‘What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. ‘ James 4:1-3
A battle is going on, and it has been happening since before humans began. It’s a battle we can’t see and is being fought in the heavenly realms.
The good news is the battle is won. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, won this battle with these words, “It is finished.”
Jesus died on the cross and took the world’s sins to the grave with Him.
1 John 2:2 NIV
He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.
Every human being will be faced with the decision to accept the saving grace provided on the cross by Jesus or to pay the penalty themselves for their sinful lives. Please understand that no one will be in hell that has not decided to be there.
If you have not decided to accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior, make that decision today.
The audience of James’ writing was scattered believers because of unrest in the early church recorded in Acts 12.
And his warning was from the focus verse were believers.
As we navigate through this world, there are two groups of people that we will interact with, believers and unbelievers.
For the believer, we are called to hold each other to the standards of God’s written Word. We do this humbly and with compassion. Every believer grows to the degree they allow as they submit to God’s Spirit.
Philippians 1:4-6 NIV
In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
God is working through every one of us, and our God is perfect, and so is His timing.
“John, what does that have to do with the elections?” Great question.
I believe we hold those outside the church to a far greater standard than we hold ourselves to, including ourselves and those we associate with in the church.
Remember that James is addressing believers with his message in our focus verse.
‘What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. ‘ James 4:1-3
Before God can influence any change in the outside world through us, we must live out the faith we claim to have with other believers. If we are not involved with other believers outside of the hour we spend in church on Sunday, we are missing the mark. And if we neglect the hour on Sunday, we may want to consider calling ourselves anything but a Christian.
1 John 2:9-11 NIV
Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a brother or sister is still in the darkness. Anyone who loves their brother and sister lives in the light, and there is nothing in them to make them stumble. But anyone who hates a brother or sister is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness. They do not know where they are going, because the darkness has blinded them.
There are two areas to consider when we think about this: Time and money.
Time
Time is a perishable commodity. We are not getting any more time. We were born and had an appointed time that the Lord will take us off this earth.
When we know the Lord as our Savior, we should have a desire to:
- Be in God’s Word
- Be with God’s people (My Pastor recently said that this will not always be on our schedule, and on some occasions, it will be inconvenient.
If these are not a desire of your heart, please get on your knees and ask the Lord to help you with this.
Money
Money is one of the most written-about subjects in the Bible. And for a good reason, it will be one of the most challenging subjects we will face.
‘ “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. ‘ Matthew 6:19-21
When we spend our time and money to advance the Kingdom of God, we affect generations of people.
“John, please… what does this have to do with the election?”
Here we go!
When we focus our time and money on helping and supporting those directly around us, we take away the need for the central government to take care of people.
We can all make a difference to those around us if we focus our time and money on helping those around us through the local church. But if we continue to focus on the people in Washington, who only seem to want our votes and will tell us whatever we want to hear to get them, we take away the actual power God endowed us with.
If we feel that we don’t have enough time or money to advance the Kingdom of God, it may be time to reevaluate our priorities.
Our priorities come from the desires of our hearts. And when we align our desires with God’s desire for our lives, He will support us in every possible way. When our desires don’t align with God, it creates conflict in our lives.
We must vote with discernment in our elections, but more important is our understanding of helping those around us through our involvement with our time and money in the local church.
‘But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. ‘ Matthew 6:33
Heavenly Father, thank You for Your Word. Let Your Word guide me and help me to be sensitive to the needs of those around me.
Please continue to give me the desire to stay grounded on the foundation of Your Word. Let Your Word be the compass for my thoughts, actions, and the words I say.
I thank You for those who You have put around me. Let me be sensitive to the needs of my family, co-workers, and church family.
Please guide the leaders of our country and soften their hearts to want to know Jesus as their Lord and Savior.
In the name of Jesus Christ, I pray, Amen!! 🙏❤️
