James 4:11-17

Good morning! Before you start your time with God today, start by praying that God would open your eyes to the wonderful things in His Word through your study (Ps. 119:18). Then read the passage slowly, taking notes on what God is teaching you through His Word, and answer the questions.

As you read this week's passage, look for these words or phrases: speak against, judge, Lawgiver, life, vapor, boast, sin.

Passage for the week: James 4:11-17 (NASB)

11 Do not speak against one another, brethren. He who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks against the law and judges the law; but if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge of it.

12 There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the One who is able to save and to destroy; but who are you who judge your neighbor?

13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.”

14 Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away.

15 Instead, you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that.”

16 But as it is, you boast in your arrogance; all such boasting is evil.

17 Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin.

Digging Deeper:

MONDAY

List all of the characteristics of God that you find in this passage (what God is like, His attributes).

What is the command in verse 11? What are some ways that we can violate this command?

Who is the Lawgiver and the Judge in verse 12? What is He able to do according to this verse

TUESDAY

In light of God being the ONLY Lawgiver and Judge, how should we treat others?

What does James have to say about the man who is banking on tomorrow?

According to these verses, are we guaranteed that we will be able to do what we planned on doing tomorrow? Explain how this should change our perspective on life.

WEDNESDAY

In verse 14, what is our life compared to?

From these verses, it is evident that our lives are but vapors of smoke. What does Job 7:7 and Psalm 39:5-6 say about our lives?

According to verse 15, what should be our approach to the future? How is this perspective different from the man who thinks he is in control of what will happen tomorrow?

THURSDAY

Have you ever boasted about what you think that you are going to accomplish in the future? What does James this kind of boasting in verse 16?

This kind of boasting is also found in other passages of Scripture. Read 2 Timothy 3:2-5 and 1 John 2:16. In both of these passages, where does this boasting and arrogance come from?

FRIDAY

List all of the things that you plan on doing today and tomorrow. Then, pray that list back to God and ask Him to give you His perspective on those events. Pray by saying, “If the Lord wills, I will do this or that.” This will increase your dependence on God and help you to realize that your life is not just about what you have to do today, but rather it is about God’s plan for your life.

What is James telling us in verse 17? So, how does that change the way you are going to live today?

Pick a verse or two from this passage that has really challenged you and memorize it.

Chew on this:

The first group addressed consists of wealthier Christians. Their plans are normal plans: travel to a certain city, sell the goods they brought with them and perhaps purchase others, and make money. Is this not the way business is done? James’s criticism is that they are in fact carrying on their lives and businesses just the way every other worldly person does. As Christians, they should be well aware of not only how uncertain the future may be, but also Who actually controls the future.

The picture James paints for us is that our lives are like a puff of smoke from a camp fire. It appears over the fire for a few seconds, but then it disappears. We learn from this picture that the idea of planning without taking God’s values into account is foolishness. James’s point is not simply that we ought to just merely say, “If the Lord wills,” before we carry out our plans. This would a lip-service to God, without it being genuine. Instead, James is trying to tell us that we need to seek God’s plan and follow God’s will in their use of our time and the things God has given us. This is a contrast of boasting or bragging. What type of pride is this? 1 John 2:16 uses the same term for the boasting of (or pride in) what a person has and does. When we have this kind of pride, we think that we are laying plans that God did not make and claiming an ability to control our lives (which God actually controls!), and boasting about all the things we are going to accomplish.

When we choose to live in our pride and refuse to live according to the Scriptures, then it is sin! Many of us know these things, but we sometimes do not live this way. Why not consult God and ask Him what ought to be done with our time and possessions? Let’s remember to acknowledge God everyday and to seek to follow His will!

For His Name,

Pastor Stephen

James 4:7-10

April 14-18, 2008

Good morning! Before you start your time with God today, start by praying that God would open your eyes to the wonderful things in His Word through your study (Ps. 119:18). Then read the passage slowly, taking notes on what God is teaching you through His Word, and answer the questions.

As you read this week's passage, look for these words or phrases: submit, resist, draw near, purify, miserable, humble, and exalt.

Passage for the week: James 4:7-10 (NASB)

7  Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
8  Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
9 Be miserable and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom.
10 Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.


DIGGING DEEPER:


MONDAY

List all of the characteristics of God that you find in this passage (what God is like, His attributes).



What are the 9 commands that James gives us in these verses?



List all of the promises of God that you can find in this passage



TUESDAY

What does it mean to submit yourself to God?



How do you actually resist the devil? See 1 John 2:14 and 4:4 for some insight on this.



WEDNESDAY

What does God do when, in humility, you draw near to Him?



After we have drawn near to God and are close to Him, what will be our response?




How do we purify our hearts and cleanse our hands?




THURSDAY

Where else in the book of James is the word double-minded used? What does it mean?



What is the point of James telling us to be miserable, to mourn, and to weep? Why would we have a reason to do this? Read 2 Corinthians 7:8-11 for help on this.



FRIDAY

When we sin, it offends a holy God. Does your sin before God ever cause you to weep or do you just see it as no big deal?



As we repent and become humble before the Lord, what does the Lord promise to do for us?



Pick a verse or two from this passage and memorize it.



CHEW ON THIS:

James next shows us what humility looks like. Submit yourselves, then, to God. This means to “line up under.” James is using this word to describe a willing surrender to God’s authority as the One who is in control of everything. When we are truly humble, then we will then be able to be loyal to God, obey His commands, and follow His leadership in our lives.

James then tells us to “resist the devil.” This literally means “to take your stand against.” We are able to do this ONLY when we have submitted to God and are operating under His power. We need to remember that the devil is a defeated foe, and that Christ has already won the battle against him! When we take our stand against the devil in the power of God, he flees; he may threaten disaster, but it is all a lie. It only has power if believed.

In the next verse we are encouraged to come near to God. The picture is that of a person coming to offer sacrifice in the temple and coming near to God in the ceremony. We are told to wash our hands and purify our hearts. This is another OT picture (Ex. 30:19–21), illustrating the removal of sinful practices. The double-minded is the person who tries to serve both God and the world needs to have a heart that is completely devoted to God alone. These actions should be also be accompanied by a mourning and a sorrow for our sin against God. Repentance consists of sorrow for sin plus a turning from sin and, where possible, making restitution for the damage caused by one’s sin.

However, James does not leave us there in our sadness over our sin. James includes promises within his call to repentance. As we come near to God, God will come near to us. He will lift us up and will not leave a humble heart mourning! He will accept our repentant heart and respond with His love, raising us up from our mourning into the warmth of His love.


For His Name,

Pastor Stephen

James 4:1-6

Good morning! I wanted to let you all know that I will be changing our “chew on its” a little bit to make them more effective for you. We will be focusing on one passage each week so we can really chew on what the passage is saying as opposed to just “covering the material.” The whole purpose behind this devotional is not to just stuff your inbox with tons of e-mails each week that you don’t have the time to read or digest. My desire is that all of us will truly dig deeply into the Word of God, discover its life-giving truth, and then seek to live it out in our everyday lives.

Here’s how it will work. I will send you a few questions to answer each day to get us all to dig deeper into the passage we are studying. Take your time and don’t rush! Push everything else out of your mind and focus on listening to what God is saying to you! Once we have worked through the passage, I will e-mail you the “CHEW ON THIS” section later in the week to encourage you in your study.

As we take apart one passage a week, this will allow us to post discussion topics (on Facebook) as well as encourage others with the principles that God is teaching us. This will help us to fulfill Hebrew 10:24 which says, “Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works” (NLT).

Start by praying that God would open your eyes to the wonderful things in His Word through your study (Ps. 119:18). Then read the passage slowly, taking notes on what God is teaching you through His Word, and answer the questions.

As you read this week's passage, look for these words or phrases: conflicts, war, lust, ask, motives, friendship, enemy of God, the Spirit, grace, proud, and humble.


Passage for the week: James 4:1-6 (NASB)

1 What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members?
2 You lust and do not have; so you commit murder. You are envious and cannot obtain; so you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask.
3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures.
4 You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
5 Or do you think that the Scripture speaks to no purpose: “He jealously desires the Spirit which He has made to dwell in us?”
6 But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, “God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”


DIGGER DEEPER:


MONDAY

List all of the characteristics of God that you find in this passage (what God is like, His attributes).



What are the questions that James asks in the passage? What is the point of all of these questions?



TUESDAY

What does James mean by “pleasures?”




What does James mean by “you lust” or “you covet”? What were they coveting?



WEDNESDAY

James calls his readers “adulteresses.” Why does he address them in this way? (Hint: "friendship with the world")



James’ mentions fights and quarrels in his rebuke of his readers? What did this fighting look like?




THURSDAY

In James 1:6, James writes that prayer must be conducted in faith. What does he say about prayer in James 4:2-3? What two ways were his readers sinning in the area of prayer?


To whom does God give grace and why? Does your behavior reflect this reality?



FRIDAY

Read Luke 15:11-32. What insight does this give to the condition of James’ readers who asked that they might spend what God gives them on their pleasures?



James warns against being a friend of the world. Where else in his epistle does he speak about this? Where else in the Bible is this spoken of? (ex. 1 John 2)



Pick a verse or two from this passage and memorize it.



CHEW ON THIS:

James paints a picture of the church as he saw it: they were fighting and arguing, battling, killing (with words) and coveting. Wow! Does any of this sound familiar? Unfortunately, this picture is not too far from what we see in the church today! The church should be a place of love, encouragement, friendship, and service. However, it is our desires to please ourselves that get in the way of this. All of those who were fighting in James’ church probably felt like they were doing the right thing, but James tells them God’s perspective on the situation. The source of these conflicts is not found in their love of God but to their desires, the evil impulses that we have already learned about in James 1:14–15. The same goes for us as well!

All of this arguing is fruitless: they do not get what they want, because you do not ask God. “But I do pray!” might be your response. “You pray, but it is not effective, for your motives are wrong.” We are not seeking God’s will or God’s wisdom, but our own will. In other words, we come to God saying, “God bless my plans.” Instead of us focusing on God’s plans, our motives are wrapped up in our own desires and pleasures. God’s goal is not to give us what our own impulses demand. His goal is that we will learn to love what He loves. It is not that God does not want people to have pleasure, but that he wants to train them to take pleasure in what He knows is truly good.

In claiming to trust in God and yet living according to their own desires, James calls these people adulterers. They were being unfaithful to God and had been focusing their love on the world. When we try to become a friend of the world you are actually God’s enemy! Sure, we are still in the world as “salt” and “light,” but we are not to be of the world. At this point James talks about how God jealously longs for the spirit He made to live in us. That means that God gave to each person their spirit and He jealously longs for pure love in return (see Exodus 20:5–6). You cannot serve God and the world!

James’s argument might drive people to despair because of their sin. However, we find hope in verse 6! James claims that God offers more grace rather than condemnation, to the believer who is humble and repents. To back this up James quotes Proverbs 3:34, also quoted in 1 Peter 5:5: God does give grace to the humble! This grace that God gives is a grace that is sufficient for every struggle we are facing or any need we have.

So, let’s make our church a place where there is a genuine love for one another, a committed love for God, and a true heart of humility that will be ready receive God’s grace!


For His Name,

Pastor Stephen