Friday, November 4, 2011

v.17  “Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.”

                The word “good” here in context of the rest of the paragraph, speaks to the idea that they should have done the good thing of considering and consulting God in thier plans.    What they were planning to do (buy, sell, get gain, invest, etc) wasn’t necessarily inherantly wrong.  What was sin was their lack of consideration to what God desired for their future.

Application:   What are the “good” things we ought to do to consider God as our plans?

 1.  Pray.– Prayer is the most fundamental ways we communicate to God and invite Him into our lives.  It is how we can begin to recognize who we really are in relationship to God.

 2.  Study God’s Word.– Chances are, God has already spoke about principles and values that really should be a part of your plans.  Think about that!  God has given us His wisdom about our future and what we will be facing.  We would be foolish to skip this step when we think about our future.

3.  Consult Godly People in your life.–  God has put people in your life that can help you make wise decisions. Look for people who have made great decisions and considered God in their future.  Many times they have been where you are.  They have traveled down the road that you are about to travel.  God has placed people in your life that can help you consider Him in your plans.  This may be a parent, a pastor, a teacher or some other authority in your life.  It may also  be a good friend or family member. CAREFUL- People are not perfect, and you certainly can get poor advice.  If you choose carefully who you get counsel from this could be something God uses to get You where He wants you to be.

Can you think of any other ways to consider God in your plans?

Thursday, November 3, 2011

“But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil.”  James 4:16

God knows that when we don’t ask these questions to Him as we plan that our tendency will be toward pride, arrogance, and eventually sinful actions.  He knows that as we act on our plans that He was not a part of, He will be left out.

What is ironic about that scenario is that He is the one who knows and is in control of the future.  All of our boasting and plans really are in vain when we leave Him out.

Application:  Here is a great prayer for today:  “God, I know it would be silly for me to live without a plan, but it would be even more tragic if I lived with a plan that you weren’t a part of.  God I wan tto do only what you would have me to do today.  Please help me to do what You want.  I’m inviting you into my plans today.  Amen.”

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

 “For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.”  James 4:15

James is not promoting the ritualistic receitation of this phrase every time a future tense is used in our conversation.  He’s not saying that every time we say something that speaks about something in the future we should insert this phrase.  “Megan, what do you want for dinner?”  She replies, “If the Lord wills, we should eat pizza.”  That’s not the point of this verse when we consider the context.

Really James is making the argument that before we make our plans, as we make our plans and after we make our plans God Himself must be consulted.  We must ask Him what He would want us to do.  We must ask for wisdom.  We should look to scripture to see what He says about our future.

Application:  Here are some great questions that you should ask when you are making plans:

• God, what should I do? (Action)
• God, when should I do it? (Timing)
• God, how long should I do it? (Duration)
• God, how should I do it? (Method, Values)
• God where should I go? (Location)
• God, with who should I do this? (Association)
• God, what should my goals be? (Purpose)

Are these questions, and questions like them a part of your planning?

When was the last time you prayed some of thesevkinds of questions?  Why not start to ask them today?

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

“Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.”  James 4:14

“Whereas you know not what shall be on the morrow”-  This is a statement of the obvious.  No matter how much we plan, we can not know ahead of time everything that will actually happen.  James’ readers have begun to think at to plan as those who believe that they are fully knowledgeable and in control of the future.

“For what is your life…vapour…vanishes away”-  Like a puff of smoke, or our breath that we can see on a cold day, our life is short.  Our time on this earth is not an infinite resource.  These people have presumed that because they have planned their future that it would happen the way they planned.  James is saying that if their plans haven’t included God and what He wants, their life can be wasted on thier plans with know thought of God.

Here is the point:

We don’t have the time to make plans that don’t consider what God wants.

To see this theme further check out Job 7:6-7, and Psalm 39:5

Application: 

As you make plans, formally or informally, take this into consideration- Although it may seem like you have all the time in the world, you don’t really know for sure.  We have no idea what our future holds.  Because that is true, we must make sure to consider the One who really knows and controls what our future looks like.