James | April 29, 2026

Start your day with a short, Scripture-centered devotional from Paul Michael. In about seven minutes, you will hear the Word, reflect on its truth, and be encouraged to live it out in everyday life.

James 5:1-12

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Transcript

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Welcome to your daily devotional with me, PMV. Today we're going to cover James chapter 5, verses 1 through 12. That's James 5, 1 through 12. Now, as we come to James 5, beginning at verse 1, it's really pointing back to the last verse of chapter 4. Chapter 4, verse 17 reads, Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is a sin. Then in verse 5, or chapter 5, verse 1, he says, Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming upon you. Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten, your gold and silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have keeped up treasure in the last days. Indeed, the wages, here it is, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out, and the cries of the reapers have reached the Lord of the Sabbath oath. You have lived on the earth in pleasure and luxury. You have fattened your hearts as in the day of slaughter. You have condemned, you have murdered the just. He says, You've lived on the earth in luxury, you've fattened your hearts as in the day of slaughter. You have condemned, you've murdered the just. Quit doing what you're doing. To those who are suffering under this injustice, the Lord knows he will return. You be patient, you hold on. God cares about your suffering. Then he says, Do not grumble against one another, brethren, lest you be condemned. So he says, in the midst of this, again, this is a theme through James. Be careful what you say. Behold, the judge is standing at the door. My brethren, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord as an example of suffering and patience. Indeed, we count them blessed who endure. You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord, that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful. He's saying, look, if you are suffering right now, realizing that's not the end, God will have the last say. God is going to write the last part of your story, and he will redeem everything. He will make the wrongs right. Your job now is to trust him. Your job now is to look to him. Your job now is to believe him, not to avenge yourself, not to slander to speak evil, speak truthful, but not to speak evil of one another. Wait for the Lord. Look to him, await his salvation. Then the last part, verse 12, says, But above all, my brethren, do not swear either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath. Let your yes be yes and your no no lest you fall into judgment. This goes back to the first part of the chapter. If you tell somebody you're gonna pay them for a day's wages, pay them for the day's wages. And you should be such a man or a woman of your word that you don't have to make any kind of oath or promise or swear. Here, when he's saying swear, it has to do with invoking the gods. I'm I'm making an oath, I'm swearing by the gods that I will keep this. And if I don't, may the gods tear me asunder. It's it's really kind of a pagan understanding of swearing. But we see this also where God is invoked in covenants in the Bible. That would be more the biblical understanding of it. So it's not swearing is in the sense of cuss words, it's in the sense of invoking a deity that is watching over this promise you've made. What James is saying is there's no need for that in the life of a believer. Let your yes be yes, your no be no, be such people of your word that you don't even have to say, I promise you. It's just when people say you're gonna do something, they know you will do it. This reflects on who God has made you to be in Christ Jesus, to be a person of your word, to be truthful, to be honest, to do what is right for others. This is the difference that Jesus makes in our life. Apart from Christ, yes, we will treat one another evilly. We will cheat one another. We will be unjust. We will do what is wrong, we will do things that are underhanded. And James is saying, don't act like that if you're a believer. Be different. Look at what Christ has done for you. Be changed, and in light of Jesus and his return, treat one another in a way that honors and brings glory to Christ. Thank you for joining me today. For more information, go to pmvministries.org. As always, I hope you have a great day.