The Pointe

Inspired By The Olympics

The 2008 Olympics are about to begin in Beijing. Athletes from around the world have been intensely preparing for months to bring home the gold. They’ve been working with coaches, training and pushing themselves to achieve their personal best.

That’s something we as Christ followers should be doing as well. Growing ourselves physically, mentally and spiritually to become more like Christ in all we think, say and do. With that in mind, we’re harnessing the inspiration of the Olympic Games and extending to you a warm welcome at The Pointe to help you reach your personal best!

You have hoarded wealth in the last days.
                                                                      James 5:3

Money isn’t necessarily bad. Nowhere in the Bible does it tell you and me that it is bad to have money. When we depend on that money rather than God; when that money has us, then we get into some serious trouble.

In today’s verse, James warns us about that same idea. Here, James gives us a wealth warning: stop hoarding. The Bible is not anti-investing or anti-saving. God expects us to be good stewards, to save, invest and enjoy the fruits of his blessings.

Hoarding is completely different. The word “hoard” comes from a word which means “to hide.” When we hoard stuff, we are hiding it. We hide it from others by refusing to be generous or caring. We don’t utilize what God has blessed us with to help others.

We even try to hide it from God. And we fail to recognize a powerful reality of material possessions: we don’t actually own anything. We are simply managers of what God has given to us.

So when it comes to wealth and material possessions, there’s an important question you need to ask yourself. Do I want more just to have more? Or do I want more so that I can do more for the kingdom of God?

Because when you answer that question, then you’ll begin to recognize the real potential and power of money.

…pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.
                       James 5:16

It is easy for me to pray for my wife. I have no problem remembering to pray for my children. I have no difficulty praying for my friends. I want each of them to experience all that God has in store for them; I want them to be protected; and I want them to grow in their faith. So I pray for them. And I trust God to hear my prayers and answer them in his own time. However, it’s not as easy to pray for people I don’t know.

Life is busy. And because of that, we all prioritize our days. We also prioritize our prayers. When we take time to pray, many of us focus on those we know and love. But how often do we remember to pray for those people we’ll never meet, those we’ll never see?

The writer in this text tells us that when we pray for one another, our prayers are powerful and effective. That power and effect can stretch far beyond our circle of family and friends.

When you pray; pray for other believers. Pray for the leaders in our government and teachers in our schools. Pray for people you don’t know. Pray for those people you’ll never meet. Because as you pray for them, just as you pray for those who are close to you, God will hear your prayers. And he will answer them in his time, because your prayers are powerful and effective.

Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise.James 5:13

When you think of prayer, what’s the first thing that comes to mind? For many people, prayer is simply a way of communicating their needs to God. During times of trouble, they turn to God through prayer. They seek his help. And there’s nothing wrong with that. James here reminds us that the first action we should take when we face adversity or trouble is pray. But that’s not the only time or place for prayer.

Prayer is communication with God. If I only communicated with my wife, Yolanda, when I wanted something from her or needed her help, I’d be robbing both of us of the intimate connection that our marriage is to be based on. For our relationship to grow, I need to tell her what I appreciate about her, how much she means to me and what I find attractive about her.

Don’t neglect your relationship with God by only talking with him when you’re in trouble. Instead, pray in every situation—good and bad.

God wants an intimate relationship with you. Don’t rob that relationship of its potential. Instead, share with God everything that is on your heart. Thank him, share with him and communicate with him during every circumstance you face. Because as you do, you will discover the real potential in your relationship with God.

But he gives more grace. That is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Submit yourselves, then, to God… Come near to God and he will come near to you.James 4:6-8

When you drill down nearly every emotional, relational and spiritual struggle in our lives, you’ll come to one root cause: pride. We all have the tendency to want to be in charge. We want to be our own god, to call the shots. But control is far from ours, no matter how much we may want it.

The Bible tells us that God opposes the proud. So when pride causes you and me to attempt to wrestle the reins of life from God, we end up facing some major opposition.

To get back to a place of peace with God, James tells us to place ourselves in a position of submission. In this context, the word “submit” is a military term. It conveys the idea that we need to get under God’s plan in our lives. He is the one who is in control; he’s set forth the battle strategy. And when we submit to his plan, rather than trying to follow our own, we discover the real victory in life.

Don’t go through life trying to forge your own path. Instead, willingly fall under God’s plan for your life, submit to him and discover what it truly means to have peace that lasts!

Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness.
                                                                                                               James 3:18

In today’s politically correct world, we often make the mistake of being peacekeepers rather than peacemakers. A peacekeeper is one who says, “Oh, I can’t ruffle feathers. I can’t step on any toes. I have got to keep everybody happy and keep the waters calm.”

If you are a peacekeeper, though, nothing will ever change. You will end up listening to worldly wisdom and wasting your life trying to maintain the status quo.

Instead, God challenges us to be peacemakers. A peacemaker is someone who is willing to speak the truth to those around them, even if it means upsetting the status quo.

To be a peacemaker, you must care deeply for those people who are in the wrong. And you must be willing to show them the truth about what they are doing. Don’t judge people. But be willing to show them the truth and then talk to them about the fact that God loves them and wants them to discover the true peace that is only available through Jesus Christ.

But the wisdom that comes from heaven is… impartial and sincere.James 3:17

Sadly, in today’s world, Christianity gets a bad rap because many Christians are insincere. They say one thing, yet do another. And it results in one of the biggest excuses people have for not going to church: “It’s full of hypocrites.”

The word hypocrite means a play-actor, one who wears a mask. Many people try to convince the world that they are Christ followers only to turn around and take the mask off when they think no one is looking.

True sincerity, though, is seen when no one is watching. How do you behave behind the scenes, when no one you know is watching you? Make sure that you are sincere in all that you do—even when you think no one is watching, because God always is. 

Tell me what you think…

Throughout the Bible, Christians are charged with ‘producing fruit.’ Basically, that means that what we do reveals the fact that we are Christ followers, that we’ve taken that faith step to trust Jesus with our eternity. It doesn’t mean that we can earn our salvation. Salvation comes by faith. The good fruit, though, is what helps others recognize Jesus in our lives.
    And when it comes to producing spiritual fruit, we have three options: peels, plastic or produce.

If we have only peels in our lives, then we are hoarding the fruit for ourselves and not sharing with others what God has shown us.

If we display only plastic fruit, then we are showing the world a false picture of what the Christian life is all about.

What Jesus calls us to produce is healthy, organic, wholesome fruit. We should be nourishing the people around us with the truth of God’s Word and sharing it so others see a clear picture of what following Jesus is about.

So as you go through your day, don’t keep God’s truth to yourself. And try not to display a false picture of Jesus to those around you. Instead, realize that you have been given the “wisdom that comes from heaven” and that people around you are desperately seeking that nutrition.

But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate…James 3:16-17
When you think about being “peace-loving” and “considerate,” think about the different aspects of the cross. The cross has a vertical aspect to it; it also has a horizontal aspect.Once we bow the knee to Christ and place our faith in him, we secure a vertical relationship with God. And because that vertical relationship has been established, we now have the ability and desire to work on our horizontal relationships—those relationships with the people around us. It is then that we will reach out to others in peace and consideration.

To get the most out of this life and make the most of the relationships we have, we need to recognize the fact that we are called to be peace-loving and considerate with those around us. So as you go through each day, remember that your relationship with God has been established. And ask him to help you keep peace and be considerate with the people you meet every day.

Several years ago in an interview during his battle with cancer, theologian Francis Schaeffer said, “The only way to be foolishly happy in this world is to be young enough, well enough, and have money enough—and not give a care about other people. But as soon as you don’t have any of the first three, or if you have compassion for the weeping world around you, then it is impossible to have the foolish kind of happiness that I believe some Christians present as Christianity.”

What is our greatest need in life? Is it to be happy? We may long for a change in our circumstances, and sometimes that’s what we get. But a changed life is our deepest need. Changed circumstances may make us happier, but a changed life will make us better, for it will make us like Christ.

• Ever notice that when your cup of happiness is full, somebody always jogs your elbow?
• Happiness is not the end of life; character is. - H. W. Beecher
• There is no duty we so much underrate as the duty of being happy. - Robert Louis Stevenson
• Happiness in this world, when it comes, comes incidentally. Make it the object of pursuit, and it leads us a wild-goose chase, and is never attained. Follow some other object and very possibly we may find that we have caught happiness without dreaming of it. - Nathaniel Hawthorne