Tag: Advice

God’s Will

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James 4:13-17 Go to now, you that say, today or tomorrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: Whereas you know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appear for a little time, and then vanish away. For that you ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that. But now you rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil. Therefore to him that know to do good, and do it not, to him it is sin. 

Boastings here consist of bragging on buying and selling from city to city and what one will do here and there. One should always say, “If the Lord will, we shall live to do this, or that”. This would demonstrate a personal faith in God and His providence instead of one’s own abilities. All such boasting is of evil intent. We cannot travel, shop, work or live life from our own understanding and ideas, we have to trust in God and acknowledge Him in all our ways, then He can direct our paths (Pro. 3:5-6).

God’s will is always to make us perfect in every good work to do His will, working in you that which is well-pleasing in His sight, through the Lord Jesus Christ (Heb. 13:21).

For what is your life? It is a vapour…This is practically what was said of the rich man in James 1:10-11, so little worth to one’s life whom only focuses on the riches and ‘success’ of this world. The last verse warns that if we know what is good – to do right according to God’s standards – and we don’t, we are sinning. The Greek word for sin is hamartia which means to miss the mark.

Draw Near to God

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James 4:8-12 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double minded. Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up. Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speak evil of his brother, and judge his brother, speak evil of the law, and judge the law: but if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law, but a judge. There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who are you that judge another? 

Cleansing the hands was a symbol of innocence and purity (Mat. 27:24), but here it means to separate yourself from the world and consecrate your life to God, renouncing all sin.

For those who do not dwell in the secret place of the most High, that does not abide under the shadow of the Almighty (Psa. 91:1), in reconciling with Him, you have to draw near to God again so that He can come near to you. But certain conditions are commanded to restore to your previous state. You must have no double-mindedness which refers to doubting God (Jas. 1:6-8) and you must be afflicted – mourn and weep – which shows of a true repentance that will always bring the mercy of God if done in time–that is now (1Jn. 1:7; Heb. 9:27).

Ten types of sin and pleasure are mentioned in James 4:1-9: Wars and fighting; lusts of sin (Eph. 2:1-3); murders and killings; desires – covetousness; adulteries and other sexual sins; friendships with worldly men; envies and jealousies; pride and haughtiness; laughter prompted by sin; joy founded on sin. True followers of Christ would not be guilty of those as stated repeatedly in 1 John 3.

To speak against; backbite; rail at; slander (1Pet. 2:12; 3:16)refers to slandering among the different factions of Jews and the Jews against their brethren who had accepted Christ and God is the one lawgiver and judge who is able to save or destroy. Man has no right to usurp this authority when we judge those who choose to stay in sin.

Be Sober

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James 4:6-7 But he give more grace. Wherefore he says, God resist the proud, but give grace unto the humble. Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 

Four promises are made to backsliders here: God gives more grace to the humble; the devil will flee from you when you submit – give – yourselves to God; God will then draw near to you and lift you up.  When we give place to the enemy in our lives (Eph. 4:27), we are entering a backslidden state from where things will go from bad to worse as we regress spiritually, and decay will follow in all other areas.  We have to know that the enemy walks around like a roaring lion to seek whom he may devour (1Pet. 5:8) and for us to not fall for his vices, we need to be sober and vigilant and thus not get into a backslidden state, otherwise, we will be devoured. In 1 John 5:18 we have been promised that those born of God – which means you have been born-again and are saved – thus sin not and keep yourself, that the wicked one cannot touch you! Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you.

Answer to Prayer

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James 4:1-4 From whence come wars and fighting among you?  Come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members? You lust, and have not: you kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: you fight and war, yet you have not, because you ask not. You ask, and receive not, because you ask amiss, that you may consume it upon your lusts. You adulterers and adulteresses, know you not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. 

About this time in Judea the Jews made many insurrections against the Romans under the pretence of defending their religion and procuring their way of life. Many factions among the Jews also fought violently, massacring and plundering one another. In some provinces, Jews killed many heathens and brought destruction upon themselves. These wars were undertaken through a spirit of covetousness and zeal, trying to convert the heathen and destroy idolatry.

This passage should never be taken by the Christian as an excuse for unanswered prayer. By so doing he automatically classes himself as lustful, murderous, covetous, adulterous, worldly, proud, sinful, and blasphemous. Is it any wonder that God does not answer the prayers of such people? No man can ask amiss if he is in Christ and asks according to the promises (John 15:7; Heb. 11:6; Jas. 1:5-8). The reason Christian prayers are not answered is because of their unbelief.

For a Christian to get answers to prayers, we must be free from the cares of the world (Mat. 13:22; Lk. 21:34-36); not gain the world at the expense of our souls (Mat. 16:26); not offend others as the world does (Mat. 18:7); not be of the world – partake of it and be like the world (John 15:19; 17:14, 16); not love our lives in the world (John 12:25); be delivered from the world (Gal. 1:4); be crucified to the world (Gal. 6:14); shine as a light in the world, no darkness in us (Php. 2:15); deny worldly lusts; live godly in it (Tit. 2:12); be unspotted from the world (Jas. 1:27); not be friends with the world (Jas. 4:4); escape the pollution and corruption of the world (2Pet. 1:4; 2:20); not love the world, neither the things that are in the world (1Jn. 2:15-17); be like Christ in the world (1Jn. 4:17); overcome the world (1Jn. 5:4-5); be not conformed to it (Rom. 12:2); and be dead to its ways (Col. 2:20).

Who Is Wise?

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James 3:13-18 Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? Let him show out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth. This wisdom descends not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace. 

One who can bridle his own tongue and is qualified to teach others are seen in the Word as a wise man. True wisdom is always accompanied with meekness and gentleness. Scholars however are sometimes proud, overbearing, and disdainful. Such men have education, but not true wisdom. But if you have bitter envy and strife in your heart – someone always seeking recognition and are quick to argue to prove your point, you don’t have true wisdom. Even if you defend religion, you are false in your profession and lie against the truth.

There are eight characteristics of false wisdom mentioned: Bitter envying, strife in the heart (v14, 16), glory in profession (v14), earthly-minded, having only this life in view, sensual, living only to satisfy the animal appetites, devilish, inspired by demons (v15), living in constant confusion and every evil work (v16).

And eight characteristics of divine wisdom mentioned: to be pure – chaste, holy and clean; peaceable (Heb. 12:14); gentle – meek, modest, and kind; easily entreated – not stubborn or obstinate, but yielding to others. To be full of mercy – always forgiving and performing acts of kindness; full of good fruits; without partiality – having no respect of persons (Jas. 2:1-10); without hypocrisy – open, honest, genuine, and true.

And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace refers to those living in right-standing with God that will always abide in His peace no matter what your circumstances are (John 14:27; Php 4:7).

Do Not Err

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James 1:13-16 Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempted he any man: But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it brings forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bring forth death. Do not err, my beloved brethren. 

After using the word temptation in the sense of trial, it is now used in the sense of solicitation to sin. God cannot be tempted with evil, neither does He tempt any man with it. Evil temptations come from evil, not from good. Do not be deceived by supposing that God is the author of sin or that He impels any man to commit it.

Temptation starts with us being tempted in our thoughts of evil, thereafter we are drawn away with strong imagination and lust or delight in viewing whatever we put our minds on. We are being enticed as our wills are weakened and lust conceives as we yield and a sinful act is committed. The result of actual sin is death.

Ask in Faith

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James 1:5-8  If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that give to all men liberally, and upbraid not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that waver is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord. A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways. 

If you need answers, advice or wisdom in any situation: ask God! Don’t be as quick to turn to others for council (Ps. 1:1) or to operate from your own understanding (Pro. 3:7; 26:12). Pray to the Father who gives to all men liberally (Mat. 7:7-11) without finding fault, in the name of Jesus by the Holy Spirit, having a full understanding of your rights and privileges (Jam. 4:3-4) in harmony with the Word (John 14:13), ask in faith, nothing doubting (Heb. 11:6), with praise for the answer (Php. 4:6).

He who doubts is like a wave that is rising one moment, sinking the next. One minute he believes; another he does not. He says yes and then no to what God has promised, never making up his mind which way he believes. He staggers like a drunken man, helpless in prayer. It is as certain that a doubtful man will not get an answer as it is that the man of faith will get an answer. The term ‘double-minded’ was used by the Jews of a man who attempted to worship God and still loved the creature; who wished to secure both worlds. He would not give up the world here and yet was loathe to give up heaven: one torn between carnal and spiritual things.