Are you
walking the walk that God has given you with joy and exultation? Or
are you walking it wishing you had done something else with your
life?
Are you
content where you are right now; or are you wishing you were keeping
up with the Jones'?
My
brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing
that the testing of your faith produces patience.
But
let patience have its
perfect
work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.
If
any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all
liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let
him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave
of the sea driven and tossed by the wind.
For
let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord;
he
is a
double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
James 1:2-8
God's
word tells us and His Spirit convicts us of the desire to be like
those in the world, but what about wanting a better life in Christ?
Is it wrong to wish that we were as close to God as Pastor Joel? Or
to be used as much as Kay Arthur? Not at all, these would be good
desires; but we should not just wish, but we should take steps to do
something about it.
God
gives us the desires of our hearts; some say He puts them there and
others say He grants the desires to bring about what He sees there.
Either way it is my desire to honor Him in all that I do and if I
pray to Him and ask for this He will bring it to pass. In James it
says we do not get what we want because we do not ask with the
correct motives. So we can ask ourselves this morning what are our
motives?
Is it
all about us, or is it according to His will? Is our heart right with
God or man?
So maybe
we should ask ourselves today are we seeking after our own selfish
desires, or the desires of God's heart?
When we
ask for God to supply all our needs do we complain because he did not
give us a brand new shiny first owner sports car? Or do we use what
He has given us and use it for His glory?
When we
pray we must ask believing that He will do what we request because if
we do the back and forth thing; “God help me to get a job but not
at Mc Dudes or Jack n' Jill's but at the fancy job that pays a lot..
but wait I need a job so maybe its okay to work at Mc Dudes, but
still I would rather work at Big Name place and make a ton of money.
But Lord I need a job so maybe....” Do you see the wave thinking in
that prayer?
James
tells us that we should pray; “not my will but yours be done” and
give God the key to answering our prayers. I have to admit I have
been guilty of praying God into a box too. I have prayed for answers
that we so specific that I could not doubt or become double-minded
about the answer. Which is okay for 'such a time as this' but for God
to move in our prayers we need to pray specifically for His will not
ours to be done then to trust that He will take care of it.
Just
remember that when we pray like this we will need to have patience to
let it be done and not pull it back to change our prayers request;
God does not need to hear our 'go backs' or 'returned gift' style of
prayers. He desires to hear our heart felt truthful prayers, no
sheltering Him from how we really feel; after all He can see our
heart, our motive and our truthful desires.
If you
are wise and understand God's ways prove it by living an honorable
life, doing good works with the humility that comes from wisdom. But
if ou are bitterly jealous and there is selfish ambition in your
heart don't cover up the truth with boasting and lying. For jealousy
and selfishness are not God's kind of wisdom. Such things are
earthly, unspiritual, and demonic. For wherever there is jealousy and
selfish ambition, there you will find disorder and evil of every
kind. James 3:13-16
So you
see we once again come to the reality of “it's not about me” and
that it's “all about Him”, His desires in our hearts, His
direction for our lives. When you think of it all we want will be so
much better if we ask Him to bless our ideas and allow Him to take
them and run with them!
After
all we may plan our walk but it is God who orders our steps.
This
week as we come in closer to Christmas celebrations, lets take some
time and look at our motives. What are the motives in gift giving, or
receiving for that matter? Are you buying your loved one that
expensive gift to please their ego, or because they can use it? Did
you ask for that new dress to be flashy or because you would like a
change? Will it be too flashy for church?
One
person I knew a lot of years ago said they had certain dresses that were
acceptable for church and others that they wore when they went out,
or something other than church. I had to stop and think for a moment,
examine my own heart and my own dresses. I realized that my dresses
all would be okay for church as that was pretty much where I went in
them. Still as I dressed for church that following Sunday I found
myself wondering if I was “presentable” to God in my daily
clothing of the heart as well as my clothes on the outside. At that
point I think is when I began looking at the inside of my heart each
week instead of what is on the outside. After all I am going to
church to fellowship with believers, and as believers we should be
paying more attention to the inner man not the outer man, just like
Jesus.
Are we
going to Church for our motives, or for God's motives? Do we change our heart's clothes for Sundays?
Is it to
please ourselves because we have that certain friend we can't wait to
talk with and enjoy their company. Or is it because God has a Word to
give us and we can't wait to spend extra special time with Him in the
presence of our brothers and sisters?
Stop and
think about it; Selah.
Dear
heavenly Father we examine our hearts today and ask You to show us
what is lacking. Help us to speak to you in fullness of truth in our
prayers and not in waves of decision. Help us to tell you what we
want, what we truly desire and not try to hide from you our motives;
after all You know our hearts better than we do. Thank you again Lord
for your direction and Guidance. In Jesus' name, amen.
Suggested
reading: James 1:1-27, James 2:1-28, James 3:1-18 and James 4:1-17
and if you have the time go ahead and finish James with James 5:1-20.