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| JAMES LESSON #64 Bottom line is- desires are desires � we all have them. They aren�t your �enemy� � they aren�t �bad� � they become a problem when you step away from God in order to get them met. You don�t have, because you don�t ask the One who promised to meet those needs. Look at Romans 8:31-32. He gave you the ultimate of gifts. He is going to �Freely� give us all things. If you don�t have it�s because you haven�t asked�? I HAVE ASKED�then you�ve asked �amis.� �Amis� in the Greek means: �that which is evil-bad.� Look at II Corinthians 5:10. �Evil� in this verse means the same as �amis.� You�re asking badly. You�re asking to have your desires met your way, in your time, within the context of your plans rather than God�s. We�re supposed to live for God�s pleasure � not our own. We will constantly wrestle with �desire� issues. We�ll constantly find ourselves in moments where we�ll be called to �practice� proper response to those desires. The problem surfaces in our own personal estimation of what �WE� think it will take to make us happy � what �WE� think will satisfy us. The Word of God calls that �worldliness.� READ James 4:3 �Spend it� is also used in Luke 15:14. READ Luke 15:11-32 Recently I learned a whole new �thought� with this story. It began with the line, �Did you know I cannot do without Him � and He cannot do without me? Luke 15:11-32 is the story of the prodigal son. I have read it and re-read it- heard sermon after sermon on it � only to find repeated emphasis placed on all the crud that the prodigal gets himself into. My heart has repeatedly gone after the prodigal, perhaps because my own journey identifies with his? Nevertheless � my focus in this story has always rested on �the prodigal son.� In doing so, I missed the whole point of the story. �My son�.was lost � he was on the back side of the pasture � in the dark, drowning in a ditch � and we couldn�t find him anywhere..and now what? He�s found! Here�s the new thought: All of us identify with the kid in the story. For a second-be the parent. It�s not about what the son suffers � this whole thing is about what the Father loses. HE is the sufferer. HE is the loser. A kid is lost � a sheep has wandered � Where�s the loss? It�s the Father�s loss- It�s the Shepherd�s loss. A coin is lost. Where�s the loss? With the woman who lost it. When you look at this story � what brought the �loss� into position? Desire � and spending. This isn�t a story of �wise investment.� This isn�t a picture of �harnessed� passions. This is a story of a Father�s broken heart- a heart response to having given his son virtually everything � only to be pushed away � left out of the journey �as the son wastes what�s been given to him on selfish desire and self centered ambition. The Father didn�t grieve over the lost inheritance � He grieved over being excluded from the journey- having no input � no sharing in the walk - James says we ask so that we can spend it- God�s desire is that we ask so that we are �equipped� - to wisely invest all that He�s given, into the lives of others by allowing HIM to INCLUDE US in HIS JOURNEY. The motive in the asking? One is self gain and temporary self satisfaction � the other �a heart cry to �know Him more� � responded to with love that bears fruit and more fruit and more fruit � not only in my life � but in the lives of everyone I come into contact with. James says � you ask to spend. You ask �all about you.� Wrong. That�s worldliness. What�s �worldliness?� Is it having sex with multiple partners? Drinking yourself into stupors every Friday night? Swearing like crazy every time something ticks you off? No. Worldliness is wanting for self- getting for self-thinking of self-living for self-buying for self-spending for self-talking for self- selfselfselfself..that�s what �worldliness� is all about. What�s God�s Word have to say about that? Look at Ephesians 2:1-3 This is describing a lifestyle outside of God in which the person responds to whatever he sees, thinks and feels..for himself. I John 2:15-16 This is pointing out how �desire� kicks into position. What the eyes see � the eyes want. The pride of life? ME ME and more ME. I am number one � God, please ME. Think you�re unaffected? Millions upon millions of dollars are spent to develop commercials that reach you through your eyes and pull hard on the �pride of life� desire in you: they are targeted to guarantee your personal �satisfaction� � to �give you more� � to make you �better than� � and if you watch them long enough � you�ll respond by doing what? SPENDING. There�s a difference between spending and �investing.� Mark 4 Here he talks about many different soils. Only one soil points to true Christianity. The fourth soil. The fourth soil brings forth fruit. Notice that the �Word� falls on all four types of soil. All of these soils except for number one, represent �Christians.� READ Mark 4:18-19 What �chokes out� the Word? Worries of the world � (self � walking in independence: you don�t �worry� if you�re �depending�) � deceitfulness of riches (self sufficiency � I can do it by myself..I�m secure) and �desires� for other things�sometimes very good things: extra curricular activities, social functions, etc � which make me �feel like I am somebody� � but replace time alone with God�s heart. In these areas of �desire� you see MEMEMEMEME �trying to hang onto position and control in my own life in order to �appear� ok �and/or above what�s happening around me. Wrong. Luke 9:23-25 When I read this early on in life I thought I was supposed to live in denial � refuse anything that made me feel good..and walk in misery..and THAT, would make me holy. Wrong. That�s not what this is saying. This is saying � lay down your control position with the �desire� department of your life and give those desires to Me. Not only give them to Me..but give Me permission to unlock them and give them back to you in MY time, in MY way, and for MY purpose and your good. TOUGH CALL � that�s high demand initially � low demand and great reward, when acted on in obedience. Question is � what kind of journey do you want? You do choose.. Luke 12:22-31 This is the �cure� for your �desires� �Seek His kingdom and these things shall be added to you � Huh? What�s the cure? Take your desires to Jesus and ask Him to fulfill them in His way, in His time, and for His purpose: then take your hands off your journey, and give Him authority over it. Tough call � especially when someone in your life is making you absolutely miserable and God asks you to stand still and keep your mouth shut. Submission to authority in that picture requires more than you can give � and THAT�S where you latch on to the �joint effort opportunity.� Psalm 84:11 This is a promise. Underline it. For those who walk how? Connected to Him � Dependent upon Him � Trusting His heart- It doesn�t say, For those who walk in �independence� �Ironically �independence� means �freedom� �in connection to God, it brings the exact opposite: total bondage. He withholds nothing..NOTHING � from those who depend on Him. That doesn�t mean He�ll give you what you want � it means He�ll satisfy your heart with more than what you ever imagined you needed � plus a little extra just to remind you that He�s God. If you don�t have it- it�s because He doesn�t think it would be good for you and hasn�t given it to you � stand under His authority and don�t step out from under it in order to get what He�s not giving. James 4:1-4 Our desires are not �enemies� unless we respond to them in self indulgence. The three areas that create problems for us are �desires,� �the enemy,� and the �world.� The word �friendship� in verse 4 in the Greek is �phileo� � and it means �to love- to have an affection for.� Ok- so he�s saying � don�t have an affection for the world � yeah right! Like how am I supposed to not �want?� And what exactly IS having an �affection for the world?� We�re going to take a look at that one tomorrow. Today we�ve really looked at the �desire� department � and will continue to do so in another direction. When you consider what God�s given to you � the question that comes up is � what are you doing with it? Are you �spending� it or �investing it?� We�ll go there more tomorrow. I want to close with a story by Don Wildmon that illustrates well what James is saying: Once the King of a large kingdom was growing old. He decided that it was time to choose an heir from among his four sons, so he called them in one at a time to discuss the inheritance of his kingdom. When the first son entered the Kings court the King said, �My son, I am very old and will not live much longer. I wish to entrust my kingdom to the son best suited to receive it. Tell me, if I leave my kingdom to you what will you give to the kingdom?� The son replied: I am a man of great wealth. If you leave me your kingdom I will give it all my wealth and it will be the richest most developed kingdom in the world. �Thank you son,� � and the King dismissed the son. When the second son entered, the King said, �My son, I�m very old and will not live much longer. I wish to entrust my kingdom to the son best suited to receive it. Tell me, if I leave my kingdom to you, what will you give to the kingdom? The son replied, �I am a man of great knowledge, training and intelligence.� If you leave me your kingdom I will pour into it everything I�ve learned and it will be the educational center of the world. �Thank you son,� the King said, and he dismissed the son. When the third son entered, the King spoke to him. �My son, I am very old and will not live much longer. I wish to entrust my kingdom to the son best suited to receive it. Tell me, if I leave my kingdom to you what will you give to the kingdom? The son replied, �I am a man of great physical strength. If you leave me your kingdom I will give it all of my strength and it will carry the most highly skilled militia in the world.� �Thank you my son,� the King said as he dismissed the son. The fourth son entered and was greeted by the King in the same fashion as the other three. �My son, I�m very old and will not live much longer. I wish to entrust my kingdom to the son best suited to receive it. Tell me, if I leave my kingdom to you what will you give to the kingdom?" This son wasn�t rich � wasn�t smart- wasn�t strong. He replied, �My father, you know that my brothers are much richer, smarter and stronger than I. While they have spent years gaining these attributes, I have spent my time among the people in your kingdom. I have spent time with the sick, tending to their wounds. I have held them when they�ve hurt. I know their hearts and I�ve learned to love them. The only thing I could bring to the kingdom would be the love I carry for the people. I know that my brothers have more to offer than I do, therefore I will not be disappointed in not being named your heir. I will simply go on doing what I have always done..serving the people. When the king died the people anxiously awaited the news as to their new ruler. The one offered the crown, was the son who held their hearts � --because he�d released his own. As you go into your day � let go of �ME ME ME� � and you�ll find the �Me� that God�s designed. Loving you, �copyright 2001 Jim and Robin Hibschman |
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