Psalm 103 is one of my favorite psalms. It has so many valuable topics and truths.

The Hebrew word for ” bless” is barak: To bless, to kneel. It can be God blessing man or man blessing God. It can be used 4 ways: 1. to kneel (the primary meaning)
2. (implication, man toward God) to bless God as an act of adoration
3. (implication, God toward man) to bless man as a benefit
4. (by euphemism) to curse (God or the king, as treason)

Psalm 103 is the 2nd use of those 4: blessing God. What does “blessing God” mean? AI: “Blessing God means to adore, praise, exalt, and thank Him for His greatness and gifts, acknowledging Him as the source of all good, often involving deep reverence, worship (like kneeling), and expressing profound gratitude with your whole being, as seen in the Psalms. It’s an act of honoring Him from a right relationship with Him, distinct from God’s blessings upon us.”  Psalm 100:4: “Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name!“. Psalm 34:1 Contains the promise, “I will bless the LORD at all times”. How do you begin each day? Thinking about what you have to do that day? Just going through the morning rituals without even thinking about God? Thinking about the probems you are facing? Complaining about things? Or do you start with a few moments of blessing God?. Kneeling might help. Do you start thanking God for all His “benefits” (gemul: Recompense, reward, benefit, dealing). That is an interesting word b/c it implies that the Lord is rewarding you for your faith and devotion (as if you are earning them or deserving of them). But isn’t that what Hebrews 11:6 states? ⁶ And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for the one who comes to God must believe that He exists, and that He proves to be One who rewards those who seek Him.” The Greek word for “rewards” is misthapodotés: Rewarder. It is only used one time in the New Testament: someone “paying what is due; a rewarder“, a paymaster. We can’t earn our salvation or earn God’s blessings, but He does give material and spiritual benefits to those who seek Him. In that sense, our blessings and benefits are a reward for our fear and obedience to God. Always give thanks and praise for those benefits. Never start a day without doing that. Do that at different, random times during each day. Cell phones and social media are a big hindrance to our using spare time moments during the day to praise and thank God. When we have a spare moment, we pull out our phones and start social networking when we could be using that spare moment to praise and thank God.

The Psalmist then reminds us of the compassionate and forgiving nature of God. He recalls the incident with Moses in Exodus 33-34. Moses was weary of leading the constantly complaining, rebellious, and idolatrous Israelites in the wilderness. He begged God to show him a special vision of God’s presence and glory to enable him to lead the people. God told him to go to a rock where God would allow him to see God’s “back” (but not His face for no man can see the face of God and live). God would pass by Moses in that rock and make known His nature and ways. Moses would get that special gimpse of God that he needed to lead the people. But God also revealed the fundamental truths (Exodus 34:6,7) of His nature as He passed by. These truths in Exodus 34:6-7 are cited several times in the Old Testament (Numbers 14:18; Psalm 86:15; 145:8; Joel 2:13; Nahum 1:3; Jonah 4:2). Jews don’t call Exodus 34:6-7 a specific name, but it’s known as the revelation of God’s “Thirteen Attributes of Mercy”. These attributes, revealed to Moses, form a core theme in Jewish liturgy, especially during the High Holidays, representing God’s patient, merciful, and forgiving character that extends grace even to those who don’t deserve it, while also holding people accountable.”

Yes, God forgives but God also gets angry at sin and will “visit the iniquity of the fathers God has gotten very angry at sinners in the past and no doubt does so today. He “displays his wrath every day” (Psalm 7:11) in righteous indignation against the evil. God was very angry with the northern kingdom Israel. 2 Kings 17:18 Therefore the Lord was very angry with Israel and removed them out of his sight. None was left but the tribe of Judah only. The Lord became very angry with Moses when he kept making excuses for not going to Egypt to tell Pharoah to let God’s people go free: Exodus 4:¹⁴ Then the anger of the Lord burned against Moses.” No doubt the Lord is very angry at the many sins of our liberal nation, calling “evil good and good evil”. No doubt He is very angry with churches and people that support LGBTQ+. He probably gets angry with me when I do the same sins over and over, but fortunately God is “slow to anger” and will not “harbor His anger forever”. Psalm 30:5 “His anger lasts a moment, but His favor a lifetime”. Isaiah 57:15 “I dwell in a high and holy place, and also with the contrite and lowly of spirit in order to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite. ¹⁶ For I will not contend forever, nor will I always be angry.” God comes off His high and holy place in heaven and makes his forgiving presence with us (God dwells in us) to revive our guilt ridden spirits. He lets us know that He is not always angry with us but loves and forgives us.

The Father’s love is unconditional, but notice that His forgiveness of our sins is conditional. That forgiveness is for those “who fear Him”, who keep His covenant, who obey His precepts. For those He removes their sins as “far as the east is from the west”. How far is that? East and west are directions, opposite directions. Technically, east continues east infinitely, and likewise for west. So picture a line with infinity (an arrow pointing east) on one end and infinity (an arrow pointing west) on the other end. Your sins are forgiven from one directional infinity to the other. Hebrews 8:12 even says that He will remember our sins no more: “For I will be merciful toward their wrongdoings, and their sins I will no longer remember.” I think that just means that He will never bring them up again so as to condemn us for our sins. Sometimes we act like we forgive someone but then bring up their past mistakes. There is no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1) We have the continual 24/7 cleansing of our sins by the grace of God and sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. We should be sorrowful when we sin, confess our sin, and repent of our sins, but no one does all that perfectly But we don’t have to do that perfectly The heavenly Father “knows how we are formed”, i.e. He knows our weaknesses and is understanding and compassionate when we sin. An earthly father knows the weaknesses of his children and forgives them over and over when they do wrong b/c of those weaknesses. He treats each child differently based on their weaknesses and strengths. The Father does the same. I often think about how sinful I am. I still commit some of the same sins now as I did 50 years ago when I became a Christian. I still struggle with the same lusts and temptations over and over. I question, “How could the Father keep forgiving me of the same sins even when I don’t try as hard as I could to stop them?” But He does keep forgiving me. Micah gives another picture of God’s forgiveness. Micah 7:18-19: “Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant…You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our iniquities underfoot and throw all our sins into the depths of the sea”.

Then comes an amazing comparison of the love of the Father to the love of earthly fathers. Earthly fathers are encouraged to mirror the Heavenly Father’s love, providing spiritual, emotional, and wise guidance. Unfortunately many chlldren grow up without loving fathers: maybe overly harsh, cruel. demanding fathers. Ephesians 6:4 “Do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord”. Maybe absentee fathers who just weren’t present in their children’s lives much. Maybe fathers who left their wives and split their homes, leaving the children questioning the value of familial love. But a loving earthly father mirrors the heavenly Father’s love. Such a father never quits loving his children no matter what they do. He might disapprove of what they do or even be forced to administer “tough love” in extreme cases, but he will always be ready to forgive and restore even wayward children. The parable of the prodigal son demonstrates that. The father in that parable is God the Father, and he immediately forgave his wayward son who had taken his share of his inheritance and squandered it and was returning home hoping just to be a servant and have food to eat. Instead, the father killed the fatted caff and made a feast. Unfortunately the older brother did not have that love for his younger brother. The older brother represented the Pharisees who were criticizing Jesus for eating with sinners. Charles Dickens and Ralph Waldo Emerson praised that parable as one of the greatest short stories ever told.

BTW a side story: AI: “Martin Luther deeply struggled with viewing God as a loving Father due to his own harsh, authoritarian earthly father, Hans Luther, whose stern discipline mirrored Luther’s view of a wrathful, judgmental God, making the concept of divine grace a massive breakthrough as he realized God’s love was freely given, not earned through works or fear. This personal conflict fueled his spiritual despair, as his intense efforts as a monk only intensified his sense of sin and God’s distance until he discovered justification by faith.” Even if a child did not have a loving earthly father, he can still find one in the loving heavenly Father. It might be more difficult for him, but it should make the love of the heavenly Father even more amazing.

Psalm 103:19-22 ends with a call for the angels and for all of God’s creation to “Bless the Lord”.

This was long but what a great psalm. Perhaps you can see why I consider it one of my favorite, if not most favorite, psalms.

AI: “Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that Jesus began his invisible reign as King of God’s Kingdom in heaven in October 1914, marking the start of the “last days,” a pivotal time foretold in Bible prophecy, leading to Armageddon and the establishment of God’s earthly paradise, ending sickness, poverty, and death, with 144,000 (from Revelation 7:4; 14:1-5) anointed ones ruling alongside Christ in heaven, while the majority of faithful followers (the great multitude in Revelation 7:9-17) live forever on the paradise earth. Jehovah’s Witnesses (JWs) believe they represent God’s true Kingdom on Earth, viewing themselves as its subjects and representatives, actively living by its laws and preaching its message, even though the Kingdom itself is a heavenly government established in 1914 with Jesus as King, meant to replace all human governments. They see themselves as the only ones truly following Christ’s commands and God’s will for this “last day” period, organizing themselves as God’s visible earthly agency. Jehovah’s Witnesses believe those not among the 144,000 (who go to heaven) or the “great multitude” (who live on paradise Earth) will face destruction (annihilation) at Armageddon or are part of those who are simply disobedient and will not survive to see the new world. “The early JW leader Rutherford predicted that a grreat resurrection would occur in 1925 but that didn’t happen. Later publications, particularly in the 1960s, built anticipation for 1975 as the 6,000th anniversary of Adam’s creation, suggesting Armageddon could occur then, leading to widespread excitement and disappointment when it didn’t happen.” Rutherford published a book in 1920 “Millions Now Living Will Never Die”. He was obviously wrong about that also. While 1914 remains central, earlier predictions (like 1925, 1975) were later abandoned as specific end-times markers, though the core belief in 1914’s significance endures as the beginning of Christ’s kingship.”Thus they believe that the “2nd coming” occurred in 1914 but was an invisible coming.” Jehovah’s Witnesses have many other unusual beliefs. “They believe that pledging allegiance or saluting a flag is a form of worship directed toward an object or nation, which the Bible prohibits, reserving worship for God alone.” They believe that taking blood transfusions is a sin, based on their interpretation of Bible verses commanding them to “abstain from blood” (Genesis 9:4, Leviticus 17:10, and Acts 15:28, 29).

There are so many false teaching in all this. In Matthew 4:17 Jesus predicted ““Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near (at hand in some translations). Jesus said in Mark 9:1  “Truly I say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God when it has come with power.” Unless Jesus was a false prophet (which he wasn’t), then Jesus’ kingdom was set up while some of those listening to him speak were still alive. That kingdom was a spiritual kingdom, the church. In John 18:36 Jesus said “My kingdom is not of this world”. It was established in Acts 2 in 30 AD (not 1914 AD) when 3,000 were baptized for the remission of sins and became the first church. Thus Paul would say that the Colossian Christians were in that kingdom. Colossians 1:¹³ For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, ¹⁴ in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” The apostle John said in Revelation 1:5 To Him who loves us and released us from our sins by His blood— ⁶ and He made us into a kingdom, priests to His God and Father—to Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.” JWs teach that the kingdom did not exist until 1914 and that contradicts all these passages.

JWs see themselves as the only true restored followers of Jesus but Christians in the book of Acts and the New Testament were true followers of Jesus 2,000 years ago and we have had 2,000 years of faithful Christian followers of Jesus since then. Jehovah’s Witnesses believe the 144,000 are indeed members of their religion. They take that as a literal number but they don’t take the part in Revelation 14:4 to be literal: ³ And they *sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders; and no one was able to learn the song except the 144,000 who had been purchased from the earth. ⁴ These are the ones who have not defiled themselves with women, for they are celibate.” Also the book of Revelation is about things that were going to happen shortly, soon after the time of writing of the book. Revelation 1:1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show to His bond-servants, the things which must soon take place. ³ Blessed is the one who reads, and those who hear the words of the prophecy and keep the things which are written in it; for the time is near. Revelation 22:⁶ And he said to me, “These words are faithful and true”; and the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent His angel to show His bond-servants the things which must soon take place. ¹⁰ And he *said to me, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near. So the 144,000 would be some people from the first century and not future JW members at least 2,000 years later.

JWs teach that Jesus’ 2nd coming was in 1914. But Jesus predicted that his coming back would be within the lifetime of those he was speaking to (Matthew 10:23; 16:27,28; 24:30-34; 26:64). 3 times in Revelation Jesus said “I am coming quickly” (thus an imminent 2nd coming) (Revelation 22:7,12,20). He did not delay that coming. Hebrews 10:37 For yet in a very little while, He who is coming will come, and will not delay.” Many Christians will admit that Jesus said that his 2nd coming was imminent within the generation of those he was speaking to, but then they will say that He delayed his coming. But Hebrews 10:37 refutes any such “delayed coming theory”. The fact that Rutherford made false predictions about Jesus coming back in 1925 and then in 1975 should be enough to tell you that the JWs are based on false prophets. Why should anyone follow their teachings if they have been shown to be false prophets?

Peter told Christians in 1 Peter 2:¹³ Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority, ¹⁴ or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do right.¹⁷ Honor all people, love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the king.” Yet the JWs dishonor our country and our government by their refusal to say the Pledge of Allegiance or salute the flag. Peter told them to honor the king even though that king was an emperor at that time who claimed to be God and who was part of the Roman Empire that persecuted early Christians

There are so many things false in the teaching of Jehovah’s Witnesses. They are encouraged by their leaders to go out knocking on doors, passing out JW literature. So if they knock on your door, show them love but be ready to challenge their teachings with Biblical passages. JWs also teach that Jesus was “a” god, the first thing created by the Father, but not equal to the Father. 2 John warned Christians about those who deny the Deity of Jesus: 2 John ⁷ For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist. ⁸ Watch yourselves, that you do not lose what we have accomplished, but that you may receive a full reward. ⁹ Anyone who goes too far and does not remain in the teaching of Christ, does not have God; the one who remains in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. ¹⁰ If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house, and do not give him a greeting; ¹¹ for the one who gives him a greeting participates in his evil deeds.”
Many JWs leave the JW faith and are shunned or disfellowshipped by their family and church. Be ready to help a JW member who has left that religion.

It should be noted that the JWs were connected with the Great Disappointment of 1844. “Jehovah’s Witnesses are connected to the Great Disappointment of 1844 because their movement, the International Bible Students Association, grew out of the fragmented Millerite movement that was shattered by the failure of William Miller‘s prophecy (that Jesus’ 2nd coming would be in 1843-44), with Jehovah’s Witnesses founder Charles Taze Russell being heavily influenced by other Millerite remnants who sought to reinterpret biblical prophecy after the disappointment, leading to new Adventist-rooted groups like the Jehovah’s Witnesses.” In other words they tried to minimize the impact of Miller’s failed predictions by their teachings that Jesus came back in 1914 invisibly, etc, still teaching an imminent 2nd coming just at a later date in 1925 or1975.

I hope this has been beneficial. You might not even know a member of the JWs, but be ready if one comes knocking on your door!

Psalm 37:7 Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him;Do not get upset because of one who is successful in his way, because of the person who carries out wicked schemes. 8 Cease from anger and abandon wrath; Do not get upset; it leads only to evildoing. 9 For evildoers will be eliminated, but those who wait for the Lord, they will inherit the land.”

The hebrew for “upset” is charah: To be hot, to burn, to be angry, to be kindled: to glow or grow warm; figuratively (usually) to blaze up, of anger, zeal, jealousy — be angry, burn, be displeased, fret self, grieve, be (wax) hot, be incensed, kindle, be wroth. It is used 90 times in the OT: most often describing anger, but at times pointing more broadly to intense indignation or grief.

That’s a good word to describe how I feel about government spending and the church business! Maybe how you feel aso. Not just disagree or sad or grieved about how things are going, but anger. That stuff makes me angry and often out of my anger I harshly judge and criticize people and the way things are done. That makes me miserable at times. But David said “do not get upset” over evil people and things. 

We must turn those things and people over to God. Quit trying to control things. Let God be in control. He might be allowing bad things to happen to punish or humble people, and there we are going against His will.  Let God determine the outcome. Let go and let God.

Wait patiently on the Lord to act. Maybe I have a leak in my plumbing. It is a serious leak so I call a professional plumber. If I have confidence in the plumber coming and fixing the leak, then I just sit back and try to wait patiently till he gets to my house. But if I don’t have confidence that he will get here quickly, or if I don’t trust him to fix it properly, then I will probably try to fix it myself and make it even worse b/c I am not a plumber. Or maybe he is coming, but doesn’t come as quickly as I want him to. I get upset, maybe angry.

We can’t fix all the evil in the world or church. Government spending, waste, and the deficit. Churches using most of their collected money on themselves instead of helping the poor, heping persecuted Christians worldwide, drilling wells, and printing Bibles. Churches going LGBQT. We can get upset and angry but that only makes us miserable. If we trust in the Lord to fix things then we will do anything that we can do to make things better, but then we will calmly sit back and wait on him to act. If things don’t get fixed quickly, then we can assume that the Lord has a reason to let things get worse. If that happens, we still relax, knowing that God is in control. We will look for reasons that God is allowing evil and then we try to help God in whatever He is doing. But bottom line, we leave things that upset us with God. We will “rest” (damam: To be silent, to be still, to cease, to be quiet) and wait for Him to act. The Hebrew word for “wait” is interesting: chuwl: To twist, whirl, dance, writhe, travail, be in anguish, be pained. You might be in anguish and inner turmoil while you wait on the Lord, but if you trust Him then you will wait. James 1:Now everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger; ²⁰ for a man’s anger does not bring about the righteousness of God.”

Does that make sense? 

I don’t just get frustrated with things: I get angry. That word “upset”.  All that does is bring me down It eats at me so much that I can’t see the positive that is still out there amidst all the bad stuff. I need to work on not being upset over things!

So how do you react to things that grieve you, that. frustrate you, that bother you, that go against how you think things should be done?

AI: “The Baháʼí Faith is a global religion founded by (a self proclaimed prophet) Baháʼu’lláh in 19th-century Iran, centered on the core belief in the oneness of God, the oneness of religion, and the oneness of humanity, promoting unity, justice, equality (especially of women and men), and harmony between science and religion, viewing all world religions as part of a single, progressive divine plan. Baháʼís focus on spiritual development, community service, and building a peaceful, unified world, practicing daily prayer, fasting, and communal worship without clergy, adhering to a strict ethical code.”

From wikipedia: “The Baháʼí Faith has three central figures: the Báb (1819–1850), executed for heresy (by a Persian Muslim firing squad b/c they considered the Bab to be a threat to Persian Islamic faith), who taught that a prophet similar to Jesus and Muhammad would soon appear; Baháʼu’lláh (1817–1892), who claimed to be said prophet in 1863 and who had to endure both exile and imprisonment; and his son, ʻAbdu’l-Bahá (1844–1921), who made teaching trips to Europe and the United States after his release from confinement in 1908. After ʻAbdu’l-Bahá’s death in 1921, the leadership of the religion fell to his grandson Shoghi Effendi (1897–1957). Baháʼís annually elect local, regional, and national Spiritual Assemblies that govern the religion’s affairs, and every five years an election is held for the Universal House of Justice, the nine-member governing institution of the worldwide Baháʼí community that is located in Haifa, Israel, near the Shrine of the Báb.

According to Baháʼí teachings, religion is revealed in an orderly and progressive way by a single God through Manifestations of God, who are the founders of major world religions throughout human history; the Buddha, Jesus, and Muhammad are cited as the most recent of these Manifestations of God before the Báb and Baháʼu’lláh. Baháʼís regard the world’s major religions as fundamentally unified in their purpose, but divergent in their social practices and interpretations. The Baháʼí Faith stresses the unity of all people as its core teaching; as a result, it explicitly rejects notions of racism, sexism, and nationalism. At the heart of Baháʼí teachings is the desire to establish a unified world order that ensures the prosperity of all nations, races, creeds, and classes.”

This chart does a great job of showing how the Baha’i faith looks at progressive revelation via the founders of the world’s major religions.

I find the Baha’i faith fascinating. It is the perfect religion for those who don’t want to judge or condemn any of the world’s main religions or the faith of anyone in those religions. Perfect for those who believe that there are “many roads to God”. The logic is that there are many roads leading into Huntsville, Al. Roads from the south, north, east, and west. But they all end up in the same place, Huntsville, right? Is that true of all the world’s religions even though they teach totally different doctrines on salvation and faith? Perfect for those who reject the exclusivity claims of Christianity. One Christian lady changed to Buddhism b/c she despised the Christian claim that Jesus was the only way for salvation. She did not examine the evidence or rationale behind that claim. She just didn’t like the idea of any religion claiming to be the only true religion.

Baha’ism honors 9 world religion founders: Abraham, Moses, Zoroaster, Krishna, Buddha, Jesus, Mohammed, the Bab, Bahaullah (the founder of Bahaism). According to Bahaism, each of these brought genuine revelations from God, but none of them brought all of God’s truth and none of them brought the one and only true religion. AI: “Baha’is believe there’s one God who reveals His will progressively through different divine messengers for different ages, bringing teachings suited for humanity’s spiritual development at that time. Each Manifestation fulfills the promises of the one before and announces the coming of the next, building upon past teachings. Baháʼís believe these past spiritual teachers brought divine guidance suited to their times, encouraging the study of other faiths to find shared truths and promote unity, while emphasizing the core spiritual principles remain constant across religions. Baha’i Faith teaches that all major religions come from the same God and contain fundamental truths, viewing them as progressive stages of one divine religion, with Baha’u’llah’s revelation being the latest for humanity’s current stage.”

Christians do believe in progressive revelation from God. Moses brought the Law and the old covenant for the Jews, but then Jesus came with the new covenant. Gentile Christians do not have to obey the animal sacrifices, etc. of the old covenant, so indeed the Mosaic law was only for a limited, specified time before Jesus came. Christianity claims to be the last of God’s progressive revelation. Hebrews 1:1 God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, ² in these last days has spoken to us in His Son.” Jesus in turn gave the Holy Spirit to his apostles to miraculously inspire them to deliver all the truth of the new covenant for all time. John 16:¹³ But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth.” That completed God’s progressive revelation to man, once for all time. Jude 3 Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith that was once for all time handed down to the saints.” According to the Bible, there would be no more progressive revelation after the apostles. Period. No more prophets delivering new revelations from God. That rules out the Popes whom Catholics claim to give continuous new revelations from God on doctrinal issues given through countless papal decrees or bulls. That rules out Islamic claim that Muhammed was God’s final prophet, some 600 years after Jesus, and that the Koran, not the Bible, is the last of God’s progressive revelation and that we should follow the Koran. Islam does believe that Moses and Jesus were prophets with progressive revelations from God but they reject Jesus’ claim that he was the Son of God and that the New Testament was the last of God’s progressive revelation. Islam would also reject all the other world religions like Buddhism, Hinduism, Zoroastrianism, and even Bahaism. It was a Persian Muslim group that excecuted the Bab in 1850. Judaism (except for Messianic Jews) reject that Jesus came as the Messiah with new revelations from God that they should start following. On and on we could go.

None of the other major world religions (Hinduism, Buddhism, Zoroastrianism) would claim progressive revelation of truth. Hinduism just has its gods and goddesses, reincarnation, karma, dharma, and epic tales. Buddhism has the teachings of the Buddha to give enlightenment and the release from suffering. Zoroaster started preaching one God, Ahura Mazda. We could add many other world religions that Bahaism doesn’t specifically name as one of the 9 major religions, such as Shintoism, Taoism, Confucianism, Sikhism, etc.

But the idea that all the world’s religions just gave revelations from God for their specific times and that they all somehow harmonize into one final revelation from God, uniting them all in Bahaism, is just contradictory. Muslims and Jews reject Christian claims. Shintoism follows the sun goddess Amaterasu and all the kami spirits. That contradicts the Muslim, Jewish, and Christian claim that there is only one true God, the God of the Bible (Yahweh to the Christians and Jews, Allah to the Muslims-though Allah is not the same as Yahweh). The Hindus have 3 main gods: Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva. Do we need to honor those gods as part of progressive revelation or was that just a need for ancient times in India.

Those contradictions and questions don’t even include modern day prophets like Joseph Smith and Mormonism. Or Ellen G. White and 7th Day Adventists. Or Rutherford and Russell, the founding prophets of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Would the Baha’i faith say that those prophets of those groups were part of God’s progressive revelation and had truth from the one true God? How could Bahaists reject those latter day prophets?

But here’s “the catch” (a hidden problem or negative in an otherwise solution that sounds good on the surface but is “too good to be true”). Only one of those 9 world religions honored by Bahaism claims to be the only true way to God. John 14:⁶ Jesus *said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through Me.” So the Baha’is can’t include Jesus as one of the 9 world religions that each brought some truth from God but not the only truth. But then we have to ask, can Jesus’ claim of exclusivity be proven? The answer is “yes” There are many proofs to Jesus’ claim, but the main one is his resurrection from the dead. Paul preached on Mars Hill to those who worshipped many Roman gods. He told them that following Jesus was the only way to eternal life. He said that Jesus’ resurrection proved that. Acts 17:³⁰ So having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now proclaiming to mankind that all people everywhere are to repent, ³¹ because He has set a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all people by raising Him from the dead.” There are many convincing proofs that Jesus was raised from the dead. Jesus died and was raised from the dead. Name another world religion whose leader, prophet, and founder has such proof. In other words, Bahaism sounds “too good to be true” since it offers a belief that allows its followers to not condemn any of the world’s relgions. But the catch is that it, as well as any other of the world’s religions, have no proof that any of their revelations are really from the one true God. Only Christianity has such irrefutable proof.

Not only that, the real issue is this: only Christianity teaches that one is not saved by what he does. Most of those world religions teach that their followers should do good and be good persons. Buddhism has the Buddha’s 8 noble truths: right speech, right actions, etc. as well as not lying, stealing, or gossiping. Zoroaster taught his followers to do good works, good deeds, and good words. Confucius taught his followers to respect others. Taoism taught the 3 jewels: compassion, modesty, and humility. Sikhism taught followers to be kind, to live an honest life and work hard. Mormons are usually very moral people. But here’ the other catch. Being a good person as a follower of those religions doesn’t save you from your sins. Those religions might promise faithful followers a better reincarnation or inner peace or just a better way of living, but none of them offer the forgiveness of sins from the one true God, Yahweh. Only Christianity offers that. But how is Christianity different from those religions? Aren’t Christians also taught to be kind, honest, good words, good works, etc. Yes. Aren’t they taught to seek inner peace of mind? Yes. But in Christianity, we are not saved by our goodness or good works. We are saved 100% by the unearned grace of God through putting our faith and trust in Jesus as God’s sacrifice on the cross for our sins. We are not saved by what we do, but by what Jesus did for us on the cross. No other world religion has such a plan of salvation. That is what makes Christianity unique. Most any of the major world’s religions can help you be a better person, but only Christianity can saved you from your sins.

So Christianity has exclusive claims of being the only true faith, and has the proof to back up those claims So examine the proofs before you reject the exclusive claims of Christianity. Of course one must come to believe that Jesus did die and be raised in order to be saved. Here is the major difference in Islam and Christianity. Islam claims that Jesus was not the Son of God, but Jesus claims that he was. Islam claims that Jesus was not even crucified, certainly not raised from the dead. Islam claims that eternal rewards will be based on keeping the 5 pillars of Islam, a works system of salvation. Islam does not believe that one is saved from sin by faith in the vicarious offering of Jesus on the cross. Each person must decide to follow Jesus or Muhammed, and I respect that choice. But I wish all Muslims could see the grace of God that comes from putting faith in what Jesus did on the cross. All those in the other world religions must realize that their good works can’t save them. They must examine their religion to see if it is from God or man, to see if their religion has miraculous proof that it is truly a revelation from God that they can stake their eternal futures on. Many are dong that and finding salvation through Jesus. Christians should be utilitizing all our resources to spreading the gospel message to all the countries dominated by all those world religions. Getting the Bible to them in their own languages so they can examine the claims and proofs of Christianity. It’s too bad that churches are spending 80% of their collections on buildings, staff, etc. instead of spreading the gospel and supporting missionaries That’s another blog I guess.

Let’s dig into Isaiah 24-29. It will be digging deep, but here we go. Most think Isaiah 24-29 is one section predicting one future event. Some say it has a dual fulfillment, but I don’t believe that to be the case. If an Old Testament prediction is about a specific event, like the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2), then it can have one and only one fulfillment. Isaiah 24-29 is predicting one specific event to occur in Isaiah’s future, and has no dual fulfillment. But what is that one future event that is predicted in those chapters? Let’s start digging.

Here are some of my conclusions on this section.

1 The predicted future (Isaiah’s future) events in Isaiah 24-29 would all occur at the same time. It says “on that day” several times (24:21; 25:9; 26:1; 27:1,13; 28:5. The phrase doesn’t necessarily mean one 24 hour day, but it does mean a specific period of time in the future. I might say, “in my dad’s day” and you know that means, not a 24 hour day, but period of time in his ife. The event(s) in all 6 chapters are said to be fulfilled in the future at the same time. But when is that time of fulfillment. Keep digging.

2 The destruction of Jerusalem and a judgement of the evil Jews is the main event predicted to happen in Isaiah’s future. 24:12; 25:2,12; 29:1-3,7 (Ariel is Jerusalem in these verses). Isaiah was written about 700 BC so I suppose it could be predicting the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians in 586 BC, but there are reasons to believe that it is predicting the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in 70 AD and not the destruction in 586 BC. The reasons are given below. BTW this destruction is describe in figurative language (24:19 the earth is broken apart and split, which is typical figurative language used of the judgement of nations in the Old Testament). Keep digging.

3 Isaiah 28:16 predicted that a precious cornerstone will be laid in Zion in Isaiah’s future, and that prediction was fulfilled in Jesus being the cornerstone of the church. Isaiah 28:“Behold, I am laying a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for the foundation, firmly placed.
The one who believes in it will not be disturbed.” 1 Peter 2:6 quotes this verse and says that this prediction was fulfilled in Jesus being the chief cornerstone of the church. If Isaiah 28:16 is a prediction fulfilled by Jesus the Messiah, then it stands to reason that all 6 chapters will be fulfilled when the Messiah Jesus came. Keep digging.

4 Isaiah 25:7 predicts that in Isaiah’s future death will be swallowed up for all time, and that is a prediction fulfilled in 70 AD. Isaiah 25:7 “Now the Lord of armies will prepare a lavish banquet for all peoples on this mountain; a banquet of aged wine, choice pieces with marrow, and refined, aged wine.⁷ And on this mountain He will destroy the covering which is over all peoples, the veil which is stretched over all nations. ⁸ He will swallow up death for all time.” Jesus came to abolish spiritual death. Jesus began His reign over His spiritual kingdom, the church, when he ascended to the Father after his resurrection. He would reign till He conquered all his enemies. The last enemy to conquer was death (1 Corinthians 15:25,26). Actually He had already abolished death for believers during the transition period from 30-70 AD. 2 Timothy 1:10: “He has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel”. But spiritual death would not be officially destroyed until His coming in 70 AD to judge the Jews, using the Romans, at the destruction of the temple and Jerusalem. Then, in 70 AD, spiritual death would be destroyed once for all time and immortality would be given to believers and to the righteous dead of the old covenant who would be raised in 70 AD just as Daniel predicted in Daniel 12:2. (Isaiah 26:19 predicted that resurrection to happen in 70 AD: “Your dead will live; their corpses will rise. You who lie in the dust, awake and shout for joy, for your dew is as the dew of the dawn, and the earth will give birth to the departed spirits.”) Paul even says that some of those he was writing to at Corinth would still be alive to experience that immortality. 1 Cor 15:⁵¹ Behold, I am telling you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed.” He then says that in 70 AD at Jesus’ coming that Isaiah 25:7 would be fulfilled (and he quotes that verse) and that spiritual death would be destroyed. 1 Cor 15:⁵⁴ But when this perishable puts on the imperishable, and this mortal puts on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written (in Isaiah 25:7): “Death has been swallowed up in victory. ⁵⁵ Where, O Death, is your victory? Where, O Death, is your sting?” ⁵⁶ The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the Law; ⁵⁷ but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” The Law was the source of spiritual death and the Law ended in 70 AD. After 70 AD, there was no more temple (it has never been rebuilt), no more animal sacrifices, and no more priests. The writer of the book of Hebrews said that, at the time of writing of the book (about 60 AD), the Law and the old covenant was “about to disappear”. Hebrews 8:¹³ When He said, “A new covenant (the prediction of a new covenant made in Jeremiah 31:31-34),” He has made the first obsolete. But whatever is becoming obsolete and growing old is about to disappear.” It officially did disappear and end in 70 AD. At the same time in 70 AD, spiritual death was destroyed once for all time. This fulfillment of Isaiah 25:7 in 70 AD shows that Isaiah 24-29 was a Messianic prediction and not the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BC. I am always amazed at those who say that Jesus has not defeated death yet. He defeated spiritual death for all believers. John 11:John 11:25-26: “Jesus said to her (i.e. to Martha), ‘I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live'”, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die.” Jesus did not come to destroy physical death. Believers still die physically, but they will live on spiritually forever after physical death. Have we dug deep enough to discover the meaning of Isaiah 24-29? I hope so.

The conclusion then is that Isaiah 24-29 was a Messianic prediction to be fulfilled with the coming of Jesus the Messiah and the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD. The 6 chapters are filled with figurative language that is hard to understand the exact meaning of, but we know that it has already been fulfilled in 70 AD. Most importantly these chapters in Isaiah tell us that Jesus is the cornerstone of the church and that spiritual death has been defeated once for all time. The predictions in Isaiah 24-29 were made in 700 BC, about 800 years before the temple was destroyed in 70 AD. This is another amazing example of fulfilled prophecy in the Old Testament.

Maybe you never ever studied Isaiah 24-29. I hope this study helps you understand these chapters but also to find some nuggets of truth in the amazing word of God. Keep digging deeper into the word of God and you will find many more treasures of truth.

Don’t take that personal! I was just using a catchy phrase to get you to read this blog article!

AI: “James 4 outlines the source of conflict (selfish desires, worldliness) and provides solutions: humble submission to God, resisting Satan, drawing near to God, proper prayer with pure motives, and acknowledging God’s sovereignty in future plans, warning against judging others and boasting about uncertain futures, as life is fleeting.”

BTW are all inner lusts and desires sinful? No. AI:”In the Bible, “lust” often translates Greek words (epithymeo, epithumia) meaning “strong desire,” which can be positive (like Jesus’ desire for the Passover) or negative, but usually refers to corrupted, selfish desires that lead to sin, especially sexual sin, greed, or idolatry, pulling people away from God and into gratifying base instincts rather than loving others. So, while the underlying word isn’t always negative, the context in which it’s used in the New Testament, especially by Jesus and Paul, points to evil, unrestrained desire that fosters sin and separation from God, not healthy longing.” In James 1:14-15 and 4:2 the word is used negatively.

In the last blog article, I covered 4:1-4. Our inner lusts that wage war in our bodies causes us to quarrel with others, envy others, murder others, not pray, pray with the wrong motives, and make friends with the world that is spiritual adultery. That first section of James 4 kinda leaves you feeling like Paul did in Romans 7:²⁴ Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?” The Greek word for “wretched” is talaipóros: Wretched, miserable. “talaípōros (an adjective, derived from talaō, “to bear, undergo” and pōros, “a callous,” J. Thayer) – properly, wretched (beaten-down) from continued strain, leaving a person literally full of callouses (deep misery) – describing a person with severe side-effects from great, ongoing strain (significant hardships). The word describes the deep inward misery of a soul that has come face-to-face with its own spiritual poverty.” (Biblehub.org) We might try to do what is right and not do what is wrong, but our inner lusts seem to win most of the spiritual battles that are constantly going on inside us. We end up feeling miserable spiritually. What hope is there for us spiritually?

Now here is where Paul answers his own question: Romans 7:²⁵ Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin. 8:1 Therefore there is now no condemnation at all for those who are in Christ Jesus. ² For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. ³ For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, ⁴ so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”

In other words, the offering of Jesus on the cross frees us from the constant, wearying condemnation that we have due to our sinful lusts and desires. We actually continue to sin due to our lusts, but now we have God’s grace. We will no longer be judged by how we keep God’s laws, but instead we will justified and made righteous by our faith in what Jesus did on the cross. In that sense, the requirements of keeping the Law are met vicariously through Jesus’ perfect law keeping. Even though we continue to sin and give in to our sinful lusts, we are contantly cleansed of our sins. 1 John 1:⁹ If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous, so that He will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” I compare this to washing very dirty hands under running water in the sink. Your hands stay clean as long as you keep your hands under the water. The water keeps washing them even if you throw some dirt on them. The constantly flowing water keeps your hands clean. That water is the blood of Jesus that keeps us clean in God’s eyes even though we sin. Hopefully, we will try not to sin, and we will ask forgiveness when we sin, but this is not an in grace, out of grace, in grace, out of grace, etc. cycle. We have this cleansing grace 24/7 unless we fall from grace (Galatians 5:4).

This is all important to understand. Salvation by God’s grace should give us eternal inner joy. Isaiah 35:10 And the redeemed of the Lord will return and come to Zion with joyful shouting, and everlasting joy will be on their heads. They will obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.” This verse is not predicting joy in heaven. It is predicting the joy that believers in the Messiah Jesus can have here on earth in this life. We still might cry and be sad on the outside, but on the inside we have everlasting joy and gladness. That joy should keep us happy spiritually no matter what difficulties we face. That joy should keep us happy spiritually even though we still feel the constant guilt of sin. That joy just makes us so grateful to Jesus that we give our lives over to him to live to please him and not please our own desires. That joy should keep us looking forward to eternal bliss after death. David said in Psalm 90:14 Satisfy us in the morning with Your graciousness, that we may sing for joy and rejoice all our days.” Preaching should make us painfully aware of our sinful lusts, but should also make us aware of God’s cleansing grace. It should leave us joyful spiritually if we have the right kind of hearts.

That is where James 4:5-10 comes in: ⁵ Or do you think that the Scripture says to no purpose, “He jealously desires the Spirit whom He has made to dwell in us”? ⁶ But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, “God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” ⁷ Submit therefore to God. But resist the devil, and he will flee from you. ⁸ Come close to God and He will come close to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. ⁹ Be miserable, and mourn, and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning, and your joy into gloom. ¹⁰ Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.” AI: “It’s debated whether the “spirit” yearning is God’s Holy Spirit, who desires our loyalty, or our own human spirit, which inclines towards envy and the world, with God’s Spirit opposing it. The most common view suggests God is intensely jealous for the Holy Spirit He placed within believers, yearning for the single-hearted devotion we owe Him, not the world.” Usually in the New Testament the phrase the “Spirit dwells in us” does refer to the Holy Spirit. God gives us the Spirit to help us in our war with our fleshly lusts and desires. Galatians 5:¹⁶ But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. ¹⁷ For the desire of the flesh is against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, in order to keep you from doing whatever you want.” The Spirit influences us to not yield to our sinful lusts, but it is still up to us to choose whether to sin or not. God is “jealous” when we don’t follow the leading of His Spirit that he has given us. A man gives his heart and love to the woman he marries. It makes him jealous when that woman gives her love and affection to another man. God wants our total devotion and love, and He gives us His Spirit to help us do that.

But we still sin and do not follow the leading of the Spirit perfectly. That is where grace comes in. 4: ⁶ But He gives a greater grace.” But that is where a humble heart comes in: 4:6 Therefore it says, “God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” God does not require perfection, but He does require a humble heart. Jesus said: Matthew 18:1 At that time the disciples came to Jesus and said, “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” ² And He called a child to Himself and set him among them, ³ and said, “Truly I say to you, unless you change and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. ⁴ So whoever will humble himself like this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” What is the humility of a child that Jesus demands:? The humility of a child means having an open, teachable spirit, willing to yield to a parent or a teacher. It is a heart that focuses on the love given it by a parent or teacher instead of a proud arrogant spirit. In the Church of Christ, the plan of salvation is “hear/believe/repent/confess/baptism.” But shouldn’t that start with “humility/hear…etc. with humility as the first step of salvation”? James had already spoke of the need for humility in 1:²¹ Therefore, ridding yourselves of all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls.”

James adds “submit then to God”. Yield your will to God’s will. Obey Him. Resist the devil and he will flee. Come close to God and He will come close to you. But you must cleanse your hands, i.e. try to keep your life free from sin. You must purify your hearts, removing all impure and insincere lustful motives. James 1:27 to keep oneself unstained by the world.” James calls those he is writing to as “sinners, double-minded” so he is rebuking them. The Greek word for “double-minded” is dípsyxos (an adjective, derived from 1364 /dís, “two” and 5590 /psyxḗ, “soul”) – properly, “two souled”; (figuratively) “double-minded,” i.e. a person “split in half,” vacillating like a “spiritual schizophrenic.” Double-mindedness describes the internal division that renders a person spiritually unstable, hesitant, and ineffective in faith and practice.” (Biblehub.org) James had already spoken of this double-minded state in 1:8. It’s a Jekyll/Hyde spiritual personality, constantly alternating between an evil and a good personality. It is interesting that James tells his readers to “⁹ Be miserable, and mourn, and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning, and your joy into gloom.” Isaiah 35 said that believers can have everlasting joy with no more sorrow, but here James tells them to quit being joyful! That is b/c he knows that their hearts are not right. They need to repent and humble themselves before God. They need to repent of their worldliness. Apparently they are not even trying to fight their sinful lusts. The solution: ¹⁰ Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.”

James then addresses judging one another. ¹¹ Do not speak against one another, brothers and sisters. The one who speaks against a brother or sister, or judges his brother or sister, speaks against the law and judges the law; but if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge of it. ¹² There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the One who is able to save and to destroy; but who are you, judging your neighbor?” An humble person will not judge other’s motives or deed. He will constantly be looking at his own sins instead of the sins of others. An humble person does not set himself up as judge and jury of others. Jesus said, Matthew 7:1 “Do not judge, so that you will not be judged. ² For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you. ³ Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? ⁴ Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ and look, the log is in your own eye? ⁵ You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye!”

James 4 closes with another quality of an humble heart. A humble person will not arrogantly think that he is in control of the future. An humble person will be aware that his future plans are controlled by God. 4:¹³ Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.” ¹⁴ Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. For you are just a vapor that appears for a little while, and then vanishes away. ¹⁵ Instead, you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that.” ¹⁶ But as it is, you boast in your arrogance; all such boasting is evil. ¹⁷ So for one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, for him it is sin.” AI: “”Life is but a vapor” is a powerful metaphor, emphasizing life’s brevity, fragility, and transience, like a morning mist that quickly disappears. It serves as a call to live purposefully, value each moment, focus on eternal matters, and recognize our dependence on God, rather than presumptuously planning for an uncertain future.” David spoke of this transiency of life in Psalm 39: “Lord, let me know my end, and what is the extent of my days; Let me know how transient I am. ⁵ Behold, You have made my days like hand widths, and my lifetime as nothing in Your sight; Certainly all mankind standing is a mere breath. Selah ⁶ Certainly every person walks around as a fleeting shadow; They certainly make an uproar for nothing; He amasses riches and does not know who will gather them.” Are you caught up in the “rat race” all around us? Do you plan for the future as if you can be sure that your plans will come to pass? There is nothing wrong with planning for the future, for future health and medical needs, for retirement, for securtiy, but always humbly plan acknowledging that God is in control of our futures. The last verse in 4: ¹⁷ So for one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, for him it is sin” really challenges us. How many times do you know the right thing to do and don’t do it? James 1 had already spoken of those who hear the word but who aren’t doers of the word (hearers only). Again, were it not for the grace of God, we would all be hopelessly condemned. But when we have the grace of God, we can rejoice spiritually b/c we know we are saved even though we are guilty of the sins of omission (not doing what we know is right) as well as the sins of commission.

I don’t know about you, but James 4 is humbling for me. It makes me more aware of my sinful lusts. It makes me want to submit my will to God and allow the Spirit to lead me to victory over more of those lusts. It makes me want to focus on spiritual joy instead of earthly possessions and accomplishments It makes me plan for the future but acknowledge that life might end at any time. It makes me want to find spiritual joy every day. It makes me want to quit judging others. James 4 is the type of sermon we need to constantly hear instead of some of the feel good, philosophical sermons that we hear on Sundays. It challenges us to quit being spiritual schizophrenics.

Here is an AI summary of James 4: “James 4 warns against worldly desires causing conflict, urging submission to God, humility (God opposes the proud), and avoiding slander, emphasizing that true friendship with God means resisting the devil and drawing near to Him, while also highlighting that boasting about future plans without acknowledging God’s will is sinful because life is fleeting, and we must live with dependence on God’s plan, saying, “If the Lord wills”. This blog will only discuss James 4:1-4.

1 Our internal lusts Vs 1-4 James says that our internal lusts are the source of all of our sins. The word for “pleasures” in 4:1 is hédoné: Pleasure, desire, lust: sensual pleasure; “what is enjoyable to the natural (physical) senses. denotes the pursuit of self-gratifying pleasure. In every New Testament setting the word is morally negative.” (biblehub.org) It is the word we get “hedonism” from, a philosophy centered on pleasure and happiness as life’s ultimate goal. John warned about those lusts in 1 John 1:¹⁵ Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. ¹⁶ For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. ¹⁷ The world is passing away and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God continues to live forever.” James says that those lusts “wage war” in our body parts. The Greek word is strateuó: To wage war, to serve as a soldier, to engage in spiritual warfare. “The verb appears seven times in the Greek New Testament and frames both literal military service (1 Corinthians 9:7; 2 Timothy 2:4) and the believer’s spiritual conflict.” (Biblehub.org) 2 Corinthians 10:³ For though we walk in the flesh, we do not wage battle according to the flesh.” Paul talked about this internal conflict and spiritual warfare. Romans 7:⁵ For while we were in the flesh, the sinful passions, which were brought to light by the Law, were at work in the parts of our body to bear fruit for death.” He says that we are prisoners in our fleshly bodies: Romans 7:²¹ I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. ²² For I joyfully agree with the law of God in the inner person, ²³ but I see a different law in the parts of my body waging war against the law of my mind, and making me a prisoner of the law of sin, the law which is in my body’s parts. ²⁴ Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?” We must add here that God is not against us enjoying the “pleasures” of life. He made everything good and wants us to enjoy all that He created. You have lustful desires like wanting a nice house, sexual desires, enjoying good food, etc. There is nothing wrong with that as long as that doesn’t become our main goal in life and doesn’t cause us to commit sinful deeds.

James then goes on to say that those lusts cause us to murder. Physical murder? Or is this “spiritual murder” as in 1 John 3:¹⁵ Everyone who hates his brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life remaining in him.” Jesus, in the Sermon on the Mount, said that the goal of the commandment “Thou shalt not murder” includes not expressing anger to a brother or calling him a fool, so that could be in play in James 4:2. Either way, our lusts cause us to be angry with, hate, speak evil of others, and do things to tear them down. They cause us to have “quarrels and conflicts” with others (4:1). Our lusts cause us to be “envious” of other’s possessions or accomplishments. We can’t be happy for them. James says that we don’t have b/c we do not ask. The context is best illustrated by this: a father tells his 10 year old son not to take things from the tool shed without permission but to ask for them. The father might give it to him if he asks, but he might not give him a skill saw b/c it might hurt him. In context of James 4, they are so bent on getting what their lusts want that they never ask God, so they miss out on a lot of good things that God might want to give them. James adds, 4:³ You ask and do not receive, because you ask with the wrong motives, so that you may spend what you request on your pleasures.” They might even ask God for things, but not get them b/c they are always praying and asking with the wrong motives, simply to get something to fulfill their lusts and pleasures. This is not a general statement on not getting what you ask for in prayer. In context, it is about those worldly believers in James 4 who pray only with selfish motives. When we don’t get what we specifically ask for in prayer, it does not mean that we are always asking with selfish, wrong motives. Sometimes God just says “no” to our requests. Maybe what we ask for is not good for us or for someone else. And that’s not to say that God might not change his plans or will on something. He changed his plan on Hezekiah dying soon and gave him 15 extra years based on Hezekiah’s prayer, which was actually a pretty selfish prayer. 2 Kings 20:³ “Please, Lord, just remember how I have walked before You wholeheartedly and in truth, and have done what is good in Your sight!” And Hezekiah wept profusely.” That is, “Lord I have always served you and don’t deserve to die this early!” Sometimes God might give us what we ask for with wrong motives just to teach us a lesson. God gave Hezekiah 15 extra years but that actually turned out to be a bad thing for him. He proudly discussed the miracle of the sun dial going backwards 10 steps with the Babylonian emissaries and then proudly showed them all the treasures of the temple. That caused God to tell him that the Babylonian would one day come and take all those treasures from the temple. At the time Isaiah told him this prediction, the Assyrians were the world power. They are the ones who sieged Jerusalem and Hezekiah’s humble trust and prayer caused God to kill 185,000 of the Assyrians in one night and send the Assryians back to Assyria. So this would have been a startling prediction, another of God’s amazing Old Testament prophets’ predictions about the fate of nations.

My philosophy on prayer: First, make sure that your motives are not selfish. Then, pray like Jesus prayed. Matthew 26:39 “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” He was actually praying for something selfish, but His motives were pure. He had seen those crucified hanging for 2 or 3 days at times, suffering unbelievable pain. He know that was his fate. He was asking selfishly to be spared of that. There is nothing wrong with us asking God to spare us or our loved ones of pain, disease, suffering, etc. But then he adds,  “nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.”  If God did not spare him of his fate on the cross, then Jesus was ready to accept that. People wonder about the verse, 1 John 5:14: “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us”. Or John 15:7: “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, you shall ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you”. That sounds like you will get anything you ask for unconditionally, but as we know, that is not the case. But think of it this way. If I ask, “God heal me of my cancer, but if not, that’s fine. Just give me the strength to get through it.” God will give you what you asked for b/c you asked like that. He can say, “I will grant your requests. I am not going to heal you of your cancer, but I will help you get through it. I will give you what you asked for!”Does that make sense? Also, what is “praying according to God’s will?” Does that mean that you have to pray for what God has already predetermined will happen? Of course not. The Hezekiah story proves that God can change his intended plans, so don’t be afraid to pray for God to change any plans He might have. That’s what Jesus did. He knew God’s predetermined plan was for him to die on the cross, but he didn’t mind asking God to change His plan, if possible.

Finally, James adds, James 4:⁴ You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.” We are guilty of spiritual adultery when we let our inner lusts take over and cause us to sin. There will always be temptations for our lusts to look at and think about. A husband will see beautiful women and be tempted. But he must control his lusts. Jesus said that to lust after a woman is to commit spiritual adultery. The prophet Hosea spoke of the spiritual adultery of Israel, going off after other gods. God told Hosea, “Go, take to yourself an adulterous wife and children of unfaithfulness, because the land is guilty of the vilest adultery in departing from the LORD” (Hosea 1:2). In Ezekiel 16 God said that Jerusalem was like an unfaithful wife after He loved had loved her and made her his bride. She was like a cheating woman who lusted after sex.” We can be guilty of spiritual adultery when we let our inner lusts cause us to focus on what our lusts desire rather than focussing on pleasing God and denying worldly lusts. Paul said, Titus 2:¹² instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously, and in a godly manner in the present age.” So who are we committing spiritual adultery with? The world and its lusts (1 John 1:15-17). Our lovers are the sinful worldly lusts all around us. James calls this friendship with the world that leads to spiritual adultery. Here is analogy. A husband befriends some attractive woman at work. At first, it is just a “friendship” but he is being drawn to her sexually and ends up committing adultery with her. Or a believer befriends guys who are constantly dwelling on their lusts with no spirituality at all. Eventually that friendship might draw the believer away from God and cause him to commit spiritual adultery on God. It is good to make friends with sinners, as Jesus did, but be careful when your friendship draws you away from your love of God.

I know this was long, but James 1:1-4 covers so many thoughts. Let me close with this about our inner lusts and inner conflict. Buddhism. Equanimity (Upekkha) is one of the Four Sublime States of Buddhism: A balanced, peaceful state of mind undisturbed by life’s ups and downs, achieved by detaching from the cycle of craving. It is a core factor for developing wisdom, compassion, and achieving enlightenment, involving an even-minded, balanced state that isn’t swayed by likes, dislikes, or worldly ups and downs.” (AI) I’m sure I oversimplify Buddhism, but I summarize it like this. You suffer and are unhappy b/c you don’t have something (food, things, etc). If you will just quit craving (lusting) for things and be totally happy without them, then you won’t suffer when you don’t have them. You won’t be preoccupied with getting them. You will find total inner peace and happiness without getting any of those things. You won’t be preoccupied with the worry, stress, depression, and grief when you don’t have those things. Deliberately cultivating happiness that does not depend on external circumstances is one of the core practices in Buddhism! Scientists say they have evidence to show that Buddhists really are happier and calmer than other people (even many Christians). Now I am not encouraging you to become a Buddhist! Buddhism is a philosophy, a way of life taught by the Buddha. That philosophy can make you a more contented, happy person regardless of your circumstances, but it can’t save you from your sins. Only Jesus can do that. But is is sad that many of us Christians are so preoccupied with the worries, riches, and pleasures of this life (Luke 8:14) that we do not find contentment, inner peace, and joy. We don’t bear much fruit for Jesus either!

This section speaks so much to me. How much of my desires are for fulfilling my inner lusts? My wife reminded me of this parable. “The phrase “two dogs in you, which are you feeding?” refers to a parable (often attributed to a Cherokee elder, though origins are debated) about the internal struggle between good and bad impulses, where the “dog” (or wolf) you give attention, energy, and focus to is the one that grows stronger and ultimately wins, influencing your character and actions.” (AI) The “Bad” Dog/Wolf: Represents negativity, anger, jealousy, greed, arrogance, and ego.The “Good” Dog/Wolf: Represents joy, peace, love, hope, kindness, empathy, and compassion.”

One last thought! James 1:1-4 kinda leave us a little depressed b/c, at least in my case, it seems like my ungodly lusts are winning the internal spiritual battle most of the time. Paul ended up his negative view of his inner struggle in Romans 7 with 7:²⁴ Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from ^[y]the body of this death?” Is there no hope for us since it seems the ungodly lusts usually win out? James deals with that in the next section (or blog) in James 4:5-10. Until next time!
 

As stated in the James 1 and 2 blogs, James is a topical study. There are two topics in James 3.

1 The Tongue Vs 1-12 James had already spoken of the need to control the tongue in James 1: ²⁶ If anyone thinks himself to be religious, yet does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this person’s religion is worthless.” But then he devotes almost an entire chapter to the tongue in chapter 3. He warns against many becoming teachers since many cannot control their tongues. Teachers who can’t control their tongues can cause a lot of damage. He says that someone who can control his tongue can control his whole body (but no one can!). He gives 3 simple analogies. He says that the tongue is like: 1) small bits that control very powerful horses; 2) the small rudder that can control a very heavy, large ship; 3) a small fire that can set an entire forest on fire. James says that we can control all species of animals but no one can control the tongue. The tongue is full of poison. Sadly, some use the tongue to both bless God but also curse God at times. Again, 4 simple comparisons to that: 1) a spring doesn’t send out both fresh and bitter water; 2) a fig tree doesn’t bear olives; 3) a grapevine doesn’t bear figs; 4) salt water cannot produce fresh water. James gives so many simple comparisons in this chapter.

So what are the most common sins of the tongue?

Lying/Deception: Blatant falsehoods, half-truths, exaggerations, or intentional omissions to mislead. “The Lord detests lying lips, but he delights in people who are trustworthy (Proverbs 12:22)”. Gossip: Spreading true but private faults of others without a good reason, harming their reputation. “He that goes about as a tale-bearer reveals secrets; therefore, keep no company with such a one (Proverbs 20:19).” “A gossip betrays a confidence; so avoid a man who talks too much (Proverbs 20:19)”. “Thou shalt not go up and down as a tale-bearer among thy people (Leviticus 19:16)”. “A dishonest man spreads strife, and a whisperer separates close friends” (Proverbs 16:28).
Backbiting: Speaking ill of someone when they aren’t present, often to wound them. “He does not slander with his tongue, nor do evil to his neighbor, nor bring shame on his friend (Psalm 15:3)”. Flattery/Pride: Excessive praise or boastful talk that seeks self-glory rather than God’s. “May the Lord silence all flattering lips and every boastful tongue (Psalm 12:4).” “Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses (Proverbs 27:6).”

Harshness/Bickering: Using biting remarks, insults, or constant complaining (nagging). “Be not rash with your mouth, and let not your heart be hasty to utter anything before God (Ecclesiastes 5:1).” Sowing Discord: Words intended to create division in families, churches, or communities. “There are six things that the Lord hates, Seven that are an abomination ^[j]to Him: ¹⁷ Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, And hands that shed innocent blood, ¹⁸ A heart that devises wicked plans, Feet that run rapidly to evil,A false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers (Proverbs 6:19)”.

Idle Chatter/Overuse: Talking excessively, leading to foolishness or revealing faults (Matthew 12:36). “When words are many, transgression is not lacking, but whoever restrains his lips is prudent (Proverbs 10:19)”. Matthew 12:36 – “But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment.”

Cursing/Profanity: Using impure or vulgar language, blasphemy. “Whoever curses his father or mother, his lamp will be extinguished in deepest darkness (Proverbs 20:20).” Exodus 20:7 – “You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.”

Quarrelsome: Always arguing with others. “Fools’ words get them into constant quarrels; they are asking for a beating (Proverbs 18:6).” Proverbs 15:1 – “A soft answer turns away wrath, But a harsh word stirs up anger.”

Psalm 141:3 – “Set a guard, O LORD, over my mouth; Keep watch over the door of my lips.” Psalm 19:¹⁴ Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer.” Ephesians 4:²⁹ Let no unwholesome word come out of your mouth, but if there is any good word for edification according to the need of the moment, say that, so that it will give grace to those who hear.” Let us all examine our speech. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you know what to say and to keep you from saying the wrong things.

2 Wisdom From Above Vs 13-18  This last section in chapter 3 follows up on the tongue, specifically the use of the tongue among teachers and leaders in the churches. “Who among you is wise and understanding?” That is, who are the wise teachers among you who can control the tongue. They are humble and gentle and do not have bitter jealousy or selfish ambition in their hearts. The sins of the tongue come from evil hearts. Matthew 5:¹⁸ But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and those things defile the person. ¹⁹ For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, acts of adultery, other immoral sexual acts, thefts, false testimonies, and slanderous statements.” The leaders and teachers with evil hearts use their tongues to cause division, discord, gossip, slander, and all the other sins of the tongue. The wise leaders have the wisdom that is from above. James 3:¹⁷ But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peace-loving, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial, free of hypocrisy.” Many teachers and leaders claim to be wise but their actions show otherwise. Many congregations have been split by leaders with proud, divisive hearts.

Another topical study by James that is badly needed in the church today.