TITLE: Friend or Foe By Durelle Rutledge 10/01/06 |
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Focus: James 4:4
Adulterers and adulteresses do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.”
When we make friends with the world, in other words live by the worlds standards, influences and demands; we are then "of" the world not just in it. This makes us enemies of God. We are His enemy at this point because we have refused and rebelled against His word, His will and His way that leads us on the path of righteousness.
On another point, we must realize that adultery not only applies to committing a sexual sin between two people, but we can commit adultery with God or rather against Him as well. The scripture says that Jesus is married to the church (the bride) and since we are the church we can and do, commit adultery against Him when we love others and other things more than or besides Him. When we chase after and love other people, jobs, money, drugs, fame, glory, etc. we commit adultery and shame ourselves before God.
In biblical days those that committed adultery were stoned to death. But we have a merciful and forgiving Lord. If we put Him first in our lives and confess and repent our sins against Him, He will forgive us. But we must keep in mind that to confess and repent means to tell Him that we are not only sorry for what we have done but that we will not repeat that sin again!
Let’s return to our first point, of being enemies of God. When we are God’s enemy we forfeit the blessings He has in store for us and bring about His wrath. We are the children of God and when we become His enemy, we are disinherited. Therefore we lose all the benefits and rights of being His heirs.
So let us be His “friend” and child and not His “foe” and reap the benefits of His blessings and His love.
Amen and God bless.
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