Reverse the Twist
Don't Get it Twisted (Day 4) // Prayer365
“What is causing the quarrels and fights among you? Don’t they come from the evil desires at war within you? You want what you don’t have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have, but you can’t get it, so you fight and wage war to take it away from them. Yet you don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it. And even when you ask, you don’t get it because your motives are all wrong—you want only what will give you pleasure. You adulterers! Don’t you realize that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God? I say it again: If you want to be a friend of the world, you make yourself an enemy of God. Do you think the Scriptures have no meaning? They say that God is passionate that the spirit he has placed within us should be faithful to him. And he gives grace generously. As the Scriptures say, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world. Let there be tears for what you have done. Let there be sorrow and deep grief. Let there be sadness instead of laughter, and gloom instead of joy. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up in honor.” - James 4:1-10 NLT
James is writing to believers who have become twisted in the faith. As James said, their loyalty is divided between God and the world. He warns them of the danger in having a friendship with the world. To many of us this sounds harmless, but if we were to consider what this really means we may think differently. A friendship is essentially a covenant relationship, therefore to be friends with the world means that we come into covenant relationship with the world and its values. This includes backbiting, rage, selfishness, pride, dissension, division, among other works of the flesh. It’s clear that the values of the world oppose the values of God.
In this letter, James is addressing believers. He takes such a strong tone because they were becoming blended versions of sin and righteousness. He goes on to call them “…adulterers! Don’t you realize that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God?” Why would he say adulterers? When we received salvation by faith in Jesus Christ, we reconciled in relationship with God, we returned to our first love. God has no desire to share us with twists of sin. Instead, He “...is passionate that the spirit he has placed within us should be faithful to him.” Friendship with the world is equal to stepping out on our relationship with God.
After revealing this great twist in the hearts of the people, James gives them the answer, how to reverse the twist: “So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world. Let there be tears for what you have done. Let there be sorrow and deep grief.” The way that we reverse the twist is through repentance. This is not just send us into depression, but this is so that we would acknowledge our wrong, the err in our ways. I believe that when we realize that we have exchanged God’s goodness for the filth of this world, it causes our hearts to weep; realizing that we’ve abandoned His way for the ways of the world. Abusing his faithfulness with acts of selfishness. Wanting to feel secure, so we fight for control. Wanting to feel accepted so bend and twist ourselves for the acceptance of others, not realizing that we were already accepted by God, that our security is found in Him. All the things we wanted, were available in Him, but we valued our own desires more than desiring Him.
Repentance is necessary because repentance restores relationship, both with God and with others. Repentance is more than just saying “I’m sorry”, it’s the turning of the heart back to God. It’s the acknowledgment that we cannot do this without Him. We cannot be successful without Him. And as our hearts turn to Him, He untwists our souls and heals us of the perversions that have infected us so that we might flow in the rhythms of His grace.
Prayer Focus: Repentance, the turning of your heart back to the Father.
I’m praying with you and for you,
Pastor Enrique Brooks
James is writing to believers who have become twisted in the faith. As James said, their loyalty is divided between God and the world. He warns them of the danger in having a friendship with the world. To many of us this sounds harmless, but if we were to consider what this really means we may think differently. A friendship is essentially a covenant relationship, therefore to be friends with the world means that we come into covenant relationship with the world and its values. This includes backbiting, rage, selfishness, pride, dissension, division, among other works of the flesh. It’s clear that the values of the world oppose the values of God.
In this letter, James is addressing believers. He takes such a strong tone because they were becoming blended versions of sin and righteousness. He goes on to call them “…adulterers! Don’t you realize that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God?” Why would he say adulterers? When we received salvation by faith in Jesus Christ, we reconciled in relationship with God, we returned to our first love. God has no desire to share us with twists of sin. Instead, He “...is passionate that the spirit he has placed within us should be faithful to him.” Friendship with the world is equal to stepping out on our relationship with God.
After revealing this great twist in the hearts of the people, James gives them the answer, how to reverse the twist: “So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world. Let there be tears for what you have done. Let there be sorrow and deep grief.” The way that we reverse the twist is through repentance. This is not just send us into depression, but this is so that we would acknowledge our wrong, the err in our ways. I believe that when we realize that we have exchanged God’s goodness for the filth of this world, it causes our hearts to weep; realizing that we’ve abandoned His way for the ways of the world. Abusing his faithfulness with acts of selfishness. Wanting to feel secure, so we fight for control. Wanting to feel accepted so bend and twist ourselves for the acceptance of others, not realizing that we were already accepted by God, that our security is found in Him. All the things we wanted, were available in Him, but we valued our own desires more than desiring Him.
Repentance is necessary because repentance restores relationship, both with God and with others. Repentance is more than just saying “I’m sorry”, it’s the turning of the heart back to God. It’s the acknowledgment that we cannot do this without Him. We cannot be successful without Him. And as our hearts turn to Him, He untwists our souls and heals us of the perversions that have infected us so that we might flow in the rhythms of His grace.
Prayer Focus: Repentance, the turning of your heart back to the Father.
I’m praying with you and for you,
Pastor Enrique Brooks
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