Warning Against Worldliness
4:1 What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? 2 You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. 4 You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. 5 Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”? 6 But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” 7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.
11 Do not speak evil against one another, brothers. The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. 12 There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?
Boasting About Tomorrow
13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— 14 yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. 15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” 16 As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. 17 So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin. (ESV)
ELLO… I read
I like verse 14,”Yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.”
I like this verse because it talks about what I should realize. I need to know what I am. I am a human no different then the others I am in as much control as they are. I have no control of what I am going to do. GOD is in control and will control if I even wake up tomorrow. I need to remember this so that if things don’t go the way I want them to I don’t get angry. I to know that nothing is in my control its always what the LORD wills not what I want.
CYA
I am totally commenting on this as well. :D Nice Tanner!
Keep on keepin’ on…..good job.
James 4:2-3 You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.
The war in ourselves: our passions for comfort versus what God wants us to care about… We will have what we ask for IF our desires are lined up with what He wants and we ask in trust. So seek Him first today, throw yourselves on His mercy (again!!!) and ask for what He wants you to do for Him today and see what great things He will accomplish! Guaranteed to be an adventurous life!
“Hang on to yer hats and kids”–this sure IS a WILD RIDE!!! It’s kind of ironic when people look at Christianity and say that it is a boring way of life. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! NEVER boring. Not even for a MINUTE.
10 “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.”
How people think of greatness has gotten so messed up and twisted. They think that greatness is success in life such as: money, social status, friends, etc. This idea totally goes against what this verse says. To be great, not in the world’s eyes, but in God’s eyes, I need to humble myself and become a slave to everyone. If I do this, God will exalt me. This is true greatness! I need to work on being humble and serving everyone no matter the circumstance or no matter the person.
!!!MARANATHA!!!
17 So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.
This is such an important verse! As Christians we need to do the right thing when we know that it is right! We can’t ignore the little voice in the back of our heads because we want to do what we want to do! We have to remember that we are suposed to live our lives out for the glory of our God! He is worth so much more than being ignored. Ignoring the right thing to do is ignoring God! I can apply this verse to my
life and I pray that I will listen when God is directing me to do the right thing.
SOLID, Tiffany! Ignoring the Holy Spirit’s prompting of us to do the good God laid out for us to do is called quenching the Holy Spirit. Like you quench your thirst when you drink water? You put it out? Get rid of it. That is what we do to the Holy Spirit every time we disregard Him. The Bible straight UP calls this SIN. And sin separates us from God. We need to be ATAPAT warriors: Any Time, Any Place, Any Thing. Giving credence to our declarations of saving faith. I’m glad this spoke to you :)
4:1 What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you?
Last night we talked about this in Small Groups. PRIDE. The bugger within us that promotes the upheaval that can happen between and amongst Christians. And it can get even worse when an unbeliever is factored in to the equation. James NAILS it to his audience (even a couple thousand years later to include US) this entire chapter, trying to bring us to a realization that the human tendency is to promote the self. And when were born again (he is speaking to a group of people who claim to have saving faith), that means we DIED to our SELVES. When he says turn your joy into mourning, he is addressing the arrogant laughter and joy that we can find ourselves experiencing upon occasion when we have strayed off-path. We need to rid ourselves of that kind of joy, repent of it (DIE to it–turn the OTHER WAY FROM IT) and receive the grace that God lavishes us with when we turn to Him from our sin. And death DOES involve mourning. But as believers, we don’t stay in this state of mourning. We learn and extract what God wants us to learn from such a season, and we transition into celebrating our NEW life that is in hot pursuit of our Savior. Priide is dangerous, because it is so SNEAKY. It just creeps right on in, when we’re not even expecting it. We hafta HAFTA be on guard and stay vigilant regarding sin. And we need to be one another’s wingmen, and have each other’s back when we see sin creeping around the corner in our brothers’ and sisters’ lives.
HAFTA BE VIGILANT!!! It is true!
Can’t help it–so many great verses just SCREAMING out at me.
7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
No fancy tricks, no suave moves, no crazy agility. Just straight up RESISTANCE. Stand your ground; DO NOT LEAVE YOUR POST! That’s it. RESIST.
“to refrain or abstain from, especially with difficulty or reluctance”
Yah, guys. Not easy. BUT THAT’S WHY WE HAVE THE HOLY SPIRIT AS OUR BODY GUARD! He’s our armor, He’s our fortress, He’s our hiding place, He’s our Commanding Officer. If we do what He says, WE WIN. We already KNOW that HE wins. This battle we find ourselves in, whether we want it or not, is to determine who wins WITH Him. James gives us great encouragement that all we have to do is RESIST the devil, and he will FLEE.
No going out to look for the devil, no tracking him to see what he’s got, begging for a showdown. He WILL come find YOU, and he WILL come find ME. Of THAT we can be SURE. He found Jesus, and Jesus, TOO, just simply resisted him. And after three shots, he threw in the towel for that battle series, and he bailed.
Let’s just exercise being steadfast at our posts. But let’s make sure we’re on solid ground, so that when we stand, we have a firm foundation under us that will hold us up.
I love biblical motifs :) SO GREAT!
4 You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
God is serious about how we act with the world by calling us adulterous people! There are two ways you can go, either being a friend of God or an enemy of God. Since God is perfect and cannot be in the presence of sin, he is opposite from what the world is and offers. This verse is intense…. I would not want to be a friend of the world if it separates me from the Lord! I pray that I will fight the desires of my flesh for worldly desires, and that I would strive to please God and live for him!
15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.”
This verse stood out to me because its the Lord’s will that is the best one, and he has a perfect pan for my life! This verse shows the right mindset towards obeying God. Obviously there are going to be things in life that I want to do before I die and whatnot, but I do not know anything because it is not my will that is going to get me anywhere, it is God’s. I actually remember writing a blog about the Lord’s will I’m pretty sure! Anyways, I pray that I will seek God’s will for my life and not be selfish and live a life of things that I want to do! The Lord is in control of my life and has plans for me, and I want to be a part of that and not mess anything up!!!!
3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. 4 You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
I like these verses because God is telling us that either we are on His side or the world’s side, but we can not be on both. If you choose the world’s side, then you are against God. So if you want and desire God, ask with faith, and not for your own pleasure. I too am guilty of this and need to practice what i preach.
10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.
This world seems to be all about building yourself up to see how glorious you can make yourself. Everyone wants to make themselves look better in front of other people. They walk around with this arrogance, trying to make others feel in-superior and second best to them. They may do some good things, but the motivation behind their good actions is only a motivation to receive the praise of men, that they may appear great before others. Yet one’s standing before men in reality means nothing! What really matters is how one will stand before God. He will have to face up to every single thing he has done, whether good or bad, and give an account of his life. And for those that tried to exalt themselves, they will be made low, getting thrown into hell to suffer for all of eternity.
I need to keep a humble spirit at all times. Whenever, I do something well, I can’t boast in my ability. When there’s something I do better than others, it isn’t a reflection of how great I am. Quite the opposite, it is a reflection of how great God is, and how praiseworthy is his work in me. I can’t take credit for things that I couldn’t do on my own. To do anything good, I must be relying upon God, that the power of the Spirit in me empowers me to do good works. I need to not have an arrogant or proud spirit. I can’t even think that I am better than others, for I did absolutely nothing that I would be more deserving of salvation. In 1 Timothy 1:15, Paul says, “The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.” Paul calls himself the worst of sinners, instead of counting himself better than others. he was just so overwhelmed that the grace of God was sufficient to cover all of his sins. I need to be so amazed that the grace of God has saved me, that I am not looking at others and feeling more deserving, but instead, looking at all my sin, and seeing how I am the worst! I need to make myself low in all that I do, that God would receive the glory which he rightfully deserves!
14 yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.
Tanner pretty much said what I was gunna say buuut it applies to me in a different sense. Sometimes, if I have to go somewhere, I complain, whether it’s out loud or in my head. Now I knooow I commented on complaining already a couple of days ago, but My non-complainingness needs to continue for forever. The things that my mom might ask me to do, or the events that I have to do because I sign up for it are privileges. God says in this verse that it can all vanish like the mist in the air….WOAH! God is in control so I should be grateful that I even get a chance to do the things that I do. God’s giving me the opportunity to live and grow and I shall grasp that annnd never let go! :D MARANATHA!
Mmmm I love all of James its packed with so many helpful things for our spiritual lives every day. We all need daily applicable things for our spiritual life to work for and to increase in righteousness each and every day.
8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
This verse is so encouraging its crazy!! We only need to draw near to God and He will draw near to us in any circumstances. We need to beg for a closer relationship with Christ every day through prayer.
7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
In this verse it just point blank tells us that if we submit ourselves to God and fight sin in our life like its a battleground every day than God will come close to us (v8) and enemy will flee from us because he knows he has no power in front of our almighty God!
Fight back!!!!
.:Maranatha:.
4 You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
This verse really convicted me, because sometimes I am still drawn to the things of this world. Sometimes I am tempted to desire to grow up and be successful, and have a really nice car and a really nice house. And if the Lord blesses me with these things, that is good, but I should not make having these things the goal of my life. As Christians, we are called to be holy, which means “to be set apart”. As a Christian, I am called to live a righteous, sinless live. I am also called to be set apart from this world, as this verse says. I cannot be living with one foot in heaven and one foot in this world. By living for the things of this world, I am making myself an enemy of God. I need to be getting rid of my worldly passions, like the desire to make money and to be popular, and instead, give all of my devotion to God and His kingdom. I can’t be on the fence, God wants all of me!
8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.
This verse made me think of an illustration Pastor Mike gave a while ago in one of his sermons. He talked about how he and Stephanie were snorkeling, and they saw a huge turtle. And Stephanie got scared and held her dad tightly. Pastor Mike of course drew near to his daughter as she drew near to him. In the same way, when I draw near to God, He will draw near to me. When I am constantly in His Word, constantly talking to Him, and constantly dwelling on Him, He will draw close to me. When I cry out to Him for protecting and deliverance, He will protect and deliver me. This verse really encourages me! It is so awesome to think that if I draw near to the God of the universe, He will draw near to me! That is a stunning thought!!!
12 There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?
That is the perfect question for everyone to ask ourselves especially in our world today. “Why are [we] to judge [our] neighbors?” We are just as sinful and fallen as they are and we should leave the judging up to God. It is so easy to gossip and spread rumors or lies about someone else when we have non-Christians goading us on. This is a huge reason why we need our Christians friends to surround us everyday, since their motives should be the same as ours, it is easier to walk away from what the world tells us to do. I need to be more aware of when I am falling into this temptation the world tell us is ‘normal’ to do and realize that it is not my place to judge other sinners.
Good Morning!!
Verses 13-14
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‘Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.’
This is very true in most of our daily lives. We plan way ahead of tomorrow when we don’t know if God will bless us with another day to live. It is always important to thank our God every morning for letting you wake up and live in His beautiful day that He made for us.
The first line took it home with desiring thing that we see that other people have. It is just as bad as murder or any other bad sin. We lend to do this a lot today since our generation has new technology and other cool things like that these days. For the girls I think it is more to do with the new clothing and purses that are out there. We tend to want the more expensive designer things. Also at the end talking about more about if we are speeking against our brothers or sister. The most important thing to do is to go up to them and talk about what I going on between you guys. Lastly ending we all have the right choices infront of us. It u up to us to grap it and hold on to it.
15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” 16 As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. 17 So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.
This verse is sick! God has a perfect plan for us that is pleasing to Him or will bring Him glory. But, like we talked about at the campus lunches this week, sometimes it is hard to follow this path. Instead, we try to find satisfaction in worldly things instead of Christ, the satisfier of souls.
I pray that I wouldn’t be trying to resist what God has in store for me, especially know since I’m almost a senior it can kinda be overwhelming. But God is good and He knows what He wants to do with me and I pray that I would stay strong in the Lord and follow His way of life for me because I know that I can’t do anything in this life alone or without God.
14 yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.
I really liked this verse it touched me as soon as I started to read it! We are not better then anyone else around us, we are all equal so we should not judge other people and what they do because we do not have the power to judge only God does! I love how this says,” For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.” It helps me to realize that I am here for a very short time, so I should be doing everything I can to be bringing others to Christ! I am definately going to apply James 4 to my day today… I’m excited! :)
4 You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
James’ word choice here, calling his audience “adulterous” echos the cries of the Old Testament prophets who repeatedly used that word to describe the Israelites. He is saying that they are unfaithful to God, which is a terrible thing. So many of us are deceived into thinking that we can have one foot in the world of Christianity and one foot in the world. This is evidenced by the fact that they show up at church on the weekend, even going through the motions of small group and SOTD, BUT…when they are at school or with their friends God is the farthest thing from their minds. James points out that friendship with the world, or imitating worldly ways of thinking or acting, makes one an enemy of God. Yikes! If there is one person I do not want to have as an enemy, it is God! God severely punishes hypocrites, people who claim to be Christians but do not obey the Bible nor imitate Christ. Speaking of Christ, here is what He had to say on the topic of trying to live in the world and be godly at the same time in Matthew 6:24, ” No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” Today is a good time to get real with who we truly love! If it is God then the way we act at church will carry over into the way we act and home and school. True Christians live holy lives of obedience to God’s Word and seek His help to fight off the temptation to think or act in worldly ways.
8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
I really like this verse because it reminds us that if we make the move and attempt to draw near to God, He’s not going to push us off, He’s going to draw near to us!! We are told to cleanse our hands and purify our hearts because we are double-minded sinners. Pastor Bobby talked a little bit about having a divided heart at Winter Revival and it was really convicting to hear him talk about how we need to not have this double sided life! God deserves each and every piece of us, He doesn’t deserve just part of our heart, or just part of our minds or part of ourselves, He deserves every last bit and we aren’t giving it to Him when our heart is divided. Trying to keep our hearts JUST for God and making sure it’s not divided in any way shape or form is tough, but isn’t God worth it? :) People see christians and say “Hypocrites!” and they have a reason to if they see us with divided hearts half worshipping God and half ‘worshipping’ earthly things…money, looks, cars etc etc etc. The people that say we are hypocrites are *not* wrong. At least right now they aren’t. But we can change. :)
4 You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God
i really liked this one cause when it says if u are of this world
you are enemy with God? before i was a christian yess i was of this world…
and i tired to be, like going to partys and what ever the World does.
but now God is in my heart. and having him then this world is alot better:)
knoing that u are svaing and going to heaven.
And on top of that if u keep your eye off on God for a min it might feel good
but that the end u feel worse then u did before.
Praying to always have my eyes on God!!!!!!!!!
14 yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.
Our life may end anytime. We could stress out by thinking about it. Or we could go do the will of God. We could go and Glorify his name. A lot of the time I think that I will not die at a young age, but of course I do not know what God has planned. I pray that I could realize that i need to be doing the will of God because that is what I am called to do!!!!
MARANATHA
Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
An ENEMY of God? NO THANK YOU! Friendship with the world displeases our God. And this immediately reminded me of 2 Corinthians 6:14 “Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?” It is impossible to walk with God and love the world too. The reason we are friends with people is because we have things in common, right? Well, if the world HATES God, what do we have in common with them? They stand for everything we stand against. I cannot stress enough how important it is to surround ourselves with people that love the Lord and will only encourage us and strengthen our walk with him. Let’s be set apart <3
There is so much great stuff in the book of James. I love reading through this book!
4:1 What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? 2 You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.
James starts off with a question in chapter 4 and then gives us the answer a few verses later. He asks why are there quarrles and fights among you? James is writting to the believer so these were people who knew Christ, but he goes on to make a great distinction in verse 2. He explains the process of sin as we give into our fleshly desires and how it destroys us. Theses desires are the passions and pleasures of this world. Every sin first starts in the mind and that desire to want or to covet some thing or someone. Once this thought is entertained you begin to go down a bad road. Some one who may have a desire for something is not going to go out and murder over night, but over time if they continue to entertain and act on their desires then eventually it will lead to drastic results like murder. As James 1:14 says but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death. Do you see the process or the slippery slope? Our flesh is a powerful thing but not more powerful than Gods truth. It seems so easy to give into our flesh and allow that to rule us. That is why James provides the answer. What is the answer for not giving into these pleasures that result in quarels and fights? It is to ask God. Instead of thinking on the things of this world we need to be going to God in prayer. As we do this and seek him first then what we ask for will be in line with Gods will because we will be asking with the right motives. When our motives are right then yes God will answer our prayers. Its as Jesus says in John 14: 13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. 14You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.
If we are asking in Jesus name we are asking in line with who he is. A great way to figure out if you are asking with the right motives is to ask the Lord, “will what I am asking you bring you glory”. If it will then God will give it to you as he says. What are things that God will give us? He will give us his peace, he will help us fight sin and overcome it, he will give us the desire to do his will, he will give us love for our brothers and this broken world, he will give us courage to proclaim the gospel boldy . These are the type of things that we need to be asking for. Matthew 6:33 says But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. If we are seeking God first then what we ask for will be in line with who he is and his will for our lives. So lets STOP asking for things out of the selfishness of our own heart and lets ask that which God would desire of us.
7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom.
if u go and give god your love he will return his love
Amen Lucas! We miss you at small groups!
14 yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.
15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.”
Yeah this is one thing that I need to work on. So many times I find myself making plans or thinking of what I will do in the future. A lot of these things result in things like worry and anxiety if something goes wrong or if this won’t happen but I should submit myself to God with a quiet & gentle spirit instead (vs.7). Instead of controlling my own life, I have to realize the power of God’s sovereignty and that He is in ultimate control. If something happens it is all part of God’s plan not my plan. I don’t even know if tomorrow is going to come it could be MARANATHA so what use would it be to map out my whole life. For me this also correlates with verse 4 ” You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.” I do get tempted in planning for the future in thinking of nice things like a prestigious job, a nice house and car, and going to a top college but I have to realize that I have to seek God’s kingdom first. If he blesses me with these things then that’s great. But I know that the conflict of priorities of society and the ones of God are so different. I can’t be friends with the world because He clearly states that I would be enemies with God.
amen<3 haha you posted just a minute before me:)
4 You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
12 There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?
14 yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.
So much meaning and strength in such a short chapter! I love it:) I need to remember that I am God’s daughter and should not desire to belong to the world or try to fit in with the world. I need to stand out as a Christian, not blend in with the world and be a hypocrite. I do not want to be an enemy of God. What can man do to me, with God on my side? I likewise need to stand firm in the Lord. I love verse 12, because God is the ultimate creator. What other people in this world say or do should not matter. If we let that control our lives, we will always be changing, and won’t be stable. Happiness will be fleeting and we will be confused. But if what God thinks matters most, and pleasing him is what we value, then our joy will be constant and we will know what we are living for. I need to remember that God is the supreme judge, so I should not judge others. Plus, according to the Golden Rule :) , I should not judge others if I don’t want them to judge me! I love verse 14 because it reminds me that God is in control and I need to fully place my trust in him. Also, my life only being “a mist” is so amazing—how fleeting our lives our and how small we are in the universe and the whole spectrum of time. I want to make my life worth it by bringing glory to God. <3
14,”Yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.”
Really good to think about because it is important to remember that with God anything is possible so we cant take anything for granted.
I missed you last night :) but i hope you won your volleyball game. It’s awesome you are still on SOTD even w/o the mustard consequence. Noice! I’d like to hear more :)
“You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.”
Mmmmmmm! One of the oh-so-typical objections to Christianity: Jesus lied when he said “I will do whatever you ask in my name”
The simple reason for why he doesn’t answer so many prayers is because so many prayers are entirely selfish! Start asking for His will to be done, and -then- you might start seeing some answered prayers!
“you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.”
Sometimes we feel like we’re the ones holding the reins to our life, but that’s not how it works. There is a God, and he is controlling every aspect of our lives to suit his will.
So, we are not ‘the masters of our fate; and we are not the captains of our souls’
4 You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
Scary verse. We cannot be one foot in and one foot out. We are either on Gods team or satins team. I want to stay far from the world that will bring me down, because I cannot serve two masters.
3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.
mmmmmmmmmmm Intese chapter! Every single verse was amazing and convicting! I liked verse 3 because it is something I need to always be thinking about when I pray. When I pray, I need to focus less about what I want, and if what I want is fir me to have worldly pleasure, then obviously God is not going to give it to me. Why would an almighty and perfect God want me to do things that don’t glorify Him? Those two desires of living for God, but asking for selfish things does not work with God, and I always need to keep that in mind, and focus on what He wants, not what I want.
7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded
I need to submit myself completely to God if I expect to get rid of sin in my life. And James says its as easy as this: resist the devil’s temptations, and he’ll leave you alone. If I bring myself closer to God and resist temptations then God will help me get more in touch with Him. I also like how James doesn’t sugar coat this. He calls the person/people he’s writing to “sinners” and “double-minded.” I need to humble myself and realize that I am a lowly sinner that has received God’s unfailing grace.
12 There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?
Oh praise God for being the perfect judge!! There have been times when I judge people in my head, and then realize in the middle of a thought that I am NOT one to think such things!! I need to humble myself as Christ did!! God is so powerful, and cannot stand one hint of sin in my life. I can’t wait for that day when I will sin no more!! Only God has the power to judge us; he is holy, I am clearly not!! It’s just another reminder to fear the Lord who see all things (including our thoughts) and who holds all power!! :D
14 yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.
This reminds me of Matthew 6:34 “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” We need to just live one day at a time. The Lord will provide in everything!
I read…
Verse 17… “So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.”
When I first heard this verse, this was really convicting. I had previously thought that if I didn’t do the right that God was showing me to do, that I just wouldn’t get the reward. But really it is sin. I need to focus my life on doing work for the Lord so that others may be saved from it. I pray that God would show me more good works to do each day as I grow in my faith.
12 There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?
This chapter was great and full of so many commands! Who am I to judge anyone or anything? Am I all of the sudden better then this person? Because that is basically what I am doing when I judge. We are all equal in Gods eyes, whether or not you do one thing and not the other. I feel like I judge things that are not even important, like someone did somthing better then I did on a homework assignment. Its stupid and its only causes me to sin. I am no better then the person next to me, at least in Gods eyes. Other times I think that I am better then someone else because I did something more Godly. We talked in small groups this week about not being scared to ask for help in an area in which we are struggling. Sometimes I feel like I cant ask for help beause of being judged. But who are they to judge me, and who am I to judge them? More the likely I have or will go through they same thing they are going through which makes me equally as sinfull. I need to ask God for a loving heart and not to judge others.
11 Do not speak evil against one another, brothers. The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge.
This verse stood out to me so much! Especially for us girls. A lot of times we are tempted to gossip or even just say something mean about someone. Like it says in the verse if we gossip we are disobeying the law, aka Gods law! If people hear us gossiping and know were christians, then i would expect them to look down on us! We need to be christians with as little faults as possible!!! People should notice that we don`t argue, gossip, or say unkind things. And since its Gods law we need to be more careful. If someone is bothering you, then talk to them; just like Pastor Bobby said in his sermon. Its not fair to someone if we go behind there back and say bad things. And the sad thing is a lot of us talk bad about others on stuff we don`t even know is true! I pray that God would help each and every one of us to stay away from gossip and if it comes around that we would keep our mouths shut and be slow to speak! And if there is a problem between someone and someone else that God would give them the courage to talk to them about it!!! :D
Shout out to all my friends from San Clemente! It was awesome being at small groups with you guys last night!
17 So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.
This verse has helped me so much in my life. So many times we can get caught up in the big questions of what is God’s will for my life? But really all we need to do is take the next step of obedience. If you know something that you should do, then that’s God’s will. Obey what he has given you to do today and watch the blessings come your way! That thought is helping me to do my Hebrew homework right now!
Hope to see all of you at True North this weekend for How to be Persecuted!
Yeaaa, it was awesome having you @ the SC Small group :) You’re always welcome, of course. Thanks for being an awesome pastor!
15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” 16 As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. 17 So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.
I know I am guilty of this for a fact. If I am trying to evangelize to a friend or trying to point out their sins I always say to myself, “well there is always tomorrow.” The truth is, we do not know if tomoorrow will even come. We need to take God’s commands and fufill them daily. I need to step it up and when I think to evangelize, do it then. When a friend and fellow christian is stumbling to sin, point it out then and not wait to see what happens. I need to be more bold and take action.
14 yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.
This verse just further proves that the things of this world mean nothing. It will all be gone one day and it could even be gone in seconds. We should store up treasures in Heaven, treasures that will not go away and will last for all eternity. I especially need to work on this because for me it directly correlates with my worry about the future when I have no garentee that I will even be alive tomorrow or to my next breath for that matter. May the Lord fulfill his purpose for me. Psalm 133:8
MARANATHA!!!!!!!!!
P.S. praising God for Him working on my dear friend’s heart. I am literally watching a miracle and it’s amazing. May all the glory and honor be to Him who deserves all! I love you Jesus :)
3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.
I dont know about you guys, but this verse reminds me a lot of the high schoolers of the OC. We pray for things like getting dates to dances, and not being grounded, etc. We should be talking to God, not asking Him for stuff we really dont NEED but would be nice.
:)
“You do not have, because you do not ask.”
I believe this is a common problem. I often wonder why didn’t God help me in that situation, or why am I confused as to what to do in a certain situation, yet more times than less I have never even asked God to help me. My prayer life needs a mega booster.
Lord, I want to express my complete devotion to you through prayer each day. May you listen as I ask of your help.
Praise the Lord!
3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.
What I’m praying for should be God’s will….I shouldn’t be praying for things that *I* want for my life or something….it should be all God’s will. If I am praying like this then it *will* be made true.
4 You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
I need to make sure I am not conforming to this world!!! In this life, it might sometimes seem like this world has so much to offer to us. But really, it doesnt. Jesus is the only thing that should satisfy me and I dont need the things of this world to satisfy me. If I am conforming to the world, I am making myself an enemy of God!
10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.
What a counter-cultural statement! Whereas the world says puff yourself up and promote yourself to those around you, God tells us to humble ourselves so that he can exalt us. To do this takes serious trust and reliance on God. This weeks sermon taught us that part of living righteously was to strive for peace with those around us. Often that first act of peace making takes humility as our pride is laid aside and make ourselves vulnerable. However, it is awesome to know that God has our back, and is just waiting to exalt those who have real humility and are living their lives to please Him.
James 4:
2 You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.
“You do not have, because you do not ask” we should be open to the Lord, but you know if we don’t get what we ask for then it might because you’re praying for the right thing or it’s just not God’s will.
17 So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.
basically the definition of sin.
-Kyle:)
12 There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?
There is only one who may judge those according to the law and this is the Lord. Yet at times I catch myself judging others yet I do not have the right to do this. This is something that I can work on in my life so that my life may bring more glory to the Lord.
7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
This chapter was intense! This specific group of verses reminds me of things I was recently thinking of. I had a moment where I was tempted to think something bad, yet I prayed that the devil would flee, and I asked God for forgiveness. He is the only one I need to think of, because he is always good, pure, and just. I am so grateful that he is there as my rock that I can trust. I do not want to be double-minded. I should not envy the things of this world, but desire to have a heart entirely after Christ. He gave his life for me, so he deserves for me to dedicate my life to him.
4 You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
This is a hard concept to grasp because we live in a world so keen in trying to mold you as its own. Everything the world says from abstinence is foolish to follow your heart is a lie straight from the pit of hell. Its easy, however, to spend your day pointing your finger (its easy for me) without actually acting upon what you know. I pray that God will keep us Christians at True North holy and blameless and that we will follow his commands instead of the worlds.
15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.”
I think about this verse often and have really tried to make it a habit to say, “If the Lord wills…” when I’m making plans. One think I’ve definitely learned in my life is that no matter how much I plan, if it’s not God’s will, it won’t happen. God has a way of changing human plans. As God’s children, we need to be willing to trust God even when he makes us take a detour.
Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God
This is a very convicting verse. There are some things in this world that I tend to find myself drawn to but I need to make war with the world and sin and flee from the conformity of the world and draw near to God. I pray that I would not be conformed to the world in any way, and that I would not be double minded in my walk with the Lord.
James 4:17 So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin. (ESV)
Living for Christ is not easy. temptation is always knocking at our door. We are always striving to be Christlike. We need boldness, courage, self control, perseverance, and a lot more. Let us hold each other accountable and lovingly confront our brothers and sisters in Christ so that we can all be lights to the world. We are not of this world so let’s not live like we are
Nice comment (:
7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
I love this chapter! If we just submit to God and resist Satan, he will not pursue us! It says that he will even flee. Drawing near to God, will draw him near to us too. That is so awesome! our God is soo graceful and merciful. maranatha!
11 Do not speak evil against one another, brothers. The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. 12 There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?
It is not to us to judge each other, but only to God. It is wrong for us to judge, and rather than judge, we should try to help one another with the things we judge each other for. Or, first, we might even look at ourselves and inspect ourselves for the things we judge others for, and try our best to remove these hypocrisies.
14 yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.
This verse shows how we have no control over our lives or how they play out!! God knows what is going to happen and he controls what happens!! We also do not need to worry about what is going to happen in the future, for God has planned out our life and it will go according to his plan only!!
MARANATHA!!!!!!!!!!!!
3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.
You know, I and countless people are guilty of praying like this. We ask for things and when we don’t get it, we have a coniption fit. Prayer is God Glory first, God’s Will, Reverence of God and WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY down the list is you. We should be praying for things GOD wants, not us.
3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.
When I pray, I don’t want my prayer to be but a mere a list of things I ask for from God. These selfish prayers are completely centered around what I want, are not really heartfelt, and do not get much attention from Him. Rather, I need to be praying for God’s will, because those are the prayers that get answered. When we pray for things in accordance with God’s nature, He can’t help but answer. I am going to make sure my prayers are all about praising Him, praying for His will to be done, and confessing my sins to Him.
AMEN Summer, I totally agree. Great post.
14,”Yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.”
I really like this verse because it shows how much of our lives that we do not have control of. We need to trust in God because we will never know what the next day brings until it comes, but God knows the plan for your life so we really just need to remember that our life is in God’s hands. I know that I need to work on this because I do like to be in control but, i need to trusr in god more and remember that he won’t throw anything at me that he does not think that i am able to handle.
7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
I love this promise. This is why it is super important to read your Bible and pray everyday. It seems like if i go too long without staying in the word and praying i feel “staved” almost and it is easier for me to sin.
James 4:17 So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.
What a powerful truth to absorb. If I know what is right, and do not stand up for the truth, it is sin. This seems like such an obvious thing, but I still fall into temptation and sin. My worldly flesh wants to do what I want, yet God’s Spirit inside of me is constantly correcting me. I can fight my flesh by being more willing to obey God and His word. The only way for me to know what is right, is to meditate on God’s word and to read it. Doing what is right and developing discernment is crucial in the Christian walk. I need to do the right thing in every kind of situation.
Wow this first part is something that i dont care who you are anyone can work on this. This is what we went over in small groups and this is something that i hope I can start to re-read every week because i Struggle with keeping myself humble. I have no right to bost since I dont even desire to stick my hand out of the shadows into the lights of heaven just to feel the warmth of Gods precence. My soul is so undesirving that it makes myself sick some times. I am not the leader that i should be and I am not reading his word nearly as much as others dude.
17 So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.
Wow…Powerful and totally ties in with my goal for this week!!! Sins are definitely not only what you DO but also what you DON’T do. I know this in my heart and in my mind but sometimes I justify not doing right because it seems like “less of a sin” in my mind. There is no such THING as “less of a sin.” A sin is a sin and I need to know this in my daily life and really try to work on this. It is for sure a struggle for me, whether it be because I am shy, lazy, or don’t really feel confident… I still need to do the right thing, for God, the Lord of Lords! He deserves 100% obedience, submission, and reverance!!!
Girl, nice comment. I’m so proud to see that you’re going to try to not judge sin on the size of it. I know that’s something so hard to do/not do sometimes. I know I defintly struggle with saying like, oh well that wasn’t as bad as commiting murder or something.
Truth is, God sees sin as all the same. It doesn’t matter what size it is, you still committed something against your Heavnely Father.
Rock on girl!
~ Ariana Mishreki ~ :)
7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.
These verses are a weighty reminder to take my sin seriously. I can’t just assume I’m doing what is right and be self-confident or proud. I need to make sure that I have a godly repentance of my sin each day, that I draw near the the Lord and seek his righteousness, relying on him not myself. I definitely want to do whatever God says, submitting to him from the heart not just modifying my behavior.
7 Submit yourself to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
I loved this verse, it totally speaks the truth. One of the hardest things that we have to do is resist from temptation. This has been my biggest problem and I pray that God will help me resist temptation. If we give into temptation we are going against the God’s word and if we do we would be sinners. If we continue sinning we are living a life of sin. I pray that God helps me resist my temptations!!!!
4:1 What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you?
Being in self-control and having peace comes from staying away from the worldly emotions that always sway us, especially us women. When we get mad, we fight, when we are sad, we are irrational or rude, stressed, worried, and the list goes on. As a Christian we need to pray to be above these emotions and take everything to the Lord who knows and understands everything we go through.
17 So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.
This is definitely a convicting verse! It’s so easy to focus on not doing “bad” things and lose sight of the true aim of being a Christian: to have a lifestyle that is completely pleasing to God. One area that is hard for me – and I imagine for other high schoolers as well – is submitting to teachers without complaining. It’s not enough to simply do the work; I need to do the work JOYFULLY. Without an attitude of serving the Lord through willing submission, I am in sin. This kind of mindset needs to permeate my life as I strive to take every thought and make it captive to Christ!
Verse 14: Yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.
By just going over this verse, it brings me back to the reality that our time on Earth is actually extremely limited when compared to the eternity and infinity of Heaven and Hell!
And for us teens, getting away from reality is quite a common thing! But if we keep the fact that we need our God in every single day that we are in this world, it will definitely make us not only respect and honor our Creator, but also live out our lives to the best of our ability!
Yes!!! Great to see you on here David! Keep it up!
17 So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.
Such a convicting verse!!!There are so many times when I know I should do something but I don’t want to because I’m lazy or because I know it will mean stepping out of my comfort zone. This is sin! God takes that very seriously. I need to always be on the lookout for the good I can do and I always need to do it.
11 Do not speak evil against one another, brothers. The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. 12 There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?
We were talking about this at our smallgroups. Christians shouldn’t fight but they should stick together to help eachother in the christian life. it says that if two christians speak evil to eachother then they are speaking evil against the law. Agreeing in Christ is important because as Christians we need to unite and fulfill our purpose on earth.
14 yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. 15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.”
so…obviously it is not a bad thing to make plans…If we just go throughout life saying oh ya whatever happens happens and don’t do anything to plan ahead…well we can find ouselves up a creek without a paddle…the important thing about these verses is that we are relying on God and His will…we can always make plans, but that doesn’t mean that those plans will always be within the will of God…so lets do our best to make sure our plans are in line with his will and let us have faith that no matter what happens…God knows best…
14 yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.
since everyone pretty much says that the world is ending…well its somewhat funny that we are living in a world where sin run amok and most act like they don’t care about things when we should be excited that Jesus is coming back!
I’m not exactly sure what the reference is at, but there was a parable in matthew I think, when a group of bridesmaids were waiting for the groom to come and 5 of them forgot to bring an extra container of oil; but when the groom did come back, they were too late, and were not able to go in. I just remembered this passage when I saw this verse :)
11 Do not speak evil against one another, brothers. The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. 12 There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor
We are not worthy to caste our judgment upon others who do not follow the word of God. If we do decide to judge someone we are breaking the Word of God and what he expects of us
There are so many awesome things to meditate on in this chapter. “Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God?” Our whole hearts need to be the Lords, we are either in or we are out; a part of this world, or with God. The Bible says that we are supposed to be strangers in this world.
The Lord is a jealous God, and “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us.” I love this! The Lord wants to be with us, and made us to have a relationship with Him. He wants all of me. So i will live to honor that.
I want to know and follow God’s plan for my life, and i find this through reading his word, and talking to him daily. Not only growing in my knowledge of God, but growing in my fear, devotion, and reverence for Him as well. If i am not following God’s will for my life, and trying to live my life on my own power, i will fail, and it is sin. “17 So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.” I am so thankful that he has saved me and for the Holy Spirit the Lord has given me to have to guide me throughout the day. Also, for the desire to seek after him with all of my heart.
Great comment (:
You are so encouraging! Amazing chapter!
James 4
7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
These verses are huge when it comes to our sanctification. If we do not fully submit our lives to God sacrificing our earthly desires we will not be able to resist the devil and his temptation. Sanctification is all about submitting more and more of our lives to God eliminating the sin that entangles us. Only by submitting to the will of our Heavenly Father will we find rest and the ability to resist the devil and his evil scheme to separate us from God. So often we look at our lives and wonder why are things not going well or why is this happening to me? This can often be a symptom of our lack of submission to God which can produce negative consequences for our lack of obedience. It is clear in verse 8 that we must purify our hearts from sin and turn away from the worldly desires of our flesh. God is a jealous God who wants and deserves our everything. I pray that I will always seek the will of God before my own selfish desires. I pray that we will all give our whole heart to the Lord resting under his umbrella of protection.
17 So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.
This verse is a convicting verse and something that I have memorized and think of a lot. When I know what is right to do, yet don’t do it, its sin. I’m not just talking about knowing its right to obey your parents yet not doing it. I’m talking about knowing or thinking of someone I should go encourage, and not doing it because I think I will “do it later”, yet don’t; that’s sin. Knowing something good I ought to do for others, yet put it off or think I’m too busy and don’t want to take the time (which is selfish) is sin. I want to be thinking on this verse and applying it daily to situations that come up. I don’t want to let opportunities go by to encourage someone or to help or serve someone like my mom. I will be looking for these things I can do and do them when I think of them instead of putting them off to “later”.
So much going on in this chapter!
4:1 What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you?
This week at small groups, we talked about getting along with our fellow Christians. This verse is an awesome follow-up to that! What causes the arguments and quarrels that we have between our fellow Christians? Our Pride! Our inward passions that want to be right at the expense of our brothers and sisters in Christ. I need to exercise humility in all of my dealings, making sure that I am pleasing God in my relationships, rather than living pridefully. May I look to others needs and get beyond my own!
16 As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.
I haven’t thought about this concept for a little while. Its so easy to plan out all the things we want to do in our lives without thinking about God’s will. All our plans and activities should only be if the LORD wills, I will do this. LORD, please help me not to just fill my life with plans and activities out of a desire for personal pleasure instead of trying to direct my activities and plans under your will. Please show me what you want to do with my time; please help me to contemplate this throughout the day and always be looking to do your will rather than just thinking about things that will entertain me. Please help me not to be selfish but seek you in everything, for my life belongs to you.
i absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE the book of James!!! i could probably comment on every single verse in this chapter! what really stood out to me was verse 17 “So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.”
how convicting is this verse? we alllllllllllll know what the Bibe says about gossiping, or lying, or boasting, yet most of us do these sins daily! we are aware of what the Bible says about sinning, and we still do them! also, because we are aware of what the Bible says, we will be punished more because we know the rules God has placed in our lives, and yet we still do them!
“You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. ”
I love this verse because so many times, people wrongly think that they are just supposed to ask and recive from God and then condemn christianity when they don’t have their instant gratification. However this verse shows that you must be asking for the right things and that is when you shall recive.
Its great to see you on here, nice post. :)
15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.”
God knows how my entire life will play out, in fact, he controls it all! So I can rest in the knowledge that when I die I will be with Him…what’s in between is just a time to please Him and be a light in the darkness! I can be completely worry free about EVERYTHING- what an amazing blessing!!
14 yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. 15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.”
This stood out to me because this is hard for me to do sometimes. I get so caught up in planning ahead for school and whatever is goign on that I lose sight of the fact that God has it all taken care of. I am not the deciding factor of what I will be doing or where I will be in ten years, only God knows that. I want to be content in where I am right now and focus on doign what God wants me to be doing with what I have because i cant ever go back and give Him the time that is already over.
Wow, what an amazing chapter! So much awesome stuff it’d take too long to comment on all of it! I think this is now one of my favorite chapters in the Bible!
6 But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” 7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
Praise the Lord for His grace! We are all naturally friends of the world, naturally enemies of God, and we deserve His just wrath. Yet He shows us incredible mercy, and grace, and I want to be praising and thanking Him for that all the time. But notice what James specifically points out: that God, though He opposes the proud, gives more grace to the humble. Pride is thinking highly of yourself to the point where you don’t think that you need God, where you think that you’re fine on your own. But the humble man realizes his need for the Lord’s mercy; he realizes that God is God, and that he is but a man, a sinner before a holy, almighty God. I like the way it was put in the Old Testament: a humble man “is small in his own eyes.” And because of this, he submits. This is the kind of person I want to be: a humble one! God, please let me be lowly in my own sight and, as a result, humbly serve You and others.
4 You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
It is the concept that is described in this verse that was the thing that convicted me so much that I became a Christian. At Revival 09, Pastor Mike talked about lukewarm Christianity. Although these things aren’t directly related, it is basically the same idea. I cannot live a life where I am committed to serving the Lord some of the time, and the rest of the time getting involved with and desiring things of the world. I doubt there is one Christian that doesn’t find this verse convicting or has struggled with it at some time. Even now that I am a Christian, I still struggle with this a lot. It is so easy to get carried away with all the new and cool material things of the world, or relationships, or sports, or whatever it may be. The truth is though, that we has Christians need to hold firm and steadfast in our faith, refusing to indulge ourselves in the wickedness that exists in the world. You can’t serve two masters. You can’t be a lukewarm Christian. Every so often, when I am really struggling with this, I ask myself, “What do I really desire more? What makes me truly satisfied?” Steffen talked about this in campus lunch today, and I’m sure all of you guys who went to your’s heard it too. Though the things of this world may be new and exciting at certain points, they don’t last. I need to set my focus on the thing that will always keep me satisfied and happy, knowing that God is good all the time, and my relationship with him is eternal.
So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin. (ESV)
So convicting! Often my mind ratonalizes my behavior by telling myself that I am not doing something bad or sinful, but this verse sets me straight. Even if I avoid evil but I fail to do what it right and what is commanded of me, I am in sin. I need to see this as sin in my life and not tolerate it. Sin no longer reigns over me, Christ does. This verse screams for us to get serious about our actions and our view of what pleases or displeases the Lord.
Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
I would copy the whole chapter if i could! So awesome! I love this phrase. When i read it, it makes me wonder how i could even think about being a friend of the world but i do it all the time! If i am a friend and follower of the world, i am an enemy of God. I dont want to be an enemy…I want to be a daughter of God! If i am a friend of the world and a follower, i will fall even more into the temptations and sins of the world. I must dare to be different and stand out, especially at school! DARE TO BE DIFFERENT!
Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
I cannot give opportunities to the devil. I must resist him as much as possible and stay on the path of the Lord-that means reading his word daily and applying it, applying the sermons and living a life of righteousness, wanting the please God! If i draw near and close to God, he will draw back. But i must first purify my heart and cleanse my hands. I cannot be a double minded Christian, that doesnt work out. You must be on Gods team(about God) or Satans team(about yourself). I choose Gods team!
But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge.
If i judge others, i am judging the law and then i am no longer a doer or a follower of the word but a judge. I do not want to be a judge of Gods law because he is the only judge and his judgements are all that matter!
Praise God(:
Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
This was a great reminder that we need to be TOTALLY sold out for God. We need to not be spilt between a love for the world and a love for God but rather 100% of our hearts need to be for God!
“3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. 4 You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.”
Prayer is here for us so we can ask God to give us this “really cute pair of jeans” or something. NO! Prayer is a privlage. I should be using prayer to communicate with my Lord and Savior, praising, worshiping, and thanking Him for all the wonderful things He’s blessed me and my family with in my life. :) Verse 3 describes that perfectly. When I pray, ask God, I shouldn’t be asking for things from this world to come into my possesion. Because if I do, I will not recieve them because I’m asking the wrong way.
When I pray, I should have nothing to do with the world. I should be strickly focused on God and deticate that time to Him. I love when verse 4 says, whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.” BOOM! That’s pretty powerful. To become an ENEMY of God just cause I “wanted” to be a friend to the world. I don’t think so. I need to always remember and keep in check that I’m doing things for the Lord and not for the world.
“15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” 16 As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. 17 So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.”
When I pray, I only want things to happen because my Lord has ordained it, made it possible, and it was His will. I don’t want something to happen that He doesn’t approve of or something that isn’t His WILL. Yes, this may seem sometimes very hard to keep into practice. Like when one’s praying for something like a car, a job, a house or a school, one needs to remember to ask for that ONNNNLY IF IT’S GOD’S WILL. Otherwise, I should want nothing to do with it.
Father,
When I pray, help to pray and plead for things to happen only if their your will. I ask that when I pray, that I wouldn’t want things to happen just to happen. That I would ONNNNLY want things to happen because YOUUUU wanted them to happen.
~ Amen
~ Ariana Mishreki ~ :)
SOOOOO MANY GOOD VERSES IN HERE, AGAIN. ;)
17 So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin
This verse stuck ou to me because very often, i know what the right thing is to do before i do it. This is one way that i believe we know the Lord is with us all the time, because we have a conscience with us at all times that helps us decide between right and wrong.
We should not be proud for the things we do and do it for our own gain but we should do it for God’s glory only.