Is Your Yes…Yes?

Prayer – Lord, I am patiently waiting for Your return. If I’m going to have to endure suffering…prepare my heart for that…and help me to be an encouragement to others to endure, too. 

Dear brothers and sisters, 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. You, too, must be patient. Take courage, for the coming of the Lord is near. Don't grumble about each other, brothers and sisters, or you will be judged. For look--the Judge is standing at the door! For examples of patience in suffering, dear brothers and sisters, look at the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. 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. 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. James 5:7-12 NLT

 

Meditate. Make choices.

 

Can you choose to be patient and to endure?

 

Wheat from eastern Washington.
Grown with patience from the Lord.

James is such an encourager here in this scripture passage. I grew up in a farming community which interestingly enough was half dry land wheat and the other half irrigated row crop farming. That meant that the dry land farmers relied on the rain—and where there was just less than ten inches of rain per year! The irrigated farms had the benefit of water from the Columbia River Basin Irrigation Project. Lots of water from March through September. It was just a matter of managing it—getting it in the right place at the right time. Patience and hard work resulted in good crops, as long as the weather wasn’t too cold in the winter. That happened when we were trying to grow peppermint. One bitterly cold winter froze the plants. No encouragement, rain, or a canal of fresh water could replace dead plants and it was too expensive to replant, so and that was the end of the mint farm.

 

If Job can endure…can we? Look at the hardships that Job suffered. He lost his family, homes, livestock, and even his own health, but he didn’t give up on God. God, in His mercy and grace, gave Job new family, wealth, and restored health.

 

We all have choices to make—like Job. Don’t give up. My Dad chose to give up growing mint—and eventually gave up farming. We have a spiritual choice to make every day. Do we rely on Jesus or on ourselves? The best choice for eternity is to choose Jesus. James encourages us to…Just say a simple yes or no, so that you will not sin and be condemned. Jesus taught that we shouldn’t make oaths.

"Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform your oaths to the Lord.' But I say to you, do not swear at all: neither by heaven, for it is God's throne; nor by the earth, for it is His footstool; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. Nor shall you swear by your head, because you cannot make one hair white or black. But let your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and your 'No,' 'No.' For whatever is more than these is from the evil one. Matthew 5:33-37 NKJV (Underlined for emphasis.)

Make your choice. Yes or No. Don’t give up on God…or even swear by Him. Don’t allow temptation to drag you into sin. Say No to sin and Yes to God’s way of escape. Just choose to hang in there and be a faithful follower of Jesus, one who says Yes…or No and means it.

 

Verses of Salvation ~ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also abounds through Christ. Now if we are afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effective for enduring the same sufferings which we also suffer. Or if we are comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation. And our hope for you is steadfast, because we know that as you are partakers of the sufferings, so also you will partake of the consolation. 2 Corinthians 1:3-7 NKJV

 

© 2024 Text, photos, and illustrations by Mickey M. Hunacek. All rights reserved. 

All scripture quoted from the New King James Version (NKJV) unless otherwise noted. 

New King James Version © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Harper Collins Publisher. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

New Living Translation (NLT) copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. 

Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

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