Good morning! Today, we will begin our reading in James chapter four. This chapter focuses on submitting with true repentance. The first part of chapter four reminds us to turn hatred into humility. Join me as we read these verses.

Bible Verse – James 4:1-4 NLT

“What is causing the quarrels and fights among you? Don’t they come from the evil desires at war within you? ² You want what you don’t have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have, but you can’t get it, so you fight and wage war to take it away from them. Yet you don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it. ³ And even when you ask, you don’t get it because your motives are all wrong—you want only what will give you pleasure.

⁴ You adulterers!^[a] Don’t you realize that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God? I say it again: If you want to be a friend of the world, you make yourself an enemy of God.”

Reflection

Just like the chapters before, James opened chapter four with questions, “What is causing the quarrels and fights among you? Don’t they come from the evil desires at war within you?”

James is perplexed by the believers fighting and quarreling. He reminds them that those behaviors do not come from God, but the root cause is from Satan. Satan wants believers bickering and fighting against one another. James also wants Christians/believers to know that those behaviors come from our own desires within us.

Some things that drive people desires from within are:

• Lust – for things that are not ours. It can lead to murder.
  • Yesterday, I read an a heartbreaking article on the murder of a 17 year old boy. The mother said he was betrayed by a friend, robbed at gun point, shot, and left to die alone in the street. Not only was this heartbreaking to read, but her comment resonates with me today when she asked the two people responsible for, “why didn’t you just rob him, he would have given you his items, but why didn’t you have to take his life too?”
• Covetousness – when frustration of not obtaining what is desired.
  • This is can lead to all types of sins – lies, pride, hate, and envy.

Those are all heart problems. They are detrimental to our spiritual growth. Only God is able to change and transform our hearts to reduce our passions and desire to lust for more than what we have and keep us at peace when we have not obtained what others have or what we want.

To resolve this conflict within, believers have an opportunity to ask God for help in these areas, but we must have the right motive for asking God. The goal is reflection, is what we ask for to squander and waste, is it necessary? As we draw closer to God we will receive wisdom about what we ask for and our motives for asking. God will give us discernment in these areas and correct our path to refocus on what truly matters.

When we desire the world more than we desire God, that is a real problem. We cannot love the world and pretend not to be an enemy of God. Sister and brothers, don’t be rebellious Christians/believers draw closer to God, align your hearts with His. Allow Him to be enough and all His blessings will follow.

Prayer

Father God, we thank you for another day to draw nearer to you. Lord, thank you for blessing us with more than we deserve. You have been so faithful in bad and good times. Thank you for loving us despite our flaws.

Lord, help us to grow closer to you. Help us to become spiritually mature leaders in this world. In a world filled with false and anti Christians, Lord, help us to be examples of true Christ followers in this world.

Lord, we pray for that mother and all the mothers who have lost their children to violence. Lord, comfort them as they ask the questions of why? Lord, help us to be compassionate enough not to judge their deaths, but to seek justice for those killed. Lord, help us to become a nation that is no longer divided by race or gender, but a nation that seeks justice as you do.

Lord, transform and soften our hearts to be more like you. Remove, pride, lust, covetous behaviors, hate, and envy from our hearts and thoughts. Lord, we pray for those who don’t know you to know you and accept you as their Lord and Savior. Lord, we pray for Christians to move from simply wearing the brand or label of Christian, and begin to read and apply the Word of God to their lives, and live it out everyday.

Lord, protect each child as they go to school and keep them safe. Lord, be with every widow and provide for their needs. Care for each orphan and give them a loving home and family where they will be safe. Lord, continue to heal the sick and make them well. Lord, open employment opportunities for those who are seeking work and a good work environment. In Jesus’ name we pray all these things, amen.
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