James 4:1-7 (NRSV)
God gives grace to the humble
Those conflicts and disputes among you, where do they come from? Do they not come from your cravings that are at war within you? You want something and do not have it; so you commit murder. And you covet something and cannot obtain it; so you engage in disputes and conflicts. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, in order to spend what you get on your pleasures. Adulterers! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. Or do you suppose that it is for nothing that the scripture says, "God yearns jealously for the spirit that he has made to dwell in us"? But he gives all the more grace; therefore it says,
"God opposes the proud,
but gives grace to the humble."
Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
Reflection
God gives grace to the humble
Those conflicts and disputes among you, where do they come from? Do they not come from your cravings that are at war within you? You want something and do not have it; so you commit murder. And you covet something and cannot obtain it; so you engage in disputes and conflicts. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, in order to spend what you get on your pleasures. Adulterers! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. Or do you suppose that it is for nothing that the scripture says, "God yearns jealously for the spirit that he has made to dwell in us"? But he gives all the more grace; therefore it says,
"God opposes the proud,
but gives grace to the humble."
Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
Reflection
It's my own desires and wants that get in my way. It's all these things that I want to control, so that I get the outcome that I planned. But it never works out this way. Something always gets in the way of what I want or how I want it. Something always interferes with me. It makes me so mad! And it's usually the wants and needs of someone else trying to get what they have decided they want or need. So we argue, we fight. I become proud and so do you. We both need to get out of the way of one another. We both need to "get over" ourselves.
What we don't understand is that life is not about my wants and desires, or even about your wants and desires. Life is about what God desires. And God desires a humble spirit. God desires mercy and compassion and love. God desires our love first for God and then for our neighbor. We must submit ourselves to God. We are the sacrifice that God desires; our lives, our love, our will and our way. God's love for each one of us is so deep that God wants us! God wants and desires us. So submit yourself to God. Give God all your love and devotion. And watch what God will make of you!
Prayer
Lord, I'm the sacrifice, take my will and my way and accept my love...today...tomorrow and forever. --- Amen
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