Friday – February 19, 2016
We are back to Friday once again, seemingly very quickly. Are we prepared to consume God’s Word? Let me remind us all to pray for the Church, not the buildings but the people who gather in those buildings and the likely larger group of people who do not gather in one of these buildings. The Church pictured is the Presbyterian Church located in Bellevue, Nebraska. (From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)
Now, let us return to our study of Spiritual Warfare with a review of our primary text from the Book of Colossians and then we will move on to our secondary text. This Spiritual Warfare, this “great conflict” is a faith fight, it is about ideas and whose ideas we choose to believe, speak, and do.
Colossians 2:1 (KJV)
1 For I would that ye knew what great conflict I have for you, and for them at Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh;
Now back to our secondary text ending the week focused on verses four and five.
James 4:4-5 (KJV)
4 Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.
5 Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy?
As we finish our discussion and consideration of verse four for now concerning adultery against God, causing ourselves to literally be opposed to Him, making Him our enemy let us consider that it is because we are of two minds. Remember this is written to Christians, those who have accepted Jesus as Lord, those who say God is their Heavenly Father and even that they are filled with the Holy Spirit yet here we find them, ourselves in adultery concerning our relationship with God. In this context of our being of two minds or torn between two ideas let us see how the Lord wants us to proceed.
James 1:5-8 (KJV)
5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
6 But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.
7 For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.
8 A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.
He says come to Me and I will give you wisdom concerning the matter, concerning your desires or lusts. When it is for us, solely for our flesh it is lust and will have the reward of the world which is stealing, killing, and destroying. But when it is part of our mission in the earth as sons and ambassadors for the Kingdom it will be life and radiate life all around us. When we come to God to see what His will is we must come in faith, which is believing without question, without doubt, that He will give us the answer which will be the very best for our lives and those we serve on His behalf around about us. So long as we are of two minds, trying to mix two ideas, we will not get anything from the Lord. We must totally discard the ideas of the world and totally receive and believe the ideas of the Lord. Remember we are not asking for the wisdom of the world (Satan) which is designed to fail at some point but the wisdom of God which will never fail. When we choose to receive His wisdom, make it our own, speak it, and act upon it we will receive of Him and it will be of eternal significance. This Scripture from the first chapter of James tells us that if we are of two minds, mixing good and evil, we will be unstable in all our ways. This is significant because it is not just affecting the area in question but all of our lives. Remember what Jesus and the Apostle Paul had to say about a little leaven.
Luke 13:21 (KJV)
21 It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.
Galatians 5:9 (ESV)
9 A little leaven leavens the whole lump.
One small seed of sin of doubt will make the whole person dark given time. We must ask the Lord to give us wisdom showing us what is darkness in us so that we may repent and walk in the light instead of darkness. That will move us from instability to stability. I will pick up with James 4:5 on Monday. There is no such thing as stability in the world, it is but a facade a mirage.
By Pastor David R. Wood
