James 4 ~ The WORLD; The FLESH and the DEVIL

James 4: ~ The WORLD; The FLESH & the DEVIL!
James 4 ~ New International Version Submit Yourselves to God 1What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? 2You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. 3When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. 4You adulterous people,a don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. 5Or do you think Scripture says without reason that he jealously longs for the spirit he has caused to dwell in usb ? 6But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.”c 7Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom.  10Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. 11Brothers and sisters, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against a brother or sisterd or judges them speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it.12There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you—who are you to judge your neighbor? Boasting About Tomorrow 13Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” 14Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. 15Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” 16As it is, you boast in your arrogant schemes. All such boasting is evil. 17If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.		Chapter 4 ~ James addressed some problems he experienced in his Jerusalem church. Desires and divisions 4:1-10 ·         This passage is talking about fighting within a church body; 1).People at war with each other; 2).People at war with themselves and 3).at war with God. ·         People need to be taken into account for their actions, but it often doesn’t happen within fellowships ·         (Selfishness; Self-centeredness is the root problem) “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; ~ Isaiah 53:6 (V.4) “friendship with the WORLD means enmity against God” ·         Lot was a friend of the world; he separated from Abraham & camped ever closer to Sodom and his family suffered the consequences. ·         If I asked for a show of hands as to who here in this room has committed adultery, I’d get some dirty looks from you all.  But the bible says, that if you have “Friendship with the world”, that makes you an adulterer! ;  As Christians we are “married” (figuratively) with Christ; ·         Romans 7:4 “4Likewise, (as in marriage) my brothers, you also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God.  ·         This idea (concept) of the believer being married to Christ is found throughout the bible: Jeremiah 3:1-5; Ezekiel 23; and in the first several chapters of Hosea. ·         We need to be faithful to Christ! …not to the world and the world systems. ·         Another enemy of God is “the FLESH” Not the body, but the old nature that keeps coming back and needs to be dealt with frequently. ·         “For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. 7For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. 8Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.”~ Romans 8:6 &7 (V.6)“God opposes the proud; but shows favor to the humble.” ·         The antidote to pride is humility ·         We get humility through God’s grace. (V.7b) ~ “Resist the DEVIL, and he will flee from you.” ·         Devil introduced PRIDE; and it caused him to fall; He is the father of lies & deceit ·         Isaiah 14 & Ezekiel 28 chronicle the history of Satan & we find that sin starts in the heart “I will ascend into heaven; I will be like the Most High; I will, I will, I will …” Satan's use of "I" is sickening! -Sometimes we come under satanic attack and it perhaps is sometimes hard to identify; Recognize who is attacking You and …RESIST!   ·         Sometimes satan will continually accuse us; deceive us …these are his trademarks! ·         Recognize/Resist/Rejoice through victory in Jesus Christ (V.8) ~Come near to God and he will come near to you. ·         How do you program your minds? ·         Psalm 22:3 “He inhabits the praise of His people” ; Praise is his address.  You can change your situation by praising and inviting His prescence. ·         Technology brings filth into our homes & minds….be careful with access to all kinds of media. (V.10) ~ Humble YOURSELVES before the Lord, and he will lift you up. You don't really need to pray for Humility; ...James says to just "HUMBLE Yourself!" · How Spiritual are YOU?    Hmmm …perhaps a better question is …how much do you hate sin?   (Psst...That’s how spiritual you REALLY are!) Speaking evil and *judging 4:11-12 (V.11) 11Brothers and sisters, do not slander one another. ~ Romans 8:1 1Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, Planning without God 4:13-17 (v.15) ~"15Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that." (v.17) If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them. ·        Be Aware of your sins of omission & Sins of commission (The things you DO and the things you DON'T DO!)