James 4:6 But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.
Oh my Friends, I don’t know why, but it seems the Lord wants us to consider pride and humility again today, for after much searching and checking, this is where I was eventually led. Yesterday we looked at Augur’s words about foolishly exalting ourselves and devising evil within our hearts, also the appropriate way to counter that negative action, which is first to stop doing it. Now today, in Chap.4, talking about worldliness and pride, James condemns our inherently sinful nature that creates strife amongst us, which stems from our unsatisfied, selfish desires. ‘From whence comes wars and fightings amongst you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members.’ (James 4:1) He then questions that ‘the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. Do you think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy?’ (vs.4-5) That’s all the living truth my Friends, for the ways of the world are directly opposed to those of God, and all who bow to the world are indeed enemies of the Most High. It’s also true that our spirit naturally leans to envy and jealousy. ‘And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.’ (Gen.6:5) Oh my Friends, that grieved God so much that He decided to destroy everything He’d so proudly made. What a waste eh! We all know that feeling of deep disappointment in creating, whether it be children, animals or inanimate objects with high hopes for their activity and actions that sadly never pan out. That’s how our Creator felt way back then. But luckily, ‘Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.’ (Gen.6:8)And we all know about the Ark and the flood and the severe destruction the Lord wrought. Unfortunately though, in our second incarnation, mankind became even more wicked and sinful. That’s why James could make those statements about out lustful nature. But God always has our best interest at heart. When one door closes, another opens. And so, though we are vain, prideful, envious, jealous, spiteful and ‘gravalicious,’ the Lord in His merciful wisdom has provided a way out for us. ‘But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.’ That refers to Sol’s wisdom: ‘Surely he scorneth the scorners: but he giveth grace unto the lowly.’ (Prov. 3:34) Yes my people, the Lord dislikes the proud, the arrogant and the know it all, because they believe they have no need for Him. But how foolish is it to think that we have no need for our Creator, when He’s still the One who provides for and looks after us? I’d say very foolish. However, our God is always willing, in fact, overjoyed and ecstatic when we reject the world and turn to Him. And James gives us the prescription for accomplishing that wise and most worthwhile venture. ‘Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.’ (vs.9) It’s true. I’ve noticed it, and I’m sure many of you have too. The more you say no to the enemy, the less he harasses you. It doesn’t mean he’ll go away and not bother you, but when he realizes he’s not making any headway with you, he backs off, and instead of constant bombardment, chooses his situations more carefully, puts on his sly, fox like veil. So ‘Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you.’ (vs.8) Another statement of fact my brethren. When the Lord sees your desire to get close to Him… Oh my people, His heart just bubbles with joy and he rushes out to meet you! (See 2 Chron.15:2) But first we need to ‘Cleanse your hands, ye sinners.’ (vs.8) Isaiah says: ‘Wash you and make you clean: put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil.’ (Isa.1:16) Then, ‘purify your hearts ye doubleminded.’ (vs.8) Peter puts it thus: ‘Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned LOVE of the brethren, see that ye LOVE one another with a pure heart.’ (1 Pet.1:22) The important word there my Friends, is ‘unfeigned,’ meaning real and true, not false and hypocritical. ‘Be afflicted and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning; and your joy to heaviness.’ (vs.9) When times are sad; lament, weep, grieve, cry. It’s a normal response to misfortune, for tears and sadness cleanse the soul. Jesus said in the Beatitudes: ‘Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.’ (Mat.5:4) And finally my people; ‘Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.’ (vs.10) Oh Friends, that’s gospel! And it doesn’t mean grovelling or being a ‘poor me one,’ but not constantly blowing your own horn, especially if you can’t blow properly; generally having a down to earth attitude and preferring others to yourself; walking like Jesus did, who though He was God, didn’t give Himself a setta airs and graces. If we deserve to be exalted, then the Lord will do it in His time. Job says; ‘When men are cast down, then thou shalt say, There is lifting up; and he shall save the humble person.’ (Job 22:29) My Friends, the saying pride goes before a fall is so true, and sometimes it takes that fall to smarten us up. The smart ones will learn from it, but the smarter ones will learn from seeing it happen to others. Please, let’s be numbered amongst the smarter ones. Much LOVE!…oh, how have the mighty fallen…mostly through foolish pride…
Oh my Friends, I don’t know why, but it seems the Lord wants us to consider pride and humility again today, for after much searching and checking, this is where I was eventually led. Yesterday we looked at Augur’s words about foolishly exalting ourselves and devising evil within our hearts, also the appropriate way to counter that negative action, which is first to stop doing it. Now today, in Chap.4, talking about worldliness and pride, James condemns our inherently sinful nature that creates strife amongst us, which stems from our unsatisfied, selfish desires. ‘From whence comes wars and fightings amongst you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members.’ (James 4:1) He then questions that ‘the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. Do you think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy?’ (vs.4-5) That’s all the living truth my Friends, for the ways of the world are directly opposed to those of God, and all who bow to the world are indeed enemies of the Most High. It’s also true that our spirit naturally leans to envy and jealousy. ‘And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.’ (Gen.6:5) Oh my Friends, that grieved God so much that He decided to destroy everything He’d so proudly made. What a waste eh! We all know that feeling of deep disappointment in creating, whether it be children, animals or inanimate objects with high hopes for their activity and actions that sadly never pan out. That’s how our Creator felt way back then. But luckily, ‘Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.’ (Gen.6:8)And we all know about the Ark and the flood and the severe destruction the Lord wrought. Unfortunately though, in our second incarnation, mankind became even more wicked and sinful. That’s why James could make those statements about out lustful nature. But God always has our best interest at heart. When one door closes, another opens. And so, though we are vain, prideful, envious, jealous, spiteful and ‘gravalicious,’ the Lord in His merciful wisdom has provided a way out for us. ‘But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.’ That refers to Sol’s wisdom: ‘Surely he scorneth the scorners: but he giveth grace unto the lowly.’ (Prov. 3:34) Yes my people, the Lord dislikes the proud, the arrogant and the know it all, because they believe they have no need for Him. But how foolish is it to think that we have no need for our Creator, when He’s still the One who provides for and looks after us? I’d say very foolish. However, our God is always willing, in fact, overjoyed and ecstatic when we reject the world and turn to Him. And James gives us the prescription for accomplishing that wise and most worthwhile venture. ‘Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.’ (vs.9) It’s true. I’ve noticed it, and I’m sure many of you have too. The more you say no to the enemy, the less he harasses you. It doesn’t mean he’ll go away and not bother you, but when he realizes he’s not making any headway with you, he backs off, and instead of constant bombardment, chooses his situations more carefully, puts on his sly, fox like veil. So ‘Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you.’ (vs.8) Another statement of fact my brethren. When the Lord sees your desire to get close to Him… Oh my people, His heart just bubbles with joy and he rushes out to meet you! (See 2 Chron.15:2) But first we need to ‘Cleanse your hands, ye sinners.’ (vs.8) Isaiah says: ‘Wash you and make you clean: put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil.’ (Isa.1:16) Then, ‘purify your hearts ye doubleminded.’ (vs.8) Peter puts it thus: ‘Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned LOVE of the brethren, see that ye LOVE one another with a pure heart.’ (1 Pet.1:22) The important word there my Friends, is ‘unfeigned,’ meaning real and true, not false and hypocritical. ‘Be afflicted and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning; and your joy to heaviness.’ (vs.9) When times are sad; lament, weep, grieve, cry. It’s a normal response to misfortune, for tears and sadness cleanse the soul. Jesus said in the Beatitudes: ‘Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.’ (Mat.5:4) And finally my people; ‘Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.’ (vs.10) Oh Friends, that’s gospel! And it doesn’t mean grovelling or being a ‘poor me one,’ but not constantly blowing your own horn, especially if you can’t blow properly; generally having a down to earth attitude and preferring others to yourself; walking like Jesus did, who though He was God, didn’t give Himself a setta airs and graces. If we deserve to be exalted, then the Lord will do it in His time. Job says; ‘When men are cast down, then thou shalt say, There is lifting up; and he shall save the humble person.’ (Job 22:29) My Friends, the saying pride goes before a fall is so true, and sometimes it takes that fall to smarten us up. The smart ones will learn from it, but the smarter ones will learn from seeing it happen to others. Please, let’s be numbered amongst the smarter ones. Much LOVE!…oh, how have the mighty fallen…mostly through foolish pride…
SCRIP-BITS 