Bible Study - James Chapter 5:1-16

Warning to the Rich

5 Look here, you rich people: Weep and groan with anguish because of all the terrible troubles ahead of you.2 Your wealth is rotting away, and your fine clothes are moth-eaten rags. 3 Your gold and silver have become worthless. The very wealth you were counting on will eat away your flesh like fire. This treasure you have accumulated will stand as evidence against you on the day of judgment.

This is the fourth time in this short letter James blasts the rich. Here, he writes about the worthlessness of riches. It’s not a sin to have money. Money is necessary to live in this world. But money will be worthless when Christ returns, so we need to be storing up the kind of treasures that will be worthwhile in heaven. So money is not the problem. Christians need it to live and support their families, churches need it to do their work effectively, and missionaries need it to spread the gospel.

1 Timothy 6:10 “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs."

Somehow this has been translated as ‘money’ being the root of all evil. But it’s the LOVE of money that causes the problem, making people so greedy they are willing to cheat others in order to obtain more. 

Matthew 6:19-21 "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." 

I want you to think about this idea. You reveal where your heart is, where your loyalties are, by how you handle and spend your money. Look through your checkbook, or take note of how you spend your money. If someone was watching you, would they be able to tell your loyalties are to God? Or would they see selfish self indulgence of worldly pleasures instead? 

5 You have spent your years on earth in luxury, satisfying your every desire. You have fattened yourselves for the day of slaughter. 6 You have condemned and killed innocent people,[a] who do not resist you.[b]

In vs. 5, James is comparing the rich self-indulgent people to cattle that continue to eat and fatten themselves up on the day they are to be slaughtered, totally unaware of their coming destruction. 

In vs. 6, he writes about how hoarding money and exploiting employees causes us to be murderous. The ‘innocent men’ he speaks of here are defenseless people, laborers, poor people who could not pay their debts.  he was thrown into prison or forced to sell all of his possessions. 

Patience and Endurance

7 Dear brothers and sisters,[c] be patient as you wait for the Lord’s return. Consider the farmers who patiently wait for the rains in the fall and in the spring. They eagerly look for the valuable harvest to ripen. 8 You, too, must be patient. Take courage, for the coming of the Lord is near.

One day the Lord will return and all of our suffering will be over. Keep your eyes and your heart fixed on that day.

When a farmer plants his crops, he must be patient while waiting for his crops to grow. But the farmer doesn’t just sit around and wait. He has a lot of work to do to ensure he has a good harvest. His entire summer is full of laboring until the harvest.

In the same way, we must be patient in awaiting the return of Christ, and we must stay busy doing the work God has commissioned us to do—teaching the gospel to all the ends of the earth. 

We cannot make Christ return any faster, just as the farmer cannot make his crops come in any faster. But both the farmer and the Christian must live by faith, looking toward the future reward for their labors. Don’t live as if Jesus will never come back; continue to work faithfully for Him. 

9 Don’t grumble about each other, brothers and sisters, or you will be judged. For look—the Judge is standing at the door!

Matthew 7:1-5 1"Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. 3"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 

We can’t be shifting blame to others when things aren’t getting done. Keep your focus on what you should be doing and not what others are NOT doing. Sometimes it’s easier to blame others rather than owning up to our share of the responsibility. Before you judge others for their shortcomings, remember Christ is the judge and will come to evaluate each of us. 

Christ will come and He will judge each of us according to the things we have done, or not done. In Jesus own words, when we cause pain to another human being, we cause Him pain, or when we do something to help someone else, we are helping Him. 

10 For examples of patience in suffering, dear brothers and sisters, look at the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. 11 We give great honor to those who endure under suffering. For instance, you know about Job, a man of great endurance. You can see how the Lord was kind to him at the end, for the Lord is full of tenderness and mercy.

Be patient. God will come through. James is reminding us of how patient the prophets had to be. He goes on to mention Job who persevered through many trials and tribulations. He and the prophets were faithful, knowing they were doing the work God wanted them to do. And God eventually rewarded them for their perseverance and faithfulness. 

¹² But most of all, my brothers and sisters, never take an oath, by heaven or earth or anything else. Just say a simple yes or no, so that you will not sin and be condemned.

Why do we find it necessary to swear to something? It’s because we want people to believe what we’re saying is the truth. But if we earn the reputation of being an honest person, we wouldn’t have to swear. People would believe us just on our word alone. 

The Power of Prayer

13 Are any of you suffering hardships? You should pray. Are any of you happy? You should sing praises. 14 Are any of you sick? You should call for the elders of the church to come and pray over you, anointing you with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 Such a prayer offered in faith will heal the sick, and the Lord will make you well. And if you have committed any sins, you will be forgiven. 16 Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.

Here James is telling his readers how we should handle our problems.

If we are in trouble, we should pray. Hand your troubles over to God and believe He will help you through whatever it is.

Unhappy? Sing songs of praise. This will inevitably lift your spirits. When we sing songs of praise, we are reminded of God’s love and mercy, which helps us put our trivial problems into perspective.

If we are sick, we should contact the leaders of the church so they can pray for us. He mentions oil because in scripture, oil was both a medicine and a symbol of the Spirit of God. Either way, Jesus is Lord over both the body and the spirit. So whether we are ‘sick’ in spirit or physically sick, the members of Christ’s body (the church) should be able to count on the other members for support and prayer. Elders and church members should stay alert to pray for the needs of all the church's members.

Notice in verse 15, it isn’t the oil that heals, but the “prayer of faith”. The Lord heals when he hears our prayers “offered in faith”. All prayers are subject to God’s will and His time-table. So again, we must be patient and faithful. 

James goes on to write about spiritual healing. If someone has sinned, we are to pray for them so they may be forgiven and healed. The sinner must repent, but by going to the Church and having others pray for them, other things are accomplished. 

First, if someone has sinned against another individual, he or she must ask their forgiveness. By praying together, this encourages both to forgive and put the problem behind them.
Second, if the sin has somehow affected the church, we need to confess it publicly so the problems can be set right. Third, sometimes we need loving support as we struggle with a sin. By confessing it to others and having them help us through it, it helps us conquer the temptation.

Testimony from the Miraculous Child - Gracia Jebaraj Samuel

Praise the Lord! 

In the year 2010 when Jebaraj and I were married on the 22^nd of April, the promise we received on our wedding day was taken from Genesis 17:4, 5. "As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations.”.

In lieu with this, I would like to begin my testimony by telling you a real life story. Many years ago a young man and woman were married. The couple had all the good things the world could offer. They were blessed with good jobs, a good home, financial blessing etc. But the only thing they lacked was a child in their arms. They did everything they could. They consulted the best doctors and physicians. But nothing seemed to work. Soon family and friends began asking them why they didn’t have kids. Life began to become depressing for the couple. They had slowly begun to lose their joy. The only hope was prayer. They earnestly prayed too, but it seemed that even God had gone on a long vacation. Nine long years passed by, but the couple never gave up hope. They continued to believe in the promises of God whole-heartedly.

One day, out of the blue, the good news arrived. God had heard their diligent prayers. He proved to be faithful to them. Behold a beautiful girl baby was born to them.

And yes, today I stand here as a testimony to tell you that, I was that miraculous child born to the couple. Psalm 112 verses 1 and 2 say "Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, who finds great delight in his commands. His children will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed."

God’s faithfulness lasts for generations. It was with our grandparents, then with our parents and today with Jebaraj and I. Sophia meaning wisdom is the symbol of God’s faithfulness from generations to generations. We wished to name our daughter after a queen. So, we zeroed down on the name Sophia after Queen Sophia of Spain. Sophia also signifies wisdom. She was one of the wisest queens of King Solomon. In Biblical History, it is known that it was this queen Sophia who instructed King Solomon to build glorious temple of God.

Gracia Jebaraj Samuel.(Testimony shared during Sophia' Baptism - 26th Sept 2011)

Google Chrome: Dear Sophie

Sophia joins the web..

Scotty McCreery -I've got to thank the Lord first, he got me here.

With a record-breaking 122 million votes cast, the winner of American Idol season 10 is…

Scotty McCreery!

"Never in my wildest dreams [did I think I'd win]. I've got to thank the Lord first, he got me here. Thank y'all so much!" McCreery, 17, said after host Ryan Seacrest revealed the Garner, N.C., native beat out Lauren Alaina for the title

Scotty McCreery shares his faith before his Home crowd..

Scotty shares his faith, He leans on him, also shares a verse from the rain, chapter Mark, where God withheld the rain..

Nagercoil Splendor

Early morning of 21st April 2011, my train was nearing the Nagercoil station. I was aboard the Kanyakumari Express. The train passed the small town of Aralvaimozhi. Soon after, I saw huge wind mills, the big fans going round and round, plenty of them, thousands actually. It was amazing to know that this small and obscure town can generate this amount of clean energy.

I reached Nagercoil at seven. After breakfast, we started exploring Parvathipuram, the place where my in-laws stay. We went around the pond (kulam) located right behind their home. We found plenty of white lotuses abloom. Just when we thought to climb down the water to pluck some lotus, a man came in and offered to get into the pond and pluck some for us. Good to have a beautiful pond near your home. We joyfully took the fragrant flowers back home to place it in the Uruli (An Indian vase).

Then as a family we headed down south, 10km from Parvathipuram, towards Muttom beach. It was rocky, lot of large stones, we enjoyed sometime at the beach. We sat near the rocks and gazed at the waves coming and hitting the big rocks and go back. It was amazing to see the speed at which the large waves come and hit the rocks. Later cruised by the South coast road, and reached the Muttom fishing hamlet, where we found a Tsunami Memorial stone, a huge catholic church. Behind the church was the fishing hamlet, covered by a huge wall to protect the fishing boats from the dangerous waves. The boats were lined up near the shore. There were fishermen homes near the hamlet. People go fishing from here.

We then went cruising past the south coast road, to visit another beach, the Sanguthurai Beach. It’s a virgin beach, it had a huge Conch or Sangu and a view point. Spent some time enjoying the waves and headed back home. Overall it was a great day, spending time with family.


22nd April 2011 was our first wedding anniversary; we prayed in the morning and opened our gifts. Thanks to all for all your gifts. We went off to Christopher Nagar church, to attend the Good Friday morning service. We had 7 people giving messages on the last words of Christ on the cross. After the service, the church members were served with special Kanji with 2 chutneys and a vegetable kurma. It was amazing to have fellowship lunch after the Good Friday service with all church members. In the evening I went for a walk around Parvathipuram, and I met Raja Jenish, who knows a lot about Nagercoil. He took me for a ride all around Nagercoil, lot of important places, how the name Nagercoil came up, from the Nagaraja Temple, we went past Home church, WCC, Clock Tower.

We had a lot of places planned to visit on the 23rd April 2011, plus some of our relatives were to arrive that morning from Trivandrum. Once they arrived, we spent time catching up and then had a sumptuous meal. We had hired a vehicle to go around the various places. We first headed to Padmanabhan palace in the afternoon. It is about 20kms from Nagercoil. It is a very old palace. If you love History, Kings, Queens; this is the place to be. It was good to know about the history of the place.

Later, we moved to Mathur Aqueduct (Mathur Hanging Trough). An awesome place, the view from the top of the bridge is breathtaking. We were able to view water streams on both sides. It was like walking on top of the world. Although a little scary to walk at that height, the view was just worth it.

Next we moved to Tiruparappu falls. The falls was crowded. People were enjoying the water, though the water was a little dirty. We went over to the top of the falls, from where the water was originating and took some photographs. It was thrilling to walk past the water streams at the top, the stream had a few pits, through which we were not able to pass through, hence got some help from people around to pull us from the water streams. It was the most thrilling moments of the trip.


For our last place for the evening we headed to Pechiparai dam. Pechiparai reservoir is a reservoir 43kms from Nagercoil, near the village of Pechiparai in Kanyakumari District. There are no words to express the beauty of this place. It looked like a wallpaper. The reflection of the hills on the water, the mountains surrounding the three sides of the water was amazing. It was a good day to visit all the beautiful places.

Easter Sunday, 24th April 2011, another beautiful day, we headed to Christopher Nagar church, early morning for the 6:00 AM Service. It was a special NMS Missionary dedication service. The songs for Easter Sunday were amazing. The Choir sang….Up from the grave he arose..a special song. A young boy played the organ; they had a sax player who danced to the singing of the choir. At the end of the service, we had a chance to meet the pastor, the NMS promoter at Nagercoil and the new missionary. The service was followed up by a fellowship breakfast at the church. We had Appam, Chappathy, Veg kurma, chutney and sweet kesari(really mouth watering stuff). We left for home after the service.


We planned to go to Keeriparai forest stream in the afternoon. We headed north of Nagercoil to Keeriparai, then to Kalikasam. This is a reserved forest area; tourists are not allowed to go past this place. We got special permission, since my friend knew the forest officials, and owners of the estate who pass by the place. The roads were rocky, we had a tyre puncture, and we had to change the wheels. It was getting interesting, we stopped half way, since the road was bad, and we were travelling without a spare wheel, we halted half way to see the beautiful view from the top.


Then headed down, half way through, we stopped to feel the water stream; this place was called Vattaparai Falls which is located at an elevation 40m in the Keeriparai reserve forest near Bhoothapandi village on the Pazhayar River, 32km northwest of Nagercoil.



On the way we passed by a water stream. It was a long drive, travelled a lot of distance. It was thrilling, since we passed by a place not allowed for tourist. It was a good day overall, a must see place.

Hope you all enjoyed the photos and videos.

Walking in the Fullness of the blessing….

Walking in the Fullness of the blessing….

Today is April 20, 2010. Last year it was April 20th 2009, I was working with TCS, but my contract was closed and hence lost my job. I thought I would look out for a job and get one soon. I attended many interviews, and didn’t get through. I attended interviews at many MNCs, but I didn’t get through. It was a long struggle, and I lost hope in myself and in life. It was difficult, and wondered what my friends and relatives thought about me.

After a long struggle, I got through at an MNC during the first week of May, while I was attending a music concert, during the middle of the concert; I received a interview call and got through it, and then finally joined My company on May 20th. Since then God has been blessing me abundantly.

During the second week of June, I was able to purchase a Pre-owned car, which I use for taking my guitars and keyboards for concerts. I thank God for this great blessing.

And then later God went on to bless me with a life partner. It was a divine connection. When I prayed for a partner, I prayed for someone who could sing well and someone wise. And God blessed me with more than I asked for, she is not only a good singer, she is a rank holder and a technical writer.

For the RYF website, we wanted someone who could do content editing for testimonies. I didn’t request for this, but God gave me someone who is a professional in this field. www.ryf.co.in

http://ryfonline.blogspot.com/

And then we got to know each other better. We got engaged on September 26th 2009. We sang the song “Just a closer walk with thee” during our engagement. And God’s abundant presence was felt throughout the engagement.

Getting a transfer from Bangalore to Chennai is not that easy at our Company. The scripture says “ Is there anything too hard for the Lord” , the Lord says, is there anything too hard for me, Gracia got a transfer, and joined my company at Chennai location on December.

When I joined My company, it was three shifts for me, it was difficult, but we had a team which had 6 weeks of day and 3 weeks night. We are a 50 member team, but my manager chose me out of the 50 to be a part of this team which had 6 weeks of day shift. “The lord says, if you will delight yourselves in the Lord, he will give you the desires of your heart.” And I was happy to be a part of this team. The team is now moving towards total day shift work

Ephesians 3:20 says, “God is willing to do exceeding, abundantly, above and beyond what we could ask think or imagine”, and now God has blessed us with a small home. We are thankful to God for this great blessing.

When God wants something to be done, he will get it done. Nobody can stand against our God. He is the Lord of the all the earth. To God be the glory.

Last year I didn’t have a job, but God gave me one, then another blessing, and another. God has helped me to Walk in the fullness of the blessing.

God says “this is just the beginning, He says, your best days are out in front of you. And that You and I have not touched the surface of what God has in store for us.