Day #59

Wow Lord:)  Thank you for this beautiful weather.  Thank you for the love that you show us through the things you’ve created.  My prayer is that You, and only You, would speak to us today through Your Word.

Please read James 4:13-17.

For the past few lessons we have been learning about this passage and the arguments that James presents for not living a Christ-centered life… a life where Christ is the focus and we are not.  Please, if you have been unable to do the lessons that go along with these… I encourage you to make the time at some point this week.  Simply click on the days after each argument in the following list.

James’ four arguments.

1.    The complexity of life (v. 13) Day #56

2.    The uncertainty of life (v. 14a) Day #57

3.    The brevity of life (v. 14b) Day #58

4.    The frailty of man (v. 16)

Please read James 4:16 once more.

“As it is, you are proud. You brag about it. That kind of bragging is evil.” NIRV

Today’s lesson is going to be on the “frailty of man.”

A person’s boasting only covers up a person’s weakness.  We don’t have the wisdom to see the future or the power to control it.  That is why to boast in yourself and your abilities is to sin.  It is to place yourself in the position of God.

As a Christian, how arrogant and foolish to go each day without spending time with the Father in His Word and talking with Him through prayer.  That alone is boasting in ourselves and our abilities!!  Without Him, life would be like going through thousands of square miles of dense forest without a map or like going through the same amount of space of stormy seas without a compass.  What a joke!  How stupid would that be?  Or worse yet... how scary?
 

Please read 1 Corinthians 5:6.

Paul, the writer, is telling the Corinthian church that even just a little boasting, when left undisciplined, can spread through the church like a tiny amount of leaven (similar to yeast) in dough.

NOTE #1: Leaven, like yeast, is a fungus that feeds on sugar and is used to make bread rise. It is necessary to use to have fluffy baked goods.  Just a TINY amount will go a long way.      

For historical reasons, Paul and his listeners at Corinth see leaven as a picture of sin (see Exodus 12). Leaven’s work, like the sin of boasting in yourself and your abilities, is powerful, secret, and it “puffs up.”  It will have destructive consequences and all it takes is a little.

So, how about us?  Do we boast in ourselves and our abilities?  We may say “no” to outwardly boasting, but what about on the inside, in secret?  Do we have feelings of thinking we are better or our ways are better?  Those feelings won't stay hidden for long. 

Our Faithful Heavenly Father wants to heal this.  He wants us to be fruitful so that others can know about Him and His grace.  But there is only one way to accomplish this for the Christian... we must allow Him to be our Lord each day.

NOTE: Sheep are known for not being the brightest.  They have actually been known to walk off cliffs to their death, and nothing was even chasing them.  Sheep need a worker, called a shepherd, to guide them from one place to the next and protect them. This is key to their survival.  Did you know the Bible refers to us as sheep??

Because we are sheep we will wander.  Without allowing Christ to be our shepherd (our Lord) each day, we will indeed wander again and again and again.  We can’t rely on ourselves and our abilities, but only on a personal daily walk with Jesus… learning about Him and His ways through Bible reading… talking to Him… praising Him in word and song… thanking Him.  To do this it requires daily conscious effort to remember four very simple things…

1.    Life is complex (James 4:13)

2.    Life is uncertain (v. 14a)

3.    Life is a brief vapor (v. 14b)

4.    We are frail (v. 16)

We must stay close to the Shepherd and hide behind his legs like that little child every moment, every day.

TARGET of the DAY

Take a look at this week’s MEMORY VERSE and make copies to place in cool places like the bathroom mirror, in front of the toilet (lol), on the dash in the car, or even write it on your hand… the list is endless.  Hide his Word in your heart and say it over and over.