I thought I would be in agreement with btaylor since Chapter 4 is all about a life in complete submission to God. Chapter 4 is for sure a Venti with triple shot espresso and go ahead and throw on the whip. So much that I just may spend a few days meditating on it. I'd like to comment on v.1
What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires that battle within you?
I don't think we recognize that the core of issues with one another is our selfish desires. James says you want something and you don't get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God.
I have found it to be true that when I give up my desires for His I find that my life is full of blessings and peace. All the battles in my life originate from a desire for something that is birthed from me and and not Him. James is so true when he says friendship with the world is becoming an enemy of God. James is not talking about a physical world, remember God said it was good. James is talking about the sin of the world and unfortunatly it's in our nature. When we lose our life we say no to sin and find life in Him. So today I pray that my life I live is not mine but His. The scripture also tells us that when we lose our life we find it. So I encourage you to start living for Him. v. 7 Submit yourselves then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
I wonder if resisting the devil is saying no to caffeine? Is Caffeine from the devil?
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Monday, June 2, 2008
Choices
Thanks for the comments and insight and to everyone else I am sure you will follow. On to Chapter 3:16-18
"Choose to devote yourself fully to God rather than to your own selfish and wordly desires. Devote yourself to the Lord, and godly wisdom and righteosness will begin to grow in your life."
We cannot serve two masters. We cannot say we love and serve God and then live ungodly lives. Good works and a controlled tongue is the kind of life James is calling us to. I think today is a good day to make a new covenant with our lives and especially our tongues to please the Lord. I am sure all of us have said and did things that have caused us to stumble. The imagery that James gives of a ship being controlled by a small rudder brings insight to the messes we make in our lives. If your mouth has gotten you in trouble and steered you off direction let's point our rutters in a new direction and sail for calmer seas. Is Christianity as simple as controlling ones mouth and living a selfless life?
In Him,
Joe
"Choose to devote yourself fully to God rather than to your own selfish and wordly desires. Devote yourself to the Lord, and godly wisdom and righteosness will begin to grow in your life."
We cannot serve two masters. We cannot say we love and serve God and then live ungodly lives. Good works and a controlled tongue is the kind of life James is calling us to. I think today is a good day to make a new covenant with our lives and especially our tongues to please the Lord. I am sure all of us have said and did things that have caused us to stumble. The imagery that James gives of a ship being controlled by a small rudder brings insight to the messes we make in our lives. If your mouth has gotten you in trouble and steered you off direction let's point our rutters in a new direction and sail for calmer seas. Is Christianity as simple as controlling ones mouth and living a selfless life?
In Him,
Joe
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