James 4:1-10 New Living Translation
Drawing Close to God
4 What is causing the quarrels and fights among you? Don’t they come from the evil desires at war within you? 2 You want what you don’t have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have, but you can’t get it, so you fight and wage war to take it away from them. Yet you don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it. 3 And even when you ask, you don’t get it because your motives are all wrong—you want only what will give you pleasure.
4 You adulterers![a] Don’t you realize that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God? I say it again: If you want to be a friend of the world, you make yourself an enemy of God. 5 Do you think the Scriptures have no meaning? They say that God is passionate that the spirit he has placed within us should be faithful to him.[b] 6 And he gives grace generously. As the Scriptures say,
“God opposes the proud
but gives grace to the humble.”[c]
7 So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world. 9 Let there be tears for what you have done. Let there be sorrow and deep grief. Let there be sadness instead of laughter, and gloom instead of joy. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up in honor.
Word of God for the Children of God
Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.
Today I would like to share with you James 4:1-4,
“Where do wars and fights come from among you?
Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members?
You lust and do not have.
You murder and covet and cannot obtain.
You fight and war.
Yet you do not have because you do not ask.
You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your worldly impulses and pleasures.
Adulterers and adulteresses!
Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God?
Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.”
I share this today because these 4 verses have extreme depth to our personal life, family, the church, all the way up to the highest levels of a city, state, country.
First, it starts in our own hearts.
Jesus said, “Out of the mouth the heart speaks.”
Check your heart and see, are you asking for things because you want it just for your glory and pleasure?
Second, look at those who destroy property, who destroyed nations, who also destroy people.
They do so, because they lust and do not have.
They refused to humble themselves and ask the Lord for direction.
It comes down to a person having hate inside them.
Jesus said that “hate is the same as murder.”
Finally know, that we can not want nor value to be a friend to the spirit of this world and follow the Lord.
You can not be a friend to the adversarial spirit and the Holy Spirit at the same time.
You will either follow Jesus or follow the Adversary.
Would you be able to identify, know, recognize, the difference between them?
What Do You so desperately Want you would risk cheating God?
“You lust for what you don’t have and are willing to kill to get it. You want what isn’t yours and will risk violence to get your hands on it.
2-3 You wouldn’t think of just asking God for it, would you? And why not? Because you know you’d be asking for what you have no right to. You’re spoiled children, each wanting your own way.
4-6 You’re cheating on God.
Desires are thoughts.
Sadly, they often begin with the words of our two-year-old selves: “I want that!”
We can easily think, for example, “I want a car (or a house) like that.”
Or, “I wanted the job he got.”
I want, I want, I want.
Not all of our desires are bad, but many are.
If we want something that belongs to others or if we want something at the expense of others, that is typically wrong.
Pleasure and enjoyment are great blessings, but if we seek such things only for selfish reasons, that can be wrong too.
We can easily deceive ourselves into thinking, “I should have that . . . and why shouldn’t I?”
Our desires can cause battles within us.
How do we know if what we want is right or wrong?
We can take it to God in prayer.
And if we think, “I can’t possibly ask God for that,” it is probably a wrongful desire.
We can also have lots of good desires, though.
We may want our children to do well in school.
We may want our friend’s marriage to be saved.
We may want our church to grow.
God is pleased when we ask for good things like these with the right motives.
As we pray about our desires, let’s focus on those which can bring about glory to God, good for our neighbors, family, and friends.
Let’s pray about what can bring growth and maturity and Shalom in God’s kingdom throughout the world.
Things like these are always in line with the desires of God’s heart.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen
Praying ….
Security of Those Who Trust in the Lord, and Insecurity of the Wicked.
A Psalm of David.
37 Do not get upset because of evildoers,
Do not be envious of wrongdoers.
2 For they will wither quickly like the grass,
And decay like the green plants.
3 Trust in the Lord and do good;
Live in the land and [a]cultivate faithfulness.
4 Delight yourself in the Lord;
And He will give you the desires of your heart.
5 Commit your way to the Lord,
Trust also in Him, and He will do it.
6 He will bring out your righteousness as the light,
And your judgment as the noonday.
7 [b]Rest in the Lord and wait [c]patiently for Him;
Do not get upset because of one who is successful in his way,
Because of the person who carries out wicked schemes.
8 Cease from anger and abandon wrath;
Do not get upset; it leads only to evildoing.
9 For evildoers will be eliminated,
But those who wait for the Lord, they will inherit the land.
10 Yet a little while and the wicked person will be no more;
And you will look carefully for his place and he will not be there.
11 But the humble will inherit the land
And will delight themselves in abundant prosperity.
12 The wicked plots against the righteous,
And gnashes at him with his teeth.
13 The Lord laughs at him,
For He sees that his day is coming.
14 The wicked have drawn the sword and bent their bow
To take down the afflicted and the needy,
To kill off those who are upright in conduct.
15 Their sword will enter their own heart,
And their bows will be broken.
16 Better is the little of the righteous
Than the abundance of many wicked.
17 For the arms of the wicked will be broken,
But the Lord sustains the righteous.
18 The Lord knows the days of the [d]blameless,
And their inheritance will be forever.
19 They will not be ashamed in the time of evil,
And in the days of famine they will have plenty.
20 But the wicked will perish;
And the enemies of the Lord will be like the [e]glory of the pastures,
They vanish—like smoke they vanish away.
21 The wicked borrows and does not pay back,
But the righteous is gracious and gives.
22 For those blessed by Him will inherit the land,
But those cursed by Him will be eliminated.
23 The steps of a man are established by the Lord,
And He delights in his way.
24 When he falls, he will not be hurled down,
Because the Lord is the One [f]who holds his hand.
25 I have been young and now I am old,
Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken
Or his [g]descendants begging for bread.
26 All day long he is gracious and lends,
And his [h]descendants are a blessing.
27 Turn from evil and do good,
So that you will dwell forever.
28 For the Lord loves [i]justice
And does not abandon His godly ones;
They are protected forever,
But the [j]descendants of the wicked will be eliminated.
29 The righteous will inherit the land
And dwell in it forever.
30 The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom,
And his tongue speaks justice.
31 The Law of his God is in his heart;
His steps do not slip.
32 The wicked spies upon the righteous
And seeks to kill him.
33 The Lord will not leave him in his hand
Or let him be condemned when he is judged.
34 Wait for the Lord and keep His way,
And He will exalt you to inherit the land;
When the wicked are eliminated, you will see it.
35 I have seen a wicked, violent person
Spreading himself like a luxuriant [k]tree in its native soil.
36 Then he passed away, and behold, he was no more;
I searched for him, but he could not be found.
37 Observe the [l]blameless person, and look at the upright;
For the person of peace will have a future.
38 But wrongdoers will altogether be destroyed;
The future of the wicked will be eliminated.
39 But the salvation of the righteous is from the Lord;
He is their strength in time of trouble.
40 The Lord helps them and rescues them;
He rescues them from the wicked and saves them,
Because they take refuge in Him.
Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.
Loving God, Living God, Loving Hope, Living Hope, Loving Living Life His Way! "Many things are possible for the person who has hope. Even more is possible for the person who has faith. And still more is possible for the person who knows how to love. But everything is possible for the person who practices all three virtues." - Brother Lawrence (1605-1691), Practicing the Presence of God (1692). 