Day By Day - James 4

By David Passmore

Personal Thoughts:
I am so grateful that Christianity is such a straight forward and practical way of life. I’ve always had trouble passing written exams but very few problems with the practical side of trades.
Here again James gives us the easy to understand way of life that he has been giving since Chapter One.

Three Main Ideas:
Point 1:
Here in verses 1-2 James shows us the differences between Godly wisdom and worldly wisdom. Since leaving the army and becoming a Christian I have come to question the reasons for war. I saw in my imagination a young enemy soldier pointing his rifle at his young enemy; and I saw the mothers of these young men in their homes with fear on their faces, fear that their young ones may be killed. At that point, I began to question the reasons for war and my conclusion was that mankind is never content with what he has or needs. We will, if we do not have Jesus in the centre of our lives, always covet and lust after what others have.

James’ language expresses accurately what I am trying to say, wars against others or against ourselves cannot be defeated or controlled outside of Him.

Aggressive behaviour is usually brought about by, insecurity, revenge, pride and lust. All of which lead to conflict, but if we humble ourselves under the loving hand of Him who died for us, then all the above will lose their hold on us.

Point 2:
In my Bible verses 8-10 are headed “Patient and Persevering”, the first being a problem for me more often than I like. If we set ourselves to be submissive and stay close and obedient to
Him then we will overcome these shortcomings. It is so easy to see faults in another and to grumble about them, but I know from personal experience that the Holy Spirit becomes grieved when we do so. Jesus said that the way we judge is the way in which we will be judged.

I used to work at a Salvation Army Youth Training Centre for eighteen to twenty one year old offenders. It was from their attitudes to court proceedings that I learnt what it meant to swear an oath, and James’ reminder in verse 12 is a timely reminder.

I feel that verse 4 opens an area of study that in itself requires in depth study. Just a quick recall of how Jesus handled Satan in the wilderness in Matthew 4:1-11. Jesus quoted scripture to him. Yes, Satan came back at Him twice more but Jesus quoted scripture on both occasions which is
our first weapons to use.

 The Sword is, Psalm 100:1-4 ....shouting joyfully to and for the Lord, entering His gates with thanksgiving and into His courts with praise.  Satan hates us offering thanksgiving and, oh boy he and his demons scatter when we enter into praise.

Psalm 149:1-9 .... sing, rejoice, be joyful, dance, sing to Him in your bed. I have a wonderful time with Him at night, then we see the results of these in verses James 4: 7-9.

Then in the New Testament we have:

• John 14:12  ...here we have open slather to slam into Satan
• Luke 10:19-20 ...trample on him 
• Rev. 12:11 ...remind him of how the blood on the Lamb of God put paid to him. Remind him that he is a defeated foe and what his final destination is.

 I had better stop here or I will go on for pages, but the Word is full of how we WILL defeat him.

Point 3:
James reminds us in verses 13-16 that we must be totally dependent upon Him in every aspect of our lives. While working at the youth training centre one day, I was confronted with having to put a violent offender into his room . When we got into the changeroom he said, "Now, I’ve got you."  He ran at me with closed fists. I said, “Oh, God.” When the lad was about a metre away from me he was suddenly flung backwards about three metres. I suddenly realized Who had intervened for me. The Lord had saved me from possibly a severe injury; we really do have much to learn as to what it means to be completely dependent upon Him IN ALL THINGS.

Final Thoughts:
Finally, James points out a problem most of us have in verse 13. It is only lately that I have started asking the Lord what it is that He has for me to do each day. I have just received an email from a friend that I joined up with in 1952. He was a Christian then and I’ve sometimes wished that he had told us, but then again it was not my time.

We have learnt over the years that He is interested in all we are planning and thinking, although He already knows He still wants us to tell Him what we are thinking or planning.