Think About This
Last Sunday at TNLC we talked about:
The Battle Within
James 4:1-4 (HCSB)
1 What is the source of wars and fights among you? Don’t they come from the cravings that are at war within you?
2 You desire and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. You do not have because you do not ask.
3 You ask and don’t receive because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your evil desires.
4 Adulteresses! Don’t you know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? So whoever wants to be the world’s friend becomes God’s enemy.
Self-Inflicting Wounds
1 What is the source of wars and fights among you? Don’t they come from the cravings that are at war within you? James 4:1
“Root out the violence in your life and learn to live compassionately and mindfully. Seek peace. When you have peace within, real peace with others is possible.” Thich Nhat Hanh
James’ poignant question challenges us to first look within and root out the conflicts in us.
AMONG you and WITHIN you: GK. en (a preposition) – properly, in (inside, within); (figuratively) “in the realm (sphere) of,” as in the condition (state) in which something operates from the inside (within) James is saying that the wars and fights are within us because of the cravings and war within us. Like Tich Hann says, “Root out the violence in your life.” When this happens we become more peaceful and more Peaceable.
A recent survey of Discipleship Journal readers ranked areas of greatest spiritual challenge to them:
- Materialism
- Pride
- Self-centeredness
- Laziness
- (Tie) Anger/Bitterness
- (Tie) Sexual lust
- Envy
- Gluttony
- Lying
James 3:14-16
14 But if you have bitter envy and selfish ambition in your heart, don’t brag and deny the truth. 15 Such wisdom does not come from above but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. 16 For where envy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every kind of evil.
Examples of disturbing inner conflicts are from the beginning of time:
Genesis 4:5-8
5 but He did not have regard for Cain and his offering. Cain was furious, and he looked despondent.
6 Then the LORD said to Cain, “Why are you furious? And why do you look despondent?
7 If you do what is right, won’t you be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, SIN IS CROUCHING AT THE DOOR. ITS DESIRE IS FOR YOU, BUT YOU MUST RULE OVER IT.”
8 Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.” And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.
James 1:14-15 (HCSB)
14 But each person is tempted when he is drawn away and enticed by his own evil desires.
15 Then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and when sin is fully grown, it gives birth to death.
Micah 2:1-2 (HCSB)
1 Woe to those who dream up wickedness and prepare evil ?plans? on their beds! At morning light they accomplish it because the power is in their hands.
2 They covet fields and seize them; they also take houses. They deprive a man of his home, a person of his inheritance.
Self-serving Wishes
2 You desire and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. You do not have because you do not ask. James 4:2
The expression, “Be careful what you wish for; you just might get it” applies perfectly here. There’s a reason many lottery winners wind up depressed, broke, or suicidal. We might have a clear idea of what we want, but if we don’t consider how our lives will change when we get it, we could end up less happy than when we started. Psychology Today
Jeremiah 17:11 (HCSB)
11 He who makes a fortune unjustly is ?like? a partridge that hatches eggs it didn’t lay. In the middle of his days ?his riches? will abandon him, so in the end he will be a fool.
Psalm 49:12-14 (HCSB)
12 But despite ?his? assets, man will not last; he is like the animals that perish.
13 This is the way of those who are arrogant, and of their followers, who approve of their words.
14 Like sheep they are headed for Sheol; Death will shepherd them. The upright will rule over them in the morning, and their form will waste away in Sheol, far from their lofty abode.
1 John 5:14 (HCSB)
14 Now this is the confidence we have before Him: Whenever we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.
Proverbs 1:10-19 (HCSB)
10 My son, if sinners entice you, don’t be persuaded.
11 If they say—“Come with us! Let’s set an ambush and kill someone. Let’s attack some innocent person just for fun!
12 Let’s swallow them alive, like Sheol, still healthy as they go down to the Pit.
13 We’ll find all kinds of valuable property and fill our houses with plunder.
14 Throw in your lot with us, and we’ll all share our money”—
15 my son, don’t travel that road with them or set foot on their path,
16 because their feet run toward trouble and they hurry to commit murder.
17 It is foolish to spread a net where any bird can see it,
18 but they set an ambush to kill themselves; they attack their own lives.
19 Such are the paths of all who make profit dishonestly; it takes the lives of those who receive it.
1Ti 6:9 — But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.
Self-defeating Words
3 You ask and don’t receive because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your evil desires.
Proverbs 15:28-29 (HCSB)
28 The mind of the righteous person thinks before answering, but the mouth of the wicked blurts out evil things.
29 The LORD is far from the wicked, but He hears the prayer of the righteous.
James 1:9-10 (KJV)
9 Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted:
10 But the rich, in that he is made low: because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away.
Psalm 73:2-10 (HCSB)
2 But as for me, my feet almost slipped; my steps nearly went astray.
3 For I envied the arrogant; I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
4 They have an easy time until they die, and their bodies are well fed.
5 They are not in trouble like others; they are not afflicted like most people.
6 Therefore, pride is their necklace, and violence covers them like a garment.
7 Their eyes bulge out from fatness; the imaginations of their hearts run wild.
8 They mock, and they speak maliciously; they arrogantly threaten oppression.
9 They set their mouths against heaven, and their tongues strut across the earth.
10 Therefore His people turn to them and drink in their overflowing words.
Psalm 53:1,4-5 (HCSB)
1 The fool says in his heart, “God does not exist.” They are corrupt, and they do vile deeds. There is no one who does good.
4 Will evildoers never understand? They consume My people as they consume bread; they do not call on God.
5 Then they will be filled with terror— terror like no other— because God will scatter the bones of those who besiege you. You will put them to shame, for God has rejected them.
Galatians 5:16 I say then, walk by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.
Romans 8:5-9 (HCSB)
5 For those who live according to the flesh think about the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, about the things of the Spirit.
6 For the mind-set of the flesh is death, but the mind-set of the Spirit is life and peace.
7 For the mind-set of the flesh is hostile to God because it does not submit itself to God’s law, for it is unable to do so.
8 Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
9 You, however, are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God lives in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him.
