God Opposes the Proud, But Gives Grace to the Humble - the Promise of James chapter 4 - Episode 126

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I hope you are ready for some hope, some encouragement, and some truth from the Word of God. All God’s promises prove true. And every promise is yes and amen through Christ Jesus. 

It’s gonna be a good one today. Ya ready? Alrighty - let’s go!

 

You’re listening to The Burt (Not Ernie) Show, part of the Spark Network, now playing in the Edifi app. This is episode number 126.

 

So today I am going to do some straight talk. Very, very straight talk from James chapter 4.

 

You know, I’ve discovered that when the Lord draws me to read any part of the New Testament book of James, I sort of brace myself. Sanctification and probably some discipline is coming my way. Anybody else ever feel that way? Like, “Oh, I’m going to James. Oooh boy, ooh yikes.”

 

I may as well just yield and let the Spirit of the Living God do what He needs to do. Teach me, reprove me, guide me, discipline me because He loves me, show me something in my heart and life where I am not quite where He wants me to be. Just lean into it, that is what I’ve learned to do.

 

So recently, like within the last couple of days, I found myself looking at the fourth chapter of James. James 4:1-7 in the NLT, I was journaling and praying as I read it and I wanted to share it here on the podcast because it ended up being such a blessing to me, I want to pass that blessing along to you.

 

There is a saying, blessed to be a blessing, and it’s really true. 

 

Let’s just get rolling here. And this is a word for the season, for sure. 

 

James 4:1 - What is causing the quarrels and fights among you? Don’t they come from the evil desires at war within you?

Vs 1 - here we find the answer for the strife and angst in life. Is something eating at you, or at me? This verse gives us a source. And, it’s not somebody else or circumstances. It’s me. Yeah, so this is sort of why I internally wince when the Lord has me read in James. I’m gonna give an example that came to mind as I was reading through these verses. Regarding recent elections, can I share that in all honesty I kind of feel  like this verse fits so perfectly? How’s my attitude? Am I confused by the choices people made and that is rolling right on over into frustration, anger, grouchiness, grrr. I gotta take those emotions, and emotions are real, but I have to take them and give them to the Lord. If I am not upset about the things that His Word clearly state I ought to be upset about, I’m gonna be off track. What is causing this, Jan? What’s at war within you? How irritated am I prone to get when I do not get what I want? This verse leads me to ask that question, and to let the Holy Spirit put a spotlight where He wants it. Sometimes that is uncomfortable. Okay…well, the deal I made with the Lord is that this is no longer my life, but His, and so if He wants to spotlight something that makes me feel uncomfortable, uh, it’s not my life, it’s now His and also, He was so far beyond uncomfortable when He went to the cross for me, it’s just icky how I sometimes get irritated when He is doing with my life the exact thing He said He would do upon my salvation. Take it from garbage and total trash and make it anew. James helps me get my head on straight when I’m seeing things through my own skewed lenses.

 

Verse 2 - 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.  

 

Vs 2 - do I not have what I want because I have not asked God for it? It’s not a yes or no question, it’s more of a yes on the regular question. Did I even check in with God on this? If I never, ever ask Him for what I really want, then it’s likely that what I want isn’t something I feel comfortable asking Him for (ding ding ding ding - may have a problem here!) or I am just annoyed when I don't get it but I never asked. Sometimes we just didn’t ask, and we should ask. Why? Because the Bible says so. What do I want & why do I want it?  Do I want something that belongs to someone else? What aspect of jealousy might be rearing its head in my life? Can my frustration show me something that is amiss, a place where I am jealous and maybe didn’t fully see it until the Word of God showed me what’s up. Is it important enough to me to take before the God of heaven’s armies? To enter the throne room of grace? To pray with importunity, as Jesus taught? If it’s eating at me so much that I am scheming to try and get, fighting and waging war for it, but I haven’t gone to the Lord about it, maybe this is a really wrong, off base desire or maybe I just forgot to go talk to the Father, to make my requests known with thanksgiving. Be sure you are asking God for the things you want. And letting Him give a yes or a no. That’s a safe place to live our lives, and this world is a hot mess and living in a safe place, oh, that’s a good plan.

 

Verse 3 -  And even when you ask, you don’t get it because your motives are all wrong—you want only what will give you pleasure.

Vs 3 - back to my political example… Do I want my choice of candidate to win because I want what I want for my own ease in life and my own pleasures, what will make things more comfortable for me and mine, or do I want that candidate to be in office in order to glorify God and advance His Kingdom purposes? You know, which is it? What is really in my heart? Jeremiah says that the heart is deceitful above all things, and so we need to let the Holy Spirit be the One to determine the worth of what’s in our hearts and to change our hearts desires if need be. We can’t make that change on our own, but He can. We do need to be willing to let HIm work. And how does my frustration and anger about not getting what I wanted reveal what I need most? My motives are pretty revealing. Lord, fix my eyes and thoughts and heart on You and get my motives in line with Your will. Amen to that. 

 

Verse 4 - 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.

Vs 4 - now the Word of God gets blunt. With frankness that would be deemed rude and even “un-Christlike “ James states that even our tiniest want to be friends with the world makes us adulterers against the Lord.  He says it twice to bring the point fully home. God is no chump. He ain’t playin’. This is what He deems as adulterous behavior. Let’s get into agreement with Him and treat friendship with the world appropriately per the Word of God. Let’s make no provision for the flesh. 

Verse 5 & 6 -  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.”

 

Vs 5 & 6 - God is serious about us being fully His. To be fully His requires faithfulness to Him. How would we react if God were merely hit and miss in His faithfulness toward us? It is nonsense to believe that our faithfulness to Him can be taken as lightly (and to our shame, it so often is).  He opposes - OPPOSES!! - the proud. Period. And He gives grace to the humble. Also, period. Which will you have? Which will I have? Grace from God, or opposition from God?  You and you alone get to choose. I choose for me, you choose for you. Let’s not slap God’s hand away when He is being generous toward us. He gives us grace generously, it says here. Accept that grace, and live with some humility. Man, how would this world look if people lived with some humility and less pride. We are prideful, as a human race, we really are. You and I, though, we can choose every single day to humble ourselves. And then the promise here is that we get grace. I want grace, because I really need grace, so I gotta do the work of being more and more and more humble. 

 

Verse 7 - So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

 

Vs 7 - here we find one of the most beautiful promises in the entire Bible. So humble yourselves before God (that word  “so” indicates that we have weighed this out and have made our decision). Resist the devil and he will flee from you. WILL. Here’s that amazing word, will. You first humble yourself before God Almighty and then you resist , put some force and effort into that resisting, and the devil has to flee from you. He has to! This is an iron-clad promise. Do your part and God will most assuredly do His. He can’t break one of His promises. It is, after all, impossible for God to lie. He is not a man that He should lie. We read this in our Bibles and we gotta apply it to our lives if we want to live at the level God has in mind for His children. Level up. Humble ourselves, then resist the devil, and he will flee. Flee. Interesting word choice, and God could have used any word there but the word is flee. Satan turning on his heel and running straight away from you, from me. Don’t let the power of this promise be lost on you simply because you’ve heard time and time again. This is good stuff, good good stuff. God has good, good stuff in store for us in this life and for certain in the next life. 

 

I don’t want to miss any of that, so I go to the books of James when He calls me to study the book of James, and I ask Him to change me in any and every way that He deems is in need of change. Change with God means improvement. We kind of look at it as a loss, but it’s always a win. Always an upgrade. Always an improvement. So I don’t want to avoid that. Show me the money. Show me the good stuff. If this is how I get what God has for me, so be it. I’m in. Let’s do this thing.

 

And as for the climate of the world right now, it’s not going to poof get all sorts of better. Because Jesus doesn’t have free reign in the hearts and minds of so many people on this planet. Because our enemy satan is prowling around like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. Not nibble on, not snarl at, but devour. Pretending that anyone or anything outside of Jesus the Messiah can fix what’s broken in this world is really just putting lipstick on a pig. Because what’s broken is internal, it’s the hearts of men and women, it’s sin. Prayer is going to do more to bless you, bless your family, honor your God, bless your church, your workplace, your neighbors, your country, elected officials, lawmakers, the whole wide world - prayer is going to do more to be a blessing than any candidate ever will. Election day is over for 2022 but you know, prayer isn’t over. Let’s be Christ followers who are such tremendous prayer warriors that satan hates it when we hit our knees and fold our hands and bow our heads in prayer. 

 

That’s it for this episode of The Burt (Not Ernie) Show. Thanks for listening, God bless you and I’ll see you back next time.

 

Jan L. Burt

Find me here:

Jan is the author of the new book “A 60-Day Prayer Journal for Parents” & “The Power of God’s Will – 40 Days of God’s Promises Devotional” (available on Amazon) & “The Once-A-Year Homeschool Planner” (a multi-grade, multi-subject planning system) – which can be found at JanLBurt.com. She has also been a regular contributor to The Old Schoolhouse Magazine. Find Jan  Instagram: @JanLBurt or at her website JanLBurt.com or at her YouTube channel, “God’s Promises for You with Jan L. Burt”.