July 15, 2018
James
James 4:1-10
James 4:1-10
1 What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? 2 You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. 3 When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.
4 You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. 5 Or do you think Scripture says without reason that he jealously longs for the spirit he has caused to dwell in us? 6 But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says:
“God opposes the proud
but shows favor to the humble.”
7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.
He’s calling the people of God to submit their lives to God and stop trying to be in control to get what they want. If James had to say these things, there was someone or undoubtedly many someones who were doing these things enough to be called out in them.
Cultural Christianity is primarily evidenced by people who care more about what they get from God than what they are giving to God. I think it starts from a place of:
- Praying for things you want for you instead of
things you need to build HIS KINGDOM
- Being in discipleship to be more like God
because you want to be more like Him FOR YOU
instead of honoring him in the way you live your life
- From a place of PRIDE in what God has done in you
and through you
- Showing up to Church to feel God in worship
instead of showing up TO worship Him
Are you here to serve God and build HIS Kingdom, or is it about what you get FROM His people or even FROM HIM in the process?
James 4:1-3
1 What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? 2 You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. 3 When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.
1. With some things, you’re going to the wrong source,
you need to ask God for those things
2. With other things, you are asking God,
but you aren't getting them because
you’re not asking for things that build the kingdom,
you’re asking for your own gain.
“Prayer is primarily a wartime walkie-talkie for the mission of the church as it advances against the powers of darkness and unbelief. It is not surprising that prayer malfunctions when we try to make it a domestic intercom to call upstairs for more comforts in the den. God has given us prayer as a wartime walkie-talkie so that we can call headquarters for everything we need as the kingdom of Christ advances in the world. Prayer gives us the significance of frontline forces and gives God the glory of a limitless Provider”/
- John Piper from “Let the Nations Be Glad”
In essence, this is a priority check: Where are your priorities?
James 4:4-6
4 You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. 5 Or do you think Scripture says without reason that he jealously longs for the spirit he has caused to dwell in us?
We have a habit of screwing up and caring more about what we get from the world than we care about what God has for us. But, He still longs to be with us.
James 4:6-10
6 But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says:
“God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.”
7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.
James 4:6, 1 Peter 5:5
God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.
Proverbs 3:34
He mocks proud mockers but shows favor to the humble and oppressed.
This is an important aspect of the heart of God: He doesn’t want any of your pride, He doesn’t want to hear excuses or explanations of how it’ll be different next time… What He wants is humility.
We can all slip into caring more
about what the world thinks than what God thinks
… we strive for earthly things and "getting what we deserve
." When our priorities get that screwed up,
we need to own up to them,
humble ourselves and admit we’ve screwed up.
Then we need to actually feel the weight of our sin
and realize what those things do to our Father
. Then, humble ourselves and let Him lift us up!
Communication Card
I will start evaluating my motives before asking God for things.
I will take steps to be a more humble person this week.
I will feel the weight of my sin AND then give it over to God.
