by admin | Apr 28, 2026 | James
By Scott Hilgendorff / Cowboys of the Cross
Have you ever lashed out unfairly at a family member or a friend? Maybe you’ve even taken your frustration out on a rodeo judge who you know really did make the right call or gave you the right score. When we’re under frustrated and feeling pressure from situations that are outside our control, we can sometimes let our guard down and get angry more easily.
James 5:7-11 is taking us near the end of James’s letter but some of what we learn at the very beginning of his book in the Bible comes back to play. He first wanted us to expect trials in our lives but to trust that God would let use them to help us grow in our faith. He also warns us to be more careful about listening harder and being slow to get angry.
Knowing many of the people reading his letter have faced hardship under the control the wealthy landowners have and struggle with being poor, he asks those struggling to remain patient and not turn against each other.
Instead, he asks them to be patient, again trusting in God to see them through their struggles.
James 5: 7-11 Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains. 8 You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. 9 Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing at the door. 10 As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. 11 Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.
He uses agricultural language we can still understand today about the importance of patience as we wait on God the way a farmer has to be patient as he waits for the rains to come at the right times to bring about the harvest.
If we lose our patience and grow angry with one another, he warns them that God, described as Judge, is not far away and they could face His judgment for their own actions against each other instead of waiting for Him to take care of the ones who have been abusing their power and creating the hardships.
Job from the Old Testament, who lost absolutely everything and suffered almost unbearably, saw everything eventually restored by God and James reminds those who are suffering of the importance of hanging on and waiting on God.
We don’t know why some find relief in suffering or from their trials and some do not, but we know that all who have a saving faith in Jesus receive a perfect life where there are no trials or suffering when we pass on from this one.
Cowboys of the Cross is a rodeo/bull riding ministry that leads cowboy church services at events and maintains an online presence to share the gospel and make disciples among the ranch and rodeo community. They can be found at CowboysOfTheCross.com
by admin | Apr 15, 2026 | James
By Scott Hilgendorff / Cowboys of the Cross
If you’re a large ranch-owner, could James be writing to you if he wrote his letter today? Originally written to the Jewish churches, James takes an often aggressive and harsh-sounding approach to encouraging us to live out what God’s word teaches us.
At the start of James 5, he turns his attention to wealthy landowners that were in control of a lot of Galilee, though his message would apply to all wealthy people, and he takes a strong tone against any who have misused the power their wealth has given them. He gives them a warning.
James 5:1-6 Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. 2 Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. 3 Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure in the last days. 4 Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. 5 You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. 6 You have condemned and murdered the righteous person. He does not resist you.
When James tells them to week and howl at what miseries are coming, he doesn’t mean an immediate justice for their abuses and actions that have led to defrauding or even the death of some of the poor. James is talking about the eternal consequences that living a wealthy life can lead us to if we abuse that wealth. A person with a saving faith in Jesus, who has repented of sin and been forgiven through the sacrifice on the cross that Jesus made in our place, isn’t going to live like this any more.
But for those who have chosen to continue living this way, abusing their power and taking advantage of the poor, it isn’t likely that they have found the forgiveness of a life in Christ because that life leads to change.
James is writing to those who continue to live their lives focused on themselves with strong language that they have fattened their hearts by living in luxury and face their own day of slaughter, referring to God’s judgment against them. He reminds them that God has heard their cries, meaning God is fully aware of any abuse or sinful living they have enjoyed but that there is a cost to that; without a saving faith in Jesus that moves us away from sin, we face God’s wrath and eternal separation from Him in hell.
It isn’t about having wealth that leads us to God’s judgment, it’s about using our power to our own advantage and not caring for those, like those who work for us.
Most of us our employees but some of us are the ones who employ others, whether it is farm hands and laborers on ranches and farms or the staff of a small or large business we own. Those who own the ranch are naturally going to have the most wealth. That’s okay. But how do you treat the people who work for you or that you trade horses with? James wants us to live a life that reflects Jesus in us, not one that reflects those without a saving faith that are greedily pursuing their own sinful desires.
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