Home
"The Wisdom from Above"
James 3.13-18 and 4.1-8
Good News Translation (GNT)
*************************
13 Are there any of you who are wise and
understanding? You are to prove it by your
good life, by your good deeds performed with
humility and wisdom.
14 But if in your heart you are jealous, bitter, and
selfish, don't sin against the truth by boasting
of your wisdom.
15 Such wisdom does not come down from
heaven; it belongs to the world, it is unspiritual
and demonic.
16 Where there is jealousy and selfishness, there
is also disorder and every kind of evil.
17 But the wisdom from above is pure first of all;
it is also peaceful, gentle, and friendly; it is full
of compassion and produces a harvest of
good deeds; it is free from prejudice and
hypocrisy.
18 And goodness is the harvest that is produced
from the seeds the peacemakers plant in
peace.
James 4.1-8
"Friendship with the World"
1 Where do all the fights and quarrels among
you come from? They come from your desires
for pleasure, which are constantly fighting
within you.
2 You want things, but you cannot have them,
so you are ready to kill; you strongly desire
things, but you cannot get them, so you
quarrel and fight. You do not have what you
want because you do not ask God for it.
3 And when you ask, you do not receive it,
because your motives are bad; you ask for
things to use for your own pleasures.
4 Unfaithful people! Don't you know that to be
the world's friend means to be God's enemy?
If you want to be the world's friend, you make
yourself God's enemy.
5 Don't think that there is no truth in the scripture
that says, "The spirit that God placed in us is
filled with fierce desires." [a]
6 But the grace that God gives is even stronger.
As the scripture says, "God resists the proud,
but gives grace to the humble."
7 So then, submit yourselves to God.
Resist the Devil, and he will run away from
you.
8 Come near to God, and he will come near to
you. Wash your hands, you sinners!
Purify your hearts, you hypocrites!
Footnotes
James 4:5 The spirit ... fierce desires;
or
God yearns jealously over the spirit that he
placed in us.
*************************
Commentary taken from 'word-on-the-web'
supplied by Scripture Union
'The Wisdom from Above'
James 3:13-18
Not surprisingly, research suggests that wisdom doesn't always grow with age
(see Job's question, 12:12), nor is it related to intelligence.
Rather, wisdom is associated with inherent character traits, which pursue moral virtue and emotional self-control.
Charles Spurgeon, a famous nineteenth-century preacher, explained it like this:
'Wisdom is the right use of knowledge.
To know is not to be wise. Many men know a great deal and are all the greater fools for it.
There is no fool so great a fool as a knowing fool.
But to know how to use knowledge is to have wisdom.'*
Our desire as disciples of Jesus is to pursue wisdom that enables us to view life from God's perspective, wisdom reflected in the virtues described by James (v 17), fruit borne only by walking closely with God.
Proverbs reminds us that 'the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom' (9:10).
The way of wisdom begins with our reverence and knowledge of God, a knowledge that shapes our lives as we seek to reflect the Lord's glory, being transformed into his likeness (see 2 Corinthians 3:18).
This is true wisdom and wisdom that can indeed grow with age if we prayerfully prioritise our relationship with Jesus.
*Charles H Spurgeon, Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Volume 17
James 4:1-8
When things go wrong we are quick to blame somebody else!
In church life, as elsewhere, we often pass the blame upwards:
'It's the fault of the pastor/presbytery/bishop.'
Things are certainly going wrong when there are 'fights and quarrels' (v 1) in church, and this time it is individual believers who are at fault.
James highlights that spoilt-child reaction, which lingers even in adult Christians, to not getting what we want.
It leads to his devastating words that expose my prayer life.
'You do not have because you do not ask God' (v 2).
A Christian who does not pray?
We will almost certainly pay lip service to the value of prayer but James is looking deeper than lip service.
He is exposing an instinctive response - or lack of it - to needs and desires as they surface.
A response which, long before it takes them to the Lord, will determinedly wrestle with them in our own strength first.
'You ask with wrong motives' (v 3).
'But I did pray', the lady talking to me insisted, still frustrated at the seeming lack of response from God to her very real needs as she perceived them.
She imagined, as many of us do, that all prayer is good and any prayer effective.
James says we can pray but pray wrongly!
We can call out 'Lord' and still be saying 'my will be done' (Matthew 7:21-23)!
This seeking of our own interests may make us friends with the world (v 4), which is living 'my will be done', but it is a denial of all it means to be Christian; it makes us two-timing people, 'adulterous' and 'enemies of God' (v 4) even while we are on our knees.
Worst of all (v 6), it means that God himself opposes us.
Other versions are available here
Return to the Home Page
Contact the Rector
The Revd.Nic.Edwards
The Rectory,
Church Lane,
BUGBROOKE,
Northampton,
NN7 3PB
Land Line: 01604 - 815496
(Can be accessed from the mobile device)
Mobile: .....
E-mail:
thebeneficeofbhkandr at gmail dot com
Contact the Benefice Office
Sunday School Rooms, Church Lane,
BUGBROOKE, Northampton, NN7 3PB
Land Line: 01604 830373
E-mail:
thebeneficeofbhkandr at gmail dot com
Mon., Tues., Wed,, Thur., Fri.
9:00am to 11:30am
For Baptism bookings (Christenings)
to arrange an appointment please contact
the Benefice Office.
For Wedding bookings:
please contact the Benefice Office to arrange
an appointment.
Who Made This?
Seeing as you asked, if you can give helpful
advice or report factual corrections and
'deliberate mistakes',email:-
regparker3 at gmail dot com
Email addresses shown using words in an
attempt to avoid 'spam',
Type the email address replacing 'at' with '@',
and 'dot' with '.'
|