How Do We Live at Peace With Others - Steve Henry

0 (0s): Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Would you stand as we worship the Lord this morning? Thank you, Jesus. For your presence. Thank you that we get to worship you this morning. We drown out any distraction. 0 (3m 33s): This morning. I have faith to believe that I am. He says I am. So this morning I prayed for you that you would have faith to believe that you are, you are his child's 4 (6m 8s): Strange. 4 (6m 18s): 5 (16m 41s): You're so good. She's the sweetest. I want to acknowledge and stand in the greatness that you have or that you are Jesus. You are so amazing. Lloyd. You're the only one that can set us free from our sin. You're the only one that can give us salvation. You're the only one who can bring us into right relationship with God. And that's the greatest gift that we could ever receive. Jesus, you're so good. 5 (17m 21s): God, we would be absolutely lost without you and Jesus. We have such amazing hope and faith because of the sacrifice that you made. We love you father through name in your name. We pray. Amen. All right, well welcome everybody. Welcome to harvest church. It's great to have you here. You can take your seat if you'd like, if you're new here, just want to welcome you. And just for your information, we have coffee and tea out on the patio, and we've also got water behind us here behind this stage wall and then bathrooms back there as well. 5 (18m 4s): Also, if you're here again, if you were here first service, you may have noticed that I'm wearing different pants, this service don't, don't tell second service people that I spilled coffee all over them and had to run home and change. Okay. I'll just be our secret. Don't tell everybody online too, who are watching right now? Yeah. So it's great to have you here. We've got a few things coming up that you should know about the first of which is the men's breakfast. That's coming up. It's this coming Saturday. We're gonna have breath, breakfast testimony, awesome time with, with, with the guys. So come out, it's going to be on the west campus. 5 (18m 45s): So please join us over there. It's going to be a great time. Also. We've got a family movie night happening on this, on this baby right here. It's going to be pretty sweet. So come check that out. We also have a pretty amazing sound system, arguably better than the theater. So, you know, I don't want to cast any shame on them, but it's, it's pretty sweet. So do you want to come for that? That's on the 29th and we've got a little show that we're going to show for the kids first, and then we're going to have a movie after. So if you've got kids that have bedtimes, you can come for that portion and then take them home and put them to bed. So six to nine. So we'd love to have you here for that. 5 (19m 26s): And then we've got an amazing beach baptism coming up. That's on August 7th, right? August seven. Yeah. So that's, I don't know if you made it to the last one, but we had like 200 people at the beach. A bunch of people got baptized, even somebody who is walking by decided to get baptized. So just incredible stuff it's that God is doing. And so we're really excited to get back out there and do that on August 7th. The last thing is that if you have a kid fifth grade and up, they're going to be released to their classes right now as well. So everybody get up and meet somebody that you've never met before. Say hi to somebody right now. 5 (20m 8s): Yeah. Yeah, let's do that. Okay, good. Thanks. 1 (20m 12s): today. 8 (22m 2s): Good morning, James chapter four verses one through 10 today. We'll get about halfway through James today, James chapter four, and then a rest of it next week. And we'll pick it up, but so many amazing things are happening around here. It's crazy. Crazy. Great. Hey, real quick, real quick. Just in case you didn't know, the men's breakfast is eight o'clock at the loft. So Curtis told you the day and the place, but it's going to be at 8:00 AM and we'll be doing great food and testimony and song. It'd be really, really fun. So at the loft, how many know where the loft is at the other campus? Every or most of us know where the loft is. Cool. So that'll be happening then. So show up and if you want to help just get there early, get there like seven 15, if you want to help, if you want to help more than that, get there at seven o'clock. 8 (22m 50s): You want to run things, get there. 6:00 AM just getting welcome. So I w this feels like springtime to me, there's so many amazing things happening. We've been harvesting all of this fruit off of our trees yesterday. In fact, we've got a Tangerine or a nectarine tree that is the limbs literally are so full with fruit, that the branch is just broke apart. And, and our peach tree, we got this yellow peach and this white peach tree, the yellow peach tree is so loaded down with fruit that we had to put lumber like two by six under to support the branches. There's so much fruit. I called my sister yesterday. I said, man, you got to get over here and gather some peaches. And so we've given so many peaches away and then I've got this dead spot in my lawn. 8 (23m 34s): So I don't know, a week or so ago, I put some seed down and put some nice dirt down, some nice fertilizer down. And I saw him in water and you got a water like two or three times a day in order for it to grow. And so yesterday I'm out there watering it and I'm like, man, nothing's growing here. And then I watered again, like four or five hours later. And all of this, all of these grass shoots if come up through the dirt. I mean, I bet if you like stopped and just watched it, you could see the grass come up. It was pretty amazing. So anyway, also the best news ever was that my daughter had a baby. Let's throw a little Theo up there. There we go. Theodore J why say never tell us what the baby's name is until the baby is born. 8 (24m 19s): And so we know that we've got little Theo, so it's theater J we're not sure if he's going to be Theo or TJ or Theodore. I don't know, but at the same day, so my daughter, she was doing the first gay birth, Wednesday, the 13th. And then my niece also had a boy that same day, within a few hours of each other. She actually said, my niece, Jenna, Jenna was early and my daughter was late. And so we've added two new boys to the clan. And so we're pretty stoked about that. So really good stuff. When he came out, Theo was like this big blown up, you know, his lips were all, you know, my, my daughter said he had Kardashian lips, you know, big old lips. 8 (24m 60s): And he came out and he was just, you know, he looked all black and blue, but within 24 hours, he looked like that beauty little guy there. So anyway, so we're so, so thankful. And, you know, I have the day off yesterday and my wife was gone running errands all day. And I was just at home. I went for a little walk and a little run, but I was just at home and all day, just really enjoying just the, just the peace at our home. And it was just so refreshing. And it reminded me, cause you know, we can jump online or watch the news and be pretty discouraged, right? Give me pretty discouraged by looking around and what's going on in the world. But I was reminded yesterday that God is so faithful. And if we can get our eyes on that reality and keep that truth in front of us, then we will be encouraged. 8 (25m 47s): We'll have greater peace in our hearts and God will be glorified in our lives. We've got to keep our eyes on him. Don't be fearful. Don't worry about tomorrow. Just keep your eyes on him, watch what God will do. Hey, I wanted to give you up to date on this. Many people have been asking about this worship center and they ask, do we own it? Are we leasing it? What are we doing? So we are in a five year lease with the option to renew on this space. We've talked to the owner, John Hayashi, and John said, Hey, I'd love to sell the place to you. So when the time's right, we'll have the opportunity to buy it. But for now we're in a lease. And just as a reminder for like 12 years, when we were next door, we leased for 12 years before we ended up purchasing that place. 8 (26m 33s): And so when the time's right, if it's the Lord's will, will own it. I mean, I love to own it. It's a beautiful space. We put a lot of money into it and, and so the Lord's will be done. So in the meantime, we're just grateful to be here and we'll see what the Lord does. So somebody people have been asking, do we still contribute to the financial expenses? And yeah. Yeah. There's still the expenses. Like we just had the back lot pages. You got to see the paving back there. So people are asking Shui still. Yeah. There's still bills to be paid. Yeah. So Apadaca where are the Apadaca here today? Did an amazing job on that parking lot. And anyway, so if you get a chance to see David and Mike and Margaret Apadaca, there's lots of Apodaca here, but tell them thank you. 8 (27m 17s): But they did a wonderful job. So anyway, there's lots of expenses still happening. And so if you'd still like to give we'll happily rejoice and take them, people have been asking, what are we doing? The chapel? The chapel is our old worship center. We were in there for 17 years. And so our plan is if we need it and going into the fall summertime, it's always a little sparse and a little, not so full, but in the fall, if it looks like we need to open that up for overflow, then we, we may do that. But in the meantime, we're using it for weddings and smaller Memorial services, prayer groups, midweek, Bible studies. There's a lot going on still in that, in that space. 8 (27m 58s): So anyway, that's just kind of the update. If you have any other questions, just let me know. And I'll try to address those. We can talk to myself or any of the staff or elders, and we'll try to answer those questions for you. So enough of that, let's jump into James chapter four with the, with the question, how do we live at peace with others? How do we live at peace with others with that question? And with that thought, let's pray, Lord, we just invite you to speak to us. We really want to live at peace with others. And we know that your word through your spirit, the revelation of your word and the power of your spirit, we can, we absolutely can live at peace with others and your word, Paul Paul wrote when, when possible live at peace with everyone. 8 (28m 42s): So Lord, we, we want that. We know that it's possible. And so I pray that you instruct us through your word and that God we'd be able to grab hold of stuff, grab, hold of revelation and truth from your word and be listening to the holy spirit as he is speaking to us and God that we would get ahold of a nugget of truth that would help us to live at peace with the people in our lives. Lord spouses, kids, family of neighbors, coworkers, Lord, we just want to be at peace. So Lord, show us how to walk that out. We pray in Jesus name. Amen. So how do we live at peace with others? Maybe a good way to answer that question is to ask this question. 8 (29m 23s): What is, what is causing a lack of peace in our relationship with others? I know that for me, when I met with, at a lack of peace, it's usually because I'm just being selfish. I want something that I'm not getting, right? If I'm honest, I'm uptight because I'm not what I think I should have. There's a lot of selfishness involved in this lack of peace that we experience in relationship with others. And so James, the half-brother of the Lord, Jesus Christ challenges us with revelation and truth. Remember, he's speaking to believers here. James is speaking to people who believe what we believe. 8 (30m 4s): They're followers of the Lord, Jesus Christ. They believe what we believe about the Lord. They have the holy spirit dwelling in them, and yet there's still stuff going on that needs to be addressed. And so James, he does what he does, man. He takes the bull by the horns and he just goes forward and he begins to speak truth to us speaking the truth in love so that we might not. So we might feel beat up, but so that we might align ourselves properly with God's plans and purposes for our lives. So the word of God has spoken for our, our, our edification that we might be built up in our most holy face. So we might understand who God has created us to be in the power that's available to us to live out the life that he's called us to live. 8 (30m 45s): So James four, James four one says, what is causing the quarrels and fights among you? That's the what's causing this. Like you speaking to the church, there's obviously some quarrelling and some fights what's causing it. He said, don't they come from the evil desires at war within you there's or there's something going on in the hearts of people that he's addressing in our hearts as well. There's something going on in our hearts that needs to be a duress. They come from the evil desires at war within you. What, what evil desires is James talking about while evil would indicate that the desires within us are not good. 8 (31m 27s): They're unhealthy, they're sin, they're sinful desires desires would indicate that it's something that we're hoping for longing for wanting to have, but we don't have it. So we've got these dark desires for things that we don't have. It it's a bad place to be. It's it's, it's an unhealthy place to be. It's a place that causes problems when we're in this place. We have problems when, within our relationships. So this could, you know, James could be speaking to those who are coveting, you know, covet don't there seems like there's a commandment about coveting. Like we shouldn't covet what others have. It's an unhealthy thing for us as the body of price. 8 (32m 10s): So mean cavity. We want something that belong to others in some way, position, status, influence possessions. We want something that others have, or we want someone's attention or someone's affection could be. I just want my way and I'm not getting it. You ever been there? I want my way and I'm not getting it. So there's tension in the relationship there's there's problems. There's there's, there's, there's, there's something that's unsettled in our souls that needs to be addressed quarrels and fights. They come from the evil desires at war, within you. That wars that's a strong word. 8 (32m 51s): We're familiar with war. There's a lot of war around us. And so we're familiar with the destruction that death, the problems surrounding this idea of war. And it, James is saying, there's this war happening within you? If you're not careful, if you're not careful to live and think the way that God has called us to live and think that we're going to have this battle forever within our lives. So Peter warns and we'll get to the verse here in just a moment. He said, keep away from worldly desires, that wage war against your very soul. So we have this battle with the world, the flesh and the devil. We, we have to be aware that this propensity for, for wanting our own way and for wanting our own will to rise up within us. 8 (33m 40s): So Peter would James keep, keep away from worldly desires, that wage war against your very soul. We'll see that full verse in just a moment. So the reality is that there can be no peace with others when we allow this type of evil desire to run roughshod in our lives. And so if we want peace in our relationship with, with others, but also with God, we've got to do some business here. We've got to pay attention to what the Lord would be speaking to us. So, number one, how do we live at peace with others? We need to learn to be content with what we have learned to be content with what you have. My wife reminded me of, of a story of a friend of ours who was having a really hard time with contentment. 8 (34m 20s): She struggled with contentment. And so she made this commitment. She said, I'm not going to go shop for clothes for a full year. Can you imagine, like I'm not picking up any articles of clothing for a full year. So she went the full year and she learned something about herself. I mean, so often we're running to get stuff, to meet a need within our lives. Like she had plenty of clothes, most likely and plenty of shoes. And I, if I were making that commitment, I'd go load up first, get some shoes I load up and then I've got, I'm good for the next year. Right? She just made the commitment, how I'm going to learn something about this area of contentment that I'm lacking in my life. 8 (35m 7s): And so she made this hard decision and she honored it. As far as I know, she went a full year without purchasing anything. How do we live at peace with others? We need to learn to be content with what we have with contentment comes peace with contentment comes joy. It's interesting that Paul talks about contentment, but he said, it's a learned behavior. Contentment is learned. It's a decision. Listen to the words of the apostle Paul in Philippians four, 10 through 14. He said, oh, I praise the Lord that you are concerned about me again. I know you've always been concerned for me, but you didn't have the chance to help me. 8 (35m 47s): Verse 11. I love what he writes here. Not that I was ever in need for. I've learned how to be content with whatever I have. Not that I was in need, Paul he's his life is on the line. He's under house arrest and he's not sure if he's going to live. He's not sure what tomorrow holds. And yet his perspective is I've got no needs. Paul said for me to live as Christ and to die is gain. So his perspective was, Hey, I'm living for God. And so whatever God wants to do with my life, I'm okay with that. And so he's like, I really don't have any needs. 8 (36m 30s): I'm fully met. All my needs are fully met under house arrest of his faith and uncertain whether he will live, live or die. This is Paul's perspective and attitude in verse 12, he says, I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty with plenty or little for, I can do everything through Christ who gives me strength even. So you have done well to share with me in my present difficulty. So there's difficulty, but disrespective as for me to live is Christ to die is gain. 8 (37m 11s): So whether I've got a full stomach or an empty stomach, I mean, sometimes we kind of get a little upset with the Lord when we're, we don't have enough to eat. I would get a little hand Curry, right? We get we're like, what is going on Lord? Cause we, but sometimes the Lord will take us through a season of drought for things that we might think we need so that he can teach us a greater truth. There's something that Paul understood about the Lord that he would be faithful. Listen to what Paul wrote to Timothy first Timothy six, six through eight, yet true godliness with contentment is great wealth. And then he says what we all know after all, we brought nothing with us when we came into the world and we can't take anything with us when we leave it. So if we have enough food and clothing, let us be content. 8 (37m 54s): He's saying with the very basics of your life, when those, when they're, when they're met, just be content with that, learn to trust the Lord with that. But it's a learned thing. We have to learn to be content. How do you learn to be contents? Well, we must decide to love the right stuff. If we're loving the things of the world, we'll never find that place of contentment. But when we're putting our hearts in the right place and loving the right stuff, we will be good. Hebrews 13 five says don't love money. Be satisfied with what you have for God has said, I will never fail you. 8 (38m 34s): I will never abandon you. We know from scripture, the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. So plenty of times, we've all been in circumstances where we've known somebody that passed away. And then there there's feuding over the inheritance. I mean, inevitably, unless it's like a supernatural experience that the family has, there's feuding over like microwaves and sofas and houses and people, people who otherwise really love and are committed to one another begin to battle over things. The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. It causes all kinds of problem within culture, within family, within society, James Fort continues. 8 (39m 16s): You want what you don't have. So you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have, but you can't get it. See a fight and wage war to take it away from them. You don't have what you want because you don't, you don't ask God for it. Even when you ask you, you don't get it because your motives are all wrong. You want only what will give you pleasure. So how do we live at peace with others? Number one, we need to learn to be content with what we have. Number two, we need to discover pleasure in eternal things. And that's a battle. We need to discover the pleasure of eternal things that the temporal pleasure that we find earthly things, whether it's possess whatever it is, they're there they're temporary at best. 8 (40m 7s): You get a new car and all that fun kind of begins to dissipate. When you got to wash that car, right? Get a new house. And it's great until you got to start making that new mortgage payment, right? It's like there's a cost to all of the things that we try to possess. There's blessing. When we find contentment and pleasure in eternal things, eternal things produce lasting pleasure and peace. I love CS Lewis. I quote him often. He says, if I see us Lewis said, if I find in myself a desire, which no experience in this world can satisfy the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world. 8 (40m 52s): He understood something about who he is and what he was created for. I temporarily we're here. Like we've got work to do, and God's gracious. And he includes us in his kingdom work, but this is not our home. We are passing through in a best, we'll get 80, 90, a hundred years. But we have to remember that we are just passing through. And Peter understood that. Dear friends, first, Peter two 11 and 12, dear friends. I warn you as temporary residents and foreigners, temporary residents and foreigners to keep away from worldly desires, that wage war against your very souls, be careful to live properly among your unbelieving neighbors. 8 (41m 38s): Then if they accuse you of doing wrong, they will see your honorable behavior. And they will give honor to God. When he judges the world. One more CS Lewis quote, CS Lewis in the weight of glory dated June 8th, 1942. He declared this. It would seem that our Lord finds our desires, not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures fooling about with drink and sex and ambition. When infinite joy is offered us like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in the slum, because he, he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at sea, where we're far too easily pleased. 8 (42m 30s): We are easily satisfied by the things of the world that fade and are temporary when God has eternal pleasures available to us that never fade they're eternal. They're called eternal because they stay with us for all eternity. Adrian Warnock wrote, he said the Westminster catechism asks, what is the chief and of man? And the answer is we most, most of us know to glorify God and to enjoy him forever. He goes on. If any man, pleases God, he does that. Which conduces or helps to bring about most to his own temporal and eternal welfare man cannot please God, without bringing to himself a great amount of happiness. 8 (43m 22s): You see, there's a connection when we're pleasing God, there's great. Joy, happiness, and peace within our own lives for if any man, pleases God, it is because God accepts him as his son. And we begin to think about eternal things. We're beginning to understand what eternal things we're talking about, where we've been accepted as God's eternal children. We are his sons and his daughters. God accepts him as his son gives him the blessings of adoption pours upon him. The, the bounties of his grace makes him a blessed man woman in this life and ensures him a crown of everlasting life, which he shall wear. 8 (44m 6s): And which shall shine with unfading luster. When the Reeves of Earth's glory have all been melted away. While on the other hand, he continues. If a man, if a man does not, please God, he is inevitably. He inevitably inevitably brings upon himself sorrow and suffering in this life. So we've got a choice. We can find pleasure in eternal things by really valuing what God has done for us. And that's hard sometimes because we think, man, he turned 80 so far off. He turned it. He's not that far off. Their eternity is not that far off. Some of you are much older than I am. So you can kind of get that better than others. But I mean much older than I am some, but then the younger, you know, it's just harder. 8 (44m 51s): You know, sixties, not as old seventies, not as old as it used to sound, right? It's just not 80. Sounds like it's not too far off from the desiring God website. I found a brief article. Title. Joy is not optional. It's essential. Joy is not optional. It's essential. And there's kind of a interesting title here. It's there begin to talk about Christian hedonism. Christian hedonism is the conviction that God's ultimate goal in the world, his glory and our deepest desire to be happy are one and the same because God is most glorified in us. When we are most satisfied in him. When we think about hedonism, we don't really get this perspective. 8 (45m 31s): As a side note, Christian hedonism does not condone the pursuit of worldly pleasure. Rather it encourages seeking God as the highest pleasure back to the article. Not only is God, the Supreme source of, and we need to hear this of not only is God, the Supreme source of satisfaction for the human soul, but God himself is glorified by our being satisfied in him. Therefore, our pursuit of joy in him as essential is just part of the Christian life. Christian hedonism claims that the Christian life should be the pursuit of maximum joy in God joy, both in quality and quantity, fullness of joy enjoy forever more are found only in him. 8 (46m 17s): Powerful self king. David, I think got it. King David wrote in the Psalms about this very thing. It's all of David Psalm 16 verses one through six key. He say, keep me safe. Oh God. So he knows that God is his protector. God is his place of safety for, I have come to you for refuge. That place of protection. I said to the Lord, you are my master. So David understood something about the person of God, where God would be as place of safety as protector, but also God would be his Lord. His leader is king. I said to you, I said to the Lord, you are my master. Everything. Every good thing I have comes from you. 8 (46m 58s): Every good thing I have comes from you. The godly people in the land are my true heroes. I take pleasure in them. Troubles, multiply for those who chase after other gods, I will not take part in their sacrifices of blood or even speak the names of their gods. Lord, you alone are my inheritance. My cup of blessing. You guard all that is mine. The land you have given me as pleasant is a pleasant land. What a wonderful inheritance. So David understood about taking in eternal things. He knew the gifts and the grace that God had extended to him. And that's where he found pleasure. 8 (47m 38s): He had things all around him that could have offered a temporary pleasure. We have things all around us that if we allow, we, you know, they'll offer a temporary pleasure, but they all leave us wanting an empty, but God, he brings us gifts, eternal things that we find pleasure. And that will always be a source of pleasure for us. Galatians five explains how we discover pleasure in eternal things. Galatians five 16 through 17 says, so I say, let the holy spirit guide your lives. We challenged people to do that all the time. We challenge ourselves to do that all the time to allow the holy spirit, to guide our lives. We encourage you to read the word, open it up every day and allow the spirit of God to speak to you, instruct and then invite the holy spirit to constantly come in and lead in every circumstance. 8 (48m 29s): In every scenario. And Paul saying the same thing, let the holy spirit guide your lives. Then if you do that, you won't be doing what your sinful nature craves. So if you're struggling with constantly doing what your sinful nature craves, you got to give the leadership of your life over to the holy spirit. Then you won't be doing what your sinful nature craves for 17. The simple nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the spirit wants. And the spirit gives us desires that are opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other. So you're not free to carry out your good intentions. 8 (49m 8s): So dropping down to verse 22, Galatians 5 22 and 26, a familiar passage, most of us to all of us, but the holy spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives. And we see love and joy and peace and patience and kindness. Goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, there's no law against these things. In verse 24, he says those who belong to Christ. Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. So in Christ, we've given ourselves to Jesus. We've confessed our sin. We've nailed those things to the cross taking up, but the grace of the Lord, Jesus Christ that has been imputed to us. 8 (49m 51s): And now we live as John three, three says we live a new life, a born again, experience in Christ, filled with his spirit. Since we're living by the spirit, let us follow the Spirit's leading in every part of our lives. Let's not become conceited or provoke one another, or be jealous of one another. So how do we live at peace with others? Number one, we need to learn to be content with what we have. Number two, we need to discover pleasure any eternal things. I just, for me, when I need to figure that out, I just open up the word and just allow the spirit of God does speak to me. I mean, there's no, there's no substitute for God's word. 8 (50m 38s): We absolutely need it to be speaking into our lives. Number three, much like the first point of last week's message. Number three, we must decide, are we living for God or the world? We got to decide who, who are we living for? When we figure that out, when we decide how I'm going to live for Jesus, it kind of clarifies a lot of things in our lives because a lot of times we're kind of wishy washy lukewarm on the fence about things. And so our world is pretty, pretty difficult to live because I remember when I was 17, I showed the story all the time. 17 I've given my life to Jesus, but not all the way like king Josiah, you know, he had the word of the Lord read to him and, and he humbled himself repented. 8 (51m 26s): He ripped his clothes because he heard in their head. We haven't been doing everything that the Lord has asked us to do. And I realized, man, I hadn't been doing everything the Lord asked me to do. And so I had to decide at 17, am I going to serve the world or the Lord? I got to decide I'm not helping in the church. I love the church, but I'm not happy there because I'm so involved in the world and I'm not happy in the world because I'm so involved in the church. And so I had to do something and by God's grace, he led me to choose him. And that's, what's been going on for the last few years of my life. And so I'm thankful. We must decide, are we living for God or the world? Again, this letter is written to the church. So there's bickering in the church among the believers to remind us James four, two through three says you want what you don't have. 8 (52m 12s): So you scheme and kill to get it. You're jealous of what others have, but you can't get it. So you fight and wage war to take it away from them. You don't have what you want because you don't ask God for it. And even when you ask you, don't get it because your motives are all wrong. You want will only give you pleasure. So James is challenging, very carnal behavior in the church, among the believers. He's challenging, very carnal behavior behavior. That is completely contrary to the way God's people are called to live in this world. There are worldly problems in the fellowship of believers because the believers are acting like, well, they're acting like unbelievers. 8 (52m 58s): And so when we're acting like unbelievers, we bring problems into our relationships. One to another. Why are the believers acting like unbelievers? Because they're torn between God and the world. And they got to decide, we got to decide. We got to make God, God in our lives or not. We got to decide that we, we got to decide, are we living for God? Or we live in for the world. A double-minded man is unstable in all of his ways. When a person is undecided there, their lives are reckless and unsettled. And, and, and, and, and in trouble, James, one, five through eight, if you need wisdom, ask if you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. 8 (53m 45s): He will not rebuke you for asking, but when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone, do not waiver for a person with divided. Loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea. That is blown and tossed by the wind. Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Their loyalty is divided between God and the world. And they are unstable in every thing they do. Do you know what? God calls people like this. He calls them adulterers right. And then right in the word here, James, four, four, you adulterers don't you realize that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God. 8 (54m 29s): I say, I say it again. If you want to be a friend of the world, you make yourself an enemy of God. Do you think the scriptures have no meaning? They say that God is passionate. That the spirit he has placed within us should be faithful to him. And he gives grace generously as a scripture, say, God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. So humble yourself before God resist the devil. And he will, he will flee from you. Come close to God and God will come close to you. Wash your hands. You sinners, purify your hearts for your loyalty is divided between God and the world. And he said, because this is true. 8 (55m 10s): Let there be tears for what you have done. Let there be sorrow and deep grief. Let there be sadness instead of laughter and gloom, instead of joy, humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. So again, Josiah, he hears the truth and he rips his garments and he's mourning because he's come face to face with the truth. With the reality of his condition, we've not been doing everything the Lord has asked us to do. And so he's broken, humble repenting for his sins of omission. There's sins of commission things we do that we shouldn't do. And their sins of omission things we don't do that we should do. 8 (55m 54s): Just, I understood that he was, he was missing something and he humbled himself and repented. How do we live with peace with others? We must, we need to learn to be content with what we have. We need to discover pleasure and eternal things. We must decide, are we living for God or the world? And so where are you at? Where's your heart? Are, are you all in? Are you just feeling unsettled in your soul? Because you're kind of lukewarm and not all the way in, not all the way out you liked church, but you like the world. You like God, but you also like everything. The world off of what, where's your heart. This is a challenge. It's an opportunity. 8 (56m 34s): God said in his word, if you will draw close to God, if you will come close to God, he will come close to you. So let me just inviting you to come close to God today, draw close to him, make your decision to follow him. Everything in your life will become so much better at your relationships. You'll you'll have peace with one another because you're not living in competition, anxious, you know, wanting what others have, but you're just going to be at peace with who God has made you to be. And with what God has given you, you'll be satisfied with the eternal pleasures that God has made available. That you're, you're adopted into his family. 8 (57m 14s): Your sins are forgiven. You, you become his child. He's given you eternal things to be grateful for. So I just want to challenge us today. We've got to decide, who are we? What will we do? Will we live for God? Or we live for the world without it's going to stand up. I'm gonna invite the worship team up and Lord this week, consider those questions. And as we consider the scripture that we've been reading and talking about Lord, I pray Jesus, that you would, God she'd show us where we've maybe been undecided and like Josiah Lord, we will humble ourselves and we will repent. 8 (57m 56s): And we will confess Lord God, or thank you that when we confess our sins, you're faithful. And just to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness, you bring us face to face with truth for our edification, for our good and for your glory. So Lord help us to be grateful that you bring us face to face with truth so that we can align properly, align ourselves with you, lining our lives with your word, being filled with your spirit, experiencing the peace of God and the grace of God and better relationships with one another and an incredible relationship with you. So we invite you to do that. Lord, as we sing, God, help us to ponder and meditate and make decisions. Today. We pray in Jesus name. 8 (58m 37s): Amen. Let's worship 3 (59m 11s): perhaps creation long. So you have 0 (1h 3m 48s): Thank you. Jesus. Thinking that we get to see in your name a thousand times, thank you that we get to lift your name high here on this earth and forever in eternity, you are the king of Kings. You reign on the throne. We honor you, and we love you. It's in your precious name. We pray. Amen.