Week 6 Day 1

The Daily Take 10

The Epistle of James

Week 6 Day 1

Introduction…there is a right and wrong kind of ‘wisdom’. I know ‘wrong wisdom” is a bit of an oxymoron, but that kind of ‘wisdom’ is of this world and is based upon human determinations like…might makes right, survival of the fittest and if you don’t take care of #1, nobody else will. Looking for the source of such thinking we should ask, where do these humanistic, self-serving ideas or worldly wisdom come from?

Read James 3:15-16 “Such wisdom is not the wisdom which comes down from above, but is earthly, characteristic of the natural man, inspired of the devil. For where there is envy and selfish ambition, there is disorder and every evil thing.”

Bible Study

• The bitter and arrogant ‘wisdom’ of this world is so different and diametrically opposed to the true wisdom, which comes from God.
• Wisdom from the World:
  • It is Earthly…its standards and sources are earthly, measures success in worldly terms, and its goals are temporal, carnal and self-serving.
  • It Exalts the mind…the natural man described here in this verse is not born again, born from above, nor spiritually inclined. This unregenerate mind is not led of the Spirit nor acknowledges God, His statutes, commandments, laws, or precepts.
  • It is Devilish…the source of this line of thinking is not God, but the devil. Instead of bringing people together, edifying, or strengthening others, it exalts self and produces confusion and strife.
  • The Word of God explains this situation surrounding worldly wisdom. Romans 8:5-8 “Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires, but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace, the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.”
• Decisions with this worldly/earthly wisdom are based upon:
  • Pride…thinking too much of self, promoting self, boasting, taking credit, demanding attention and rejecting feedback
  • Fear…insecure view of the future, self protection, protecting our position, intimidating others and discouraging feedback
  • Denial…refusal or inability to reflect on self, ignoring God, our sin, and our problems, blaming others, avoiding feedback

Application

• We who know the Lord overcome pride by practicing humility as a servant of God.
• As a disciple of Jesus Christ, we overcome fear by practicing faith in Him and confidence in His ways.
• Being born again as a true believer, we overcome denial by practicing repentance from worldly wisdom and commitment to God’s truth.

Any comments or questions?

Tags: Take 10

Week 6 Day 2

The Daily Take 10

The Epistle of James

Week 6 Day 2

Introduction…God created us and knows how we can function best as a person. He also knows what people in this world need to be in peace, be healed, and fully function – an abundant life (Jn. 10:10).  We studied yesterday the false wisdom of this world. Today let’s focus on the true wisdom that only comes from God. It starts with the perspective of God, living for Him, His way of life and eternity. True wisdom rejects living for self, greed driven and temporal living since the Scripture teaches, “what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his soul.” How foolish to think ‘eat, drink and be merry’, but many people are virtually gambling with their soul that there is no God, no tomorrow, no right or best way, so live for self and for today.

Read James 3: 17-18 “The wisdom which comes from above is first pure, then peaceable, considerate, willing to yield, full of mercy and of good fruits, undivided in mind, without hypocrisy. For the seed which one day produces the reward that righteousness brings, can only be sown when personal relationships are right and by those whose conduct produces such relationships.”

Bible Study

• James uses 8 words to describe the true wisdom that comes from God.
  • Pure…in mind, motive and actions before God and others.
  • Peaceable…having right relationships between yourself, people and God
  • Considerate…goes beyond duty and finds a way to do what is needed
  • Teachable…ready to obey God and willing to listen, learn and yield
  • Full of mercy…reaching out for any person in need
  • Good fruits…providing practical help to those in need action
  • Undivided…confidently decided because of God’s confirmation within
  • Without hypocrisy…honest actions without deception or selfish motives
• God’s true wisdom yields valuable life changing results for you and others you may impact:
  • God’s wisdom is for all areas of our lives. It applies to our personal, family, professional and spiritual life.
  • God’s wisdom improves our lives internally:
    • Our heart, which is our motivation and intent to live for God. “The fear of God (understanding His holiness and treating Him as holy) is the beginning of knowledge and wisdom.” “For me to live is Christ…”
    • Our head, which is our belief system, recognizes that our mind must be nurtured, brought up in God’s ways. “Be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Romans 12:2
  • God’s wisdom improves our lives externally:
    • Our hands, which are our behaviors. “Let your light so shine before people that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” Matthew 5:16
    • Our habits, which are our consistent actions, especially those that build our foundation and source of our strength. Spending time with God in prayer and Bible Study – doing daily Take 10’s. “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer ad petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ.” Philippians 4:6-7
• “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not to your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him and He will direct your paths.” Proverbs 3:5-6

Application

• Jesus transformed 12 ordinary and unlikely people (his disciples) into leaders.
• The 8 aspects of true wisdom we just studied, when applied and practiced allow us to lead like Jesus.

• We are all on God’s team, but some of us haven’t suited up yet. Let’s suit up and be true disciples and apply wisdom from the Word.

Comments or questions?

Tags: Take 10

Week 6 Day 3

The Daily Take 10

The Epistle of James

Week 6 Day 3

Introduction…God sees through the walls of our life. He gets to the source, He knows our hearts and our motives. Whether our aim is to please the Lord or ourselves is a key question. God knows the answer. Do we? A disciple of Jesus Christ confidently knows that answer and says, “I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ lives in me and the life I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” Galatians 2:20

Read James 4: 1-3 “What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is not the source, your pleasures that wage war in your members? You lust and do not have, so you commit murder. And you are envious and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive because you ask with wrong motives, so you may spend it on your pleasures.”

Bible Study

• In taking any corrective action, the proven process is to get to the root cause, the source, to find out why and where it started.
• Conflict resolution training is successful when it gets to our core beliefs and successfully teaches us to change our thinking and then it will change our actions,  the outcomes.
• So it is in our lives. We choose and make decisions everyday and many times throughout the day from our core beliefs, our heart, the very source of our desires.
• Remember in the previous chapter we studied, spiritual discernment. That ability to discern good from evil, right from wrong, God from Satan and spirit from flesh
• At salvation, we recognize our sin before God, see our need for a Savior and ask for God’s mercy and forgiveness. God is always faithful to forgive, but for us to live beyond forgiveness takes our continued decision and desire for God. See Romans 12:1-2
• With a faucet, I choose between hot or cold, so with my life I choose between good and evil. There are 2 different sources yielding 2 different results.
• God gives us the freedom to choose because He loves us and choosing Him is indication and proof we love Him.
• The source of our actions, whether the flesh or Spirit, from which we draw our guidance (being led by the flesh or Spirit) will determine the outcomes. We studied the outcomes, the works of the flesh, or fruit of the spirit, come from 2 different sources. See Galatians 5
• In that chapter it also reasons, teaches, and encourages us saying that since we were born of the Spirit, let’s now follow that decision and live in the Spirit.

Application

• What will it be? Satisfying our desires as pleasure seekers or yielding to God’s will and best for our lives?
• Do we see and understand the consequences of our decisions stemming from the source we draw from?
• Are we being led of the Spirit? Are we listening to His leading or our own fleshly desires?
• The more we feed one or the other, the Spirit or the flesh, the stronger one will become in our lives.  Lets feed our Spirit and watch it become stronger.  Keep up with these Take 10’s and continue to feed your Spirit!

Any questions or comments?

Tags: Take 10

Week 6 Day 4

The Daily Take 10

The Epistle of James

Week 6 Day 4

Introduction…God would rather us be hot or cold towards Him, not lukewarm. See Revelation 3:15-16. Choosing and living for Him is hot. Rejecting Him defines cold. Lukewarm is vacillating, not sure if we want Him or not. In God’s eyes, He sees our lukewarm living as infidelity and He calls that kind of relationship as adulterous.

Read James 4:4-7 “Renegades to your vows, do you not know that love for this world is enmity to God? Whoever makes it their aim to be the friend of this world thereby becomes the enemy of God. Do you think that the saying of Scripture is only an idle saying: ‘God jealously yearns for the spirit which he has made to dwell within us.’? But God gives more grace. That is why Scripture says, ‘God sets himself against the haughty, but gives grace to the humble.’ So then submit yourselves to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.”

Bible Study

• God created and loves us and the only appropriate and right response is to accept His love by returning to Him our love.
• He is protective of that love and cares deeply that we, like Him is faithful and dedicated to that love.
• At creation of mankind, God breathed into us, His Spirit. It was His intent that He would dwell in us. See Genesis 2:7
• When we are ‘born again’, God’s Holy Spirit comes into us, our spirit, and indwells us. This is what God desires and it fulfills our purpose for being.
  I Corinthians 6:19-20 enlighten us to the fact that we are the temple of the Holy Spirit.  He lives in us as believers and as God the Spirit, we should not grieve Him by our choices which lead to actions disregarding God.
• The indwelling Holy Spirit ‘seals us’, like a marriage certificate and wedding ring, proving we are His and He is ours. See Ephesians 1:13-14
• It is encouraging and revealing to know that if and when we resist, say no, move away from the influences of evil, the devil/Satan will flee from us.
  • “Where sin abounds, grace does much more abound” Romans 5:20
  • “When the enemy comes in like a flood, God raises up a standard against Him” Isaiah 59:19
  • “No evil or weapon formed against us will prosper.” Isaiah 54:17
• It is also encouraging and revealing to know that if and when we draw near, want, seek and desire God, He is always near, reachable and draws near to us.
  • “Behold I stand at the door and knock. If any person opens the door, I will come in.” Revelation 3:20
  • “And you will seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29:13
  • “God is a rewarder of those that diligently seek Him” Hebrews 11:6

Application

• Remember God’s promise to never leave or forsake us and of His continual presence. Therefore, we should include Him in the thoughts, images and decisions that come to our mind. This discipline does not come easily because we are used to being god of our thoughts. However as disciples of Jesus Christ, the reality of His Presence outshines and out delivers any fantasy, thought or path that may come our way.

Any comments or questions?

Tags: Take 10

Week 6 Day 5

The Daily Take 10

The Epistle of James

Week 6 Day 5

Introduction…In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth and evaluated His handiwork saying it was good. God so loved the world that He gave God the Son to save us. It was Jesus who said in Matthew 6:24, “No one can serve 2 masters.” If we love the world (kosmos is the Greek word for world used in James) meaning the world apart from God, then we are enemies of God. Worldliness is a life dedicated to things and living without a God consciousness, without Him being your center. If this is the case with any of us, as it is with some, we must repent, turn from our sin and turn toward God.

Read James 4:8-10 “Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be afflicted and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to sorrow and your joy to gloom. Humble yourself before God and then He will exalt you.”

Bible Study

• In these few verses, James, inspired by and speaking through the Holy Spirit, is addressing the hardened, habitual sinner, who lives lost and without God.
• After Jesus died for our sin, was raised from the dead and ascended to be our mediator and intercessor with the Father, He promised the Holy Spirit to be along side us as believers to help, lead us into truth, remind, teach us and glorify Jesus.
• Another role of the Holy Spirit, especially to the unbeliever is to convict of sin,  and convince of judgement. Here in James, this is the appeal of the Spirit to those living in sin.
• The phrase clean your hands and purify your heart denotes being morally washed inside out. From the inner man to the outward actions and lifestyle. The heart, mind, hands and lips. Matthew 5:8 says only the pure in heart will see God.
• A woman was caught in adultery and brought to Jesus, who responded her, “I don’t condemn you, go and do not continue to sin.” This shows God’s mercy and willingness to forgive, but it also includes our part…admission of sin and willingness to repent, meaning to turn from our sin.
• Note the word in verse 8, ‘doubleminded’. As said by Jesus in the Introductory remarks, we cannot serve 2 masters.
  • We are to live in this world, but not be ‘of’ this world. That is living without God. We are to be born of God, living for and with Him in this world.
  • We cannot be lukewarm or having 2 minds, serving God while serving the ways of this world without God.
  • So part of repentance is turning 180 degrees from the wrong way and turning away from sin towards God.
• We are talking about pusuing Godly purity. Before Godly purity can be attained, there must be Godly sorrow and Godly humility.
  • Godly sorrow means not taking lightly sin and its transgression against a Holy God. When we realize our sin before a merciful God, true repentence enbodies being sorrowful, afflicted in our soul, mournful and tearful. All picture and are signs of a person who is serious about God forgiving them.
  • Godly humility means recognizing our dependence upon God for mercy and His forgiveness. We cannot earn our way to God, or remove our sin. We need God for that.

Application

• “Humble yourself before God and then He will exalt you.” When we come before God confessing our sin and asking for forgiveness, it is with humble heart we bow once again for His mercy. Then God’s faithful forgiveness and cleansing, lifts us. Our hearts rejoice, our purity is restored and our holy hands are raised in praise and thanksgiving to our loving heavenly Father. We can have confidence to come before Him with humble hearts. He will in no way refuse us.

Any comments or questions?

Tags: Take 10