All Sin is Serious

"Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up."
James 4:7-10

Do you know how many times it says "humble" in these past James verses? Notice a theme?

Grieve, mourn and wail. Why? Does God want you miserable? No. He wants us in the right frame of mind when it comes to how much we must hate our sin and turn to God. Do not take your sin lightly.

We cannot stop our sin if we don't hate it. We must hate it. Our sin in us must provoke such a strong reaction that we mourn. That we grieve. It must make us so humble that we have no other choice but to serve God through serving others in an attitude of humility.

Spiritual Adultery

"You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. Or do you think Scripture says without reason that the spirit he caused to live in us envies intensely? But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says:

'God opposes the proud
but gives grace to the humble.'"

James 4:4-6

What does it mean to adulterate? Adulterate- render (something) poorer in quality by adding another substance, usually an inferior one.

Now another question: What do we feel when we hear the word adulterous? It sounds dirty, not loyal, ignoble, dishonorable, and impure. I usually associate it with the breaking of a sacred vow made in front of men and God to stay pure to one's spouse. To break such a commitment would be dishonorable, wretched, filthy and impure.

As a teenager I would read in the Bible about David and how he committed adultery and murder. I thought to myself, "That's dumb. I would never do that. I fear the Lord."

One time I was thinking about how much adultery in marriage was so disgusting and evil, when I realized that I too made a vow before God and men. I am a Christ follower. I am part of the church married to Jesus. I said to Him, "Yes, I will follow and I want you and only you." Yet I break that vow every single day through wrong doing. I feel so dirty and ashamed. Here I was thinking about how adultery was so bad and then I realize that I am an adulterer. I betray Jesus when I choose to please myself or others rather than the one I committed too.

You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God?

God loves us so much. We betray and deny Him all the time yet He still calls us his beloved. It is for this undeserved love that makes me strive to please Him.

Submit Yourselves to God

"What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires that battle within you? You want something but 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. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures."

James 4:1-3

It is time to recheck my motives. Why do I quarrel? What is the true aim I am trying to accomplish? What do I truly want?

The best part about this verse is "you do not have, because you do not ask God". Are we asking for the right thing with the right motive?

What if God has something else in mind? What if you have the right motive and are asking for the right thing but God has a plan and wants you to persevere and just continue serving Him faithfully?

Is faith, living as if you trust God with the answer already?

"Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. Such "wisdom" does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil. For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.

But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness."

James 3:13-18

Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom.

This passage is so powerful and it must be shown in it's full context. The words that show emphasis are: Humility, Wisdom, Selfish, Heart, Unspiritual, Every Evil, Pure, Peace-loving, Submissive, Mercy, Good Fruit, and Peacemaker.

Let me narrow that down: Humility, Selfish, Unspiritual, Submissive, Mercy, and Peacemaker.

-- Do I show humility?
-- Am I acting purely from self-lessness rather than selfishness? Or do I just want to act in a way that makes me feel better?
-- Am I living in a way that is unspiritual?
-- Am I being the humble, Submissive servant Jesus showed me through His example?
-- Am I showing mercy to others by thinking good about them even if I think they do not deserve it?
-- Am I a peacemaker or do I bring negativity, hostility and conflict? (Rephrased: Am I a drama queen/king or am I drama clean?)

Taming the Tongue pt.III

"All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.

With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water."

James 3:7-12

When we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness, we insult the creator. God made all of us for a purpose. Be it good or bad, all things work together for the good of those who love Him. What good is it to focus on how evil people are when instead we can be focussing on how we can be godly examples to them and share Jesus' love?

Jesus died on the cross for us even though we didn't deserve anything but death. Can we at least show a fraction of that kind of love to our brothers and sisters who also do not deserve it?

Taming the Tongue pt.II

"When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell."

Like the rudder of a ship, the tongue can steer the whole person to destruction or to glory.  It corrupts the whole person.  It's such an easy thing to speak words.  It is very easy to corrupt oneself.  Quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to become angry.  Be careful for every word that comes out of your mouth.

Self reflective questions:  Do I complain a lot?  Do I have a lot of negative comments?  Have I said something that would lower someone's reputation in someone else's eyes be it true or false?  Am I quick to speak?  Am I quick to be angry?

I'm baaaaaack. I'm sure none of you missed the daily posts but I thought I'd mention that I'm back. You know, just for kicks. Whatever that means.

So tomorrow I shall post the back-up from the days of prayer past.

I leave you with a question:

"Fezzik, are there rocks ahead?"

Taming the Tongue pt.I

"Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check."

James 3:1,2

The tongue is so powerful that if it is kept in check, the body follows. Out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. Your words reveal your spiritual condition.

This Sunday was cool. Major Victor Leslie gave his sermon with worship songs in between. That was cool to be a part of. Music and message combined. "When your powers combine..."

"You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. And the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness," and he was called God's friend. You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone."

James 2:20-24

God is logical. God makes sense. It may not appear so all the time, but He does. If you are following His ways, it will show. If you are not, it will show.