July 13, 2022

THE WAR WITHIN

James 4:1-7

Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members? You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures. Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, “The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously”?

But He gives more grace. Therefore He says:

“God resists the proud,
But gives grace to the humble.”

Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.

Personal Challenge

Even in the early, first century church, there were divisions and disagreements. Why? It all comes from personal desires and expectations. Some want the music to be their way...more contemporary, more traditional, more like we hear it on the radio. Some want the design of the church to be what they think is right. Some want the older people to step aside so that the younger people can take over and make the church new and modern. Why do we take thriving and effective churches and break them down to be something totally different and destroy the legacy and the relationships in the process. We do this so that we can satisfy our own personal desires and passions. We do this because we are more aligned with the world than we are with God. We do this because of our pride. By doing this we must be prepared for God's resistance because He prefers humility over pride. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!