LIVING A NEW LIFE IN CHRIST-34 (James 4:4)

WE CAN LOVE GOD OR LOVE THE WORLD, BUT WE CANNOT LOVE BOTH

BIBLE PASSAGE:
You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with
the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who
chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.
(James 4:4)

MEDITATION:
If you ask them, most people will say they believe in God.
However, Satan has confused and blinded many from the
connectivity between belief and faith. A head knowledge
of facts does not translate into a heartfelt relationship with
our Heavenly Father.

In addition, Satan’s has a desire to prevent people from
developing a fellowship with their Creator. His efforts
include creating as many distractions as possible, and
sadly, he has fooled many into believing they have been
redeemed, when in fact, they have not been redeemed.

James uses the words “adulterous people” for good reasons.
He wants people to realize that if they claim to be ‘married’
to God, but are having an affair with the world, it is
    ‘spiritual adultery’.
When he used the word ‘world’, he was referring to anything
which damages the development of a close fellowship with 
our Heavenly Father.

In 1 John, we are told that
if we love the things of the world, we cannot love God.
    Do not love the world or anything in the world.
    If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is
    not in them.
    (1 John 2:15)

In John 17, Jesus prayed that, even though we live in the world,
we would have God’s protection from being adversely influenced
by it. Jesus prayed that God would protect His people from
blending in with the world so that we accept its ethics and
values for living, and forsake God’s standards.
    My prayer is not that you take them out of the world
    but that you protect them from the evil one. They are
    not of the world, even as I am not of it.
    (John 17:15-16)
He was not promoting a life of isolation; He was praying that
God would protect believers from allowing the things of the
world to have a controlling influence on their lives.

In Galatians,
Paul lists some indicators of worldly influence on people.
    The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality,
    impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft;
    hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition,
    dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies,
    and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those
    who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
    (Galatians 5:19-21)

James tells us that when just two of the ones in Paul’s list are
present (envy and selfish ambition), we should expect disorder
and all kinds of evil practices.
    For where you have envy and selfish ambition,
    there you find disorder and every evil practice.
    (James 3:16)

Later, James tell us that covetousness and selfishness
cause arguments, fights, and even murder.
    What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t
    they come from your desires that battle within you?
    You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet
    but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel
    and fight. You do not have because you do not ask
    God.
    (James 4:1-2)

When we listen to the news or watch documentaries about homicides,
we can see the results of uncontrolled selfish desires. As followers of
Jesus, we need to ask ourselves these questions:
    – Was Jesus a selfish person,
      or was He more concerned about others?

    – Did Jesus make sacrifices of His time
      by asking questions of others, and listening to their responses?

    – Why would Jesus spend time asking others about themselves? 

    – If I am a follower of Jesus,
      shouldn’t I follow His example of selflessness?

    – If I am not ‘mimicking’ Jesus, then what does that say about
      my commitment to follow Him and make His ways my ways?

    – Do I spend time asking others about themselves, or do my
      conversations revolve around myself, and the things in my life?

    – If I ask others about themselves, do I patiently listen to them, or
      do I ‘sort of listen’ while planning what I am going to say next?

    – Am I honestly and sincerely living out
      the examples of the One I am following?

ACTION:
Satan has been successful in fooling many people and, as a result,
they consider themselves good people because they do not commit
the obvious sins. However, the evil one has blinded them of the
fact that their friendliness with the world will affect their attitudes,
habits, words, thoughts and actions.

When the things of this world are in control, we will not love
God as we should. Does that mean we have become hypocrites?
    Hypocrite:
    Someone who puts on a false appearance of virtue,
    or religion; a person who acts in contradiction to
    his or her stated beliefs or feelings.

When we are not living a life of ‘full blown sin’ we reject
the idea of being ‘tagged’ as a ‘hypocrite’. Of course God
is the ultimate judge, but when we look at the definition
of a hypocrite, it should cause us to have concerns about
our relationship with the Lord.

Look at the things Jesus had to say about ‘hypocrites’:
    “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you
      hypocrites! You shut the door of the kingdom of
      heaven in people’s faces. You yourselves do not
      enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to.”
      (Matthew 23:13)

    “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you
      hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish,
      but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.”
      (Matthew 23:25)

    “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you
      hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which
      look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are
      full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean.”
      (Matthew 23:27)

Visualize for a moment the love a parent has for a newborn
child. Imagine the dreams they have for their children to
enjoy the life before them. That’s the same love and desire
God has for everyone He has created.

Now, visualize the disappointment of a parent whenever a child
makes bad choices, and the burning desire of the parent to help
their child get things corrected. God loves you so deeply and
unconditionally, that even when He is disappointed with the
type of life you are living, He wants to do everything within
His power to help you live the kind of life Jesus lived.

The choice is ours (and it is one that determines eternity for us):
    We can love the world, or we can love God, but the scriptures
    are clear – we cannot love both at the same time. Loving one
    means enmity (dislike) of the other. If we love God, we will be
    repulsed by the things of the world. If we love the world, we
    will dislike the commands of God, which cause us to feel guilty
    about the kind of life we are living.

In his cleverness, Satan can cause us to believe that if we ‘only’
do a ‘little’ of the things that displease God and disobey His
design for living a righteous life, then it’s not really that bad.
But God’s commands are not to be compromised. Anytime we
think, “I know what the scriptures say, but….”, we can be sure
that Satan is affecting our lives.

If we are justifying our actions, then we know we are ‘bending’
God’s commands in order to fulfill our selfish (and worldly)
desires and our actions.
    As an example, we are told to never call someone a ‘fool’.
    Why? Because we are accusing God of being a failure at
    creating someone. So, how does Satan try to influence our
    thinking? He creates thoughts in our minds like,
        “I may have called someone an idiot, airhead, etc.
          but I didn’t use the word fool”

        “I don’t usually call someone names, but looking
          at the things they have done, they deserve it!”

We may feel that the actions of someone are questionable,
but we should never identify them as particular type of
person (such as a fool, an idiot, etc.). When we do, we are
condemning God’s creation, and that’s a dangerous thing
to do (it is something that can affect our own eternal destiny).

Pray,
“Heavenly Father, help me to be aware of how Satan has
been misleading me and preventing my love for You to grow.
Take my eyes off the things of the world so that I will have
a greater appreciation and thankfulness for You, and how
You bless me in many ways. Remind me of how You want
me to live an abundant life without being polluted by the
things of this world. Thank You for the greatest blessing
of all when Your Son went to the cross so that I could
become a part of Your family.”

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