BellaOnline Forums Family Christian Living Bible Study -- James Chapter 4

Lets continue to chapter 4.
My favorite phrases from this chapter are:
Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
and
Come near to God and He will come near to you.

I'll do some study and post more in a couple of days.
What do you learn in this chapter?

It looks as though James is really mad in this part of his letter. Instead of calling his readers "my brothers" he says "you adulterous people."

The Jews (to whom James was writing) were at war with the Romans and feuding among different groups of themselves. James is saying that this fighting is coming from lust and covetousness. Christians have their "legitmate" needs met by asking God. When they asked God, they asked with the wrong motives, for their own persoanl gain.

I think 'being friends with the world' means putting personal desires first. Putting worldly values before God values.

Verse 5 is a bit confusing. I've read both that the spirit (small s) in us is filled with fierce desires and that the Spirit (Holy) in us is jealous of us.

I'm going to go with - we have a strong tendancy to lust for things of the world. but (vs 6) the grace God gives us is even stronger.

Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Come near to God and He will come near to you.

vs 9 & 10 When we recognize the fact that we are living so far from God's will, we hit bottom and then recognize the need before we can honestly ask for God's forgivness and receive cleansing. When we become humble, God lifts us up.

vs 11 & 12 reminds me of Matthew 14:4 "Who are you to judge someone else's servant? To his own Master he stands or falls."

We often get caught up in making ambitious plans without consulting God. These are selfish and sef-centered plans. James reminds his readers to be God centered.
Another favorite verse <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> 4:14b "What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes."
This gives me some perspective as to my life here on earth as opposed to eternal life.

vs 17 - James tells his readers that now they have been warned and know what they should be doing. So if they don't do it, they are sinning.

I think being "friends with the world" means befriending anything that separates us from God (or leads us to buy into the idea that we are separated from God in the first place).

To call the Holy Spirit "jealous"--isn't that making God in the image of man instead of the other way around? <img src="/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

Just some thoughts... <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

"To call the Holy Spirit "jealous"--isn't that making God in the image of man instead of the other way around?"
There are places in the Bible that call God jealous - meaning simply that He doesn't want us worshiping anything else.
However, as I said in my post, I don't think that applies here.

In this thread, lets stick to the study of James chapter 4. I don't want to go off on any tangents <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

James 4 is my favorite part of James. He's very specific in this chapter. I mean, he's specific throughout, but here even more so. Like in verse 3, "When you ask, you do not recieve because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures."

How many times have we asked God to do something and when it doesn;t happen the way we want it to, we blame God? Maybe it's because of the way we asked... selfishly without thought to another, or just like a spoiled kid who justifies why he should have whatever he wants; blackmailing with the threat of a temper tantrum. How many times do we test God to "prove" himself. And when He doesn't deliver the way we say He should, we take back our faith saying, "I tried to be a Christian, but look at what happened... it's not worth it..."

"Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God" verse 4 (the last part). Like when Paul says "You cannot serve two masters..." Same thing. Someone once said to me that the hardest part of being a Christian for him was to have to live in this world. He would say that his salvation was in his heart but he had to get along with other people who weren't saved because he had to live here (on earth). Basically, he was saying that he was keeping his Christian side secret because he feared the taunting by his friends. I go back to James 4:4..."Anyone who CHOOSES to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God." Everyone Jesus called He called publically. If we are unwilling to proclaim Him before men, He will not claim us before God. Respect for one another as children of God and followers of Christ is not tolerance for sin and wrong living.