james in 5 – lesson 5 – who is #1?

Wednesday 628 in The Attic – February 10, 2021

Read James 4:1-10.  Read it again.

Now think of the top 5 things in your life.  Make a list.

Is God on that list? James is asking us in this passage what is most important: our happiness or God?

James 4:1-3 – We have made life about us.  That is why we have issues – its all about us.  Self focused.  We fight, argue, steal, cheat, do whatever it take to get what we want.

When you pray, do you pray for what you want or for God’s Will to be done?

James 4:4-7 – Why is it bad for life to be all about me? James explains this with an example of adultery.

What is adultery? Cheating on your spouse, right?? Breaking the promise that one makes with God and their spouse to only love their spouse with this special kind of love.  Not loving anyone else the way you love them.

James is saying this is like cheating on God when we decide to be bigger friends with the world and what the world says, than with God and obeying what He says. Look at it like this: if your friends that do not know Jesus think certain things are most important, and you start to agree with them, then you need to step back and re-evaluate things in your life.  The most important things in life are NOT:

• stuff
• being most popular
• money

…….these are not bad things, but they can’t be most important.  If they are more important than God then they are…..

IDOLS!

And this is what the devil wants you to do, by the way.  So, Resist the devil, pull nearer to God.

⁷ Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. ⁸ Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.

Our God is a jealous God – Jealous for us to love Him more than the world!!

James 4:8-10 – Make an intentional effort to connect with God.  He will be there.  He always is.

When we decide to be a Christ follower, we must change the way we think and how we do things.  We cannot follow Christ and still love the world more.  Romans 12:2 – transform your minds.  Reading Scritpure and spending time with Jesus will help us to make this transformation.  When we love God more than the world, then we desire to make these changes.  Things, while many are good, become less important.  God is most important. V9 – mourning and sadness –

God wants us to have a joyful life, but our JOY should come from Him.  Not things of this world.

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The mourning and sadness James is talking about here in v9 is conviction.  When we get right with God, we are convicted and we should be.  This is realizing that we are not who we should be.  Admitting our sin is painful and it should make us sad.  But God’s Grace is so amazing and we are forgiven because of Jesus, so repent and turn away from that sin, that old life, and rejoice in the new creation that you are in Christ!!!!!

v10 – Be humble.  Humbleness is of the heart.  That is heart change, not only head change.

Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you.

v10, ESV

Before you go to meet Jesus in prayer, ask Him to make your heart clean.  Search your heart.  Make you clean.  We should not and cannot truly spend time with Him when we have hard, cold feelings on our heart.  Ask Him to reveal what you need to be “cleansed” of so He can help you.

depend on God

• Start each day in prayer.  Ask God to guide your day.  Ask God to help you with the decisions you will make today.
• Speak your sin to Him.  Saying it out loud/speaking it to Him, well it is tough, and it keeps us humble. Name your sins to Him.  I assure you that you will not be proud if your heart is where it needs to be.
• Put God first in your lives.  Before EVERYTHING else.  Make Him #1.  It is your choice.

who is your #1? 

Want to dig a little deeper?  Look over these questions and think on them – these are  from small group discussions last night:

4:1-3 – Why do we have problems in our lives?

James 4:4-7 – What is the big deal? What is adultery? 

James 4:8-10 – How should our hearts be the next time you go to Jesus?  

What do you need to do to set your heart straight??? 

Why is it important to go to God with a clean heart? 

What stood out to you from tonight’s talk? Was there anything you didn’t understand?

What is wrong with life being all about us?

1. Read James 4:13-15.
   1. How do these verses connect with what we just talked about?
   2. What is James trying to get us to understand?
   3. How can we do this in real life?

Hey, if there is any part of what you have just read that you just cannot digest, please let me know.  I want to help you to understand.  Let’s chat! Comment or message me and let’s chat about it.  Always here for you!!!