Women's Bible Study - February 7th, 2024 - James 3
First B Jackson
2024-02-07

Automatically transcribed. Where this and the recording disagree, the recording is the record.

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Good morning. Let's get started, Lovely ladies. Good morning, everyone. I'm so glad you're here. I'm just gonna open us in prayer.

Father, we thank you for this gathering, Lord. Thank you for all that you're doing. We just we wanna bless you this morning. We wanna love you this morning. We wanna see you.

We wanna feel you this morning. Thank you that your word says that where two or more are gathered, you're in our midst. You're among us. You also say that there's nothing like Jesus has done everything on the cross so we can come boldly before your throne. So we come boldly before you, father.

We just set our eyes on Jesus. We just see him right now. As we meditate and worship. We just think about him seated at the right hand of the father in glory and on the throne with everything in his hands. Sovereign lord, king of kings.

A thousand generations

If you've been forgiven.

And if you've been forgiven. And if you've been redeemed, sing the song forever to the lamb. If you are in freedom, and if you bear his name, sing the song forever to the lamb. We'll sing the song forever and amen. Oh, and the angels and the angels cry.

Oh, holy. A

Your name is the highest. Thank you, father. Thank you for your son, Jesus. We ask for your wisdom today, Lord. We ask for your leadership today.

Thank you for Deborah. We ask that you would anoint her words. You would anoint her tongue, Jesus, that even on our hearts, Lord, that we would feel the Holy Spirit just speaking. Thank you for your son that gives us full access to all wisdom, all goodness, all love, all patience, all kindness, kindness, all all joy. Joy.

We bless your name this morning, Jesus. Amen.

Amen. Thank you, Shar. Thank you. Wow. I'm really impressed you ladies are here today.

Those roads are crazy where I'm from. Before we jump into James, I just wanted to thank you because several of you reached out to me and shared that you were praying for my friend Joan. I don't know if you were here a couple weeks ago. I shared about my friend who has tongue cancer, and the surgeon really wanted to cut her entire tongue off because the cancer was so bad. Her and her husband prayed about it, and they said, let's not do that yet.

Just take what you think you need to take. And so many people were praying for Joan that last week, the pathology report came back and the doctor said to her and her husband Steve, I don't know how to explain this. It's a complete miracle. Not only do we not have to take any more of your tongue, but your margins are so clean you don't even have to go through chemo or radiation. So we have a very gracious God.

But you know the thing that kind of blew me away about Joan? She can't talk yet. She's gonna have to go to speech therapy to talk again. But she texted me and she said because I was like, God is so good and he is so faithful. And she said, Deborah, even if I lost my tongue, God is so good and so faithful.

So just her whole attitude through this whole thing has been such a powerful witness to me. And I would just also like to ask you, since we're in a role here, to pray for one of our very own Mary Bergeron. I know a lot of you know Mary, and her husband was found unconscious on their kitchen floor. He was taken immediately to Salt Lake where he remained unconscious for several days and, been praying for Mary and Alan. And today, Alan, is on campus in Salt Lake but out of the hospital.

He's talking, he's walking, he's playing his trumpet. And so please continue to pray for Alan's continued healing because he he has a little ways to go, but it's amazing what's been happening. So I just feel like God's tapping us on the shoulders saying, come to me, and let me show you how I can answer your prayers. And he is faithful. He will answer.

So just studying James, this week was James chapter three. What a chapter. The tongue is so amazing with Joan and everything. The tongue just keeps coming up and coming up. And this was this was just a meaty little chapter.

I can't wait to dive in with you because I love where the Lord led me. And I don't think it's really any surprise. I I never understood until we started studying James how important James is, and it's no surprise that this was the first letter the Holy Spirit chose to write to his church, these early believers. Because are you seeing how practical James is? James is saying if you claim your faith in Jesus and your trust in Jesus and you're not walking the walk, something's up guys, something is really wrong.

In fact, James just comes right on and says, at that point your faith is dead. And I know none of us want a dead faith, that's why we're here this morning. So we really wanna get what James is saying to us. And one of his overarching themes in the book of James is exactly what Paul tells us. If we wanna change, if we wanna get into this sync with our Holy Spirit, if we want this deep abiding relationship, it starts up here with our thinking, and our thinking informs what our hearts know, and what our hearts know comes out of us.

And James is like, it's gonna come out in your words. So you wanna know what you really believe? Take a step back and consider your words and what you're saying. And I think that today in our country, like never before, we are seeing the power of the tongue and the power of words. For the first time in American history, consider this, three main institutions: our media, mainstream media, our educational system, and our entertainment industry are all drilling down on a narrative that for the first time is in direct conflict with us, that absolutely opposes everything this says right from the beginning in Genesis.

God said, let us make them male and female. Everything in here is being questioned, and everything in here is coming at us in an opposing voice. And where does that voice come from? Who is the father of lies? We know who the father of lies is.

And I was thinking about this, and I was thinking, okay, consider media. Media promotes this cancel culture mentality. Now, when I was raised, my daddy taught me if someone disagrees with you, you still love them because we can agree to disagree, but your responsibility is to come up with a better argument and maybe win them over to your side. That is not what cancel culture teaches. Cancel culture teaches if you disagree with the political narrative, with the mainstream media narrative, they don't even try to suppress you, they just cancel you.

You have no voice. You have no voice. I have talked to millennials that I am just like, woah. Okay. We can agree to disagree, and they're like, no, we can't.

You can't say that. Millennials have said that to me. And where are they getting that? They're getting that from our educational system because the educational system teaches them that the other side doesn't have a voice. Now, where does this come from?

Does this come from the word of God? Love your neighbor, listen to your neighbor, be patient with your neighbor? No. This comes out of a page of Marxism, and this is what is taught in our universities and college, and it's filtering into our younger ages too. You know what the number one thing Marxist teaches our kids?

That there are two groups of people. There's the oppressor, which is usually the white man or white woman, and there's the oppressed. And you don't love one another. You are in conflict with one another. This is what our kids are taught, the oppressor and the oppressed.

And this gives a victim mentality that doesn't lead us to love. Consider the entertainment industry. Have you noticed how hard it is to watch anything that doesn't just make you cringe? Because their whole narrative is, if it feels good, you should definitely do it. If you want it, then you should have it.

As opposed to God saying, maybe if you want it, you should exhibit a little self control and not have it. Our entertainment industry promotes lust, like material lust. I mean, when you think of one of the most popular money making movies, Gordon Gekko, what was his main thing? Greed is good. Is greed good?

No. It leads to destruction, it leads to harm. And what about sexual lust? Nobody has self control in the entertainment industry. If it feels good, do it and do it with whomever, whenever.

So this lying narrative is having an influence on our culture, and I think this chapter is so important for us today. You've heard this saying, all that is required for evil to triumph is for good men and women to do and say nothing. And I think we are in this position we're in in America, in our world, because the good people used to be the church, us. We are the church. And the churches have gone silent and they have not spoken out against the evils and the atrocity in our country that is happening, in the entertainment industry, in government, in our schools, but we're waking up.

I want you to be encouraged. There are good things happening. And you know what Peter says? This is your job according to first Peter chapter two. He says, you are chosen by God.

If you're here today, God has chosen you. You are chosen for a high calling. You are called to be God's instrument to do his work and to speak out for him. That's our job, to tell others the difference he's made. And then Peter goes on in verse 11, this is the message translation.

He says, friends, friends, this world is not your home. So don't get so cozy in it. And I love what this says next. Don't indulge your ego at the expense of your soul. What is Peter saying there?

Why don't we speak out? Because we don't like it when people don't like us. We want them to like us. That feeds my ego. But Peter's like, Are you kidding?

At the expense of your soul? At the expense of what you know is right and true, you're not going to speak out? Peter says, If you will speak out, they will be won over to God's side. And I love what the message says, and they'll be there with you to join in that great celebration when he returns because he's coming back. He is coming back, and if he doesn't come back, then you and I are dying and we're going to him.

So either way, we're face to face with him. So I think it's an amazing privilege that God gives us this tongue. That's why I told Jim, no. You your job is soul shepherding. You speak life into people, the Holy Spirit life.

You're not losing your tongue. God has a plan for you, and God has a plan for all of us. And it's an amazing privilege to speak life and truth into our families, into our community, and into our country. Now is the time to do this, so let's dive into this chapter. James starts off in verse two.

He just sets the scene right up front. He's like, we all stumble in many ways when it comes to this tongue of ours. And he says, if anyone does not stumble in what they say, they are perfect. And guess what? There are no perfect people here.

You and I are gonna say things that we're like, oh, wish I could take that back. Why did I say that? And I love how James tees up this chapter with chapter two about mercy. I think he's trying to tell us something. He's like, look, you show other people mercy when they mess up.

You know, people just get tired. We're hormonal. We say things we don't mean and show them mercy. Forgive them. Give them a little space to screw up because you and I are gonna screw up too.

And you know what? People will say to me, oh, well, you know, you're a Christian. Like I can I'm never allowed to screw up. And this is what I say, this book never says I have to be perfect. In fact, this book says I'm a sinner.

But this book tells me about a perfect savior who woos me to him and who says, come and practice my ways and reflect me more and more. That's why we're here. We wanna practice the ways of Jesus. We wanna learn his better ways and walk in his path. James goes on to say, this little tongue will direct your life.

He says, it is so powerful that a little bit in the mouth of a huge animal like a horse directs where that horse is going. And in verse four, he says, take a huge ship as an example. Although ships are very large and they can be driven by very strong winds, strong winds will beat up on them, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants it to go. James is saying even though a ship may get in a storm, a ship may have strong winds blowing against it, that rudder still directs that ship, and our tongue directs the future of our life. One of the worst nautical accidents in Greece's history happened in 2000, September 2000.

The captain of the Greek ferry, Express Samnia, said he wasn't feeling well and took a nap before his vessel struck rocks only two miles off the coast. A Greek newspaper said the captain told investigators that when he took a nap, he put his ship on autopilot, trusting the autopilot to steer the ship. The captain was charged with murder, neglect of duty and violation of maritime procedures. Divers pulled bodies from the Aegean waters and several bodies were found trapped in the wreckage of the ship. There were 80 some victims who died that day, desperately trying to escape.

Divers and bodies were found in the wreckage that had been caught by their life jackets. Other bodies were found floating in the remote coves that dot the Holiday Island. The captain made all kinds of excuses during the trial. But at the end of the day, he was found guilty of neglect. And I think this is such a powerful story because he should have been directing that ship with that little rudder, and he put it in autopilot.

And you and I, we cannot afford to live in autopilot. We cannot afford to sleepwalk through this life because guess what? There are rocks ahead. There's danger ahead. And Proverbs tells us, the wise person sees danger and takes precaution, but the foolish person just keeps on going.

James says in verse five, The tongue is a very small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great force to set on fire by one match. The tongue is also a fire. It can cause a world of evil among the parts of the body. It can corrupt the whole body.

It can set one's life on fire. Have you all ever seen the destruction a fire can cause? Before we moved here, my husband was on the missions and care team of our church in California. And one year, the fires were just awful in California. We were in Orange County, but he got a call one day asking him if he could go down to the Rancho Santa Fe fires because they had just destroyed entire neighborhoods.

And Greg's real gift is operations. So they wanted him to set up this triage for people because, I mean, one day they have a house, the next day they have literally nothing. Nothing. So he found this huge parking lot, and he just set up like a section to come and grab water, a section where other churches dropped off prepared meals, a section for clothes, they had no clothes, a section for everything these people could have needed, for cell phones, for everything. And he called me and he said, Deborah, on Saturday, after the kids finished all their activities, because I was in that mode of just driving the kids everywhere, he's like, I think you should bring the kids down here.

I've never seen anything like this. You should take them in the neighborhood. So I took the kids down to Rancho Santa Fe, and I will never forget it. It was the craziest thing I've ever seen. The fire in California, we don't have basements in general, So houses are built, like, just on concrete slabs.

And the fire had taken these homes, and the home beside it was just perfectly standing there, and then you would just see a concrete slab, and then another concrete slab and then the home just perfectly standing there. And the kids and I are looking at this, and my kids said, mom, where's their stuff? Like, where is their bed? Where is their washer and dryer? There was nothing, just a concrete slab with a pile of ashes.

That's all that was left of these people's entire life. And James is saying, be so careful because you can burn down your family, you can burn down your marriage, you can burn down your future. Be careful how you use this thing. Do you guys remember Smokey Bear? So Smokey Bear wore, you know, the ranger outfit and the ranger hat, and I remember what Smokey Bear used to say because as a kid, would be like, Oh, I'm gonna be so careful when I'm out in the forest.

Smokey Bear used to say, remember, only you can prevent a forest fire. And I think that's what James is saying to us. He's saying, be so careful. Proverbs eighteen twenty one says, you know how powerful this tongue is? It can cause life or it can cause death because words cause action.

I mean, consider the powerful words of a doctor in surgery. He's telling people what to do to bring life to this person and healing. Consider the powerful words of a weatherman that says, Take shelter now. A tornado is coming. He is saving lives.

Consider the powerful words of a counselor who speaks life over someone who's suicidal and hope and prays hope into their life. Matthew twelve thirty six tells us, last week we talked about how one day you and I remember the rope that goes on forever in that red zone, but one day we will stand before the Lord and give an account for what we did in that red zone. And now James is telling us you're gonna give an account for the words you used in that red zone. And Matthew twelve thirty six says, we will give an account on the day of judgment, check this out for every careless word we spoke. I am so happy our Lord is the Lord of mercy because he will show us mercy, but he will show us what we did with our words.

So here's the question. How do we use words that bring life and not death? Well, Scripture teaches us this isn't an issue of the will, this is an issue of the heart. Proverbs four twenty three through 27. And James is quoting in this chapter a lot of Proverbs.

He's drawing from Proverbs because you know what? James would have known Proverbs. And Proverbs four says, above all else, guard your heart. Proverbs is saying, be a watchman on the wall of your heart. What are you letting in there?

What narrative are you allowing yourself to believe? Because that's getting down into your heart. Guard your heart, check this out, because everything you do flows from it. Everything. And then Proverbs, which is why James is writing this, says this, You have to guard your heart, and the way we do that practically is don't talk out of both sides of your mouth.

Remember when James said, take a stand for heaven's sakes and stand on the rock of truth. Stop wavering back and forth. Stop being one person in Bible study and another person when you're out with your friends. Take a stand. Proverbs says, don't talk out of both sides of your mouth.

And I think this is really interesting what it says next. Stop telling those white lies. Remember last week when we were like, well, favoritism, you know, is it such a big deal? And James is like, yes, because all sin is a big deal. And we just justify and rationalize white lies all the time.

We exaggerate things or we just don't share certain things that are an important part of the story. That's white lies. Proverbs is saying, stop telling white lies, stop gossiping, keep your eyes straight ahead, and ignore the silly sideshow distractions. That's what the message says. What does that mean?

It means in the church, we can get so caught up and go down these rabbit trails over doctrines that aren't even clear. Who cares? God says, if you just focus on loving me and loving others, you're gonna be good. You and I are gonna be good. So don't get distracted.

And then the Proverbs says, watch your step and the road will stretch out smooth before you. Look neither to the left nor to the right. Leave evil in the dust. And I love this because you know what this is saying? God has a path designed for every single one of us.

And I think the number one question I get from women is, What is my purpose? What does God want me to do? And I want to go back to this and say, well, you know, the road will stretch out before you. The road is fogged in, you can't see it because you're not even doing the basics of what God is telling us with your tongue. You haven't taken a stand, you waver back and forth, you justify white lies, you talk out of both sides of your mouth.

God says if you stop doing that, the fog lifts from that path that he has for you, and it will become clear. So I wanna share four things with you that I've learned on how to guard my heart. Like, how do I practically do that? Well, Jesus is is such a great model, obviously, right, for us. And when he was in the wilderness with the devil, and the devil kept just slightly twisting the truth, How did Jesus respond to that?

He just kept speaking truth over the lies. So number one, I speak truth over the lies. I speak truth over my doubts. I speak truth over the negativity that can start playing in my head. Have you ever noticed how your mind will just take off somewhere and, like, ten minutes later, you're like, woah, what just happened?

Like, I I don't even know why I went down that path. I made this up this whole scenario about that person that is just not even true. Jesus says, speak truth. And here's the thing, if you struggle with negativity, if you struggle with unhealthy thoughts, I promise you, if you find a truth in here and you speak over that I mean, I've been following the Lord thirty solid years, and I still have Bible verses all the time all throughout my house and on my screen. I have them in my bathroom when I'm brushing my teeth for whatever I'm struggling with at that time because this journey, you know, it's we're never just going to arrive until we're on the other side.

But what happens is eventually those negative thoughts fade and then they just completely go away because you've spoken truth over them. And number two, we focus. Focus, focus, focus. We have to think about what we're thinking about. Don't give that mind free rein, girlfriend.

It is gonna take you some crazy places. Think about what you're thinking about. The other morning, I don't know what happened to me, I'm sure this never happens to you, but I woke up, I felt like there was just this dark cloud of negativity over me. And I just was like I was in the funkiest place. And I'm like, okay.

Okay. Immediately, I thought of Philippians four eight, thinking whatever is lovely and praiseworthy and true. So I I I did that. It wasn't working. So then I grabbed my phone, and I started playing praise music as I was making my breakfast.

And I was still just in this place, so I put my coat on, and I went outside. And I was like, oh, it completely distracted me because of God's great beauty. So you do whatever you need to do to get out of that. Think about what you're thinking about. Think about what God's word says.

Change your environment. Take a walk. Pray. Sing praise music. But take control of those thoughts.

Take control of those thoughts to the obedience of Christ. And number three, if those two things don't work, this is what I do next. I text or call a friend that I trust, a friend that will speak a word of life over me or a friend that will just pray with me, a friend that will give me a different perspective. Because Proverbs thirteen twenty says, The companion of fools will suffer harm, but those who walk with the wise will be wise. Now, we are not of this world anymore.

We're of a different kingdom, but we're still in this world as long as we're living and breathing. So we still engage with nonbelievers and believers, quite frankly, who just aren't even following the Lord. So, of course, I engage with them, but I will tell you I am very careful not to seek their counsel. And if they give it to me freely, I'm very careful not to let it get in there because, quite frankly, I don't want to know what you have to say if it's not coming from here. So I seek wise friends that I know are following the Lord, and I listen to them.

And number four, this always works, Be a person who gives thanks. Be a person who gives thanks. You should know this verse from Philippians chapter four. Do not be anxious about anything but in everything with prayer and petition with thanksgiving. And you might be saying, I don't have anything to be thankful for.

Yes, you do. Thank you, Lord, that you're even listening to me right now. Thank you, Lord, that I'm your child. You have a lot to be thankful for. Let your requests be known to him and the peace of God which surpasses all understanding, check this out, will guard your heart and your mind in Christ Jesus.

So we speak the truth over lies, We focus, focus, focus. We think about what we're thinking about. Don't give that mind free rein. We reach out to someone safe and wise, and we always give thanks. And you know if we do these things, what's gonna happen?

What's going to happen is out of the overflow of that, my words are going to change. Let me give you an example of this. As I spend time in here and I fall more and more in love with Jesus, You know what's going to happen to your speech? You're going to be kinder and more gracious with people because you're going to realize he forgives me every day. I mean, I screw up every day, so you can screw up too.

And I'm just going to be gracious with you. And a loving heart learns that they can really trust Jesus. He is there for us. He's been there for us in the past. He'll be there for us in the future.

And you know what? A trusting heart out of the overflow of that is an encouraging tongue because I can be happy for you because I know I'm his daughter, his eye's on me, he's got me, so I want to encourage you and build you up too. And then from there, because he's been so faithful to me, I am learning to be more faithful to him. And this is where he has me right now. He is teaching me, Deborah, a faithful heart is courageous enough to speak the truth at the cost of your ego, at the cost of some friendships, at the cost of getting invited to certain things.

Who cares? I mean, when I pull back, think, well, what am I really missing out on? I'm really not. I'm really not. I'm going to be faithful to my Lord because he sure is faithful to me.

So I'm going to speak up. I'm not going to swallow my tongue. I'm going to speak truth, not in a way that crams it down your throat, but just in a light, loving way, I will speak truth. And finally, a peaceful heart. When I have peace with God, I begin to understand how much I'm forgiven for, so I am going to have a time that seeks restoration and reconciliation.

That's where I'm going to go. You see how that all plays together? Now, of course, on our own, this is absolutely impossible, but with God, it is absolutely possible. And that's why James leads us into this next section. This is the path to wisdom, to being a wise woman, to living a wise life.

What is wisdom, ladies? Wisdom is basically just the ability to make the right choice. That's what wisdom really is. And remember we talked about before wisdom isn't knowledge. I can be really smart and have a head full of knowledge and live like an absolute fool, make a lot of bad choices.

But wisdom is knowing how to apply that knowledge to my choices. You know, we've been talking about Proverbs because Proverbs is called the book of wisdom. But I will tell you something I've learned about Proverbs. I used to think Proverbs was a book of absolutes. If I do this, this is the absolute result that will happen.

And that's just not how Proverbs was written. Proverbs is a guideline for our life. If you live within these guidelines in general, this is what will happen if you practice this, but there are no guarantees. There are no absolutes. I can say that now because I'm on the other side of raising kids, and I'm on a text thread with parents who have raised their kids knowing the Lord, loving the Lord, and some of those kids have walked away.

So what do we do with that proverb? Train up a child in the way they should go, and when they're older, they won't depart from it. So they're asking me, Deborah, it didn't work. We were in prayer group for thirty years. I took them to church.

They have no interest in the Lord. And I'm like, Let me do a deep dive on this, guys. And you know what the Lord showed me? We are all free agents. So those mothers did their job.

Okay? But those children, they they have free will to do what they want. But here's what the Lord showed me. This is why it's so important to plant truth regardless of what they do, because he showed me they may walk away from me, but my word will never walk away from them. I'm gonna keep drawing them in until the day they die.

So that is how Proverbs works. I love what Tim Keller says. He says the most basic point about wisdom and Proverbs is not about mastering rules, it's about falling in love and pursuing. And this next thing he said just made me go, woah. He said, what if wisdom is actually a person to fall in love with and follow rather than a set of rules.

What if that is true wisdom? A person to fall in love with and follow rather than a set of rules. And that just ties in so perfectly what James says next in verse 12. He says, can a fig tree produce olives or a vine produce figs? Now, first, I was like, what, James?

That doesn't even make sense. What are you talking about? You know what James was saying? He was saying, don't be that person that's just going through the motions with God. Don't go through the motions.

He is picking up on John 15 about the vine and the branches. And he is saying if you are a branch that is so close to the vine that you abide, abide, abide, you're not going through the motions. You're gonna learn what James said in one. You're gonna learn to have joy when troubles come your way and hardships come your way because you know God is with you and you know it's gonna be okay and you have a sense of well-being. I mean, why do we come to Bible study?

I hope you're not coming so you can chuck off some list in your mind and think that God is gonna love you more because you came here today. I hope that you're coming because the truth is you and I, we can be very unlovable sometimes. But we have heard that ancient story that's been told for thousands of years, and that has changed millions of people's lives. That story that we have a holy Father God who is drawing us and calling us to him and who welcomes us with open arms and who says to us, Yeah, you've made some mistakes and people have hurt you, and you might have your own pile of ashes, but you come to me, and you and I together will start working beauty out of that. And you and I together will start working good out of all that junk.

I hope that's why you come to Bible study. That's a God that I want to fall in love with. You know, pastor Todd Wagner makes this distinction with people in the church between committed and submitted followers. Let me read what he he says. He says, in the church, we have committed and submitted followers.

Committed ones attend the church and love the ideal of God, a God who is going to make them successful or prosperous in some way. They're really into that. But a submitted follower sees success completely differently. They see success as learning to partner with their God. Committed people have their identity and what they do and what they declare, but submitted people have their identity and who they belong to.

He says that submitted people focus not on keeping a checklist of rules but developing their relationship with God. And that no matter what happens, when the fires come our way, when the strong winds beat up on our house, submitted people abide, abide, abide. They stay connected to the vine. This is why this text really, really matters because we will never draw in those unbelievers or those millennials and Gen Z who have left the church because they haven't seen anything attractive that they want to be part of. I remember years ago in our California study, we had testimonial day, and this girl was so funny.

Her name was Teresa. She always made me laugh. So Teresa gives her testimony, and she's talking about another gal in the study. And she goes, I just watched this gal for year after year, and she had something that was special. She had this joy and this peace and this beauty.

And she said, I came to Bible study because I finally decided I gotta get me some of that. And she said, now I understand what that girl had. She had the Holy Spirit in her, and she wasn't quenching that Holy Spirit. And she said, I just gotta get me some of that Holy Spirit. That's why I'm here.

And I just I will never forget that. And James says, who is wise among you? Let them show it by their good life, by the deeds done in humility that comes from wisdom. But then James warns us like he always does. He goes, I I need to lay it out here because these are things you and I are gonna struggle with.

He goes, if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your heart, he's like, don't deny that. Deal with it. Because that wisdom does not come from heaven, but it's earthly, unspiritual, and demonic. Envy and selfish ambition is demonic. Could James be more clear with us, the seriousness of this?

And I was thinking, okay, what's the difference between envy and jealousy? Do you remember last week I shared when they brought Jesus to Pilate, and Pilate said, He he didn't do anything wrong. These chief priests brought him to be crucified because of their envy. Envy was one of the reasons Jesus was on the cross. So what is envy?

Jealousy is looking at you and thinking, man, you've got something I want. Or you do something better than me. I want to be like that. But envy takes it a step further. And envy says, You've got something I want, and I resent you or hate you for it.

And can I just ask you, is there someone in your life and you have no idea why, but she just bugs the snot out of you? That's what my daddy used to say. Maybe there's something going on. Tim Keller says, Envy is being unhappy when others are happy and happy when they're unhappy. And what does God tell us?

With your brothers and sisters, rejoice when they rejoice and mourn when they mourn. And envy just ruins everything. It is the biggest buzzkill ever. Do you know why? Because you can't be thankful and you can't be happy because you're always thinking about what someone else has.

And what happens is nothing in your life is really good enough. Your husband isn't good enough, your kids aren't good enough, Your house isn't good enough. Your body isn't good enough. Your hair isn't good enough. I mean, it never ends because you're just not happy with the things that you have.

There's a verse in Galatians six:four, the New Living Translation, that I memorized a long time ago that has served me very well in my life. And it goes like this: Pay careful attention to your own work. Then you will have the satisfaction of a job well done and you won't need to compare yourself to anyone else. This is another way of the Lord saying, Keep your eyes on me. This journey is between you and me.

Why are you looking over at her? It's between you and me. Pay careful attention to your own work, and then you won't need to compare yourself to anyone else. And here's the thing about envy that I think James, another reason he calls it demonic. Because you know why we're really envying?

It tells us something about our heart. It tells us that we think, if I had that, it would give some value or worth to me, that I would all of a sudden become more valuable or more worthy or more lovable. And Jesus, in his word, gives us the solution to envy in Proverbs twenty three seventeen and eighteen. He says, Do not envy but fear the Lord, and you will be rewarded for this. This hope will not ever disappoint you.

And this word fear here, we've talked about this before, it is a reverence for God, but it means so much more than that. It means an awe inspiring worship of him. Proverbs is telling us, don't just believe in him as a concept. Go to him and worship him. I mean, y'all would think I was crazy if you were a fly in the wall in my house sometimes because when my husband leaves, I turn my praise music on, and I just enter in to this sanctuary with the Lord.

I'm not just singing the words. I'm visualizing myself before his throne. I'm visualizing all the angels singing with me, and it's an experience. Have you had an experience where you have felt the Lord over you, where you have felt his love and mercy and grace with you? That's what Proverbs is talking about.

You will not be disappointed if you do that. It's not about going through the motions. It's about entering into a place where he's there. And you know what? That's a prayer the Lord will answer.

If you have not experienced that, ask the Lord. Ask the Lord for that experience. Tell him, I wanna move from you just being in my head as this great concept. I want to move to experiencing you. I want to feel your presence.

I want to see you, Lord. I told you my prayer this year is from Acts two seventeen, where the Lord promises to pour out his spirit to give our kids dreams and visions and even to give our old men, the husband of mine, a dream and vision. I'm going for it all. I'm going for it all. That is my prayer, and it's my prayer for you too, that you will experience the Lord because when you taste and see how good he is, I promise you, nothing else compares.

It doesn't matter. James ends with saying peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness. I think being a peacemaker is like the ultimate sign of maturity in Christ. I don't want to cause trouble. In fact, when I see trouble, I want to do whatever I can to bring peace over the situation, to bring love and grace over the situation.

And do you know why God's truth brings peace? Because it's coming from the Prince of Peace. This brings peace to our lives. It settles us down, it anchors us, It shows us the guidelines that we are to follow. I just wanna close with this verse about our Prince of Peace from Matthew 11 because I know some of you are weary and exhausted.

I mean, I actually came in today and I was praying on the way in, Lord, my cup is empty today. You're gonna have to really show up for me. Mainly because I got stuck and that totally stressed me out and a guy had to pull me out. And then I'm coming down the highway. Talk about what comes out of the overflow of your heart.

Coming down the highway, this huge moving truck on black ice loses control, and he's coming straight at me. And I'm like, have nowhere to go. And you know, I just screamed, Lord, have mercy. And he just straightened up right as he got to me and moved on. And then I just came in hot like my I was like, Lord.

And then we we prayed for all of you. No accidents today, no black ice today. May the Lord protect you and keep you. But Jesus says, if you are feeling like your cup is empty, you come to me, Jesus says. Come to me when you are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

Take my yoke and learn from me. His yoke is his ways. Learn to practice his ways because he's gentle and he's humble. He is not harsh. He's loving and grace filled.

And he says, my burden is light. Seek direction from me and I will show you the way. Father, thank you for your amazing word. Just every week, Lord, it's so incredible how it just pops alive and it is powerful, and it is life changing. And I thank you for reminding us of your way, of your truth, and how to live, to really live life with you.

We love you, Jesus, and we thank you for this time together in your name. Amen.

Calling. Have you come to the end of yourself? Do you thirst for a drink the altar. The father's arms are open. Forgiveness was brought wait.

Jesus is calling. Bring your sorrows and trade them for joy. Trade the ashes a new life is born. Jesus is calling. Oh, come to the altar.

The is risen. Bow down before Christ is risen.

Jesus, we thank you for your wisdom today. And we just submit our minds to you. We we wanna be submitted to you, Jesus. Not committed.

Submitted

in thought, in word, in heart. And so we just ask for wisdom today, Jesus. Your presence and that boldness to come before you, and I confidently know that if we come to you, give us all wisdom. So we submit ourselves to you today. We love you, Jesus.

In Jesus' name, amen. Alright. Dismissed into our groups. Any announcements or anything? No?

Alright. Sweet.