The word of God contains power to completely transform our lives. The book of James reveals some important spiritual hacks – tips on how to do something more easily or effectively. James shows us how to unleash the power of the word of God in our lives and see a harvest.
“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. You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand” (James 5:7-8).
The goal of the word of God is to produce a spiritual harvest. The Bible says the word of God will not remain empty, but it will produce fruit (Isa. 55:11). Fruit requires patience. The word of God will not produce fruit immediately; it will take time. Just like a gardener plants seed in his garden and then waits until it produces a harvest, so we must patiently tend the word of God in us until it brings forth fruit.
The word of God is able to save our souls (James 1:21). This salvation is more than a one-time event when we are born again. Although we are secure in heaven after being born again, we need to grow in our faith and experience more and more of the salvation of Jesus in all aspects of our lives. This will happen as the word of God grows within us.
The kingdom of heaven is like a seed planted in the ground (Mark 4:26-29). The Bible gives us the pure seed of God’s word. We shouldn’t add to or take away from the word of God. The word of God is like DNA. If we add something to the word or take something from it, we genetically alter the word of God. Such alterations pervert our understanding of Christ and will create corrupt fruit. We need the pure word in order to have the fruit that God intends.
The seed of the kingdom of God is currently growing within each one of us. The growing word brings change. Maybe the word of God has affected us in ways we didn’t expect. We are not the same people we used to be. Our thoughts and desires changed. These changes are not bad. They are signs that the word of God is growing in us and taking over ground in our souls. The bigger the word of God becomes within us the closer we are to a harvest.
Israel was a largely agricultural society. They had two seasons of rain. The early rain fell after the seeds were planted. It caused the seeds to sprout and begin growing. The latter rain fell before harvest time, and it enabled the plants to bring forth fruit.
This is symbolic of church history. Water symbolizes the Holy Spirit, and rain represents an outpouring of the Holy Spirit. At the beginning of the church, the Holy Spirit was poured out powerfully upon God’s people. The Book of Acts is full of the revelation of the Spirit of God. This was like the time of early rain. At the end of the age, there will be another outpouring of the Holy Spirit. This is called the latter rain. This outpouring will cause the church to grow into maturity (Eph. 4:13; 5:27).
It is similar in the lives of believers. When we first receive a word from God, we may feel the powerful presence of God. This is like the early rain, which accompanies the planting of the word in our hearts. After this we enter a season of growth. The word of God begins growing within us. Then, when it is almost time for harvest, God pours out his Holy Spirit upon us again in order to bring forth a harvest.
We must be patient in between the planting time and the harvesting time. The word will bring forth fruit in us as we are patient (Luke 8:15). The little plant is tender, but it carries great promise. Don’t give up on the word of God. If you do, you will not see the harvest. The time of growth is when the roots of the word go deep within us. This time of growth is also a time of pruning, when things that are not according to God are removed out of our lives.
James gives us several spiritual “hacks” to help us grow during this time.
He tells us to “establish our hearts” (James 5:8). This means to turn our hearts in a specific direction and fix them there. The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked (Jer. 17:9). We must fix our hearts on God and on his word, and not allow them to be moved away from the word by the pressures and circumstances of the world.
When David faced great challenges and his own people turned against him, he established his heart. He encouraged himself in the Lord. Literally, he “seized God” (1 Sam. 30:6). When we face challenges, we need to fix our hearts on God so that we are not moved by the winds of circumstances.
James gives us another tip. He tells us to “not grumble against one another” (James 5:9). We need our brothers and sisters in the body of Christ to help us grow. We are all growing in the Lord together. We need each other. We may not understand each other, and we may not like the way other people do things. But complaining against our brothers and sisters will bring division into the body of Christ. This will weaken others, and it will weaken ourselves. Murmuring against others in the body of Christ is self-destructive. When we tear down the body, we ruin our own spiritual life. If we want the word of God to be strong in us, we need to build up the body of Christ. This is because we need the body of Christ in order to fulfill our own spiritual potential.
James also tells us to learn suffering and patience from the examples of the prophets (James 5:10). The prophets suffered because they spoke the word of God. This word was often not popular. They spoke against sin and called people to holiness. They also spoke out against vain religious traditions that had crept in among God’s people. There are vain traditions in the church today. These are enemies of God’s work. God is looking for prophets who will speak out against these things. Prophets sometimes must suffer, because their messages are not popular.
Prophets must be patient. The word of God takes time to grow. An impatient prophet is a fruitless prophet. Truth must be balanced. A prophet must wait to see the word of God take root and bring forth fruit. It won’t happen immediately.
James gives us another “hack.” He tells us to endure. This means to stay under the word. Don’t get out from under the word that God has spoken to you. If you leave the word, you will leave the harvest. There is no joy in abandoning your spiritual position in God. Hold onto the word of God, and see the harvest in faith. This will lead to happiness, because it will lead to fruit. And where there is fruit, there is joy. Live prophetically, with the end result in mind.
Finally, James exhorts us to remember Job (James 5:11). This is a final exhortation to patience. Job was patient. Even though he saw much trouble, he also saw the goodness of God. None of us will have to go what Job went through. But even though Job went through something so hard, he still saw the goodness of God at the end. This shows that we will see the goodness of God too, when we get through our momentary troubles.
Job started out with 7 sons, 3 daughters, 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, and 500 donkeys (Job 1:2-3). Then he lost everything.
But Job remained faithful to God. He didn’t give up. He was patient. And God blessed him. At the end of the book, Job had 7 sons, 3 daughters, 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 yoke of oxen, and 1,000 donkeys. God blessed Job abundantly. Everything he had was doubled, except the number of his children.
The reason the number of Job’s children was not doubled was because the first children were not really lost – they went to heaven when they died. Now, Job is with his 14 sons and 6 daughters in heaven. So, his children were actually doubled too.
Romans 8:28 says all things work together for good to them who love God and are called according to his purpose. The Lord is compassionate and merciful. He sees what we are going through as we hold on to his word. He wants us to get through the difficult phase of growth. And when we do, we are going to see an abundant harvest.
“Be glad then, you children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God; for he has given you the former rain faithfully, and he will cause the rain to come down for you – the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month. The threshing floors shall be full of wheat, and the vats shall overflow with new wine and oil. So I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten” (Joel 2:23-25).
Lincoln House Churches 