Scripture: James 4:1-12, Psalm 145:18-20, Romans 13:13-14, Galatians 5:16-18
In
last week’s message from James, we considered the difference between the glorious
wisdom that God will provide for us, versus the incomplete and selfish wisdom
that we get from the world. Today, in our
7th lesson from James, we will focus on the attitude and approach
that we must have if we are to receive God’s perfect gift of wisdom for our own
lives.
I’m
sure you all realize that just because a gift is offered, it is not necessarily
a forgone conclusion that the gift will be ours! Its one thing to give, and a whole different
thing to accept. Both are necessary if
we are ever to receive the wonderful gifts that God has planned and put into
motion for our lives.
As
we prepare to delve into James’ message for today, it may be appropriate for us
to first consider the necessity of a strong faith for the relationship with our
Triune God if it is to begin to develop and grow. For most people, the last thing they have
ever thought about is that faith is a matter of surrender and submission to the
truth and ways of our Almighty God.
To
truly be a disciple of Jesus Christ, there should never even be a hint of our
desire for “dual citizenship” – one that covers allegiance to both the world
and Christ. We are admittedly human
beings, but when we give our life to Christ, we break the bonds that hold us,
and control us, as citizens of earth. In
Deuteronomy 4:23-24
we read “… the LORD your God is a consuming
fire, a jealous God.” Our
LORD
is not one to meekly share us with those other, and false gods of earth that
surround us,! Faith is always incomplete
until we give ourselves fully to the ways of Christ and Him alone.
From
James, a message of true faith.
Read James 4:1-6
These are all the ways of earth, and ways that we must
purge from our lives if we have any desire to live a life in Jesus Christ. Human behavior, unfortunately, operates
within a reality that is anything but permanent or real, and even
though we may see our decisions as an extension of the wisdom that we gain
throughout this existence, it will never be able to hold a candle to the wisdom
of God that can be ours by faith and obedience to the teachings of Jesus
Christ.
The gifts of God, all of which have their source in
divine wisdom, can be ours when we ask for them in the name of The Son. These are commonly known as the Gifts of the
Spirit, which are found throughout the New Testament in passages such as 1Corinthians 12:1-11, Romans 12:3-8, Ephesians 4:11-16 & 1 Peter 4:8-11. They are given to the LORD’s disciples for service in
His name, and therefore, must be based in God’s will and word.
James also tells us that our
tendency is to live in worldly ways, such as in fighting (verbal, spiritual,
and physical), that we kill (spiritually, emotionally, relationally, and other
ways) and we covet the things of earth instead of Godly blessings. We must let go of all those things of earth
in order to free our life for the things of the Spirit. And James tells us we may ask God for His
better ways, but if we ask and our heart’s desire is still in the world, and controlled
by those ways, how could we ever expect God to grant our prayerful request to
live in His? The truth is that we
shouldn’t!
Read James 4:7-12
And here is the bottom line – it isn’t that humanity thinks
up all of these hurtful and sinful ways that come between us and the LORD – it
all comes through Satan’s hatred for anything that God’s hand has put His mark
on. It is just that we find the ways
that Satan has introduced into this place to appear to be a good source of
human pleasure or possibly even the things that come from a lack of
pleasure.
We seem to forget, or sometimes ignore, God’s promise
that a life in Him will bring love, joy, peace, patience, and the rest of those
wonderful Fruit of the Spirit that we read about in Galatians 5:22-26. And the concluding thought for that Galatians passage is that we must stay
focused on “staying in step” with the Spirit, while setting the path of earth
far behind us.
The apostle tells us that a drastic change must be
right at the top of our list when we give our lives over to Jesus. No longer can we find the joyful things of
this life to be worthwhile desires, and that the change to humility and
submission to God’s blessings will bring a fulfillment that goes far beyond
anything else we might ever seek.
Just a few more passages that speak in support of
James’ call to surrender the world, and submit to the LORD.
Read Psalm 145:18-20
This Psalm speaks to God’s gracious nature when we
turn our lives toward Him. He will come
close to us when we call out for His truth.
He cares for us and loves us in ways that go far beyond human
understanding when we love Him to the best of our ability. And all He asks of us is to empty ourselves
of the ways of earth so that He can begin caring and working within this life
that has submitted to His presence.
Read Romans 13:13-14
Paul is calling us to live in the light of Christ, not
in the darkness that the world thinks can hide our missteps, which, of course,
it never can. His reference to being
clothed with our LORD Jesus implies that everything will change when our
life reflects our one true God. For
without Him, we will only have an unquiet spirit, a sharp tongue, an envious
eye, a deceitful heart, a self-centered mind, and a greedy soul. Without Jesus, there is no true and
impowering life.
Read Galatians 5:16-18
The Spirit and the sinful nature will never be able to
exist together in our lives. We will
either have the Spirit, or we will be living in sinful existence. They conflict, they oppose, they deny the
other any presence in our lives, unless we turn our focus a different way. A life in Christ means that we no longer have
to make our own way in this life, but that we have Godly ways already laid out
for us, and all we have to do is rejoice, and follow gratefully.
Where do our desires lead us? To the better way of Christ, or to the damning
way of our worldly flesh? In John14:6, we read that Jesus is not only the perfect way that is founded in the
truth of God, but is the glorious and eternal life that can be ours, simply by
believing in Him and obeying the example that He has already set down for us.
Submission to our Almighty God is glorious health,
hope, joy, love, and far more – and all will be in the eternal presence of
glory! But submitting to the call of
earth will bring none of this – only heartbreak, sorrow, and death on that day
when we finally realize that it all could have been different, if only …..
