James 4:6 - Grace Is Needed Now More Than Ever.
James 4:6 (NIV) But he gives us more grace.
That is why Scripture says: "God opposes the
proud but gives grace to the humble."
COMMENTARY PEARL
To make it through the extraordinary
crisis of a pandemic and social unrest, you need to
treat yourself and other people the way God treats
you: with grace, mercy, and forgiveness.
Grace means that God always gives you
what you need, not what you deserve. If you got
what you deserved, you wouldn't even be here.
God gives us even more grace, as the Scripture
says, God is against the proud, but he gives
grace to the humble (James 4:6 NCV).
God opposes the prideful and arrogant
because they think they can do it all by themselves,
apart from God. They don't think they need God or
his grace. They approach life - even life in
turmoil - with the mindset, If it's to be, it's
up to me.
But when youre humble and admit that
you cant make it through this situation on
your own, God opens the floodgates of heaven. He
pours out his grace. And he expects those who have
been shown amazing grace to then show that grace
to others.
Everybodys having a tough time right
now. To maintain your emotional health, you need
to cut yourself some slack and do the same for
others. Everybody's feeling the stress, particularly
the millions of people who are out of work and
concerned about the future - maybe even about how they
will make it to the next day. Be kind. Be gentle.
Even the hardest people to love are fighting some
kind of battle right now and need your grace.
This will often take a lot of humility.
With tensions high, its easier right now to
return wrong for wrong, give a sharp answer,
withhold the benefit of the doubt, and speak before
listening.
Your neighbor needs your grace. Your
children need your grace. The person you disagree
with politically needs your grace. The world is
on the defense, and there is nothing that will
disarm people more than being given unexpected
grace.
God has given you great grace. Go and
extend that grace to others so they get a glimpse
of what Jesus has done for them. [Daily
Devotional by Rick Warren:
https://pastorrick.com/devotional/]
COMMENTARY
Grace and More Grace
Grace is not only God's undeserved favor
that provides forgiveness and mercy when we sin,
but it is also His power that enables us to do
whatever we need to do in life. But He only gives it
to those who are humble enough to admit that
they need help. We all need help, but a prideful,
independent attitude will cause us to keep trying to do
things in our own strength, instead of admitting
our inability and leaning entirely on God.
We should trade "trying" for "trusting."
Instead of struggling and being frustrated because
our efforts always fail to produce what we want,
we can ask for God's help at the beginning of,
and all the way through, each thing that we
undertake in life. We can learn to lean on God, and as
we do, it takes the pressure off of us. He can
do more in one moment than we can do in a
lifetime. Faith the size of a grain of mustard seed
can do more than all the willpower and
self-determination in the world (see Matthew 17:20).
Frustration always equals works of the
flesh, which happen when we try to do in our own
strength and effort what only God can do. We are
partners with God, and as such, He will assign things
for us to do, but we cannot complete what He
asks us to do without leaning entirely on Him,
let alone trying to do things He hasn't told us
to do. For example, it is not our job to change
our family and friends, but it is our
responsibility to pray for them and represent Christ in all
of our interaction with them. If you are ready
for help, humble yourself, admit that you can do
nothing without Jesus, and receive His wisdom,
strength, and help!
Apart from You, Jesus, I can do nothing.
I will fail completely without You, so I ask
for Your help, and I will give You the glory for
any success that I achieve. [My Time with God by
Joyce Meyer]
WHAT ABOUT PRIDE
The Lord keeps His distance from the
proud. We can relate; no one likes to be around
those who are full of themselves. Arrogance has a
way of alienating people. It alienates God, too.
In human relationships, we are repulsed
by extreme cases of arrogance and annoyed by
mild ones. We tolerate degrees of it in people
with other redeeming qualities but are impatient
toward those in whom it is conspicuous. We let it
slide with those who can benefit us but quickly
reject those who can do us no favors. And while we
spot pride easily in others, we hardly notice it
in ourselves. We have sliding scales of
judgment based on our personal preferences and
experiences. In other words, our perception of pride is
skewed.
God's isn't. He detects pride immediately
and precisely wherever it exists, and it always
pushes Him away. It doesn't cause His love to fail
- nothing can do that - but it certainly takes
the pleasure out of the relationship. He can't
honor those who elevate themselves; if He showered
His favor on them, they would receive it as
affirmation of their inflated self-esteem. He's too good
for that. That's why He lets the proud fall and
keeps His distance.
If you crave God's Presence, ruthlessly
eliminate pride. We'd prefer that God give us the
right attitude, but Scripture tells us to humble
ourselves (James 4:10; 1 Peter 5:6).When He can trust
you to remain humble - truly unassuming, not
falsely modest - He is freed to enjoy and bless the
relationship without fueling annoying attitudes. Good
things come to those who aren't ruined by them.
Lord, I know where I stand before You.
I'm not worthy of Your favor, but You give it
anyway. I accept it as a gift - a free gift based
entirely on Your goodness and not my merit. I know
You don't have to bless me, but I'm so glad You
do. And I'll remain forever grateful. [The One
Year Experiencing Gods Presence Devotional by
Chris Tiegreen re Psa. 138:6]
We often make plans without even
consulting God. Then we pray and ask God to bless our
plans, even though we didnt ask him to take part
in them. We just assume that our plans are his
will. Then, when our plans dont happen on the
timetable we want or they dont happen at all, we
get angry with God. Thats called pride, and
God hates pride.
There are probably a lot of people you
wouldnt want to oppose, but you really dont want
to be opposed by God. Theres no way youre
going to win that one. When youre prideful, the
Bible says youre in opposition to God at that
very moment. In fact, youre operating as an
enemy of God anytime you get full of pride.
Thats how serious it is. So, what does it mean to
surrender yourself and your plans to God?
Romans 6:13 says, Give yourselves to
God, as those who have been brought from death to
life, and surrender your whole being to him to be
used for righteous purposes (GNT).Surrendering
means saying, God, Im going with your plans
for my life, not my own. Ive got plans,
Ive got dreams, Ive got goals, Ive got
ambitions, but I know that you put me on this earth for
a purpose, and Im going to intentionally
choose your plan for my life instead of my own.
Surrendering to God is the best path to
success because instead of him becoming part of your
plan, he will make you a part of his plan. [Daily
Devotional by Rick Warren:
https://pastorrick.com/devotional/]
INSIGHT
Even though both men and women have
emotions, we process them very differently. Generally
speaking, women talk, while men act. Most of the time,
when a woman is upset about something, she'll
talk about it. (And talk and talk and talk) Most
guys don't usually do that. One article I read
said that men talk on average about 7,000 words a
day, while women say 20,000 words a day - with
gusts up to 30,000!
Sometimes when my wife needs to process
some difficult emotions, she'll invite one of her
woman friends over to talk (usually for hours).
That works well for her, but I have never in my
life had a dude call me and say, "Hey Craig,
could you come over to my house and sit with me
for half a day on my sofa and drink some tea so
we can talk? For most men, talking doesn't
feel like it accomplishes anything. Instead
"doing something does.
The problem most of us face, women as
well as men, is that we often allow our emotions
to determine our actions. When we let our
feelings call the shots, we're much more likely to
cave to temptation. We sin, which only makes us
feel worse and gives women more to talk about and
men more to do something about.
While being emotion-driven often leads us
to do the ungodly thing, being Spirit-led never
does. If you truly want to do what's right,
letting your emotions take over will rarely get you
the outcome you want.
Feel what you feel, but do what God wants
you to do.
Lord, give me the strength to be obedient
today no matter how I may feel when things go
wrong. [Daily Power by Craig Groeschel]
LINKS FOR FURTHER STUDY ON THIS TOPIC
James 4:6 - Proud or Humble Living?:
http://www.abible.com/devotions/2016/20160915-1637.html
Proverbs 3:34 - Live for God and enjoy His
graces:
http://www.abible.com/devotions/2005/20050113-1040.html
YOUR COMMENTS
If anyone has a paraphrase, commentary or
testimony on this passage of Scripture, either
personal or otherwise, I would be interested in
hearing from you. Thanks in advance and let's keep
uplifting Jesus that all might be drawn to Him. Fred
Gibbs
LINKS WORTH CHECKING OUT
Most Important Decision in Life:
http://www.youtube.com/embed/WGnEuGwvXqU?rel=0
A Man without Equal by Bill Bright:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NiVa7UoruIo
Seeking God Made Real:
http://vimeo.com/31489782
Prayer Made Real:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tc8VdMV26VE
Importance of Choice:
http://creationhealth.com/CREATION-Health/Choice [click on video]
Medical Seminar on Healthful Living by David
DeRose, MD, MPH:
https://www.smartlifestyletv.com/lifestart
LINKS FOR BIBLE STUDIES
Lifting Up Jesus Bible Studies:
http://www.liftingupjesus.net/
Amazing Facts Bible Studies:
http://www.amazingfacts.org/bible-study/bible-study-guides.aspx
Hope Awakens Bible Study Guides:
https://www.hopeawakens.study/lesson-header;id=2
Glow Tract Video Bible Studies:
http://www.bibleresearch.info/
LINKS FOR BIBLE PROPHECY SEMINARS
Unlocking Bible Prophecies by Cami Oetman of
Adventist World Radio (currently live):
https://bible.awr.org/the-warning/
Hope Awakens by John Bradshaw of IIW:
https://itiswritten.tv/programs/hope-awakens
The Last Day of Prophecy by Pastor Doug
Batchelor:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLmGvdtMCf1aJTiC59-lPtuUMEq_uEn0BK
Prophecies Decoded by Pastor Ron Clouzet:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1A435C5373550657
