Spiritual Boot Camp Day 28

We are at the halfway point for this week so let’s power through. It is easier to skip doing boot camp but so rewarding to stick with it. We are growing in our faith, our knowledge of the Word and learning to apply the truths from James to our daily lives.

James 4:11-12

¹¹ Brothers and sisters, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against a brother or sister or judges them speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it. ¹² There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you—who are you to judge your neighbor?

The Greek word for “slander” is “katalaleo”. It means “to insult, defame, slur, slander. The word is rather broad in meaning, taking in every sort of defamation or verbal aspersion. The fundamental notion is that of speaking about a person in a manner which is aimed at maligning and discrediting him or injuring his reputation, roughly equivalent to the modern slang ‘to bad mouth’.” When was the last time you slandered someone? 

James is again addressing the need for us to tame our tongues. When you tie that theme with the theme in the previous verses about humbling ourselves, James may be explaining why we slander others. We tend to “bad mouth” others in an attempt to make them look bad and ourselves look good. This bad mouthing can come in many forms. We can criticize others, point out their flaws and mistakes or even tell mistruths about them as we gossip to others. Gossiping with others may change their opinion of the person and may change others as well as the gossip spreads.

I am sure we have all been on the receiving end of gossip where we have heard something negative about someone else. What do you do when that happens? Gossip is a sin not just for the person doing the talking, but also those who listen. If we want to not participate in gossip we have to do more than not spread it; we need to not listen to it. When was the last time you listened to gossip? When was the last time you gossiped about someone else?

James reminds us that bad mouthing others is a form of judging them. We are not to judge others – we are called to love them. We are not perfect and should therefore, not judge others. The only perfect one is Christ and He has the right to judge. If we want to show Christ to the world, we have to be different than the world. One way we can do that is to not participate in gossip and do what we can to stop it when we hear it.

I am sure everyone has been the topic of gossip or heard others have said something unkind about you. Having others judge you and talk about you can be very painful. Maybe if we spent a little time remembering how it made us feel, we would be less likely to do it to others. When have you suffered because of gossip? How did it make you feel? When was the last time you gossiped about someone else? Make a conscious effort to pay very close attention to your words over the next few days. I think you will be amazed at how often you say something unkind about someone else and will begin to recognize how often you listen to gossip. Submit to the leading and guiding of the Holy Spirit and allow Him to tame your tongue, you won’t be able to do it on your own!

• All Scripture references from http://www.biblegateway.com

• Greek definition “The Key Word Bible Study”, AMG Publishers

Spiritual Boot Camp Day 27

This boot camp has been very challenging for me but very rewarding as well. I love reading your comments and hearing how it is impacting you as well. Today we will start off with one of my favorite verses.

James 4:8a

⁸ Come near to God and he will come near to you.

The simplicity of this verse is beautiful. All we have to do is come near to God and He will respond by coming near to us. It is so comforting to know the Lord is always available to us whenever we choose to turn to Him. Remember that earlier in this chapter James was reprimanding the people for seeking their own pleasure versus submitting to the will of the Lord. James wanted to remind them that God was waiting for them to draw near to Him. Do you need to come near to the Lord today?

James 8b-10

Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. ⁹ Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. ¹⁰ Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.

The remainder of these verses are again addressing the behavior of the people in chasing after pleasure and their own desires. “The call to “wash your hands” is a command to make one’s conduct pure. Similarly, the call to “purify your hearts” insists on purity of thoughts and motives. The eager quest for pleasure (James 4:1-5) had resulted in sins of the heart and hand.”

We are no different than the group James was addressing because we sin with our hearts by having motives and thoughts that are less than pure and we follow these up with conduct that is not pleasing to the Lord. What thoughts and motives have you had recently that are not in line with the desires and plans the Lord has for you? Have you acted on those thoughts and desires causing yourself to sin?

James was concerned with the way the people were dealing with their sin. They were taking their sin too lightly. He tells them to “grieve, mourn and wail”. He wanted their reflection on the attitudes of their hearts and minds to be so serious it would break their hearts the way it was breaking the Lords causing them to “grieve, mourn and wail”.

When you think about your own sin, do you minimalize, rationalize or justify it? Do you try to make light of it or quickly ask the Lord for forgiveness without ever really allowing yourself to feel the weight of what you have done? Our sin hurts the Lord; it breaks His heart. He wants us to truly understand the seriousness of our sin not to induce guilt, but to help us change our behavior.

In verse 9 James wants the people to change their attitudes towards their sin and their desire for pleasure and their own will versus their desires for the ways of the Lord. The change is from “laughter to mourning” and “joy to gloom”. Instead of taking their sins lightly, he wants them to truly understand it causes the Lord to mourn. James closes this section with a reminder for humility. When we humble ourselves before the Lord, He will lift us up.

Recognizing and accepting responsibility for your sins requires humility. When we are willing to humble ourselves and seek His forgiveness for our sins, He will lift us up by helping us to change. The Lord will help us change our desires and our will to be in line with His. Today I pray you are willing to take a good hard look at your thoughts, desires, words and actions. Are they in line with the Lord? Are there areas where you are sinning? Are you rationalizing, justifying or minimizing your sins? Spend some time and allow the Lord to reveal your sinfulness and do as James says, “grieve, mourn and wail” for breaking His heart. When you humble yourself, He will lift you up!

• All Scripture references are from http://www.biblegateway.com
• Quote from “The Expositor’s Bible Commentary”, Vol. 12, Zondervan

Spiritual Boot Camp Day 26

Hope you had a wonderful weekend and are ready to gear up for this week’s spiritual boot camp as we continue to look at James 4. We will be tackling some tough topics such as submission, temptation, sin, humility, our words and judgment. Buckle up because it might just be a bumpy ride!

James 4:7

⁷ Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

Verse 7 is directly tied to verse 6 where we were told “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble”. If we want to humble ourselves, we must first submit to the Lord. “Submission is not the same as obedience. Instead, it is the surrender of one’s will, which leads to obedience.” Humility begins with submitting to the Lord’s plans, desires and will for our lives and requires us to lay down our own in order to pick up His. Then we have to follow up our submission with a willingness to be obedient.

It is important to note that we can resist the enemy. He is NOT more powerful than our God and he does NOT have the power to overcome us.

1 Corinthians 10:13

¹³ No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.

This verse is very clear that we have everything we need to resist the enemy – we have a faithful God and His Holy Spirit dwells within us empowering us to follow Him. He doesn’t allow us “to be tempted beyond what” we “can bear”. In addition, He provides us a way out. So often when we are going to do something we aren’t supposed to do we get the sense that we aren’t supposed to do it. We hear that inner voice telling us we shouldn’t do it. That voice is the Holy Spirit trying to provide us a way out – a choice to submit to the Lord or fall into the temptation of the enemy. 

Other times, He actually provides a way out. When we are tempted to do something we shouldn’t do and we get a phone call from a friend asking us to do something else during that time instead. We may chalk these ways out up as coincidences and be grateful they have come along, but they are not coincidences or just great timing – they are the way out provided by our Heavenly Father.

When have you heard that inner voice telling you not to do something, not to say something or not to go somewhere and you ignored it? Did you find yourself doing something, saying something or being somewhere you shouldn’t have been? When was the last time you were provided a way out of temptation by the Lord? What situation or relationship are you in right now where you need His help? Are you submitting to His will or are you going your own way? In what areas of your life do you need to resist the enemy? Submit those areas to the Lord and follow that submission up with obedience to do His will rather than your own. 

• All Scripture references are from http://www.biblegateway.com

• Quote from “The Expositor’s Bible Commentary”, Vol. 12, Zondervan

Spiritual Boot Camp Day 25

Wow! It is already Day 25. Congratulations to those of you who have been here since the beginning and welcome if you are just joining us. This is the last post for this week so if you are a little behind, you can catch up over the weekend. Make sure you do Day 23!

James 4:6

⁶ But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says:

“God opposes the proud
    but shows favor to the humble.”

The last part of this verse is found in two other places in Scripture. 

Proverbs 3:34

He mocks proud mockers but gives grace to the humble. 

1 Peter 5:5

God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.

Anything repeated in Scripture should really capture our attention. We will break this verse down and look at the meanings of some of the key words in the Greek. The Greek word for proud is “hyperephanos” and it means “arrogant, proud” and is “often associated with rejecting God”. This word for proud is more than simply thinking highly of yourself because it takes it a step further and also means you are rejecting the Lord. Doesn’t that add additional meaning to this word? When was the last time your attitude could have been described as proud? Did you realize when you act proud you are rejecting the Lord?

The Greek word for “humble” is “tapeinos” and it is different from the previous word for humble earlier in James. This word means “lowly, particularly of attitude and social position” and is tied to the “idea of piety towards God”. Being humble means recognizing who we are in Christ and acknowledging the amazing gift of His unmerited grace. Humility is closely tied the Lord and is only possible when we submit to the will of the Lord versus our own will and desires.

This theme of humbly submitting ourselves ourselves to the Lord will be further discussed in the next several verses in this chapter that we will look at next week. As we approach the weekend reflect on your attitude. What areas in your life do you need to be more humble and less proud? In what areas do you feel the need to be right or make your point? In what  areas do you want to do what you want to do, when you want it because you want to do it without seeking the Lord? I pray the Lord reveals areas of your life or relationships where you need to humble yourself. 

Spiritual Boot Camp Day 24

I don’t know about you but I am still thinking about the questions from yesterday’s lesson. It’s easy to skim over them but if we want to really transform our relationships with the Lord the way a physical boot camp transforms our bodies, we have to do the tough work. Back to James 4 today.

James 4:4-5

^{4 You adulterous people don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. 5} Or do you think Scripture says without reason that he jealously longs for the spirit he has caused to dwell in us? 

Yesterday we looked at verse 4 but we need to briefly revisit it in order to understand the context of verse 5. When we choose to go the way of the world versus being faithful to the ways of God, we make the Lord jealous. This is not the first time in Scripture the word jealous is used to describe the Lord.

Exodus 34:14

¹⁴ Do not worship any other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.

This verse from Exodus reminds us that the Lord is jealous when we choose to worship anything other than Him. When we choose to value the things of the world and the ways of the world, they become idols to us. Our idolatry makes the Lord jealous. He created us and loves us so much. He wants us to love and worship Him and Him alone.

We have all experienced envy or jealousy whether we were envious of what someone else had, their successes or their lifestyle or jealous of the affection someone else is receiving from the one we want to receive affection from. If we don’t keep our jealousy in check, it can consume our thoughts and become the focus of our time and energy. Imagine the Lord’s thoughts, time and energy being focused on His jealousy for you! He desperately wants us to love Him, worship Him and serve Him. He wants our thoughts, time and energy to be focused on His plans for our lives versus our own plans. How does it make you feel to know that the Lord is jealous for your love and devotion?

The other part of verse 5 I want to look at today is “Scripture says without reason”. This part of the verse is questioning what we think about Scripture. Do you think the things in Scripture are just empty words or old words that don’t apply to your life?

Isaiah 55:11

so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
    It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
    and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.

God’s Word is not empty words that have no impact or relevance in our lives. His word is to help us understand Him, our relationship with Him and His purposes for our lives. Sometimes we take His Word for granted because it is so accessible to us. However, we need to cherish His Word and the access we have to it because there are so many people in the world who do not have easy access to it. 

Today I want to ask you to really meditate on God’s jealousy over you. Are you giving Him reasons to be jealous? What things in your life might be idols to you that take away your time, energy and attention that belongs to the Lord? Knowing how it feels to be jealous, how do you feel knowing you have made the Lord feel that way? What value does God’s Word have in your life? It’s easy to say it is very valuable, but is it really? How often do you read, study and meditate on His Word? He definitely speaks to His people through His Word, but we won’t hear what He has to say if we don’t open in and engage in it!

• All Scripture references from http://www.biblegateway.com