What anger cannot do.......

James 1:19 So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath;

James 1:20n for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.

James 1:21 Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.

James moves to a new subject here.....Anger, or as he calls it the "Wrath of Man"

But, leading up to that he says a number of things.

1. He tells us we are beloved brethren. God loves us.

2. He tells us to be swift to hear.

3. He tells us to be slow to speak.

4. He tells us to be slow to wrath, or get angry.

In these four things, we are reminded of who we are, we are indeed loved by God, and He as our father then, gives us this instruction about our actions, our hearts and our words. These are God's instructions, that will help us greatly in our lives, and in our relationships with others. Quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry.

Then he explains more about anger, specifically, what it will not, and cannot accomplish. Our getting angry about something is not going to bring about the God's ways, and God's will in a situation. We will not accomplish what we might think by getting angry.

Finally, in these verses, we are told lay aside, or get rid of, to put our of our lives, any and all things that are filthy. And, then in humility of spirit, to accept the message that God has planted in our hearts, because it's powerful enough to save our very souls.

He will talk more about our relationship to the Word of God in the next few verses. We will look at that tomorrow.......

But, this is plenty to chew on, and to think about, and to digest. May what's said here in James 1:19-21 become a part of our lives. May we take these many things that have been given to us, and by God's grace, and our faith in action, put them into practice in our lives this very day. What are they?

Quick to listen.

Slow to speak.

Slow to get angry.

Put sin and evil out of our lives.

Humbly receive God's Word.

Blessings to you today, of God's grace, mercy and peace.

Pastor Bob Grenier

Calvary Chapel Visalia

Application/Promises

1. We probably need to hear what James is saying.

2. God knows we are all pretty much alike.

3. God wants to curb our tendencies and make us like Him.

4. If we will open our hearts to this instruction, it will change us.

5. Will you think about what was said here?

6. Will you read it again, and then think about it again?

7. God has blessings in store for you.

8. You are one of those beloved brothers or sisters in Christ.

Are you exalted or humbled? We can rejoice either way.

James 1:9 Let the lowly brother glory in his exaltation,

James 1:10 but the rich in his humiliation, because as a flower of the field he will pass away.

James 1:11 For no sooner has the sun risen with a burning heat than it withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beautiful appearance perishes. So the rich man also will fade away in his pursuits.

This is a call to both the lowly brother, and the rich brother. It's a call to glory ( that is, to glad, or to rejoice in )

For example, the lowly brother, or the poor man, is to glory in his exaltation. That is, while he may be poor on a material and monetary level, and may be lowly as far as society is concerned, it’s not so in God’s eyes and truth. He is exalted, in that he is in Christ. James was writing to christian brothers, and this exaltation is true of everyone that has come to faith in Jesus Christ. We are exalted in Christ. We are joint-heirs with Christ. So, that’s one thing.

But, now to the rich man. It’s just the opposite in some ways. He is to rejoice in, or glory in the fact, that he has become humbled. The truth of God can come home to a rich man, and enable him to see the end of the matter, and the truth about his riches and position. James gives the illustration of the flower of the field. It’s no sooner bloomed, then along comes the sun, and it causes the flower to wither. It falls, and all of it’s beauty vanishes. This is just what will happen to the rich man ( in terms of his physical riches and so on )

So, James is helping to show, “let’s measure our lives from the perspective of God’s Word and God’s truth. Let’s have that eternal perspective about our lives.”

Are you poor and lowly, then rejoice in your position in Christ. Are you a rich man, then remember, you have eternal riches, and the temporal things will just pass away, but not the eternal life that has been given to you.

Thank You Lord. We appreciate You telling us the truth about life. Help Us Lord, to take it to heart, and to put it into application day by day. We love you. In Jesus name. Amen.

Pastor Bob Grenier

Calvary Chapel Visalia

Application/Promises.

1. Which position are you in right now?

2. Has God exalted you?

3. Has God humbled you?

4. Either way, we can rejoice in the Lord.

Where will these 2 lead you?

Proverbs 11:2 When pride comes, then comes shame; But with the humble is wisdom.

Proverbs 11:3 The integrity of the upright will guide them, But the perversity of the unfaithful will destroy them.

All of these can be ours, and each of them will lead us somewhere.

When pride comes, then comes shame. What is pride, and what is shame? The word pride here, comes from a word that means, to boil, to boil up, to seethe, and it literally means to be arrogant. Pride will lead you to, or is followed by shame. Which means, disgrace, and confusion, humiliation, embarrassment, and to be discredited, loss of face.

On the other hand, and this is much better news, with the humble is wisdom. Humility, is to be of a lowly spirit. or to be deferential, respectful, submissive, unassertive, not overbearing, and not proud. When we have humility, we will have wisdom, which means to have skill, and to have your wits about you, and to act wisely, to have common sense, to act rationally, and not be foolish, or stupid.

In verse 13, we are told that the integrity of the upright will guide them. Integrity, comes from a word meaning clean, good character, moral, decent, fair, righteousness, and truthful. These are the ways of the Lord. He cleanses us from our sins, and He leads us in the paths of righteousness. He leads us to be this way, and then we find ourselves being guided, or going in the correct path, and in the straight way.

Lastly, and here is what all of us want to avoid, and that is to be perverse, or to have perversity in our lives. It means to twist, to pervert, to distort, to overturn, to ruin, to be crooked in our dealings with others. This kind of living will bring destruction into our lives. It will absolutely devastate our lives. It will rob us of blessing, it will cause us to have wasted lives.

The good in our lives comes from the Lord through the Holy Spirit, working through God's Word, to produce fruit in our lives, and the bad, comes from our own fallen natures. The Bible calls it our flesh.

Here's some more good news......Our Lord, who is the Good Shepherd, wants to and will lead us this very day into humility, and into integrity. We can follow Him today. Let's do it.

Father, we used to sheep without a shepherd, and sometimes we even feel that way today, and may be acting like sheep without a shepherd. But, we know You are our shepherd, and we know that we can hear your voice, and that You want to and can, and will lead us today into the paths of righteousness. We want to follow You...

Pastor Bob Grenier

Calvary Chapel Visalia

Application/Promises

1.We hear our Shepherd through His Word.

2. He knows each of His sheep.

3. He cares for His sheep.

4. We can follow Him.

5. The Holy Spirit is our helper.

6. Paths of righteousness lay ahead today.

7. Let's let Him lead us today.

8. Humility, Wisdom, Integrity, and Guidance are for us.

9. God can un-twist your heart.

Strife, it's cause and how to avoid it.

Pro 13:10 By Pride comes nothing but strife. But with the well -advised is wisdom.

The book of Proverbs has much to say about this subject, i.e strife, or contention. And here in 13:10, we are told it's cause, and we are told how to walk in wisdom, or not to have strife.

The cause of strife is pride. Pride means, arrogance, and presumption. So, the it's arrogance that brings about strife.

Arrogance, as defined Biblically, means, pomp, swelling, or proud. It's to have an attitude of self importance. That's how the dictionary defines it to. "having an exaggerated sense of one's own importance or abilities. It's to be puffed up with conceit.

Self admiration, egotism, self-regard, smugness, big-headedness, vain glory.

It's the opposite of humility. That is pride is the direct opposite of humility.

But, with the well advised is wisdom. Or "those who receive counsel" is wisdom.

We do not naturally have God's wisdom. It must be given to us, and we must receive it.

And, if we are the kind of people who can receive counsel, it will help us not to walk in pride, and it will help us not to cause strife and contention.

So, Lord, here we are. People who need counsel, people who would want to receive counsel. Your counsel. Will You help us this day to be humble, to be receptive to You, and to have Your wisdom, and avoid being the cause of strife and contention.

We truly do love You, and we need You more then we know. Thank You Lord. In Jesus name. Amen.

Pastor Bob Grenier

3 things that can come into our lives

Proverbs 11:2 When pride comes, then comes shame; But with the humble is wisdom.

This verse tells us of several things that can come into our lives.

It might be more appropriate to say that there are a total of four things that are mentioned in this verse.

Let's count them.........pride, shame, humility, and wisdom.

Two of these are really from within us, and they serve as the basis for what will happen to us as the result.

First of all......Pride.....it comes from within, and when it comes, it brings shame.

Pride means insolence, or presumptuousness, also translated, arrogance......If we are walking in this, we will then have shame....it comes with pride, or from pride.....Shame means disgrace, and dishonor.

So, pride and shame go together.

Then, we have humility and wisdom. To walk in humility, means that we walk in a lowly way, or a modest way. Sometimes it's defined as having an accurate view of oneself. We are just earthen vessels.

But, if we are humble, then we will have wisdom. Meaning, the skillful man, to have our wits about us.

Well, Lord, help us to be humble and avoid shame, and have wisdom.

We love you, in Jesus name.

Pastor Bob Grenier