WHERE IS YOUR FOCUS, TRUST, AND HOPE
Tuesday – March 17, 2026
Video link: https://youtu.be/3wNkuN-7Mxk
Greetings dear children of God and other interested parties. Welcome to this ongoing Bible Study of the Bible Book of James. Last week we learned about lusts or covetousness and how we ourselves are at the core of most of our problems. We learned about spiritual adultery and how to draw near to God and become of one mind with Him. Then the Holy Spirit through James spoke to us again about controlling our tongue which of course starts in our thought life. Yesterday we learned that to be presumptuous before God is boasting which is evil. Now, we are going to delve into avoiding idolatry. Let’s jump into our primary text for today.
James 5:1-6 (NIV)
1 Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming upon you.
2 Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes.
3 Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days.
4 Look! The wages you failed to pay the workmen who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty.
5 You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter.
6 You have condemned and murdered innocent men, who were not opposing you.
Before you poverty devils get to excited, the Holy Spirit is not on a tirade against pagan rich people or Christians being rich. Also, this whole passage does not apply to all rich people pagan or Christian. Not all, likely most, have not done the awful things mentioned in this passage but certainly some have done these awful things down through the ages. Think about the children of Israel in Egypt. God is very much against anyone making riches their God, there is only one God, and that is Jehovah God. All earthly things will fail in the end, but He will never fail ever. Money is a tool in the earth that is a testimony to the goodness of God in our lives but beyond that a tool to further the Kingdom of God. Putting our trust and hope in Money is idolatry, let’s review the first Commandment.
Exodus 20:2-6 (NIV)
2 “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
3 “You shall have no other gods before me.
4 “You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.
5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me,
6 but showing love to a thousand [generations] of those who love me and keep my commandments.
Good does not want to put anyone or anything except Him in the number one spot. He is the only One who will never fail for eternity in anyone’s life. All else will pass away, but God and the safety (salvation) He provides can provide absolute protection now and for eternity. Did you notice that who or what we make as our number one will effect those after us. Those whose hope and trust is in man, things of the earth bring the curse on their family and those whose trust and hope is in God bring the blessing for up to a 1000 generations.
Jeremiah 17:5-7 (NIV)
5 This is what the LORD says: “Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who depends on flesh for his strength and whose heart turns away from the LORD.
6 He will be like a bush in the wastelands; he will not see prosperity when it comes. He will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no one lives.
7 “But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him.
Dear ones, it is not a sin to want to be rich or to be rich. It is a sin to be covetous, and to abuse other people in the process of becoming rich. It is a sin to look on our riches as our safety and security. God alone is our safety and security, now and forever. With our last breath all the money on earth has no value.
TAKE HOME:
- We are to trust and hope in God far above all else.
- The wealth of this earth is a wonderful testimony of the goodness of our God and a powerful tool for the Kingdom but at death’s door and in eternity it has no value.
- God alone is our safety and security, now and forever. With our last breath all the money on earth has no value.
Lord willing, I will resume right here tomorrow. Remember, we love you, the Lord loves you, and there is nothing you can do about either one.
By: Dr. David R. Wood, Bible Teacher, and Prophetic Voice
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