James 4:15 For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.
16 But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil.
17 Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.
Her we see that all things that we should be doing are in the will of God. We should not be planning some elaborate thing and leave God out of it. To boast in what we are doing is not good mainly because we do not know if we will see tomorrow so we should focus on today and be in the will of God in what we do. Verse 17 is one, as a Christian, we have heard more than once and that is to know to do good and not do it , is a sin. You know when you really think about this how many times have we failed to do good and thought nothing else about it? You know God’s word tells us to to be in a repentant mood daily and a lot times it could be for this very reason. So if you see in your daily routine of life an opportunity to good, do your best to follow God’s will in what you do.
James 4:13 Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain:
14 Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.
In 13 James is saying it is ok to be a wise business man but do not leave God out of the things you do and plan and also we should not put off to tomorrow what needs to be done today. As verse 14 goes on to say we do not know what tomorrow will hold. Even though we may live to be a hundred years our live is but a vapor compared to eternity. We feel when someone dies at young age, even a baby, they had a short life and in human terms they did, but again compared to eternity it is but a vapor no matter how long we live. These verses show how important it is that we have our heart and soul right with God each and every day because we are not promised tomorrow.
11 Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth the law: but if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge.
12 There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another?
James here says we should not talk bad about people in any way. A lot of time we will begin saying something about someone and not realize we are judging them by what we say. By doing this we are saying we are better than the law itself and think we are above the law, and setting our self up as judge and there is only one judge and that is God. There is only one that gave the law and He can save those that repent from their sin and He will destroy those that do not, but He, God, is the the only one that can. Remember when Jesus ask the people, when they brought woman accused of adultery before Him, he who is without sin cast the first stone, they all had to leave. They had judged her but Jesus showed them who are we to judge. We are no better than anyone else except for the saving grace Jesus Christ and that still does not put us above others for us to judge them.
1 John 1:8 “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”
James 4:7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.
9 Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.
10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.
Clearly we should know if we submit ourselves to God completely we should be able to resist the devil so that he leaves us alone. God will not over-rule our will. He gives us the power to choose. We must decide right, or wrong, for ourselves. The minute you emphatically say no to the devil and his temptations, he will go on to someone else and leave you alone. The closer we try to get to God the closer He will come to us and the way we draw closer is to cleanse our hearts and our minds and keep our hands from clean from all unrighteousness and be not torn between right and wrong. As a sinner we mourn over what we have done even to the point of weeping. The worldly laughter that we have will be turned to mourning in a heart of true repentance and our joy in repentance will be turned into heaviness. But that repentance brings a humble spirit in the sight of God and He will lift us back up and restore a new joy to hearts.
James 4:5 Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy?
6 But He giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.
The spirit being referenced her is not the Holy Spirit but the human spirit that dwells in each of us and we should know that the scripture tells us that lust to envy is not of God and is a sin. Then in the next verse we see that our only hope is the grace given by God. It states that God resists the proud, because pride is usually the culprit that cause people to envy or lust after things of this world. The Bible tells us to come humbly before the Lord and He will give us grace. This is what it takes to be able to be a servant and that is what God ask us to do, to be His servants. We are saved by the grace of God, and we have nothing to be proud about. Salvation for us is a free gift.
1 Peter 5:6 “Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:”
James 4:4 Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye 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.
When we here these two names called we first think of the human aspect of what this is saying but what James is referring this to is the way people are with their Christianity. Being spiritually unfaithful which is just as much a sin as as adultery between two people. You say how do we commit spiritual adultery? By being a friend to everything the world has to offer and still trying to be a Christian. We have to be careful how we allow things of the world to affect our lives. As the scripture says to be a friend of the world is to be an enemy of God. Adultery is one of the worst sins because it affects the body, By being a Christian having the Holy Spirit and living a life lead by the flesh you would be involving the Holy Spirit in sin and that cannot happen. So in essence you would not be a friend or child of God. Either live and walk by the flesh or the spirit, if you are in the flesh the flesh rules and you are not of God. I pray you will be a Bible believing and truth teaching church today and let God fill your heart with His love and mercy.
James 4:1 From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members?
2 Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not.
3 Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.
In this scripture James is talking about the the disunity in the church itself caused by the desires of the people of the church which cause internal conflict in the church. This discord that is sown in the the church is not what God intended. When we lust after things and go to any length to obtain it then we are not acting in the way a christian should act. It is not by our might that we are to have what God has for us but God intends for us to ask for what we need. When we go to God in prayer to ask him for what we need He will fulfill our needs but if we ask because it is something we want that is probably not good for us or someone else then we ask amiss and God will not fulfill that. The way this scripture started with trouble in the members is usually caused by people praying for personal things that are not beneficial to the body of Christ and when we ask amiss it cause this strife in the church. So we really need to concentrate on focusing on what the will of God is when we pray so we accomplish the will of God and not be consumed in our own lust.
James 3:13 Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom.14 But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth.
15 This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish.16 For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.17 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.18 And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.
Wisdom, the kind that comes only from God, is a gift from God. Those who have wisdom, and the Holy Spirit has given them knowledge of God’s Word, show the world by their actions and their speech, they are believers.This is just saying, your life and your speech will reveal to those around you, who you are in Christ. Each of us has his own special place with Christ. He has not called us to the same job as someone else. We should never look at someone else and be jealous, or want what they have. To want something someone else has, even if it is their relation with Christ, is coveting. God called each of us to do a job for Him that He could entrust us with. Bitterness and strife of all kinds come from the devil. All things that please the flesh are earthy, or of this earth. The spiritual things are not based on things of the earth. Lucifer was jealous and wanted to be God. You can see that this type of earthly wisdom and power is not spiritual. The natural man does not receive the things of God. Envy and strife are of the flesh. We must crucify the flesh to live with Christ. Envy causes many other sins. Christians are in this world, but we should not be controlled by earthly desires. Notice the word “but” in the verse above. It shows a direct contrast to the earthly man. This has jumped to those who are sold out to God. The wisdom from above comes to the believers. This wisdom is stored in a heart that is pure. Knowing of the security that is in Christ brings peace. When we are at peace with God and man, we are gentle. If we expect God to be merciful to us, we must be merciful to others. Christians should bear good fruit. You cannot be a Christian and a hypocrite at the same time. A true Christian is 100% the Lord’s. Righteousness flourishes in a climate of spiritual peace.
James 3:9 Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God.
10 Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be.
11 Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter?
12 Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? either a vine, figs? so can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh.
James explains that man is made in God’s image so to curse people and yet bless God is inconsistent. Though the fall of mankind has marred that image or likeness, James teaches that it still exists. It is an impossibility to love God and hate His creation. To say we are a Christian is not enough. We must become Christlike, to truly be a Christian. When He was persecuted, He blessed. If our heart is truly stayed upon God, there would be no evil proceed from our mouth. In our every speech we need to watch what we say because a lot of times we say things without realizing we are speaking either a blessing or a curse. A well does not produce both bitter and sweet water at the same time. The well spoken of here, is the heart of man. It is more than obvious in all this; a tongue that speaks evil comes from an impure heart. As salt water cannot make sweet water, so the person who curses others cannot bless God. The cursing of people truly indicates what lies within a person. Light and darkness cannot dwell in the same place; the darkness is overcome by the Light. We must decide whether we will follow God, or whether we will follow Lucifer. We cannot do both. The Light of God, within us, does away with all darkness. The Light represents the sweet water. Darkness and salt water go hand in hand.
James 3:6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell.
7 For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind:
8 But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.
Like fire, the tongue’s sinful words can spread destruction rapidly, or as its accompanying smoke, those words can permeate and ruin everything around it. In its course of nature the tongue’s evil can extend beyond the individual to affect everything in his sphere of influence.Hell conjures up not just the place but the satanic host that will someday inherit it – they use the tongue as a tool for evil. The tongue is a system of iniquity that sets on fire the whole course of life, and is even set on fire by Satan . When He has your tongue, He has you. Verse 6, above, is speaking of the tongue, before we turn it over to the Spirit of God. The taming has nothing to do with domesticating animals or training them to perform. The meaning is control or dominion. Mankind can control every lesser creature, but no one can control his own tongue. Only God, by His power, can tame the tongue. In the verse 8 we see that the tongue is the most difficult thing in the world to tame. In fact, man cannot tame the tongue. Only God can tame the tongue. The only way that any of us can speak pure words is with a heart, mouth, and tongue dedicated to God. Let Jesus wash your heart in the blood of the Lamb and speak pure words from a pure heart.
"For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one." I John 5:7
