James 4 Notes

War and turmoil amongst you because there is war and turmoil (pleasures soldiering) amongst your own limbs/parts.

One kind of person has these desperate needs and is powerless to fill them. They do not ask (from God), and when they do ask, they get nothing because they ask badly, for personal pleasure.

This is adultery. (not a fond, familiar or mild form of address: grounds for stoning).

Love (philia) of the world = hostility of God (objective or subjective???)

The spirit he placed within us craves envy?

The Bible describes us accurately. That's good.

We want, and we do not have, so we MURDER! (That escalated quickly)

There is war of amongst us and within us. Our desires are “soldiering”.

Why is friendship with the world such a big deal? Why is it adultery? Seems harsh.

When I have a best friend, but I call another friend my best friend? How about when I have a wife and I start hanging around with an ex-girlfriend. An ex-mistress?

How was it supposed to work? We have God-given desires. We have God-given pleasures. We are supposed to grow hungry, and then enjoy, take pleasure in, the bounty God provides in the Garden. We are supposed to feel sexual desire and then take pleasure in the partner He created for us.

We are supposed to feel need and look to our Provider. We can know and trust that He will provide in the right place at the right time with just the right thing.

Instead our desires run wild, in magnitude and direction. We go beyond satisfying hunger to gluttony. We confuse the direction of our desire, chasing after money, power, and pleasure to fill a God-shaped hole.

Writing to Christians who know God. Yet… they try to maintain “friendship with the world.” Why doesn’t this work?

Friendship – wanting to please, spend time with, be like someone. Enjoying their company.

World – that which is opposed to God? Hedonism. The alternative Provider (Pusher). Not just Satan but the entire infrastructure (one we are capable of constructing ourselves).