Day #48

Wow!  We are finally in James 4!!  Only two more chapters and we will be finished!

Thank you God for showing us each day more and more of who you are.

James 4:1-12 will be on “warnings about worldliness.”  Sometimes we can blend in so well with whatever is going on, that no one really knows that we are a child of God.  We are to be doers of the Word of God, not participants in ungodly behavior.   

Are we willing to make a situation uncomfortable by standing up for Christ and doing what we know would please Him?  Sometimes sacrificing being liked and making others upset, is exactly what is needed to get others moving in the same direction.  Are you willing??  There may be a need to confess your wrong actions to others to have healing in a group of believers.  Are you willing?

As you read today, please remember that James is talking to Christians.  This could be in the setting of your church, your family, your friends, your school, etc.

Remember what we learned yesterday?  We were learning about how God desires peace among his children (Christians).  We are called to be peacemakers.  Read Psalm 133:1.

Please read James 4:1-2.

James gives two descriptions of what causes fights among Christians?

- We desire something that we do not have.

- We actively seek to have something we can't get.

These two descriptions sound alike but they are a tad different in my mind.  One is just a thought of something that we want but it is not available to us.  The other is actively pursuing this thing and never being able to obtain it.   This is a terrible battle within us.

James says battles within the heart of a believer will result in fighting, quarreling, and murder among Christians.  Murder??  This where we must remember that God’s standards are so high, that even if we just have hatred in our heart toward someone, we have killed them in God’s eyes.  Wow!  Read James 3:14, 16.  

Did you know that the Bible is full of people who had a battle in their heart and it led to destruction?

-         Eve disobeyed God because she wanted to eat of the tree and become wise like God.

-         Abraham lied about his wife because he selfishly wanted to save his own life (click Genesis 12:10-20).

-         Achan caused defeat to Israel because he selfishly took some forbidden loot from the ruins of Jericho (click Joshua 7).

See??  “We have turned, each of us, to his own way” (Isaiah 53:6).

Now, read James 4:2 one more time.

Do you notice what James ends this verse with?  James is not saying that simply praying and asking God for selfish desires that you will be granted them.  Quite the opposite!!  He is simply saying that when you bring your desires to God, your desires will be purified because God will expose the selfishness and foolishness within you. Which is good!!

Tomorrow we will learn more about praying and receiving!! 

TARGET of the DAY

Bring all your desires to God in prayer today, both righteous and selfish.  Sometimes we only want to say the right things to God in prayer, as if He does not already know about the selfish things in our hearts too.  I challenge you to be real with Him today.   Talk to Him about it several times if you want.  All day long if you want.  Tell Him everything. Tell Him about whatever you are angry or hurt about.  Leave it all there at His feet.