David Hathaway

'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. You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near. Don’t grumble against one another, brothers and sisters, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door! Brothers and sisters, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. 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. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.' (James 5:7-11, NIV)

As I write this, I am about to go to Ukraine. In addition to meeting many church leaders, I shall be preaching in Kyiv. Despite the war the church is full of people praying for their nation! Shortly after my return, I will go to Germany to renew my relationship with our German friends and partners where Eurovision began as a charity in 1988. This time my visit is to hold a powerful Day of Prayer for Ukraine on April 29th in Altensteig. Germany is part of my ‘vision for Europe’ and I want to join with some of the churches to hold further Days of Prayer, not only for Ukraine but also for Germany.

'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. You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near.' (James 5:7-8, NIV) The farmer must wait patiently for his crops to grow. The process cannot be hurried. He does not take the summer off. There is much work to do to ensure a good harvest. In the same way, we must wait patiently for Christ's return. We cannot make Him come back any sooner. But while we wait, there is much work to do. Like the farmer, we live in the anticipation of a fruitful harvest.

The future is in the Lord's hands. What would you like to be doing ten years from now? One year from now?  Tomorrow? How would you react if God rearranges your plans? Yes, make plans and preparations for the future, but first seek God's guidance and submit to His plans. 'Now listen, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.’ Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, ‘If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.’ (James 4:13-15)

'Draw close to God and God will draw close to you. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will lift you up' (James 4:8-10.) How can we draw close to God. In this chapter, James gives us several ways. Humble yourselves before God. This means to yield to His authority and will. Commit your life to Him, and be willing to follow Him. We must resist the devil and his evil schemes. Purify our hearts. That is to be cleansed by the Word and the Holy Spirit. This humility before God comes with a wonderful promise. He will lift us up in favour and blessing.  

Our whole desire should be to fulfil the plans and purposes of God. As we do so God will answer every prayer. He will work miracles. But first we must submit to Him. Instead of aggressively pursuing our wants and desires, we should humble ourselves before God. Ask Him to remove our wrong motives and trust Him to provide what we need. 'What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.' (James 4:1-3, NIV)

We are made in God's image, yet our speech reveals our need for salvation. The Holy Spirit purifies our heart so that our words become good and pleasing to the Lord.  Just as you can identify a tree by the fruit it produces, so you can evaluate your wisdom by your words and actions. Foolishness produces disorder and discord, whereas wisdom leads to peace and goodness. Are you tempted to escalate conflict, share gossip, or fan the flames of discord? God blesses peacekeepers. Wise, loving words are the seed of peace. 'Who is wise and understanding among you? Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. But if you harbour bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. Such ‘wisdom’ does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice. But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, cons

A few words spoken in anger can destroy a relationship that took years to build. Before you speak, ask yourself, is what I want to say true? Is it kind and loving? Is it necessary? Is my intention to build up or to put down. 'We all stumble in many ways. Anyone who is never at fault in what they say is perfect, able to keep their whole body in check. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell. With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be.' (James 3:2-10, NIV)

Do you want to be called a friend of God?  Writing in the book of James chapter 2, 'Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. And the scripture was fulfilled that says, ‘Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,’ and he was called God’s friend. You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone. In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.'  While our good deeds can never earn salvation, true faith always results in a changed life and good deeds. Faith brings us salvation; active obedience demonstrates that our faith is genuine. 

The faith you have will be demonstrated by the life you live. Our born again experience must be evidenced by obedience to the Word of God. We should have such a reverential fear of the Lord that our greatest desire is to please Him. 'What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,’ but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.' (James 2:14-17, NLT)

'Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.' God's commands and promises never change; He is dependable. We are all aware of English weather, we can experience all four seasons in one day; it can start with a beautiful clear blue sky, but by lunch time, it can be cloudy, with the light casting shadows. But the light of God's Word illuminates our lives without shadows. But the key to experiencing the beauty of God's presence is in verse 22, chapter 1: 'Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom and continues in it – not forgetting what they have heard but doing it – they will be blessed in what they do.'

“Blessed is the man who endures, perseveres under temptation.” We come back to the key thought, perseverance. “Because when such a one has stood the test, when he is brought to Judgement, he will receive the Crown of Life that the Lord has promised to those that love Him.” I don’t hear enough these days about judgement and reward. Whether we are a Believer or unbeliever, every one of us must appear before the Judgement Seat of Christ to be judged on what we have done! Unbeliever to condemnation; to the Believer, the Crown of Life - the Crown of Righteousness, the Crown of Glory! We are clearly promised a reward - if we don’t quit, don’t give up, but finish the job God has given us.

I have just spent a further time in prayer and fellowship in preparation for the next move of God. From March 20th to 27th I will be in Uzbekistan to begin the next part of our move into evangelism in Central Asia. This is a critical region almost untouched by powerful evangelism with miracles and signs following. While Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan were exposed to traditional Orthodoxy under the Russian Empire, both were Islamic countries until Soviet Russia suppressed even that. There has never been real freedom to evangelise and even now we have to use whatever opportunities we can, as fast as we can. 

“Perseverance must finish its work, so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking in anything.” The difference between childishness and maturity is perseverance. It’s only through perseverance that you get to maturity. In verse 5 James says, “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God who gives to all men liberally and doesn’t criticise, upbraid, or reproach, but gives to all men generously without finding fault with you!” If we lack wisdom, we need to ask! I do this all the time. I know what job God has given me to do, but I’m always asking, “How do I do it?” It’s not just a question of perseverance in the doing but finding out how to do it! That comes with every task. We have to become skilled in our persevering, we have to learn how to do the job! I marvel at some ladies who can put together a meal without reference to a cookery book - but they have experience, it makes it easier. So it is in our spiritual experience. It’s the maturity that comes with experience, when we don’t always have to look

James says, “Know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance!” It’s faith in something in which we can persevere. So many people run well for a time, but drift away. It’s so sad - I don’t find enough teaching in our Christian life today about persevering, not giving up, not quitting. Do you understand what perseverance is?!! Perseverance is the idea that you have a job and you’re not going to stop until it’s done. I have to laugh: married men have a reputation of starting a job and never finishing! Well, I built my own houses with help, yes, and I finished it. But I also start jobs I don’t finish! But perseverance means you finish the job you start! What a challenge!

Let us love one another, not just in words, but in action, in what we do! In Philemon 1, Onesimus, a runaway slave, a thief, has found Christ. In v15, Paul is saying to Philemon, 'Perhaps the reason he was separated from you for a little while was that you might have him back for ever – no longer as a slave, but better than a slave, as a dear brother. He is very dear to me but even dearer to you, both as a fellow man and as a brother in the Lord.' This Scripture shows how we should receive one another with love: we are brothers and sisters in Christ. 

Paul is in prison as he writes to Philemon, but throughout the New Testament, he often refers to himself as a ‘prisoner of Christ’. The relationship he has with Christ is more than being a follower, it’s such a strong relationship, it’s as if he is captive to the love, to all that Jesus is. If we could only see ourselves in this relationship – captives, almost prisoners, to the drawing power and the influence of the love that is in Jesus!

It's our faith and our love that should be such a hallmark of who we are in Christ. This is key – our trust in Jesus. Our faith is in HIM. As Christians the most important thing in our lives is trust. And it’s not just faith, it’s love for Christ – and our love for all the saints. The relief work we do in war-stricken Ukraine is an expression of our love.

'Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should. Be wise in the way you act towards outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.' (Colossians 4)

“Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving.” This theme runs right through Scripture, watching, praying – with thanksgiving – faithfulness in prayer! There is a big responsibility for us in this. Paul says in Colossians 4:3, “Pray for us that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ for which I am in chains.” There must be constant prayer from me and from you – pray! Just like Paul, I need prayer that God will open doors.