This Day in History: 0000-02-06
February 6 – James 4:1-10
What is causing the quarrels and fights among you? Don’t they come from the evil desires at war within you? You want what you don’t have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have, but you can’t get it, so you fight and wage war to take it away from them. Yet you don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it. And even when you ask, you don’t get it because your motives are all wrong – you want only what will give you pleasure.
You adulterers! Don’t you realize that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God? I say it again: If you want to be a friend of the world, you make yourself an enemy of God. Do you think the Scriptures have no meaning? They say that God is passionate that the Spirit He has placed within us should be faithful to Him. And He gives grace generously. As the Scriptures say,
“God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”
So humble yourself before God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world. Let there be tears for what you have done. Let there be sorrow and deep grief. Let there be sadness instead of laughter, and gloom instead of joy. Humble yourself before the Lord, and He will lift you up in honor.
It seems that God has laid the state of the church quite heavily upon the hearts of the blogging community in recent months, myself included. The body of Christ is so broken. As we (Christian bloggers) examine Scripture and seek the Holy Spirit to lead us as we write, it seems the heart of our Savior begins to beat within us. I know He is saddened to see such division among His people. I am certain that it breaks His heart to watch as His children quarrel, and fight, and scheme, and kill. As our wars are waged, the Spirit of God within us is forced onto the side of the enemy, arousing the passion of our Savior against what should never be! It is a tragedy born of pride and rebellion, selfishness and jealous ambitions, resulting in a complete lack of faith in God. Our friendship with the world has made us an enemy of God!
It is time to put an end to the evil desires at war within us. It’s time to take the Word of God seriously. It’s time to humble ourselves before the King of Kings; to allow our sin to break our hearts as it does His and to mourn over the grief we have caused our Lord! It is time, dear sisters, to draw near to God. Time to resist the devil; to wash our hands and purify our hearts. Time to fix our loyalty in one place – anchored securely to the hope we have in Christ. Will you pray with me?
“Heavenly Father, we are filled with grief over the pain we have caused You. Please forgive us for our tendency to wander into friendship with this dark and fallen world. Forgive us for taking our eyes off You, God, and for allowing the enemy to divide us. We confess our jealousy, our pride, and our refusal to come to You and ask for Your help. We are coming now, Lord. We’re asking now. Please align our hearts to Yours. Help us to be faithful to You. Keep us humble. Wash our hands and purify our hearts. Unite us Lord to one another. Ignite in us a deep and abiding love for one another. Thank-you for Your grace and Your mercy that is always ready to give us another chance. We are so unworthy and yet You continue to love us and pursue us. Thank-you for bestowing upon us the honor of being Your own! We are in awe of You! We love You so much, God. In Jesus’s Name, amen.”