November 8, 2010
James 5
Pastor Jason Yon
“Are you in trouble?”
“Are you sick?”
In James 5:13-14, those are the questions that James asks you and me. He gives us clear instruction that when we are in trouble or sick, we should go to prayer immediately. So many times, we don’t think about that. We think, “How can I get out of this,?” “Where did I put that bottle of pills?” or “Oh no! What am I going to do?” Yet our first response should ALWAYS be to go to the Lord in prayer.
Don’t we believe that God can do anything? Don’t we believe that God has more power than ibuprofen? Don’t we believe that God can fix anything? Then why do we try to fix things ourselves? James 5 reminds us that we should depend on the Lord, not on ourselves, medication, doctors or others. God desires our dependence on Him, and we should go to Him FIRST.
I believe that God can work though doctors, use medicine to heal and brings people around us to help us out of trouble. Yet the message in James 5 is that we should go to God FIRST. He may want to do a miracle in our lives and show His glory and power to people around us. So, let Him. Go to Him first when you are in trouble or sick.
Let’s not forget the question between the questions above - “is anyone happy?” If things are good in your life and you’re happy, then PRAISE THE LORD! You didn’t do it all by yourself. Give God the glory for who He is, the things He has done and His blessings.
Give it up to God, in good times and in bad.
When asked about a historical figure (not from the Bible) that he would most like to meet, Grace Covenant’s Children’s Ministries Director indicated that he would like to discuss the current state of our country with some of the founding fathers, especially in comparison to what they envisioned.
