Daily Devotional

A Ministry of the Kerwin Baptist Church

April 04, 2019

by Pastor Hawtree

BIBLE READING: JAMES 4

1. From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members?

Lust seems to be the main subject mentioned in these first verses of this chapter. It shares many of the problems that it can cause in our lives. Notice with me:

LUST BRINGS DAMAGE (1)
List brings “wars and fightings”. It causes battles “among us”. It causes battles inside us. It causes battles around us. The Bible says “sin when it is finished bringeth forth death”.

LUST BRINGS DISCONTENT (2)
2 Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not.

The word lust in verse two is the Greek word “epithumeo”. It means to covet. Different word for lust than verse 1 and 3. We “desire to have”, which means we become jealous. Lust brings discontentment.

LUST BRINGS DESOLATION (3)
3 Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.

Lust messes up our motives. It prevents not just our prayers from being answered, but it prevents us from praying for the right things. We “receive not”. Lust brings desolation.

LUST BRINGS DEBT (3)
“Ye may consume it”. This is where we get the idea of “consumer spending”. It means “to incur cost, or to waste: to be at charges, consume, spending”. Lust for things causes us to be consumed with consuming, and eventually we must pay for it. Can I get a witness?

LUST BRINGS DIVISION (4)
4 Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.

Lust brings division between us and God. The closer we get to lusting after what the world has, the further from God we get. This is the greatest damage of all!