Tag: James 4

Trusting God’s Sovereign Plan

OLD TESTAMENT: Isaiah 53 & 54

POETRY: Psalm 108

NEW TESTAMENT: James 4:13-17

Isaiah 53:5-6 (LEB):

“But he was pierced because of our transgressions,

crushed because of our iniquities;

the chastisement for our peace was upon him,

and by his wounds we were healed.

All of us have wandered about like sheep;

we each have turned to his own way,

and Yahweh let fall on him the iniquity of us all.”

Psalm 108:1 (LEB):

“My heart is steadfast, O God;

I will sing and give praise, even with my glory.”

James 4:14-15 (LEB):

“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. Instead you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.'”

Isaiah 53 paints a vivid picture of the suffering Servant, Jesus Christ, who bore our sins and took the punishment we deserved. It reminds us that God’s plan for salvation was in place long before we understood it. We were like wandering sheep, yet God sent His Son to rescue us and reconcile us to Himself. Isaiah 53 reminds us that God’s plan for our salvation was set in motion long before we even understood our need for it. We can trust His plans for our lives because He has proven His love through the sacrifice of Jesus.

Isaiah 54 shifts from the suffering of the Servant to the hope and restoration that follows. God promises to expand the tents of His people, signifying the growth and blessing that come through Christ’s sacrifice. This passage is a reminder of the immense love God has for us, His plan to redeem, and the restoration we experience in Him. In moments of doubt or difficulty, we can trust that God’s plans for us are rooted in His unfailing love and perfect wisdom. 

Psalm 108 calls us to have a steadfast heart before God. The psalmist’s heart is fixed on praising God regardless of the circumstances, declaring God’s greatness in the morning and in the midst of battle. Just as Isaiah speaks of the suffering and victory of the Servant, Psalm 108 reminds us that our response to God’s sovereignty should be steadfast praise. Even when we face trials or uncertainty, our hearts can be firm, trusting in His ultimate plan and offering Him our highest worship. Psalm 108 challenges us to maintain a steadfast heart of praise, even when life is uncertain. In every season, our hearts can be anchored in worship of God’s goodness.

James reminds us of the uncertainty of life and the importance of acknowledging God’s control over every aspect of our future. We often make plans assuming we are in control, but James challenges us to live with a heart of surrender, saying, “If the Lord wills.” This humility reflects a life that trusts God’s sovereignty in all things. James 4 reminds us to live with humble dependence on God, acknowledging that our lives are brief and that God’s will is sovereign. Our plans should always be made in light of His greater purpose.

As we consider the sacrifice of Jesus in Isaiah 53 and the promises of restoration in Isaiah 54, we should be moved to submit every part of our lives to God. Our days are like a mist, and we don’t know what tomorrow holds, but we can trust the One who holds tomorrow. Living with humility and dependence on God’s will is an act of worship and surrender.

This week, let the truths of Isaiah 53-54, Psalm 108, and James 4 inspire you to trust God’s sovereign plan for your life. Reflect on His immense love shown through Christ, cultivate a heart of steadfast worship, and live in humble surrender to His will.

-Jeff Ransom

Reflection Questions:

How does reflecting on Christ’s sacrifice in Isaiah 53 deepen your trust in God’s plan for your life?

In what areas of your life do you need to have a more steadfast heart of worship, as seen in Psalm 108?

How can you practice the humility and surrender James speaks about in your daily decisions and plans?

Are there areas in your life where you struggle to trust God’s sovereignty? How can you take steps to surrender those areas to Him?

sglcalendar2024Download

A Change of Heart

OLD TESTAMENT: Isaiah 51 & 52

POETRY: Psalm 107

*NEW TESTAMENT: James 4:1-12

In the margins on my Bible, I had the following notes for this section (presumably thoughts on a sermon or lesson I heard in the past):

  1. We cannot underestimate the seriousness of sin
  2. Jesus calls us to mourn our sins in acts of genuine repentance
  3. If our natural reaction isn’t to mourn, we should pray for God to change our hearts
  4. Our God deserves our full-hearted obedience & worship.

#3 stuck out to me as I was reading – are there times that we don’t mourn our sin?  We try to make excuses for it, why it is ok for us to do it (and maybe not for someone else). 

Usually, we try not to think about our own sin.  But we do need to take time to reflect on our lives so that if we do have sin, we can repent and be forgiven.

I think in doing that, it can lead us better into #4.  If we are mourning our sin, repenting, and asking God to change our hearts, that can help mold us to what God desires which obedience comes from and further leads us into a deeper worship.

In reading through these verses, I see how our selfishness and self-absorbedness can cause fights among one another, can lead us to seek out worldly pleasures, and to think too highly of ourselves.

Instead, we need to humble ourselves and work on selflessness as we turn to God.  And there are some wonderful promises in this!

“Come near to God and he will come near to you…Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.” (vs 8 & 10)

I want to draw nearer to God, and He wants that too.  He isn’t looking for ways to avoid us – He is looking for us to come to Him, and He will be right there with us. 

~Stephanie Fletcher

Reflection Questions

  1. Consider where in your life you have been/are friends with the world – thus making you an enemy of God. Are there times that we don’t mourn our sin? What excuses have you made for your sin?
  2. Where would you rank yourself on a selfishness meter – 10 being always selfish, 1 being always selfless? How is pride and humility related to selfishness and selflessness?
  3. What heart change might God be looking for from you? Will you pray for it?
  4. How can you work at submitting yourself to God? How can you work at resisting the devil?
sglcalendar2024Download

Humbled

Old Testament: Jeremiah 5 & 6

Poetry: Proverbs 6

New Testament: James 4

Yesterday we talked about taming the tongue. We learned how hard it is to do. How do we get God’s help? Luckily for us James speaks on this in the very next chapter. The answer is…

Humble Yourself.

Humility is not something we can achieve. We might consider it American to think we could. You can do it. Be proactive. Take the first step. Grab the bull by the horns and be humble.

Make no mistake, we do have a part to play in humility. It is not only an effect but a command. In particular, two apostles tell us to humble ourselves. And both do so in similar ways.

Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you. James 4:10

Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you. 1 Peter 5:6

So far as we can tell, James and Peter haven’t been inspired by each other on this point, but by the Old Testament. In the immediate context of instructing us to humble ourselves, both quote the Greek translation of Proverbs 3:34 (“God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble,” James 4:6; 1 Peter 5:5).

For our purposes here, observe that both calls to self-humbling come in response to trials. James refers to quarrels and fights within the church:

What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. James 4:1–2

Conflict among those claiming the name of Christ humbles the church. It serves as a test of pride, and humility. James reminds them not only that they are “sinners” and “double-minded” but he also reminds them of Proverbs 3:34. He charges the church to submit to God, resist the devil, and draw near to God (James 4:7–8). In other words, “Humble yourselves before the Lord.” The church is being humbled from within. Now, how will they respond to God’s humbling purposes in this conflict? Will they humble themselves? Will we? Can we?

Over and over again in the Bible, self-humbling is not something we initiate but something we receive, even embrace — even welcome — when God sends his humbling, however direct or indirect his means. The invitation to humble ourselves does not come in a vacuum but through our first being humbled.

Humility, like faith — and as a manifestation of faith — is not an achievement. Humility is not fundamentally a human initiative, but a proper, God-given response in us to God himself and his glory and purposes.

We don’t teach ourselves to be humble. There’s no five-step plan for becoming more humble in the next day, week, or month. Within measure, we might take certain kinds of initiatives to cultivate humility in ourselves, but the main test comes when we are confronted, unsettled in the moments when our semblances of control vanish and we’re taken off guard by life in a fallen world — and the question comes to us:

How will you respond to these humbling circumstances? Will you humble yourself?

Daily humbling ourselves under the authority of God’s word, and humbling ourselves by obeying his words, and humbling ourselves by coming desperately to him in prayer, and humbling ourselves in fasting — these all have their place in our overall response as creatures to our Creator. But first and foremost, we need to know humbling ourselves is responsive to God.

When the next humbling trial comes, will you bow up with pride, or bow down in humility? God has a particular promise for you in these moments. The God of all power will exalt the humble in his perfect timing.

-Andy Cisneros

Reflection Questions

  1. When has trials and conflict humbled you? Do you think you needed to be humbled?
  2. Why do you think God opposes the proud? Why do you think He gives grace to, and lifts up the humble?
  3. What is your response to God? Does it include a healthy dose of humility?
sgl23bibleplanDownload

Part 2

Old Testament: Isaiah 65 & 66

Poetry: Proverbs 1 & 2

(Sorry, yesterday I missed that the month Of October we will be re-reading the book of Proverbs with one chapter every day- the 1st chapter on the 1st of Oct, the 2nd chapter on the 2nd, and so on…we will return to Psalms on Nov. 1)

New Testament: James 5

Today, we will continue with the devotion Andy started on James 4. Yesterday he wrote about considering the proper view of life. Here is today’s …

The right view of God. What is the right view of God that he teaches us to have in verse 15 of James 4? He tells us two very important things about God. One is contained in the words: “If the Lord wills, we will live.” And the other is contained in the words, “If the Lord wills, we will . . . do this or that.” How would you state the truth about God contained in each of those two sentences?

First, when he says, “If the Lord wills, we will live,” he teaches us that the duration of our lives is in the hands of God. Or: God governs how long we will live. Or: God is ultimately in control of life and death. We may not know how long our vapor-like life will linger in the air, but God knows because God decides how long we will live: “If the Lord wills we will live.” And James is saying: If this is a true view of life and God, then it should shape our mindset and shape our way of talking.

In Acts 18:21, Paul left Ephesus and said, “I will return to you again if God wills.” In 1 Corinthians 4:19 he writes, “I will come to you soon if the Lord wills.” For most of his life, he did not know if the next town might be his burial place. That was in the hands of God. And so are our lives. God will decide how long we live and when we die. James’ point is: that God means for that truth – that reality – to shape our mindset and our attitude and our words. He means for that truth to be known and spoken about. He means for it to be a part of the substance of our conversation. God means for a true view of himself to be known and believed and embraced and cherished and kept in mind and spoken of. “Instead you ought to say . . .”

Now, there is another truth about God in verse 15: When he says, “If God wills we will . . . do this or that,” he teaches us that the activities and accomplishments of our lives are in God’s hands. God governs what we accomplish. Not only are our lives in his hands, our success is in his hands. “Instead, you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that.” “If the Lord wills . . . we will do this or that.” And if the Lord does not will, we will not do this or that. Whether we do this or that in all of our business is in the hands of God.

So what was wrong with what these people said in verse 13: “Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit'”? What’s wrong with that? What’s wrong is that it does not give expression to a true view of life or God. Specifically, it does not give expression to the truth that life is a vapor, and it does not give expression to the truth that God governs the length of our lives and the achievements of our lives.

Is there a deeper problem here than just the absence of true words and the presence of bad theology? Yes, there is, and James describes it in verse 16: “But as it is, you boast in your arrogance; all such boasting is evil.” The root problem is arrogance or pride, and the expression of that arrogance, he says, is “boasting.” And all they said was, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.” That’s all they said. And James calls it boasting and says it’s rooted in arrogance. I look very carefully to the bible as well as to my own life to see what real arrogance is. It is arrogant not to believe in the heart and confess with the lips that how long you live and what you accomplish are ultimately in the hands of God. How are you planning? With God on your mind or in your own thoughts and strength? My prayer for you is that you take a look at the plans you are making and consider God in all of them.

-Andy Cisneros

Reflection Questions

  1. Is it important to you to do your planning (and speaking of them) as James, and God, teach here in James 4? If so, how can you work at keeping God foremost in all of your planning? How can you share that with others when you speak of your plans?
  2. How often do you remember that your life is a vapor and your life and death and activities are in God’s hands? How does keeping that in mind affect your thoughts, words and plans?
  3. How are you sometimes guilty of pride and arrogant boasting? What is the remedy?
sgl23bibleplanDownload

The Right Friendship

James 4

Wednesday, October 5, 2022

Conflicts and violence are problems we humans have always dealt with. If only there were some insights in the book of James to help us understand why, and how we might be able to help the situation.

“Those conflicts and disputes among you, where do they come from? Do they not come from your cravings that are at war within you? You want something and do not have it; so you commit murder. And you covet something and cannot obtain it; so you engage in disputes and conflicts. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, in order to spend what you get on your pleasures.” (James 4:1-3 NRSV)

James says the source of conflict is the cravings at war within us. We covet things that we don’t have, and perceive that there isn’t enough to go around, leading us to take what we want by force, many times at the expense of others. We’re wired so deeply for survival that the fear of scarcity often drives us to get what we need in whatever way we can. It’s both a blessing and a curse. 

The passage goes a level deeper into the investigation and explores why we don’t have what we need: It’s because we don’t ask. That’s something I’m not good at. I often feel uncomfortable asking someone else for something, because I think it’s my own responsibility to take care of it. By not asking, I’m underutilizing one of the biggest strengths of being part of family and community. There is more than enough to go around if asking and sharing happen freely.

There’s another layer to this. Sometimes when we ask, we don’t receive because we ask with wrong or selfish motives. By chasing after the wrong things, we are fueling the fire of conflict. James is prompting us to take inventory of our desires and motives. It’s not wrong to need or want things, but the challenge is to seek the right things with a pure heart.

James continues his train of thought by contrasting “friendship with the world” and friendship with God. When we seek things with the wrong motives, we make ourselves friends of the world, and therefore enemies of God. Instead, make yourself a friend of God by humbling yourself and submitting to the leading of his spirit that lives within us. Set aside your selfish desires, as painful as that may be, and ask for truly good things.

James is offering us an antidote to conflicts and violence, advocating for a more peaceful way—partner with God (“draw near” to him) by properly aligning your desires. Seek after and ask for the right things, and have enough as you share in God’s abundance and grace.

-Jay Laurent

Questions to consider:

1. What are some things you need or want, but don’t have?

2. Do you think these needs/wants are because of selfish desires, or are they good things to seek after?

2022 SeekGrowLove Bible Reading PlanDownload

Heavyweight Battle:  The Brain Versus the Heart

Proverbs 7-9

Proverbs 7 25 NIV sgl

We have already covered the first six chapters of Proverbs and they all center around wisdom.  We are now moving on to chapters 7 through 9, which focus on……..drum roll please…….wisdom.  Wisdom must be really really important.  Proverbs 8:19 says wisdom is better than pure gold and Proverbs 8:35 says those that find wisdom find life and obtain favor from the Lord.  Wisdom is clearly something everyone should have and use, but why do so many people come up short in this area?

Where is wisdom stored?  In the brain.  Wisdom is the ability to process information correctly and that is all done in the brain.  Many people actually have a pretty good brain that correctly tells them the difference between right and wrong, but they do not always follow the right path because of the brain’s nemesis, the heart.  We have many sinful desires in our hearts because we are selfish beings.

There are some people that have evil desires in their heart and their brain is lacking wisdom, so they are going to struggle in life until they search out some wisdom.  They will always do the wrong thing because their brain and heart are in agreement and working together.  They can accomplish a lot together, but none of it is good.

The rest of us are in another group that are wise enough to know something is right or wrong, but struggle to always do what is right because of our heart’s selfish desires.  That is called temptation and we all have it.  When temptation arises, our heart and mind go in to battle.  Our heart has two main tactics in this fight.  First, it may try to get us to ignore what our brain might say about the sin.  Second, it sometimes engages the brain and tries to convince the brain that the sin is ok.  This is called justifying the behavior.  The heart is very strong and can be very persuasive.  In order to do the right thing, the brain must be stronger, which is where wisdom comes into play.

The brain must know the difference between right and wrong to stand any chance of beating the heart (don’t be confused here – we still want the heart to keep beating).  That wisdom is found in the Bible and it needs to be searched out, but that is just the start.  If you want to make sure your brain is strong enough to defeat the heart, you can’t just “know” what is right and wrong, you need to “understand” why it is right or wrong.  Understanding comes with a lot of reading, thinking, learning from others, and praying.

Proverbs 7 tells of a story where a man is seduced by a married woman who was not his wife.  He gave in to the temptation because he lacked enough wisdom to fight it.  He probably knew it was wrong, but he didn’t understand all the consequences.  The lost trust and ruined reputation that he may never get back, the pain he caused his family, sexually transmitted diseases, getting the woman pregnant, a broken nose from the husband when he finds out, and the guilt he will feel because he let God down are just some of the reasons why God tells us not to have sex outside of marriage.  Once you take the time to understand why something is right or wrong, the brain will be much more powerful and most likely will win the fight against the heart.

But wait, it gets even better.  When a brain has enough wisdom and understanding, the brain can convince the heart to change its desires.  The heart can be trained to agree with and follow the brain!  This is the ultimate goal, and this is why wisdom is so important.  James 4:2-3 says that you do not have because you do not ask God.  It goes on to say that you do not receive when you ask because you ask with the wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.  Simply put, your heart is not right.  So, it stands to reason that if your brain convinces your heart using Godly wisdom, you will get what you ask for because your desires will line up with God’s desires.  In this case, when the brain and heart are in agreement and working together, they can accomplish a lot together, and it is all good.

Rick McClain

 

Today’s Bible reading can be read or listened to at https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Proverbs+7-9&version=NIV

Tomorrow’s reading will be Proverbs 10-12 as we continue seeking God’s wisdom on our 2020 Chronological Bible Reading Plan

Freedom

James 4

James 4 7

Have you ever read or watched a news feed of any kind and thought to yourself, “Wow, why is the world such a messed-up place?” Odds are you have had these thoughts or said this not just once but many, many times! Unfortunately; we live in a world that is covered in disgrace, selfishness, and unkindness. These things become evident as we look at the world around us and wonder at just how far some have fallen. When we ask how the world got this way it is not a new question and it does not require a new answer. It is an answer that James wrote about a long time ago on a continent far far away (sorry, back on target).

In James 4:1 he asks the question, “What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you?” Why are you fighting all the time?!? When he wrote this it wasn’t in the time of instant communication that we have today. He couldn’t use snapchat, private messenger, or even email. Because it would take weeks or even months for responses to go back and forth, he asks the question and immediately supplies the answer. Isn’t it the pleasures that wage war in your members? Have you ever thought of your pleasures as waging war within yourself? If not just think how much you long for the latest and greatest, even when what you already have works just fine. Even more when you go to replace something that is broken.

My phone broke  about a month ago (completely stopped working) and I was faced with the question do I replace it with a new model, attempt to repair the old one, or get a refurbished replacement of the currently broken phone at a fraction of the cost of a newer model. There is a part of me that has always been fascinated with the newest electronics and the new features (after all – I want my phone to be the best, right?). As I was weighing my options I continued to see the latest models waging war against my budget. I reasoned with myself, “It will get updates longer if I get the newer phone, it will have better features.” The fact of the matter is my phone that had just died served me quite well for nearly three years, I know all of its settings and have cases, chargers, and screen protectors that I have already purchased sitting at home. I also get all of these benefits for a quarter to a third of the price. After attempting to have the old phone repaired I finally received the refurbed phone and am quite happy with my decision. All of that to say that I am quite familiar with my desires waging war within me.

He says you lust and envy and it leads you to strife and disagreements, even to murder. He then goes on to say that the only reason you don’t have is that you don’t ask. Jesus said if you seek you will find, we merely have to ask. In verse three we find that just because we ask does not mean we will instantly have the desires of our hearts. If I ask with self-serving motives I will not receive, but if I am needing wisdom to better serve God it will be granted. If I focus my desires and friendship on the world and its pleasures I show myself to be serving stuff, NOT God.

In verses 6 and 7 we find that God gives grace to the humble and we are to submit to Him and His desires because of His mercy and grace. James then says the devil will flee from us if we resist him. That is a magnificent piece of information if you have ever felt tempted to serve your own desires instead of God’s desires!

Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. James 4:8

Do NOT let yourself fall into the trappings of this world that say you can be a slave to the latest and greatest and still serve God, we can have but one master. Do not be double-minded, only serve the things of God. Philippians 2:3, 4 tell us to treat others as if they are a higher priority to us than ourselves, and verse 5 tells us to have the attitude that was in Christ. It is amazing how much this spirit can set us free from the struggles this world consistently brings about. After all, 2 Corinthians 3:17 says, “where the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.”

James also warns us of the arrogance that comes from assuming we know what is going to happen. He reminds us that our lives are in the hands of God. What better place is there to rest?

Let’s rest in His hands and find the freedom that only He can provide!

-Bill Dunn