September 22, 2026
Please use the comment section on this page to share insights from today’s reading OR your own personal Bible reading.
Reading along with us in Ezra and James? Here’s today’s reading:
James 5 (NIV)
Warning to Rich Oppressors
1 Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming on you. 2 Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. 3 Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days.…..Continue Reading
Next: Nehemiah 1
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Back: Ezra 10
James begins the chapter by chastising the rich for their injustice toward and mistreatment of the poor. May we not do the same if we are ever in such a position because a workman is worthy of their wages. He next encourages patience and perseverance as we wait for the return of Jesus. How important that is for our day, as we are troubled by the evil in the world, to not succumb to it, nor be overly frustrated or hardened by it that we either attack each other or lose our witness to the world. The Bible always encourages standing firm in trouble as well as providing powerful models of it. He then turns to prayer and assures us that our prayers are effective when we are praying with a heart aligned with God…and effective as Elijah’s prayers. And finally, we should all be looking out for each other and recognizing if people are wandering from the faith. And if so, we should reach out and try to bring them back. And how glad we can be that we serve a God of compassion and mercy!!!
James 5
Have patience and perseverance in the midst of suffering for the Lord is full of compassion and mercy. The day is drawing near when he will return or we will be brought to our heavenly home. Pray continuously throughout the day for the prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. Remember Job and Elijah and all the other people in the Bible who received what they asked for. And remember ourselves and what God has done. For God is faithful and he will answer our prayers by doing what is best for us.
“Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming upon you!”
James 5:1 NKJV
James again gives a flipped perspective of the rich and poor, like he did in chapter 1:
“Let the lowly brother glory in his exaltation, but the rich in his humiliation, because as a flower of the field he will pass away.”
James 1:9-10 NKJV
Poor have an elevated position, rich a humble position. We envy the rich and disdain the poor; we only see the short-term comfort and security of material wealth and miss the eternal, spiritual outcome of poverty….of complete dependence on God.
James 5
Troubles come….that’s a guarantee and how will we weather those storms. We can find joy in the struggle and we have plenty of biblical examples of those who were patient in their troubles and they serve as a reminder to us.
I love the call to prayer at the end of the chapter. Pray when things are good, pray when they are bad, pray for others and pray for confession. Stopping to pray in all thngs ensures God stays first.
People in the church are not alone. We should all be able to count on each other for support and prayer as James in versus 14 and 15 states. especially when people are sick or suffering. The elders should always be on call to respond to sickness or illness of any of our church members. Christian‘s most powerful resource is communion with God through prayer, but we tend to run to the Internet or call a friend and try to figure it out on our own and then we realize well we can pray. that should be our first response as James said you don’t have because you have not asked