Today’s Reading: James 4:1-6; Psalm 79

What is causing the quarrels and fights among you? Don’t they come from the evil desires at war within you? 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. And even when you ask, you don’t get it because your motives are all wrong – you want only what will give you pleasure. – James 4:1-3

NO MATTER WHAT WE HAVE, THERE IS SOMETHING ELSE WE DESIRE.

“How much longer?” This was the common question asked on our travels when the girls were younger. They longed to be at our destination but also tired of riding in the car. So, at their request, we would stop to stretch our legs and get a snack. Once back in the car the same question would be repeated, “How much longer?” The same amount of time as when we stopped, of course! They would long to be where we were headed but also want to get out of the car, even though it KEPT THEM FROM THEIR GREATEST LONGING – to get where we were going.

How often do we do the same thing in our prayer life? We pray for one thing and then pray for something else that would keep us from receiving the first thing we prayed for. No matter what we have, there is something else we desire. I wonder if God rolls His eyes when we ask for two things that we cannot have simultaneously.

IT ALL COMES DOWN TO THE CONDITION OF OUR HEART.

I think the greatest problem that James is addressing in this passage is the heart. This is the start of a new chapter but it is really the continuation of what he has been teaching in the first three chapters. The words that we speak, the anger we display, the favoritism we show, the conflicts we have with other people — it all comes down to the condition of our heart.

You adulterers! 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. What do you think the Scriptures mean when they say that the spirit God has placed within us is filled with envy? But he gives us even more grace to stand against such evil desires. As the Scriptures say, “God opposes the proud but favors the humble.” – James 4:4-6

James is again comparing opposites, showing us that we cannot be two things at once. Let’s review: We cannot believe and doubt (1:6-8). The world tells us one thing but God…(1:20-21). This is pure…this is polluted (1:27). Don’t show favoritism toward the rich over the poor (2:1-7). There is a difference between knowing and doing. You can’t just read the word and not do it (1:22-25); you can’t obey some of the law but not all of it (2:8-12); you can’t see someone in need and do nothing (2:16). Don’t use your tongue to praise God and then turn around and use it to speak poorly of those He has created in His likeness (3:9-12). You cannot have both earthly wisdom and heavenly wisdom (3:13-18).

GOD IS A FIERCELY JEALOUS LOVER.

We cannot look around at the world and desire what it has to offer, then turn and ask God to bless us with these worldly pleasures. Let’s read James 4:4-6 in The Message: You’re cheating on God. If all you want is your own way, flirting with the world every chance you get, you end up enemies of God and his way. And do you suppose God doesn’t care? The proverb has it that “he’s a fiercely jealous lover.” And what he gives in love is far better than anything else you’ll find. It’s common knowledge that “God goes against the willful proud; God gives grace to the willing humble.”

So the opposites continue. It’s either our way or God’s way; pride or humility. We are either God’s friend or God’s enemy. So what is it going to be? I think all of us desire that close relationship with God but James is warning us that the world and its influence is daily pulling us away from God. In order to stay connected to God we must daily spend time in His presence, seeking HIS way in our lives and intentionally avoiding the many ways the world attempts to pollute us.

WE NEED TO RESIST THE THINGS OF THIS WORLD THAT PULL OUR ATTENTION AWAY FROM GOD.

Lord, I love you so much and my desire is to draw closer to you. That you call me friend and that you pour your grace on me, these truths overwhelm me. What you give in love is far better than anything else I will ever find. Lord, show me the ways in which my attention is being drawn to earthly things instead of to you. Help me not to walk out of your presence today but dwell in you all day. Amen.

“He is jealous for me / Loves like a hurricane, I am a tree / Bending beneath the weight of His wind & mercy / When all of a sudden / I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory / And I realize just how beautiful You are and how great Your affections are for me. / Oh, how He loves us, oh / Oh how He love us, how He loves us all…” [How He Loves by the David Crowder Band https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FxaUYjRtkc]