Practice Prophetic Perseverance

We all see things from our own perspective. It’s almost Christmas 2022.  Can you think back 5 years ago in 2017 what all happened? North Korea had its first successful intercontinental missile test.  Harvey Weinstein made the news for his criminal investigation.  Hurricane Irma had the strongest winds (185 MPH) recorded for a hurricane through the Caribbean. (Jamie and Justin got married). What were you doing 5 years ago? What was heavy on your heart?  What concerns did you have?  If you could remember them and jot them down, then next to that list write down the concerns and challenges you face today and compare the two. Are they the same concerns?  Or are you amazing how different life can be after just 5 years?!!  Imagine knowing what you know today, if you could go back 5 years and talk to yourself in 2017.  What would you tell yourself?  If we could do that, I think you would get what I mean when I say, “It is good to keep things in Perspective!  You would probably tell yourself, “You don’t have to worry about that.” Or “You could have handled that situation a little differently.”  Or, “That was one of the hardest times in your life, but God got you through it.”  Pretty amazing how God has given us the ability to look back to 2017 through the 20/20 lens of perspective to enjoy fresh hindsight and perspective. 

That’s what James does for us today on the 3^rd Sunday of Advent.  We get to look at Jesus, the Promised Messiah with the 20/20 lens of biblical perspective.  God gives us this Advent time before Jesus is born for time together in worship, prayer and hearing God’s Word.  We get to put our challenges, troubles and pain in the right framework of God’s Word.  So, while James uses lots of comparisons to the farming world, as we listen to this inspired Word we will also gain proficiency to 

Practice Prophetic Perseverance

Knowing the Season

I doubt anyone here stands next to their fields wringing their hands about whether their fields will produce enough crops to support their standard of life or not.  But, just like the days of James, people today are also tempted by greed and the love of money.  The rich who were greedy oppressed other people in order to get more money. The poor viewed life from the point of being a victim.  So, they caused as much trouble as they could for the rich.  Whether rich or poor, they both had a poor perspective on their season of life. They were tempted to retaliate, seek revenge, grumble and complain.  It is to these people that James writes:

“⁷ Be patient, then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop, patiently waiting for the autumn and spring rains. ⁸ You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near. ⁹ Don’t grumble against one another, brothers and sisters, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door!”

James 5:7-9

James wants them to Practice Prophetic Perseverance in whatever situation they found themselves.  Here’s what I mean. What would happen if they would say, “God has blessed them and I’m happy for them.  I am also blessed in my situation because God has seen fit to put me right where he wants me.”  Imagine the calm in your heart if you remembered this frame of mind during a difficult struggle!  Just think about the farmer James is talking about who does what he is able to do for his field and crops, but then hands it over to the Lord for his blessing.  The farmer also Knew His Seasons.  He knew when the rains would come and when the months with less rain would happen.  It would be during those dry times that they would have to patiently wait.  And the more years of experience they had in planting and waiting, the more they could relate to their perspective than a rookie.  He Practiced Prophetic Perseverance during the dry season, because he knew the rainy season was coming, so you didn’t often hear him complaining, “Boy!  It’s hot outside!”  He knew the fall rains were coming and the crops would finish growing then.

Let’s apply this to our lives.  We have regular seasons, too.  Until the Lord returns on Judgment Day, or he sends his angels to take our soul to be with him in heaven, we are in a waiting time of our life.  James says it’s our season of Practicing Prophet Perseverance.  When we are facing difficult days like Job, we know it is the dry season or carrying our cross for being a Christian.  That’s when we faithfully turn to God’s promises made in his Word and the rookie unbelieving world looks at us as being foolish and worthless.  These days are frustrating, challenging and painful.  Yet, every time we grumble and complain about living in this sin broken world we’re acting surprised by the season, as if sin and trouble shouldn’t be happening to me.  Then recall the words of James, “⁹ Don’t grumble against one another, brothers and sisters, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door!”

How vital it is for us to know the season we are in right now.  We are only two weeks away from Christmas.  This can be a very depressing season for so many people, like rookie farmers.  It’s the shortest days of the year for sunshine and people get depressed about that.  It’s the time when pressure to purchase presents, prepare for gatherings, longing to get together with family members who are far off, and you can easily see why this season can become so depressing.  Perhaps you’re guilty like I am for complaining in pain as if there were no possible way God could bless me through it.  We grumble just like a rookie farmer through the dry season of the crosses we bear, acting as if we’re surprised by it.

James gives us the solution to these days by encouraging us to Practice Prophetic Perseverance Knowing the Season We’re In.  James gives us this perspective in these words, “The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.”  Remember, prophecy doesn’t just mean predicting the future, it also means proclaiming God’s Word.  For instance, what would happen if you would Practice Prophetic Perseverance by remembering these words of Jesus.

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world”

John 16:33

“Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me”

Matthew 16:24

“I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life”

John 8:12

Just as Jesus came the first time as the Promised Messiah, you see how Jesus perfectly fulfills our expectations for our spiritual seasons of our life.  This is our Lord Jesus Christ full of compassion and mercy on us. Can you see that perspective?  All your difficult time is being used by God to work out all things for your good because you love him.  Take the fresh perspective to see every day on this earth as a season for God to share his love for you in the Promised Messiah.  Then you can thank the Lord for the opportunity to Practice Prophetic Prospective in the whatever Season you are in

Counting on the Harvest

Our Savior Jesus knew the season he was in perfectly.  He knew he was exactly where his Father in heaven wanted him to be in order to save the world and take his dearly loved children to heaven.  Jesus Practiced Prophet Perspective perfectly as he counted on the harvest of souls for heaven.   He understood perfectly that he had to fulfill his Father’s will in every situation—and never complained.  That he had to died on the cross in our place in order to bring us the perfection we needed to get into heaven—and always trusted in God’s plan of salvation perfectly.  That he knew even as he handed his soul over to the Father for the payment for all our sins, he could count on being raised from the dead by his Father as the firstborn of all who have died and will be raised again unto eternal life.  On that day the rain of God’s love will flood the earth as he brings home the harvest of souls won by Jesus.  Yes, that day will come when this dry season is over. Just like the farmer James is talking about, the rains will come and the crops will grow and then the harvest will come.

“¹⁰ Brothers and sisters, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. ¹¹ As you know, we count as blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about.” 

James 5:10-11

If given the chance, would you like to go back to the days of King David and live in his palace for, let’s say, a year?  Really?  Did they have running water and flush toilets?  I know they didn’t have AC or heated buildings.  How long would you survive without a Kroger, CVS and without a 70 inch TV to watch the Cowboys?  It’s all about perspective, isn’t it?  Do you consider the Old Testament prophets to be blessed?  Really?  They were imprisoned, outcast, threatened, persecuted and murdered for their faith in the promised Messiah.  But, it’s all about perspective.  They were “counted as blessed” because God came and harvested them from this sinful world to himself in heaven.  Would you like to go back and live with Job, who I would call the poster child for Prophetic Perseverance who Counted on the Harvest, watch him lose everything and hear him say, “I know that my redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand on the earth. ²⁶ And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God;” (John 19:25).

So, we all see things from our own perspective.  When some people watch a movie they cry and others laugh—probably a different perspective.  You know that you had a different perspective on things 5 years ago than you do today.  You also know there are plenty of hardships, difficult days, and attacks on our faith that Satan wants to us to destroy the most important perspective you can have.  That would be the Prophetic Perspective.  Don’t fall into his trap like the people of Jesus’ day did, expecting a Messiah what would fit into what they wanted, but expect a Messiah who is exactly the Savior we need.  Get ready to kneel beside his manger in absolute wonder that God should take on flesh and be our Savior.  Get ready to see our Promised Messiah from God’s Prophetic Perspective.  And not only during Christmas 2022, but God willing, for the next 5, 10, 20 or more years! You will have seasons of crosses and hardships, and you will have seasons of blessings from the Lord.  Take the words of James to heart and keep it all in the proper perspective. “⁷ Be patient, then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord’s coming.”  Know the season.  Plan on the harvest.  Practice Prophetic Perspective.  Amen!