James 4:1-3 -- Do you know where your fights and arguments come from? They come from the selfish desires that war within you. You want things, but you do not have them. So you are ready to kill and are jealous of other people, but you still cannot get what you want. So you argue and fight. You do not get what you want, because you do not ask God. Or when you ask, you do not receive because the reason you ask is wrong. You want things so you can use them for your own pleasures.
We actually cover James 3:18 through James 4:12, but these verses jumped out.
Would we actually like to have more peace - every day of our life - if we could? No one asks for more chaos.
The way to get peace on the outside is to have peace on the inside. Jesus gave His disciples one gift before He was crucified. He gave them Peace.
How do I get Peace? I have to give up my desires to get God's best.
Like last night's sermon, this is all about who's in control. Often our prayers boil down to, "Please God please me." Peace inside comes when we move from that to, "Your Will be done."
I have to give up my control to get God's Grace. We need to wait on God. Going around God to get what you want is cheating on God.
When we battle with God over control of our life we lose. I need to give up my climbing to get God's lift. But sometimes it's only when we exhaust ourselves that we are able to let go and let God.
When we snuggle up to God those around us want to snuggle up too.
I need to give up my judgment to get God's Peace. Judgment is a very short road that gets traveled at a very high speed and always end in a wreck. When we judge, we set ourselves up to be judged. Judgment is like a boomerang. It will hit us in the face.
No comments:
Post a Comment