Day 221 – Wednesday, November 5, 2025

One Year Journey Through the New Testament

James 4

Welcome to our journey through the New Testament!

Pride Promotes Strife

1 Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members? ² You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask. ³ You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures. ⁴ Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. ⁵ Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, “The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously”?

⁶ But He gives more grace. Therefore He says:

“God resists the proud,

But gives grace to the humble.” 

(James 4:1–6, NKJV)

Points to Ponder:

• In this passage, James addresses the causes of quarrels and fighting in the church. Selfish desires and pleasure become the goal, rather than pleasing God.
• Prayer becomes optional, and desires become the goal rather than the give of righteous desires. We do not have because we do not ask, and then we also do not receive because we ask wrongly.
• Leave the worldly desires for sinful lusts alone and seek the face of God. Prideful insistence on getting one’s own way leads to disappointment and loss.

Humility Cures Worldliness

⁷ Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. ⁸ Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. ⁹ Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. ¹⁰ Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up. 

(James 4:7–10, NKJV)

Points to Ponder:

• James then moves into a discussion of embracing submission to God. He instructs the readers to resist the devil and watch him run away. Then he tells them to draw near to God and God will draw near to them.
• He calls the readers to cleanse their ways and cleanse their hearts. Double-minded people, as he said before, are unstable and should focus on the right way of thinking and living. One’s humility is the key to being lifted up by the Lord.

Do Not Judge a Brother

¹¹ Do not speak evil of one another, brethren. He who speaks evil of a brother and judges his brother, speaks evil of the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. ¹² There is one Lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy. Who are you to judge another? 

(James 4:11–12, NKJV)

Points to Ponder:

• James’s final thoughts are of taming one’s evil proclivities. Don’t speak negatively of others. Do not judge another.
• There is only one lawgiver, and that is God. Don’t try to take His job.

Do Not Boast About Tomorrow

¹³ Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”; ¹⁴ whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. ¹⁵ Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.” ¹⁶ But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.

¹⁷ Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin. 

(James 4:13–17, NKJV)

Points to Ponder:

• Finally, James said not to be presumptuous about the future, but rather to submit even the future of your life to God. We do not know the future, but God does, so submit it all to Him.
• Do good, because it is all sinful to not do the good you know that you should.

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All Scriptures from New King James Version unless otherwise noted.

Join us this afternoon at 5:00 pm for a discussion of this chapter live online. Live@5 with Dr. Greg Sloop can be found on Facebook on the Dr. Greg Sloop page or on the Kannapolis Church of God Facebook page or Youtube page. Another blog will be posted each weekday at 6:00 a.m.