http://bible.com/events/48836948

James and Unfriending the World
Choose your friends wisely.

‭‭James‬ ‭4:4-6‬‬
You adulterous people, 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. Or do you think Scripture says without reason that he jealously longs for the spirit he has caused to dwell in us? But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.”

-James says this: choosing friendship with the world is cheating. We commit adultery.
-The closer we move toward “the world,” the further we move away from God.

Two critical questions we must ask in response to this text:
1. What does it mean to be a friend of the world?
2. What do I do in response?

What does it mean to be a friend of the world?
-It means our loyalty is ultimately to the things of this world. They are the priority. They are the focus, They are the foundation upon which our life is built.
-The root of sin is ultimately a desire for ‘self’ above all. Sin comes down to a desire for ‘self’ over God’s best.
-So a friend of the world is one who is loyal to the desires of ‘self’ above anything else.

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭10:32-33‬‬
“Whoever acknowledges me before others, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before others, I will disown before my Father in heaven.

What do I do in response? What do I do if my loyalty is divided?
-James provides good news in the midst of difficult words: “Be He gives more grace” (James 4:6).
-Grace is available even when we have been disloyal and unfaithful.
-And this grace from God is offered to those who are willing to humble themselves. This is why James references Proverbs 3:34.
-If friendship with the world is a loyalty to ‘self’, then perhaps the closer we are to true humility, the further we are from the world.

The bottom line:
Choose your friends wisely.

Other verses for further study/reflection:

‭‭James‬ ‭4:4-6‬‬
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.”

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭10:32-39‬‬
“Whoever acknowledges me before others, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before others, I will disown before my Father in heaven. “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn “ ‘a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law— a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’ “Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.

Other verses:
Exodus 34:14
1 John 2:15-18
John 15:18
Romans 12:2
John 18:36

James in 8 Minutes
This overview video on the book of James breaks down the literary design of the book and its flow of thought. In this book, James combines the wisdom of his brother Jesus with the book of Proverbs in his own challenging call to live a life wholly devoted to God.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qn-hLHWwRYY

http://bible.com/events/48832631

Church of the Nazarene

James and the Art of the Ask
God does not help those who help themselves. He helps those who ask Him (and trust Him).

-“If you could say in one word what you want more of in life, what would that be?”
-Response #1 – Happiness. Response #2 – Money.
-There is nothing wrong with these desires. But what happens when these desires become the driving force for everything we do?

‭‭James‬ ‭4:1-3‬‬
What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? You 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. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.

-The word for ‘desires’ in the Greek is ‘hēdonē’, which means ‘pleasures or lust’. This is where the word ‘hedonism’ comes from.
-James is clarifying what the problem is: the pursuit of pleasure above all.
-These desires are not just destructive, they are fueling evil.

James challenges these believers in two ways:
1. You don’t ask God for what you need. (verse 2)
2. When you do ask God, you ask with wrong motives. (verse 3)

So what does it look like to come to God with right motives?

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭7:7-11‬‬
“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!

What does it mean to come to God with right motives?
-Jesus says to ‘keep asking…keep seeking…keep knocking’ (verse 7). In other words, don’t just come to God once, but continue to bring your needs to Him.
-Jesus says to trust that God is a good Father (verse 11).

The bottom line:
God does not help those who help themselves.
He helps those who ask Him (and trust Him).

Other verses for further study/reflection:
Psalm 63:1-11
1 Timothy 6:10
Ephesians 5:3
Matthew 7:7
1 John 5:14-15

James in 8 Minutes
This overview video on the book of James breaks down the literary design of the book and its flow of thought. In this book, James combines the wisdom of his brother Jesus with the book of Proverbs in his own challenging call to live a life wholly devoted to God.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qn-hLHWwRYY

James and The Art of The Ask
James 4:1-3

Welcome back to our series through the book of James.

Together we are going verse by verse through this very practical letter written by the half-brother of Jesus.

Throughout our study of this letter James challenges us to confirm our love for Jesus by our actions.

His famous line “faith without works is dead” is a central theme, sometimes in the background and sometimes in the forefront.

Live like Jesus! Is the cry of James’ heart for his readers.

At the end of chapter 3 James is unpacking for us the fruit of wisdom in our lives.

Wisdom can be thought of how we view the world, how we make decisions, and yes, how we act.

And for James there are only two sources of that Wisdom
Heaven or Hell…Our wisdom is either sourced by God or sourced by the devil.

If we live sourced by earthly or demonic wisdom, we will constantly be filled with envy and selfish desires. Where those things are present, we will only find evil and disorder of every kind.

Contrast that to living sourced by God in heavenly wisdom.
our lives are marked by graciousness, mercy, and ultimately leading to peace and righteousness.

We are presented two distinctly different ways to live, and two distinctly different outcomes of our lives.

As we come into our text in Chapter 4, James is inviting his readers to see the root source of the disagreements and fights they are dealing with. To see the source of that conflict, and most importantly, to see a different way forward.

‭‭James‬ ‭4:1-3‬‬
What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? You 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. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.

James is writing to believers outside of Jerusalem, not to long after Jesus ascended to heaven and sent the Holy Spirit.

To be a Christian was a very controversial thing. The church was likely comprised of people from all walks of life as we know the gospel was spreading throughout the land.

It was a cultural melting pot, that apparently boiled over in conflict on occasion. And it was serious enough that James felt compelled to address it.

With a head on approach James is challenging his readers to consider what’s causing the fights that are happening among them.

‭‭James‬ ‭4:1‬‬
What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you?

The word for fights here was typically used of military campaigns, larger battles, or wars.

Quarrels is literally armed combat or physical altercations.

Within these two descriptors James paints an encompassing portrait of large battles and personal conflict among the church.

“Don’t these fights come from your desires that battle within you?”

Desires here translates a word that we get the English word hedonism from.
Hedonism says the goal of life, the ultimate place of meaning and purpose for our existence is for to find pleasure, to fulfill our senses. Hedonism is essentially a religion of lust

These desires are never stagnant in our lives, in fact, James says they wage war within us.

‭‭James‬ ‭4:2‬‬
You 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.

“You Desire” is present and active.
This is not a passing thought, it’s what our hearts are set on. It’s a yearning to have something for yourself, to achieve something.

“You do not have, so you kill”
From a desire in your heart, to murder in your life, the impact of our lust for things is never a “no harm no foul” event.

“You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight”
Covet is that burning in your bones, that quiet seething anger, while you grit your teeth.

James says it’s those places of envy and selfish desire in your heart, that is creating the wars around you.

Warren Wiersbe says “The wars among us are caused by the wars within us. We want to please ourselves, even if it hurts somebody else.”

As we conclude this verse, can we just for a moment step back and see how much self is contained within this text?

Honestly, if we took out self, and removed the priority of our desires of this verse- there would be nothing left!

‭‭James‬ ‭4:3‬‬
When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.

Without taking up one single argument of his readers, James universally shows where the conflict and tension is coming from. He highlights two breakdowns that have led to all the frustration, all the fights, and all the fallout.
We fail to Ask God.
We ask with wrong Motives.

We have not because we ask not, and when we do ask, we ask with wrong motives…

So what’s the alternative?

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭7:7-8‬‬
“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

The portrait of asking here is one of continual persistence.

In our Asking we are coming in the humility of admitting our need for God.

In our seeking, we are actively bringing God into our everyday lives, pursing His will and not our own.

In our knocking we persevere in prayer, remaining committed to hear from the Lord, not folding back into our own ways when he appears quiet.

Ask, Seek, Knock, NOW…

James in 8 Minutes
This overview video on the book of James breaks down the literary design of the book and its flow of thought. In this book, James combines the wisdom of his brother Jesus with the book of Proverbs in his own challenging call to live a life wholly devoted to God.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qn-hLHWwRYY