James 4
Submit Yourselves to God
1What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires that battle within you? 2You want something but don't get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. 3When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.
4You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. 5Or do you think Scripture says without reason that the spirit he caused to live in us envies intensely?[a] 6But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble."[b]
7Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.
11Brothers, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against his brother or judges him speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it. 12There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you—who are you to judge your neighbor?
Boasting About Tomorrow
13Now listen, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money." 14Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. 15Instead, you ought to say, "If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that." 16As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil. 17Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins.
Footnotes:
a. James 4:5 Or that God jealously longs for the spirit that he made to live in us; or that the Spirit he caused to live in us longs jealously
b. James 4:6 Prov. 3:34
3 comments:
Wow, i am guilty big time here. I dont consider myself a boastful person, but when i read this, maybe i am. I am a huge planner and have a lot of initiative and ambition especially for my career. i am always thinking about new ideas, new business ventures. But I really havent asked God to guide me with these ideas. Sure, once in a while when a dilemma comes up i pray to God. But most of the time i am trying to take the bull by the horns and force my way into things. i should be asking God to guide me and direct me. This passage makes me think how tiny and miscule i really am and how God is the one who is in control. I should be praying to him to open the doors He wants open and not simply marching ahead believing i can use my intellect and hard work to carve my path.
Father, may your will be done. open the doors you want open and close those you dont want me to pursue. Lord, i spend a lot of time thinking of new ventures. Lord, I pray that my motives are pure. That i am not greedy with these desires and that your will alone will show me what to do. Father i pray for patience and discernment. In the Lord's name I pray, Amen.
Jam 4
I agree timmcd6, there are lots of things that I've been taught and learned as I've grown to be always planning ahead, thinking about the next move, considering the long-term plan. But you're right, I should leave the planning up to the Planner, and just do those things he's laid before me.
I have to admit I'm troubled by the following statements:
9Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.
Are these for those who aren't already walking with the Lord? Shouldn't we rejoice in the Lord and be a light to those who are walking in gloom and doom? I ask because this is one of the devil's entry into my head and my spirit. As I wrote yesterday, I should be thanking God for those gifts that he has given me rather than reveling in the murk and gloom. Thoughts?
Father, let Your will be done, in my life, my family's life, and the world around us. You have given us enormous talents. Let us use them for You, and not for our own gain or even our own interests. May You help point out the flaws in our most good-hearted plan, for it is through Your plan alone that we have been delivered here. We ask these things in Jesus' name,
Amen
crb
Jam 4
Ouuuccccccccccchhhhhhhh!
Guys, this stuff really hit a chord with me.
4You adulterers! Don't you realize that friendship with this world makes you an enemy of God? I say it again, that if your aim is to enjoy this world, you can't be a friend of God.
Hmm? True test of the heart.
How about this one
As the Scriptures say,"God sets himself against the proud,
but he shows favor to the humble."
Guys, can you act proud or are you always humble? Man, this is so tough. It's like I need to a reprogramming of how I naturally am.
crb, to answer your question, I think this point to the true repentance most of us do not do in these times. True heartfelt gut wrenching sorrow for what we have done. If you read the whole thing in context in the NLT, it may make more sense
4You adulterers! Don't you realize that friendship with this world makes you an enemy of God? I say it again, that if your aim is to enjoy this world, you can't be a friend of God. 5What do you think the Scriptures mean when they say that the Holy Spirit, whom God has placed within us, jealously longs for us to be faithful[a]? 6He gives us more and more strength to stand against such evil desires. As the Scriptures say,
"God sets himself against the proud,
but he shows favor to the humble."[b]
7So humble yourselves before God. Resist the Devil, and he will flee from you. 8Draw close to God, and God will draw close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, you hypocrites. 9Let there be tears for the wrong things you have done. Let there be sorrow and deep grief. Let there be sadness instead of laughter, and gloom instead of joy. 10When you bow down before the Lord and admit your dependence on him, he will lift you up and give you honor.
Father, give me the courage to admit when I am wrong and truly repent for my sins. Help me submit to your will and to do the things that I know are right in your eyes, not the world. Change my heart and help me contimue to grow. Bless these men and continue to watch over them and there families.
In you most Holy Name,
cas
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