• Written to “Those who are saints and are faithful.” Early manuscripts do not contain the words “at Ephesus” – this was probably a letter intended to be passed around to churches in that area and the name “Ephesus” was just stuck in later.   
• Written by Paul, roughly 60 – 63 AD, (30 to 33 years past the crucifixion/resurrection/ascension of Christ) .

The time may come when you will suffer for the cross. The day may be far off, or it may be tomorrow or even today. The key, according to James, is to resolve to be resolute in what we believe. Often, we get tempted by the concept that living for Christ is something we can do in secret, that we don't have to let anyone know if we're saved, that they will "figure out" that we're saved because we go to church.

You need to establish in your heart where you stand on the issue of identity with Christ, and the love and obedience that he calls you to. It could lose you all your friends; it could make you a social outcast; it could get you hurt. Ready?

Read James 5:1-6.

Where is the source of our trust? Is it in Jesus Christ, or our stuff? In the United States, our standard of living is higher, generally 10 times higher, than most of the rest of the world. We may not consider ourselves rich, but we are very wealthy compared to the way that the majority of the people live in the world.

Children in the Sudan go to bed without a warm bed to lie in. Children in India, parts of China, and Somalia have a cup of rice per day and are happy to get it. People in this world are dying from lack of basic human needs, while here in the USA, even our poorest homeless are as well fed, comfortable, warm, and dry as they choose to be. No one is homeless in the USA for very long except by choice. 

How do we apply these verses of severe warning to ourselves in light of how and where we live? 

The following verses are about relationships between master and slave. I've changed the wording a little bit so we can see how - from the context - we can apply these verses to modern situations. You'd be better to memorize them from the original, so I've given you links to the whole passage in their context in the English Standard Version [ESV].