UBF Daily Bread

SUBMIT YOURSELVES TO GOD

Passage: James 4:1~10

Key verse: 7

Submit Yourselves to God

4 What causes fights and quarrels^(A) among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle^(B) within you? ²You desire but do not have, so you kill.^(C) You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. ³When you ask, you do not receive,^(D) because you ask with wrong motives,^(E) that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.

⁴You adulterous^(F) people,^[a] don’t you know that friendship with the world^(G) means enmity against God?^(H) Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.^(I) ⁵Or do you think Scripture says without reason that he jealously longs for the spirit he has caused to dwell in us^[b]?^(J) ⁶But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says:

“God opposes the proud
but shows favor to the humble.”^[c]^(K)

⁷Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil,^(L) and he will flee from you. ⁸Come near to God and he will come near to you.^(M) Wash your hands,^(N) you sinners, and purify your hearts,^(O) you double-minded.^(P) ⁹Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom.^(Q) ¹⁰Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.^(R)

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Footnotes

James 4:4 An allusion to covenant unfaithfulness; see Hosea 3:1.
James 4:5 Or that the spirit he caused to dwell in us envies intensely; or that the Spirit he caused to dwell in us longs jealously
James 4:6 Prov. 3:34

People fight and quarrel. It is a fact of life. But why does it happen? We fight and quarrel because we think we are right and the other person is wrong. But in truth, we fight and quarrel because of evil desires that are within us. Our evil, covetous desires cause us to envy, quarrel and even kill each other. Evil desires cause the hoarding of wealth. We want because we do not come to God and seek him. But when we do come to God and ask we must have right motives, or we will not receive. Wrong motives mean friendship with the world. If we want to spend what we have on ourselves, that is wrong motives. Right motives mean friendship with God. It is using our wealth for Godly means.

Even though we do not seek God, he is gracious to us. He opposes the proud but shows favor to those who humble themselves. So, what should we do? We should submit to God and not to the devil. When we submit to God, he will come near to us and lift us up and show us his grace.

Prayer: Father, thank you for your grace. Help me to repent my selfish desires and humble myself and seek you wholeheartedly.

One Word: Submit yourself to God