You Have Heard of Perseverance, and Compassion, and Mercy!

James 5:11 (NKJV)

     ¹¹ Indeed we count them blessed who endure. You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord—that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful.

Genesis 50:20 (NKJV) 

     ²⁰ But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.

Neither Job nor Joseph knew, in the midst of their trials, the purpose of their trials. But the Lord recorded them so that we might “hear” of them. In them, we hear the primary message: “the Lord is very compassionate and merciful.” And in them, we learn to look to God for the same thing that He produced in them “perseverance.” May the Lord give us the perseverance of Job! 

The Danger of Hearts Fattened upon Temporal, Earthly Things, Rather Than upon Christ

James 5:1–8 (NKJV) 

     ¹ Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming upon you! ² Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten. ³ Your gold and silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have heaped up treasure in the last days. ⁴ Indeed the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out; and the cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth. ⁵ You have lived on the earth in pleasure and luxury; you have fattened your hearts as in a day of slaughter. ⁶ You have condemned, you have murdered the just; he does not resist you.
     ⁷ Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain. ⁸ You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. 

When one is “rich” (v1), he is in great danger of having his treasure (v3) or nourishment (“fattened,” v5) be in something other than Christ Himself. How dangerous! As we prepare to meet the Lord of Hosts (v4, 8), let us learn to have hearts that treasure Him and are nourished by Him (v8).