The Patience That Can Run

 “Be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near.” – James 5:8

Two things are for certain: #1: Patience is a virtue, and #2: You and I don’t have enough of it.

There’s an old Hebrew story that goes like this: One evening the great patriarch Abraham was sitting outside his tent when he saw an old man slowly walking toward him. This traveler was obviously weary from his age and his long journey. Abraham rushed out, greeted him and invited him into his tent. He washed the old man's feet and gave him food and something to drink. The old man immediately began eating without saying any prayer or blessing. So, Abraham asked him, "Don't you worship God?” The old traveler replied, "No. I only worship fire. I don’t pay attention to any other god." 

When he heard this, Abraham was furious. He grabbed the old man by the shoulders and threw him out of his tent into the cold night air. After the man staggered into the darkness, God called to Abraham and asked where the stranger was. The patriarch replied, "I kicked him out because he didn’t worship you." God calmly responded, "Abraham, this man has rejected Me and dishonored Me his entire life. For 80 long years I have patiently put up with him. Couldn’t you endure him for one night?"

Great question! It’s a shame that Father Abraham didn’t have the Book of James, because it could have done him a whole lot of good. In chapter 5, James addresses two different kinds of patience that God is grooming inside every Christian: patience with people (also called “long-suffering) and patience with crummy circumstances (also called “endurance”).

Let’s focus on the first of these critical kinds of patience: patience with people. In verses 7-9, James shines the spotlight on a very patient role model—the farmer. James writes, “See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the autumn and spring rains” (v. 7). Honestly, some of us would never make it as farmers. A farmer has to wait for the right time to plant. Then he has to wait for the little seedlings to sprout. Then he has to wait for the sprouts to mature. Then he has to wait for the right time to harvest. That’s too much waiting for some of us. Shoot…some of us can hardly stand to wait at a red light for more than 30 seconds!

There’s no denying: Farmers exhibit a lot of patience. But so too do men and women in many other professions. So, why did James choose to single out farmers? Because their patience is active, not idle. Think about it. Farmers don’t sit on their hands while they’re waiting for harvest time. They’re always working: up before the crack of dawn, routinely laboring 10-12 hour days, constantly preparing for the harvest even if it’s months away.

George Matheson, a Scottish pastor who lived in the late 1800s, was blind most of his life, but God taught him patience in the midst of his trials. Matheson wrote: "We commonly associate patience with lying down….Yet there is a patience that I believe to be harder -- the patience that can run. To lie down in the time of grief… implies a great strength; but I know of something that implies a strength greater still: it is the power to work under stress; to have a great weight at your heart and still run; to have a deep anguish in your spirit and still perform the daily tasks.”

What an amazing insight! When your neighbor is trying your patience, what should you do? You shouldn’t just sit in your house and patiently wait for him to put his house up for sale. Instead, you should patiently keep working--doing what God has called you to do: Be kind to him; pray for him, and love your neighbor as yourself. When you’ve asked your boss for a raise, and your boss keeps dragging his feet and not giving it to you, you shouldn’t slack off in retaliation. You should keep doing your best work, because you are really working for the Lord, not for man.

So, Christians, Jesus calls you and me to live out this greater kind of patience. Don’t settle for PASSIVE patience. Like the farmer, practice ACTIVE patience.

And do you want to know something remarkable? The lessons God teaches us while we’re patiently waiting are, oftentimes, more valuable than the blessings we’re waiting for.  While you’re patiently waiting for your neighbor to change, God is changing you. While you’re patiently praying for your spouse to be transformed, God is transforming you. While you’re waiting for your boss to realize your true worth, God is helping your to live out your true worth.

Ultimately, God is more concerned with your CHARACTER than He is with your COMFORT. He is more focused on your growth than He is on your gold medals. He is more focused on your BECOMING than He is on your ARRIVING.

I believe that Jesus Christ wants us to enter Patience Boot Camp this week. Here are two training exercises that we need to participate in. TRAINING EXERCISE #1: Read Hebrews 11-12. Every day we are surrounded by impatient people. But as we read and meditate on Hebrews 11-12, we’ll be influenced and inspired by these good, patient followers of God. TRAINING EXERCISE #2: Instead of grumbling about annoying people, pray and work for their good. Grumbling doesn’t help us or anyone else. Like the farmer, you and I must patiently work for the good of those who get on our last nerve. It won’t be easy, but it will be well worth the effort. After all, Jesus is coming soon, and he WILL reward you for your active patience.

Dane Davis is the Pastor of Impact Christian Church. Please join us for our live outdoor worship service Sundays at 9 a.m. at 17746 George Blvd. in Victorville. Or, join us online at 10 a.m. on our YouTube channel (Impact Christian Church) or on Facebook. And we hope you’ll join us next Sunday, September 27^th, for Back to Church Sunday.

Who's in Charge?

“You ought to say, ‘If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.’ As it is, you boast in your arrogant schemes.”  – James 4:15-16

In August 1994, a Korean Air commercial airliner had a rough landing—to say the least. The plane overshot the runway, crashed into a safety barricade, and burst into flames. Thankfully, all 160 passengers and crew on board escaped safely. But what was the cause of the accident? According to news reports, the pilot and the co-pilot had gotten into a fist fight…over who was in charge of the landing controls. Now, you’d have thought they’d have figured that out before they left the ground. Over 150 people almost died, and a multi-million dollar airliner was completely destroyed, all because these two grown men weren’t on the same page about who was in charge.

This is nothing new. In James 4, James levels criticism at some wealthy Christians who weren’t clear on who should be in charge. These rich merchants traveled around the Roman Empire, buying and selling goods, and they thought they had their 12-month plans all figured out: “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money” (v. 13). Now, for those of us who are thoughtful planners, this sounds like good planning. So, is James telling Christian businessmen that they shouldn’t make plans? I don’t think so. The problem James had with these Christian businessmen was twofold.

PROBLEM #1: First off, these Christian merchants were boasting and bragging about their grand plans. As James puts it, “You boast in your arrogant schemes. All such boasting is evil” (v. 16).

Theologian Warren Wiersbe puts it very well: “Man cannot control future events. He has neither the wisdom to see the future nor the power to control the future. For him to boast is sin; it is making himself God.” That’s an eye-opening perspective, isn’t it? When we boast and brag about what we’re going to do tomorrow or next week or next year, we’re foolishly acting as if we can actually see the future or control the future. But we can’t! Only God can.

PROBLEM #2: Their plans were missing one key ingredient: God. The merchants claimed to be believers and followers of Jesus Christ, but God was nowhere to be found in their plans. They weren’t praying for God’s guidance as they set their schedules. They weren’t studying God’s word to make sure that their priorities lined up with God’s. They weren’t even considering the possibility that God’s plans might be a whole lot different than their own plans. And their plans didn’t stem from a desire to bring God pleasure or to glorify Him. Instead, they were motivated by a desire to bring themselves pleasure and make themselves look good. As Pastor John MacArthur explains, “James does not condemn wise business planning, but rather planning that leaves out God. The people so depicted are practical atheists, living their lives and making their plans as if God did not exist.”

Think about this interesting term: practical atheists. An atheist is someone who doesn’t believe that God exists. John MacArthur makes the case that the greedy, ego-driven merchants in James 4 are practical atheists. They are saved, but they live as if they’re not saved. They call themselves “Christians,” but their plans and priorities are more like an atheist’s plans and priorities. Their motives are more like an atheist’s motives. And their lifestyles and spending habits are more like an atheist’s lifestyle and spending habits. These Christians are both “in the world” AND “of the world.” They could attend an atheists’ convention and blend in—no problem.

Let me ask you: Are you a practical atheist? If you’re a Christian, you have believed in Jesus Christ and have confessed him as your Savior and Lord. But is there evidence of your Christianity in your daily life? Sure, you lift up some token prayers before meals and go to church once in a while. But many atheists do those same things. I’m talking about hard evidence. If you were put on trial for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you? If not, then you are likely a practical atheist. Like the merchants in James 4, you identify as a Christian, but you live as if God didn’t exist.

In verse 14, James reminds these merchants: “Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow.” We don’t know what our health will be like tomorrow. We don’t know what family challenges we’re going to face tomorrow. We don’t even know for sure if we’re going to wake up tomorrow! On New Year’s Day 2020, just about 7 ½ months ago, we had NO CLUE that COVID was coming. We never would have imagined that we’d be dealing with a stay-at-home order; that our schools, churches and favorite restaurants would close; and even Disneyland and Dodger Stadium would close. Likewise, we were clueless about the social unrest that would grip our nation.

Only God knows the future, so only God knows which plans we make today will lead to our greatest good and His greatest glory tomorrow. So, it is foolish for Christians to brag about the future or to leave God out of our plans. As a wise man once said, “If you want to make God laugh, tell Him your plans.” God’s word tells us to get rid of our boasting and place Him in the very center of our plans. It’s okay to make plans—provided we keep in mind that all of our plans here on earth are tentative.

One of the most important questions you’ll ever answer is this: Who’s in charge of your life? And it’s a question you won’t answer with words. You’ll answer it with your humble obedience …or lack of it. If the day ever comes when you and I are on trial, accused of being obedient servants of Jesus Christ, I hope and pray that there is enough evidence to convict us.

Dane Davis is the Pastor of Impact Christian Church. Please join us for our live outdoor worship service Sundays at 9 a.m. at 17746 George Blvd. in Victorville. Or, join us online at 10 a.m. on our YouTube channel (Impact Christian Church) or on Facebook.

Stay Connected to the Vine

“Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.” – John 15:4

Last week I mentioned the grapevines I used to have in my old backyard in Victorville. Although they grew like weeds, the grapes themselves were tiny and sour. Later on, I learned what I was doing wrong. As the branches shot out in every direction, they looked so lush and green that I was afraid to prune them.

I learned that left to themselves, a grapevine will always favor new growth over more grapes. So, gardeners who know what they’re doing will vigorously prune the grape branches each and every year. It goes against our limited, manmade reasoning, but pruning is a grower’s single most important method for ensuring a plentiful harvest of large, sweet grapes.

Well, the same holds true for Jesus Christ and his church. Sometimes pain comes when we’re bearing spiritual fruit: God is allowing that pain to prune us so that we can produce more spiritual fruit. As Jesus told his disciples, “Every branch that does bear fruit [the Father] prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.” (John 15:2b)

Sometimes God needs to prune us of our immaturity, our bad attitudes or our messed-up priorities. At times He even cuts away something good in our lives to make room for something even better. That’s not discipline in response to sin. That’s God pruning us to make room for more spiritual growth, so that He is more glorified in our lives.

Now, if your life bears a lot of fruit—congratulations! But that productivity has pitfalls of its own. Often, we as Christians are very busy serving the Lord. And in the midst of that busyness, we produce a good amount of fruit. But just because you’re fruitful doesn’t mean you’re happy. You may feel burned out, and your relationship with God may feel distant and stale. If this is hitting close to home, let me try to explain what’s going on.

When you first accepted Christ, especially if you had a dramatic conversion, your relationship with him was so fulfilling. You just wanted to serve Jesus however you could. Maybe you weren’t even very good at serving him yet. But that was okay, because you were so enthusiastic and you did your ministry out of sheer love for him.

But as time passes and you get better at serving him—as you get better at growing spiritual fruit—your doing for Jesus begins to outpace your being with Jesus. You find yourself running around just like Martha in the book of Luke. Martha had opened her home to Jesus and, according to Luke 10:40, “was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made.” Her sister Mary, meanwhile, was sitting at the feet of Jesus. When Martha asked Jesus why he didn’t make Mary get up and help, he responded gently: "Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” (Luke 10:41b)

That’s what you’re missing out on when you feel spiritually burnt out. While you’re running around doing, Jesus is sitting patiently saying, “You need to be more like Mary. You need to sit at my feet. You need to talk with me and listen to me. You need to love on me and allow me to love on you.”

Do you know there’s only one way for a branch to draw more sap from the vine? The branch has to widen its connection to the vine. The funny thing about that is, this stage of spiritual growth is completely on you. When you’re bearing no fruit, God will discipline you. When you’re bearing some fruit, God will prune you. But if you’ve matured to the point where you’re bearing much spiritual fruit, God is waiting for you to come to him.

If you’re a fruitful Christian, you may be running around doing so much ministry that you’ve left Jesus in the dugout. And that’s not okay. Spending quality time with Christ must not be one of the many items on our daily “to-do” list. It has to be our top priority. We must deepen our connection to the vine if we are going to continue to be fruitful and actually enjoy being fruitful.

You have to choose to spend quality time with Jesus every day. You have to choose to read his word with an open mind and heart and to spend quality time in worship with him. You have to choose to spend quality time talking with him and listening for his still, small voice. When you do that, your connection to the vine will widen—and you will experience the deep, abiding joy of Christ’s love.

Dane Davis is the Lead Pastor of First Christian Church in Victorville. For more information, visit www.fccvv.com  and join us for worship Sunday at 10 a.m.

Is Your Fruit Sour?

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” – John 15:6

When I lived in Victorville, I had two grapevines in my backyard. Every spring they grew like weeds—long branches and lush green leaves. But the grapes were tiny and more bitter than Sour Patch Kids. Sadly, the spiritual grapes in many Christians’ lives are just as small and sour. What can we do to produce something sweeter?

Grapes, vineyards and wine were all very relatable to people in Jesus’ time. So it’s not surprising that Jesus used a vineyard for his analogy when he made his final “I am” statement to his disciples: “I AM the true vine.” In the opening verses of chapter 15, Jesus sets the stage for his beautiful metaphor of the grapevine. He reveals the cast of characters: the true vine, Jesus Christ; the gardener, God the Father; and the branches, Christ’s followers. And Jesus goes on to make it clear that as his branches, we are to produce spiritual fruit.

Now, just so we’re clear on this, when God’s word speaks of bearing “spiritual fruit,” that includes the nine fruits of the spirit described in Galatians 5: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. These are character-based fruit. But God also wants to us to bear ministry-based fruit. He wants to see you humbly serving others for their good. He wants to see you using your unique spiritual gifts to help grow Christ’s church. And most of all, He wants to see you leading people to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.

When it comes to spiritual fruit, Jesus is interested in both quality and quantity. And in John 15:2, Jesus talks about different stages of fruit growing in a Christian’s life: those who bear no fruit, those who bear some fruit, those who bear more fruit, and those who bear much fruit. It’s my hope that you want to live a life full of big, fat, juicy spiritual fruit. But before we get there, we’re likely to spend some time in the first three categories. For the sake of space, today I’m going to focus on the first category: those who bear no fruit.

If you’re bearing no fruit, at first glance, things look pretty bad for you. Jesus starts off verse 2 by saying that the Father “cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit.” It certainly sounds like Jesus is saying that Christians who don’t bear fruit will be cut off from Christ. But that doesn’t jibe with what we read elsewhere in the New Testament about Jesus never leaving us or forsaking us. And in a wonderful book based on John 15, Secrets of the Vine, author Bruce Wilkinson makes an interesting observation: the Greek word that is translated “cuts off” is more literally translated as “takes up.”

Now, it could mean “take up” in the sense of cutting off the branch and throwing it away. But it could also mean “take up” in the sense of “lifting up” the branch for its own good. You see, while researching his book, Pastor Wilkinson had coffee with the owner of a large California vineyard. He learned that new branches on a grapevine tend to trail down and grow along the ground. But they don’t grow any fruit down there. Instead, the leaves become coated with dust, mud and eventually mildew. Left that way, those branches become sick and useless. But a good gardener, or vine dresser, doesn’t leave them down there, and he doesn’t cut them off. As the vineyard owner explained, “The branch is much too valuable for that.”

Instead, the vine dresser goes through the vineyard with a bucket of water, looking for those branches that are trailing in the dirt. He lifts them up, washes them off, and wraps them around the trellis or ties them up. Pretty soon they’re thriving. Doesn’t that sound a lot like Jesus? He lifts us up, cleanses us and helps us flourish again.

If your life consistently bears no fruit, God will intervene to discipline you and set you growing in the right direction. That discipline may come in the form of illness, a lost job, a broken relationship, or a pierced conscience. So, if you’re experiencing pain or hardship, it’s a good idea to ask yourself: “Is the pain the result of some sin in my life? Is God disciplining me?”

If the answer is “Yes,” only humble repentance and obedience to God’s word will make the hardship go away. But if the answer is “No”—if there’s no apparent sin in your life that God is disciplining—rest assured, God is still working for your good. Next week we’ll talk about the somewhat painful, but very fruitful, process of pruning—and the ultimate spiritual rewards for those who bear much fruit.

Dane Davis is the Lead Pastor of First Christian Church in Victorville. For more information,

visit www.fccvv.com  and join us for worship Sundays at 10 a.m.