The LORD God is the Creator of the ends of the earth. He has established laws in nature which govern all the processes of life–planting, growth, cultivation and harvest. These principles give us insight on how to conduct our lives, families, churches, and societies (to continue reading this essay, click on image above).
Patience in Growth: Waiting for the Harvest, James 5:7-9
Welcome to Ordinary Time, our Seedlings and New Beginnings series on the laws of the harvest! We begin with James 5:7-9 where James declares that spiritual maturity requires the same patient endurance that characterizes successful farming—we cannot force God’s timing or working but must trust his perfect seasons of growth in our lives. True patience involves both waiting for God’s promises and actively establishing our hearts in faith, recognizing that Christ’s return provides the motivation for endurance and the answerability for our relationships. James’ warning against grumbling reminds us that impatience often manifests in criticism of others, revealing our need to guard our hearts against the bitterness that destroys Christian community. As disciples of the Nazarene, we must cultivate daily practices of following him armed with the patient trust in God’s timing. We can now extend grace to our fellow travelers, remembering that we too will stand before the Judge who calls us to love one another as we await his return.
Our Focus Today
Always be aware of Christ’s divine judgment, James 5:7-9
The Judge is standing at the door reminds us as disciples that Christ’s imminent return includes accountability, making patient righteousness rather than judgmental attitudes essential.
Invocation
Lord Jesus, you are both my blessed hope and my righteous Judge, and I acknowledge that you stand even now at the threshold of history, observing how we live and love. Help me to establish my heart in patient righteousness that honors you, motivated not by fear of judgment but by reverent love for you, my Savior, the one who will evaluate my faithfulness. Grant me grace to treat my fellow believers with the same mercy I hope to receive when soon I stand before your throne. Amen.
Gloria Patri
Glory be to the Father,
And to the Son and to the Holy Spirit:
As it was in the beginning,
Is now, and ever shall be,
World without end. Amen, amen.
Chronological Scripture Readings for Today
These Scriptures allow us to read through the entire Bible in one year in chronological order.
Saturday: 2 Kings 21.1-22.2; 2 Chron. 33.1-34.7
Psalms and Proverb for Today
These Scriptures allow us to read through the Psalms and Proverbs each month.
Saturday: Psalm 28, 58, 88, 118, 148 and Proverbs 28
Always be aware of Christ’s divine judgment, James 5:7-9
The Judge is standing at the door reminds us as disciples that Christ’s imminent return includes accountability, making patient righteousness rather than judgmental attitudes essential.
Reflection
The awareness of Christ’s dual role as returning Lord and coming Judge should create in every disciple a healthy tension that motivates both patient endurance and careful attention to how we treat others. The nearness of divine judgment does not serve to paralyze believers with fear but to refine us and our character. Those who truly grasp their accountability to Christ naturally choose righteousness over resentment in their relationships. The image is striking: the Judge is standing at the door. This divine evaluation is not a distant future event but a present reality, reminding us that our current attitudes and actions are already under the scrutiny of the one who will ultimately assess our faithfulness. We need to cultivate a reverential awareness of Christ’s presence that can enable us to be patience in trials and gracious toward others, remembering that the same Lord who strengthens us for endurance will also evaluate us in how we love our fellow believers while awaiting his glorious appearing.
Engaging God’s Word Today
In what ways should the reality that Christ the Judge is “standing at the door” check your responses to trials and your treatment of others? Is your patience accompanied by a practical righteousness and your endurance marked by gracious actions toward your fellow disciples?
Nicene Creed
We believe in one God, The Father Almighty,
Maker of heaven and earth and of all things visible and invisible.
We believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only Begotten Son of God,
Begotten of the Father before all ages,
God from God, Light from Light, True God from True God,
Begotten not created, of the same essence as the Father,
through Whom all things were made.
Who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven
and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit and the virgin Mary and became human.
Who for us too, was crucified under Pontius Pilate, suffered and was buried.
The third day He rose again according to the Scriptures, ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
and His kingdom will have no end.
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and life-giver,
Who proceeds from the Father and the Son.
Who together with the Father and Son is worshiped and glorified.
Who spoke by the prophets.
We believe in one holy, catholic, and apostolic church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sin,
and we look for the resurrection of the dead
and the life of the age to come. Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the Kingdom, and the power, and the glory for ever. Amen.
Doxology
Praise God from whom all blessings flow;
Praise Him all creatures here below;
Praise Him above ye heavenly host;
Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Amen.
Benediction
Eternal Father, help me to learn how to live with the joyful reverence that comes from knowing that your Son, the Lord Jesus, is both my Judge and loving Savior who desires me to be faithful until he comes. Grant me strength to go forward with patient righteousness that reflects your will for me and teach me how to extend grace to others as we all await that moment when Christ will evaluate our service. May my awareness of his presence at the door motivate me to offer him more and more what he is worthy of, my love and obedience in all I do and say. Amen.
Scripture Memory for this season
2 Corinthians 9:6-8 (ESV):
6 “The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. 7 Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 8 And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.”
Scripture Engagement
As disciples of Jesus, the Churches of Christ the King strongly seek to engage the Scriptures to discover the centrality of Christ and his Kingdom in the prophetic and apostolic writings. You will find a rich treasure of resources on engaging Scripture at the Center for Scripture Engagement of Taylor University.
Book Reading and Reflection
The Power of Automation
“When you automate as much of your life as possible, you can spend your effort on the tasks machines cannot do yet. Each habit that we hand over to the authority of technology frees up time and energy to pour into the next stage of growth. As mathematician and philosopher Alfred North Whitehead wrote, “Civilization advances by extending the number of operations we can perform without thinking about them.”
Of course, the power of technology can work against us as well. Binge-watching becomes a habit because you have to put more effort in to stop looking at the screen than to continue doing so. Instead of pressing a button to advance to the next episode, Netflix or YouTube will autoplay it for you. All you have to do is keep your eyes open. Technology creates a level of convenience that enables you to act on your smallest whims and desires. At the mere suggestion of hunger, you can have food delivered to your door. At the slightest hint of boredom, you can get lost in the vast expanse of social media.
When the effort required to act on your desires becomes effectively zero, you can find yourself slipping into whatever impulse arises at the moment. The downside of automation is that we can find ourselves jumping from easy task to easy task without making time for more difficult, but ultimately more rewarding, work.”
~ Clear, James, Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones. Penguin Random House UK, 2018. Electronic Edition, location 2,076.
Seedling Focus for the Season: Whoever Sows Generously Will Reap Generously
Description: Generosity is like sowing seeds that will one day yield a great harvest, 2 Cor. 9:6-8.
On Eagles Wings Prayer Focus: A Long Time Comin‘
God’s Triumphant Love, Romans 5:1-5.
Visit our Church App for more information: Scan the QR Code below (if you have difficulty loading the app, click here for instructions how to get the app on your iPhone or Android)
