Terry Storch

Writing about life, leadership, faith, and anything else I find interesting.

James 4:13-17 - Kill our Pride

 

James 4:13-17 - Kill our Pride

James closes out chapter four with a warning about boasting. Reading this chapter headline, Boasting About Tomorrow, just drives home the reality that God despises pride. There are countless verse all through the Old and New Testament, and the Profit Isaiah said this;

“For the Lord of Heaven’s Armies has a day of reckoning. He will punish the proud and mighty and bring down everything that is exalted.” - ‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭2:12‬ ‭NLT‬‬

If a day of reckoning and the mighty Lord bringing down everything that is exalted isn’t enough, here is a Proverb about pride.

“The Lord detests the proud; they will surely be punished.” - ‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭16:5‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Then the Apostle Paul brings it home contrasting love and pride. 

“Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud” - ‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭13:4‬ ‭NLT‬‬

This hits home for me, and such an area I draw deep awareness of because of the fact I am a Prideaholic. I struggle with pride, a significant area of weakness growing up and all through my young years. Pride carried well into my marriage and well into ministry and has nearly taken me out of ministry a hand full of times. God has continued to refine me and break me in this area to a place I now call as a recovering prideaholic...but total transformation is yet to happen. There are still issues and character flaws in me. 

God loves me unconditionally, but He hates my pride. James is taking us to a place in this text I believe we all need to pay close attention to. This is a place where we might not naturally connect pride and boasting with. Let us get into the text. 

Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.

Instead, you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.

As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.

‭‭James‬ ‭4:13-17‬ ‭ESV‬‬

To be honest, I read the opening to that and can often find myself thinking or saying something very similar. Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit. How about you, ever think about what you are going to do today, or tomorrow and make a plan and put together a spreadsheet or a project plan? But the second section I separated says Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills...”  Here is the difference, if the Lord wills. The pride and the boasting and arrogance comes from the first statement that we think we are in control. In our human minds and lives, we live we believe we are in control of the day we choose, where we will go, how long we will be gone, how it will play out. Pride takes all this on and places the control on ourselves. 

There is a vast idea and word called sovereignty. The sovereignty of God and it is stated in this section. If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that. The simple definition of the sovereignty of God is that God is in control of ALL THINGS. There is nothing God does not control and is not in charge of. 

“The Lord has established his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom rules overall.” - ‭‭Psalm‬ ‭103:19‬ ‭ESV‬‬

James is drawing out the fact that when we act like we are in control, that when we make our plans and make statements of what we are going to do when we are going to do it and what the results look like we are taking God off the throne in the heavens and putting ourselves on that throne. This is boasting, arrogant, and prideful. James even tells us that All such boasting is evil.

I feel the weight of this passage, not sure about you. I like to be in control, or at least not feel like I am being controlled. This causes tension and challenges, and trying to reconcile that control issue with the sovereignty of God leads to a head-on collision. If the Lord wills is a posture, we must bring into our lives, and apply to our day. Oh man, I do not have this figured out, I am still being refined. Lord, help me see as you see and do as you desire me to do. Father trust and control go hand in hand. May I live my life today, and daily in a posture of trust, submitting to your will and aligning my plans with yours. Amen. 

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John 20 - The Gospel

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In this scene, I can not imagine how the disciples felt. John describes them as overjoyed...but those words just fall short of what I can imagine this moment was like.

John 19 - The Magnitude of the Cross

John 19 - The Magnitude of the Cross

The day of Jesus' crucifixion fulfilled 28 Old Testament prophecies. Scripture was fulfilled! Beyond that, trying to wrap my mind around what happened this day, on the cross, and fully grabbing the magnitude of the cross is mind-boggling.

Sure, we can dumb this down or simplify it to a place where I just don’t believe it is anywhere near accurate. We can get into penal substitution and argue over was God full of love or was God full of wrath and hate that he killed his son. To me, John 3:16 is pretty clear on the love part.

John 18 - Jesus levels an army

John 18 - Jesus levels an army

In John 18, we come to the great betrayal. Judas came with the soldiers, officials, and chief priest and Pharisees. We know the scene. But this morning, I saw something I don’t remember reading and surly don’t remember learning about.

“So Judas came to the garden, guiding a detachment of soldiers and some officials from the chief priests and the Pharisees. They were carrying torches, lanterns and weapons. Jesus, knowing all that was going to happen to him, went out and asked them, “Who is it you want?” “Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied. “I am he,” Jesus said. (And Judas the traitor was standing there with them.) When Jesus said, “I am he,” they drew back and fell to the ground.” - ‭‭John‬ ‭18:3-6‬ ‭NIV‬‬

John 17 - The Lords Prayer

John 17 - The Lords Prayer

John 17 is Jesus looking heavenward and praying to God the Father. So much beauty and mystery in this prayer. One thing that jumps out to me is that Jesus, fully God, and fully man prayed. Jesus is God fully. Why did he need to pray, He was One with the Father, He was God...and yet he prayed. This is so powerful;

“And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.” - ‭‭John‬ ‭17:5‬ ‭NIV‬‬

John 16 - What does it take to believe?

John 16 - What does it take to believe?

By the end of John 16, Jesus had done countless miracles, preached some amazing sermons, transformed so many lives, and developed a close and personal relationship with his disciples. So, when reading these verses, I am just utterly confused on so many levels.

“I came from the Father and entered the world; now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father.” Then Jesus’ disciples said, “Now you are speaking clearly and without figures of speech. Now we can see that you know all things and that you do not even need to have anyone ask you questions. This makes us believe that you came from God.” “Do you now believe?” Jesus replied.” - ‭‭John‬ ‭16:28-31‬ ‭NIV‬‬

John 16 - Undervaluing God in Spirit

John 16 - Undervaluing God in Spirit

Jesus’ time on earth is quickly coming to a close, and he finishes up his last sermon or teaching to his disciples as they walk to Gethsemane. This final teaching was a heavy one that no doubt left his disciples with a heavy heart. Jesus said it this way;

“...None of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ Rather, you are filled with grief because I have said these things.” - ‭‭John‬ ‭16:5-6‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Jesus goes on to say;

John 15 - Constant Growth

John 15 - Constant Growth

We were built for growth, constant growth. From birth, all the way until our death, we were designed by God for constant growth. The problem is, we often can find ourselves stuck in a belief, a phase, or a part of life where we stop growing.

One of the most brilliant investors embodies this understanding. Charlie Munger, at 96 years old, is still learning and growing as a person. I love this quote:

“Knowing what you don’t know is more useful than being brilliant.”
- Charlie Munger

John 14 - The Gift of Peace

John 14 - The Gift of Peace

John 14 opens with Jesus, saying, Don’t let your hearts be troubled. And the chapter closed down with Jesus saying Don’t be troubled or afraid.

A message that needs to resonate with our spirit and our inner self. This was such a good reminder, reading through John 14 over and over. This passage lifted off the screen.

“But when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative—that is, the Holy Spirit—he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you. “I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart…

John 14 - Troubled Hearts

John 14 - Troubled Hearts

The world today seems so volatile and chaotic. Everywhere you look, whatever we read and see on TV just seems to be troubling. Last night, I noticed my lovely wife Tweeted this;

“I can’t be the only one who watches the news and is simply embarrassed right now, right? (Dear Jesus, we tap out. Come on back.)”

I find this first humorous, but then I also find it sad. It’s true, watching the news as a Christ-follower is pretty embarrassing. In John 14, we see Jesus…

John 13 - Unselfish Concern

John 13 - Unselfish Concern

Summarizing John, chapter 13, looks like this. The Lords Supper takes place. Jesus washes the disciple's feet. Jesus calls out Judas, and Satan enters him. Night comes, Judas leaves, and Jesus says he must go, and where I am going, you can not come. To cap it all off, Jesus also calls out Simon Peter and tells him that he will deny and completely disown Jesus three times. Whoa, a really full chapter, and historical day.

Nestled in the wrap up of the day is the parting message Jesus leaves his disciples, a message Jesus is sharing with us right now.

 
thoughtsTerry Storch