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Text: James 4; Joshua 23 Review: ● I think the reason that I so enjoy to the teachings in James is that they are so appealing; they depict such an attractive way of life… it’s how I want to live. Simultaneously, we find it so appealing, yet so conflicting: - we want to be able to find joy in the midst of challenging life-circumstances, but frankly, it’s the last place we would think of looking! - we want to believe that the real blessing in life is developing a faith in God which is up to any challenge, but we want to be rewarded for our “good behavior” (we feel that we don’t really ‘deserve’ the bad stuff!) - we want to believe, yet life offers us so many opportunities for doubt. - we want to overcome temptation, but when we’re less successful, we still look for someone to blame… even if that someone is God! - we want to be “quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to get angry”, but people keep doing stupid stuff and we want to make sure they know that we know! - we want our conversation to be only encouraging and building up, but “please, did you see what they were wearing?!” ● It’s so appealing because it’s the life we were meant to live, but it’s so hard to realize! And, the world offers little or no help in realizing this kind of life! In fact, the world thrives on “conflict” (i.e. reality TV, hosts with diametrically opposed views, etc.) Compromise… The occasional/temporary departure from our convictions. Reflections… ►The world makes it increasingly difficult to say ‘no’ to our desires! Breaking old allegiances (loyalties) is extremely difficult because of “momentum”. * The habitual activity of our lives (habits) determines the momentum of our lives (movement either toward or away from God). * Habitual doesn’t even mean that you do it every day, but that you recognize a pattern or responses or predictable behavior given certain circumstances. Those habits we have developed have been the result of lifetime of “informing” and “forming”, from a variety of sources (i.e. life-experiences, your interpretation of your life-experiences, culture, family influence, etc.) ►Whatever captures your attention will eventually capture your heart! We are such visual people; prone to visual stimulation. It’s somewhat of a process… we find it appealing, we curiously pursue it, and it captures our affections (loyalty). Matthew 6:22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. If you eyes are good…” The eyes are spoken of as letting things into and keeping things out of your heart; they help provide direction. ►God never seems interested in competing for our affections. I finally realized that God is not interested in developing some type of “codependent” relationship with me. Codependent people have a greater tendency to get involved in relationships with people who are unreliable and needy. And the codependent person tries control everything within the relationship without realizing that they are attempting to fulfill some need of their own through the relationship. * Instead, he just makes himself vulnerably available; “puts it all out there”, so to speak. He’s always portrayed as the heart-broken lover; the one left holding the marriage license. It appears that love’s only choice is to let you choose; to let you go; to give you the desire of your heart, even if that desire is not for God. ►Friendship is not just about who you choose to be with, but who you are becoming! * There appears to be a progression of compromise which leads to controlling behaviors. In order to better understand the process, I would like to take you back to Joshua 23. - Fatigue (vs.6) “be very strong” (courage) We just get tired; the constant struggle depletes us. Whatever successes we do enjoy seem only temporary reprieves and there’s always the underlying fear that we will always be this way; that we will never conquer this. Know that there will always be areas of our lives which need to be addressed and re-addressed. * Realize that your frustration over your lack of progress is actually a sign of progress! That somehow the distance between God’s desire and your desires is actually closing! - Carelessness (vs.6) “be careful to obey” When our energy is depleted, we get careless; we are prone to look for “instant stimulation”. Our priority becomes “feeling better”… “feeling anything at all”. We get sloppy in our commitment to the daily disciplines which create momentum. Suddenly, we have lost control under the guise of “self-control”. If we are not careful, it’s in this condition that obedience becomes negotiable. - Deviation (vs.6) “without turning aside” Not a turning “away”, but a turning “aside”. Have you ever missed your exit or a street because you were temporarily distracted? Unfaithfulness starts with innocent flirtation; casual exploration of the possibilities. It’s having something ‘catch our attention’; which, in turn, engages our ‘imagination’ (thoughts); we consider the possibilities and choose to act; the “act” demands greater levels of stimulation (habit)… momentum! No one plunges into flagrant disobedience. No one just “wakes up” one morning and decides to forfeit their soul! Show me a person that you would describe as having “turned away” from God and I’ll show you someone who began making seemingly harmless little compromises in their private lives. - Tolerance (vs.7,12) “association” and “ally yourselves” In all of our lives, there are certain relationships or associations which cause us to compromise our values and lose our distinctiveness. Granted, there are certain influences that are unavoidable, but it’s the ones that we make room for which pollute our hearts. We enter them often with rather “noble” and “admirable” intentions… that it will be our companionship that will rescue them! They become “snares” and “traps” (vs.13) Our mistake? We rather naively underestimate the power of evil and overestimate our own stability. 1 Corinthians 15:33 “Do not be misled: Bad company corrupts (ruined when mixed) good character (life-sustaining practices; habits).” - Adaptation (conformity)
We rather unsuspectingly and
gradually adopt the philosophies of our culture as our own. Exposure has
de-sensitized us to evil and instead of identifying WITH the culture, we are
IDENTIFIED BY the culture. |
