the Lord manifested His eternal promise through literal blessings to Job, we can look up and see by faith that those gone before us have entered into the great land of "double" where the presence of the Lord emanates throughout every soul in complete glory and majesty.  Dear fellow soldier, remember that others have gone before, and others are coming after: all to have similar experiences and afflictions.  More than anything remember the same Lord with immutable character is all in all with the promise of a pitiful and merciful outcome.

In Hope,

Bro Philip

Morning Thoughts (Malachi 2:16)

Morning Thoughts,

Malachi 2:16, "For the LORD, the God of Israel, saith that he hateth putting away: for one covereth violence with his garment, saith the LORD of hosts: therefore take heed to your spirit, that ye deal not treacherously." 

This morning, many things catch our eyes because they are unusual and outside the normal, everyday activities of life.  Other things pass from our glance due to the normalcy of their occurrence.  How many of us remember a lot of the details of well-worn paths of life?  I confess that I many times notice something on my regular route to and from work and wonder, "When did that get there?"  Things so frequently seen garner little attendance of thought.  Many times this lack of perception is not injurious to us, but some things happen so frequently that we lose sight of just how good or evil a circumstance it is.  For example, there are many churches in our immediate and general area that do not have a pastor right now.  Lately, I have heard many from those areas talk about how thankful they forgot to be when they had a pastor.  Sadly, we neglect to contemplate the good situations when they become "normal," but just as regrettably, we fail to contemplate the absolute evil of other circumstances when become just as "normal." 

In the not too distant past, communities frowned upon single parenthood outside of wedlock.  Today's common practice of infidelity was widely reviled, and divorces were far less common then than they are today.  The mammoth occurrence of them now makes them seem normal and less criticized.  However, the disciple of Christ that yearns to follow after the Instruction Book that God has left us should not allow the frequency of tragic behaviors cloud the understanding of what pleases the Lord and what He hates.  In our study verse, we find language that is as clear as any language in Scripture about the Lord's feelings on the subject of divorce.  He hates it.  It does not get much simpler than that. 

Here lately, I have been amazed to sit in the background and listen to people at work talk one with another.  It is amazing how often one hears the language of people when they talk about their children.  They say things like "well they are with their mother this weekend" or "their father did that and I'm not responsible."  These are common expressions today from the divorced.  No longer do they even claim an "ex-wife" or "ex-husband."  The language they employ shows that they have passed from their mind any remnant or trace of the marriage that once was.  Their language pretends that it never happened.  As such, they show how little they think about it – or not at all. 

When I was growing up, my father talked to us quite a bit about marriage, and his one rule about choosing a spouse was to select one that was "God fearing" as that principle was something from which all other foundations of a good marriage could grow and rest upon.  In describing to us what marriage was all about, he many times said "act like divorce is not an option."  Granted, he showed us Biblically what warranted a putting away (unfaithfulness), but he impressed upon us the severity of taking that union lightly.  Being from a broken home himself, it did not take effort to see or understand how personal it was to him.  He did not just know the correct Biblical stance on the subject, but he had also lived through the hell of actually going through it as a boy.

If the Lord hates putting away as our verse declares, so should we.  Whenever I have had to comfort or console a friend or loved one going through a divorce, the pain and sorrow that divorce brings seems to multiply upon itself like a chain reaction.  Why would someone who is not at fault (has been cheated on), still have such multiplied sorrow?  Because they hate the very thing that is upon them.  While they believe the course is necessary due to the callous behavior of their spouse, it still hurts, and they still hate it.  They had all intention of spending the rest of their life with the person that has now betrayed them.  What a loss!  Looking at my current situation, I cannot fathom spending the rest of my journey on earth with anyone else or without my wife.  Such a thought is hateful to me, and I fervently pray that such a circumstance will stay perpetually alien to my labours here. 

The world at large today, however, does not hate divorce.  It is rapidly becoming one of the most pedestrian activities that people partake in.  Hearing about another celebrity divorce elicits one big yawn from the country.  Another divorce in many families emotes the same reaction as it is just one more to add to their family tree.  Sadly, many denominations of the Christian world have softened their opinion on the subject to the point that leaders in those groups encourage their members to divorce if they are not happy, because to so many, "God just wants us all to be happy."  Friends, God hates divorce, and God's will for His children is to be faithful regardless if we are happy in life or not. 

Every time I hear about another one in the lives of those that I hold dear, it causes my heart to cry out at yet another family unit that has imploded along the sands of time.  What must God think and feel when viewing the events of the globe in total at all times?  How many people flippantly conduct themselves without second thoughts or mixed feelings in behavior that He finds repugnant?  While I realize that God has made provision for ending a union due to the neglect and death that one party brings upon it in taking another instead of their spouse, that should still be a hateful situation that we never find agreeable to our soul.  May our constant hearing of it in day-to-day life never soften us to marriage's importance or God's feelings about the putting away. 

One of my co-workers found out that I was a preacher, and one day he told me, "Preacher, you got any marriages lined up to do?"  When I replied that I did not have any lined up at present, he said, "Well, let me know when they come.  I'm an expert on marriage.  I've been married 4 times."  Imagine the shock that I had to contain!  Friends, if you want advice on marriage, go to those that have been truly successful.  Go to those that have done it for 30, 40, or 50 years.  Listen to the advice of the sage and successful in learning how to get through problems and resolving disagreements.  May our ministers be successful in helping proclaim the Biblical importance of marriage to the edification of the marriages in the churches.  Finally, may we all have a hateful attitude towards this increasingly common situation so that we never find it normal even if it is common. 

In Hope, 

Bro Philip