Conflict Experienced By Saints(2)76 [James 4:1:10] / Anne's Faith Column

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Conflict Experienced

By Saints (2) 76

[James 4:1:10]

 / Anne's Faith Column 

 

/ By Priscilla 

 

 "What causes fights

and quarrels among you?

 

 

Don't they come from your

 desires that battle within you?

 

 

 You want something but

don't get it.

 

 

You kill and covet,

but you cannot have

what you want.

 

 

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.

 

 

 You adulterous people,

don't you know that friendship

with the world is hatred

toward God?

 

 

Anyone who chooses

to be a friend of the world

becomes an enemy of God.

 

 

Or do you think Scripture

says without reason

that the spirit he caused to

live in us envies intensely?

 

 

But he gives us more grace.

That is why Scripture says:

"God opposes the proud but

 gives grace to the humble."

 

 

Submit yourselves,

then, to God.

 

 

Resist the devil,

and he will flee from you.

 

 

 Come near to God and

he will come near to you.

 

 

Wash your hands,

you sinners, and purify

your hearts, you double

-minded.

 

 

Grieve, mourn and wail.

Change your laughter to

mourning and your

joy to gloom.

 

 

 Humble yourselves

before the Lord, and he

will lift you up.

[James 4:1-10] 

 

 

The saints, in their lives,

experience spiritual conflicts

due to the greed that constantly

arises in their minds

 

 

and the influences of the

world around them.

 

 

Actually, we all live in this

world and experience many

conflicts due to our greed.

 

 

"How often do we have

conflicts because we do

not receive God's answers

and cannot overcome

our greed?"

 

 

In today's scripture, 

in particular, James presents

two reasons why we do not

receive answers from God today.

 

 

[1] You do not have,

because you do not ask God.

 

 

Some say as follows. 

 

 

God is so busy and tired,

do you have to ask Him

for even such minor

problems?

 

 

However, God is Spirit

and never gets tired.

He doesn't want us

to worry about our

problems.

 

 

It is natural for a child

to ask his father for

anything he wants.

 

 

[2] The reason why you ask

and do not receive is

because you ask wrongly

to use it with lust.

 

 

James emphasizes:

 

 

"When you ask, you do

not receive, because you ask

with wrong motives,

 

 

that you may spend what

you get on your pleasures."

(James 4:3)

 

 

Then, how should we live

to receive answers from God?

 

 

1. Refrain from your desires!

 

 

There are two types of passion.

Of course, the word desire,

which includes passion,

has a very good meaning.

 

 

However, the direction

of the desire and its

result largely depend on

 

 

whether the motive

is good for God or for

my own benefit with

a wrong motive.

 

 

The word passion means

a strong passion and

a strong desire that come

from human greed

 

 

if it is not for the Lord,

and it is very dangerous.

 

 

That's because the result

can be driven in a completely

different direction from

God's will.

 

 

Even when we pray over

a problem, we often act before

the Lord for our own good,

rather than waiting for

the result

 

 

and we commit

sins without realizing

what God is trying to

express through us.

 

 

However, what we should

remember is that spiritual

people are close to God

 

 

so they don't like the world,

and come closer to the cross.

 

 

On the contrary, even if

they are Christians, those 

who follow the sinful nature

are close to the world.

 

 

When the temptation

of life comes, they are

conflicted in their hearts.

 

 

However, they are inevitably

connected to the world closely,

 

 

so they pursue the cravings

of sinful man, the lust of his eyes

and the boasting of what

he has and does

 

 

The wrong zeal and passion

created without fellowship

with the Lord sometimes

lead to being ruined

 

 

or to unexpected big

and small tragedies

and irreversible

situations.

 

 

Sadly, many of these

things happen when we are

proud and walk ahead

of the Lord.

 

 

Oh Lord!  

Have pity on us all! 

Have mercy on us all!

 

 

(Ex: 1) King Saul 

 

 

I'll take King Saul

who became the first king

of Israel for an example. 

 

 

When he was first chosen

to be king, he was humble,

but later, because of his pride,

he was eventually rejected by God.

 

 

God hates the proud.

 It is written in the Bible that 

'the love of money is the

root of all evil,'

 

 

and 'pride

goes before destruction,

a haughty spirit before a fall.'

 

 

Therefore, greed and

cravings, trickery and lies,

bluff and vanity, pride

and boasting, lust

 

 

and ambition do not

come from God.

 

 

We must never forget

that these are what

God hates.

 

 

Unfortunately,

the sinful nature of

human beings, that is,

the substance of

original sin

 

 

and free will sin, which

was given due to the sin

of Adam, the first ancestor

of mankind, misleads us

to commit sins as many

as  possible.

 

 

Furthermore, it pushes us

into collusion with the

powers of darkness that

surround the world.

 

 

Therefore, in order not

to be deceived by the

world or to be swayed

by the world's patterns,

 

 

we must set our own

behaviors and attitudes

of mind correctly and

be careful not to seek

lust before God.

 

 

(Ex: 2) 

 

 

A Chicken Farm Story

 

 

Here's a story you need

to listen to carefully.

 

 

This happened when

I was in a Korean pastoral

ministry in New Zealand.

 

 

One day, I visited a Korean

saint who was running

a chicken farm in Kumeu.

 

 

At that time he had

a farm capable of raising

more than 10,000 chickens.

 

 

This is the conversation

with him that I will

never forget.

 

 

“Pastor, there's something

mysterious I want to say.

 

 

As I run a chicken farm,

I think it's mysterious

that the behavior of chickens

and the behavior of people

can be the same.

 

 

Both have the same

principles of life.

 

 

Within the small borders

I have made around them,

the chickens are busy

fighting each other for 

even a little more land.

 

 

Strong chickens peck

with their beaks, form their

own group, drive other

group out, and bully

weak chickens.

 

 

After a while, a car will

come and  the chickens

will be loaded to the

slaughterhouse,

 

 

but they fight the helpless

chickens without knowing

what's happening to them.

 

 

There are some of chickens

bragging and bluffing as

if they would live there

forever.

 

 

In particular, when

workers come, the trouble

makers will be caught,

 

 

but they are fighting so

loudly without even

knowing what's

  happening to them.

 

 

How stupid is this? 

They are no different

from people, right?

 

 

So, while doing this work,

I meditate on it every day

and receive a lot of grace.

 

 

We too will go to heaven

empty-handed when the

Lord calls us.

 

 

So we must not live with

lust and greed like that!”

 

 

Therefore, the Apostle

John exhorts us to:

 

 

"Do not love the world

or anything in the world.

If anyone loves the world,

the love of the Father

is not in him.

 

 

For everything in the world-

-the cravings of sinful man,

the lust of his eyes

 

 

and the boasting of

what he has and does-

-comes not from the Father

but from the world.

 

 

The world and its desires

pass away, but the man

who does the will of God

lives forever."

(1 John 15-17) 

 

 

2. We must be sanctified.

 

 

Of course, since God

is sanctified, we must be

sanctified to draw near

to God as children of God.

 

 

That's why we should try

so hard to get rid of the

lust that comes from

this world.

 

 

To increase our faith,

we do supplication prayers,

early morning prayers,

Bible studies, even

fasting prayers,

 

 

and praying in the

mountain. 

 

 

However, the more

we resolve to draw

closer to God,

 

 

the more we end up doing

things the Lord hates.

 

 

After we receive God's grace,

we realize our sinful nature

 

 

and make up our minds to

reduce greed, selfishness,

self-cemter, lust for honor,

 

 

and ambition but strangely,

the more we are trying to

be steadfast, the more often

we fall into the swamp of sin.

 

 

For example, when I decide

to live a good life by

forgiving people,

 

 

ironically,there are times

when I am put into the 

situation to hate

 someone.

 

 

After getting angry,

you come to regret saying,

 

 

“I lost the temptation

of Satan again.”

 

 

Therefore, we should

realize that we are weak

beings that cannot control

the fundamental sinful

nature in our hearts

 

 

without the help of 

the Holy Spirit.

 

 

We also confess,

like the Apostle Paul, that

we ourselves cannot

change ourselves.

 

 

'Apostle Paul', who had the

same nature as ours, honestly

confessed his feelings, which

were repeated countless

times, as follows. 

 

 

"I do not understand what I do.

For what I want to do I do

not do, but what I hate I do.

 

 

And if I do what I do not

want to do, I agree that

the law is good.

 

 

As it is, it is no longer

I myself who do it, but it

is sin living in me.

 

 

I know that nothing good

lives in me, that is,

in my sinful nature.

 

 

For I have the desire to do

what is good, but I

cannot carry it out.

 

 

For what I do is not the good

I want to do; no, the evil

I do not want to do-

-this I keep on doing.

 

 

Now if I do what I do not

want to do, it is no longer

I who do it, but it is sin

  livingin me that does it.

 

 

So I find this law at work:

When I want to do good,

 evil is right there with me.

 

 

For in my inner being

I delight in God's law;

 

 

 but I see another law

at work in the members

of my body, waging war

against the law of my mind

 

 

and making me a prisoner

of the law of sin at work

within my members.

 

 

 What a wretched man I am!

Who will rescue me from

this body of death?

 

 

Thanks be to God--through

Jesus Christ our Lord! So then,

I myself in my mind am a slave

to God's law, but in the sinful

nature a slave to the law of sin.

[Rom 7:15-25]

 

 

3. We should belong to Christ!

 

 

There are a lot of souls

in our community who are

falling away because of the

cravings of sinful man,

 

 

the lust of his eyes and

the boasting of what he has

and does while living

a religious life today.

 

 

Many believers, who 

accept Jesus as their savior

and are born again, lead

 

 

a right religious life

according to the law

of the Holy Spirit.

 

 

Unfortunately, however,

there are many times when

some of them go astray to 

lust after their sinful desires,

 

 

and eventually they

become controlled by the

sinful nature again.

 

 

To us who are in countless

conflicts between the sinful nature

and God, Paul finally gives the

correct answer he learned.

 

 

1. Therefore, there is now

no condemnation for those

who are in Christ Jesus,

 

 

2. because through

Christ Jesus the law of the

Spirit of life set me free

from the law of sin

and death.

 

 

6. The mind of sinful man

is death, but the mind

controlled by the Spirit

is life and peace;

 

 

13. For if you live according

to the sinful nature,

you will die;

 

 

but if by the Spirit you put 

to death the misdeeds 

of the body, you will live.

[Romans 8:1-14]

 

 

Ultimately, if we are in Christ,

all our conflicts will be resolved.

 

 

In order not to throw ourselves

into te sinful nature, we must

first find a way to live a life

of dedication.

 

 

In response to this,

the Apostle Paul shows us

three clear answers through

the verses from Romans

12:1 to 2.

 

 

"Therefore,

I urge you, brothers,

in view of God's mercy,

 

 

to offer your bodies

as living sacrifices, holy

and pleasing to God-

 

 

-this is your spiritual

act of worship.

 

 

Do not conform any longer

to the pattern of this world,

but be transformed by the

renewing of your mind.

 

 

Then you will be able to test

and approve what God's

will is his good, pleasing

and perfect will.

[Rom 12:1-2] 

 

 

[1] Offer your bodies with

holy living sacrifices as

spiritual act of worship.

 

 

[2] Do not conform any longer

to the pattern of this world,

but be transformed by the 

renewing of your mind. 

 

 

[3] Test and approve

what God's will is his good,

pleasing and perfect will.

 

 

But in order to have

discernment, we must

 meditate on the Word

 of God day and night

 

 

and we should always

be sensitive to the flow

of the world so as not to

turn aside to the left

or to the right.

 

 

Even while living in the world,

we must live a life as shrewd

as snakes and as innocent

as doves.

 

 

What should we do to keep

our minds and find peace?

 

 

[1] Above all else, we will

have to work hard to

create a 'balanced life'.

 

 

In other words, we must

harmonize our actions

with the Word of God

 

 

so that we can put them

into practice properly.

 

 

[2] In order to fully receive

God's good will, we must

maintain a clean heart.

 

 

We need the full guidance

and help of the Holy Spirit for it.

 

 

Then we will live a life that is

truly victorious while

living in the world.

 

 

[3] We must live a life of

submission to God with joy.

 

 

So let me constantly pray that

I may dwell in Christ, and

that Christ may dwell in me.

 

 

To do that, we should not

lose heart in the fight with

ourselves anymore,

 

 

but we should always

ask the Holy Spirit to be

united with Christ.

 

 

Therefore, we need to

pause for a moment on

the path of life that we have

been running diligently on

 

 

and think about it as follows.

-What motivates me to

carry my passion?

 

 

And ask yourself as follows.

 

 

"Where did my passion

come from?

 

 

Is the object of

passion me or God? 

 

 

Am I living in or out of Christ?

Do I belong to the world

or to God?

 

 

Am I living a self-centered life?

Or are you a God-centered person?"

 

 

If you keep asking yourself

questions above, then the Holy

Spirit will teach you willingly.

 

 

Furthermore, through

the Holy Spirit, you will know

where the root of your

aspirations really came from.

 

 

You will definitely come to

know your identity, present

address of your faith,

and who you belong to.

 

 

Ultimately, under the

law of the Holy Spirit,

when we realize the truth

and are given freedom,

 

 

we can endure and

overcome whatever

situation we are

going through.

 

 

And the power of temptation

from the world can no longer

suppress us, and the dual conflict

that the saints experience will

disappear immediately.

 

 

Hallelujah!

 

 

Prayer

 

 

Thank you Lord.

Like the Apostle Paul,

who learned the secret

of every situation in life,

 

 

please help me to gain

freedom in Christ 

 

 

and live a life

of complete submission

to God without any

more conflicts.

 

 

I desperately need to get rid

of desires and keep my heart,

and things that belong to Christ.

 

 

However, no matter

how much I want to get closer

to God in my heart, my body

belongs to the world,

 

 

so when temptation

approaches, I cannot help

going in a direction that

God does not want.

 

 

This cannot be done

by my strength and the powers

of the world, pleade make me

be controlled by the Spirit of God!

 

 

Loving Lord!

 

 

Although we were born 

and live in this world, 

we know that we 

belong to You, 

 

 

and that our citizenship

is in heaven.

 

 

What we, Christians,

have to do today is to repent

and cut down on the wrongly

planted desires that come 

into our hearts before

we know it.

 

 

So, grant us a spirit of 

understanding when we

listen to the word of 

God this evening.

 

 

Also, in the dual structure

of the world and the kingdom

of God, we pray that the

problems we are conflicting

with will disappear at once.

 

 

Open our spiritual eyes,

ears and closed hearts 

- to make us become

'Ephphatha'!

 

 

Therefore, may we

experience true freedom 

under the law of the Holy Spirit, 

and live a life of submission 

to God with thanksgiving only!

I pray in Jesus name.

 

Amen

 

 

- To Be Continue - 

 

2010/ 05/03

 

 

/ By Priscilla