Day 69 - a trip through James

Extreme Faith Workout
www.gbcwestlake.org

James 4:1-6 in the context of the entire book of James:
1:9 - the brother of humble (poor) circumstances has a high position with God; and that fits with 4:6 as God gives grace to the humble

1:14 - we are tempted by our own desires within us; and so 4:1 points out that our external problems come from the selfish desires that are at war within us

1:20 - our anger is not right before God; in 4:1,2 our anger that leads to fighting and other sin shows we are opposed to God (4:4)

2:8 - love your neighbor as yourself; that shows humility and would solve the problem of 4:1-3

2:11 - "do not commit murder" is pointed out as one of the commands of the law, which if transgressed, makes us guilty of the whole law; murder is also brought up as one of the things we do when we covet but cannot have what we want

2:23- Abraham did the right thing and was known as the friend of God; in 4:4 it speaks of being a friend of the world and an enemy of God. Abraham showed the way through humble obedience of how to be a friend of God.

3:14,15 - wisdom from below includes bitter jealousy and selfish ambition; this is what opposes God in 4:1-6

3:16 - selfishness brings division and all kinds of evil; selfishness in 4:1-3 brings murder, arguments and unanswered prayer

4:7-12 - this gives steps in order to be God's friend by obeying in humility; 4:1-6 laid the foundation for that by showing what it looks like to be God's enemy and then making the transition into this next passage by pointing out that humility is the key

5:16 - confess your sins to one another is an example of the humility that is needed in 4:6