7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.
This one's a toughie when first reading it. Why would the Bible say anything about changing our laughter to mourning and our joy to gloom? Let's first get one thing straight- this passage is not saying to never have joy or laughter. There are tons of other places in the Bible where it says to have these things. What I personally interpret this as, is to not take pleasure in yourself or worldly things; things not of the Lord. You could even think about it like this: Jesus humbled Himself when He died on the cross for us, and it was anything but easy for Him. He literally cried out "O Lord, why have You forsaken me?" He wanted to know why God made Him go through with dying on the cross, or why God let it happen. God calls us to sacrifice, like Jesus did (none of our sacrifices will ever measure up to Jesus... they don't have to). and I obviously don't mean sacrificing animals, etc. I mean sacrificing time, effort, strength, everything to follow God. You must humble yourself completely to Him as Jesus set an example for on the cross. Grieve, mourn, wail, gloom, mourn- because of the realization that it's not about us. It never was. Man, that is a hard verse to digest.
But as I read this passage I see my mom telling me as a child that if I tell satan to go away, he will. Whenever I had fears or night terrors, or deep worry as a child, she would tell me to stomp on the ground and say "Go away, devil!" and he would. She only got this from the Bible itself, specifically in this passage. "Resist the devil and he will flee from you."
"Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will lift you up." Just think of how much this relate also to Christ's death. He humbled Himself more than anyone could have ever humbled themselves by becoming human and dying, and see what the Lord did? He lifted Him up, from the grave, from death, and back to His kingdom. What could God do for you, or with you, when you humble yourself? Ask God this question, and ask what you could humble yourself in (I am asking myself these same questions).
Dear Lord, I thank You so much for this passage. Parts of it are a little hard to understand, but you breathed these words into James for a reason Lord. And we thank You eternally for them, and for Christ's death and resurrection. Because of the example He set for us in how to live our lives, and most of all because He saved us with Your love. Thank You abundantly Lord. We love You and praise You forever. In Jesus name, Amen
♥Chrissy
This one's a toughie when first reading it. Why would the Bible say anything about changing our laughter to mourning and our joy to gloom? Let's first get one thing straight- this passage is not saying to never have joy or laughter. There are tons of other places in the Bible where it says to have these things. What I personally interpret this as, is to not take pleasure in yourself or worldly things; things not of the Lord. You could even think about it like this: Jesus humbled Himself when He died on the cross for us, and it was anything but easy for Him. He literally cried out "O Lord, why have You forsaken me?" He wanted to know why God made Him go through with dying on the cross, or why God let it happen. God calls us to sacrifice, like Jesus did (none of our sacrifices will ever measure up to Jesus... they don't have to). and I obviously don't mean sacrificing animals, etc. I mean sacrificing time, effort, strength, everything to follow God. You must humble yourself completely to Him as Jesus set an example for on the cross. Grieve, mourn, wail, gloom, mourn- because of the realization that it's not about us. It never was. Man, that is a hard verse to digest.
But as I read this passage I see my mom telling me as a child that if I tell satan to go away, he will. Whenever I had fears or night terrors, or deep worry as a child, she would tell me to stomp on the ground and say "Go away, devil!" and he would. She only got this from the Bible itself, specifically in this passage. "Resist the devil and he will flee from you."
"Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will lift you up." Just think of how much this relate also to Christ's death. He humbled Himself more than anyone could have ever humbled themselves by becoming human and dying, and see what the Lord did? He lifted Him up, from the grave, from death, and back to His kingdom. What could God do for you, or with you, when you humble yourself? Ask God this question, and ask what you could humble yourself in (I am asking myself these same questions).
Dear Lord, I thank You so much for this passage. Parts of it are a little hard to understand, but you breathed these words into James for a reason Lord. And we thank You eternally for them, and for Christ's death and resurrection. Because of the example He set for us in how to live our lives, and most of all because He saved us with Your love. Thank You abundantly Lord. We love You and praise You forever. In Jesus name, Amen
♥Chrissy
No comments:
Post a Comment