James Part 2

James 5:7-12 Part 2

Hey, everyone! I hope you all enjoyed part one of the James chapter. I am moving on to part two today.

So, next in class, we discussed how you establish your heart. Now, you can give sunday school answers. “Prayer”, “God”, “The Cross”. But we talked about how all those things are good, but the man whose sermon we took this from says that we need a lightning rod.

What does a lightning rod do?

A lightning rod takes the electricity and sends it into the ground so it is no longer harmful. So, when we say we need a lightning rod, we are saying….? What?

We are saying we need first of all, someone who won’t throw bible verses at you. Now, this sounds awful, but often times, we need a friend who will just listen instead of try and tell us what we should be doing when we are likely already doing it.

The second thing we need to get is a release valve. What does a release valve do?

A release valve is on a heater and it releases the pressure so that the boiler will not explode. Without a release valve, the boiler is just a ticking time bomb.

We need something wholesome to redirect stress. When a burden gets piled on us, our tendency is to yell, eat and do things we know are wrong.

In James 5: 7-12, it says “You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near.” it is not just James telling us “Hey, you need to be patient because...yeah…” We are receiving a promise. A reward. “Be patient BECAUSE the coming of the Lord is near!”

Imagine what it would feel like with no one to help you bear the burdens you have. Just for a minute imagine this. There is no second coming of the Lord, there is no end to your pain in sight, and there is no other life.

This-were it true-would crush us. We cannot carry this burden on our own. But James (And God) gives us a promise that if we are patient, when we die, and when the Lord comes again, there will be eternal happiness and there will be no more burdens.

Alright. That one was a little shorter than yesterdays. :) I will give part three, the final part, probably sometime tomorrow. Thank you so much for reading it! I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. Thanks again

God bless <3