If the Lord Wills, James 4:13-17

Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”; ¹⁴ whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. ¹⁵ Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.” ¹⁶ But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.

¹⁷ Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.

OUTLINE:

Ø 13 PLANS

Ø 14 PERSPECTIVE

Ø 15 PRIORITY

Ø 16 PRIDE

Ø 17 PROCRASTINATION

 

13 PLANS

Come now, you who say, Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit

They say if you want to hear God laugh, just tell Him your plans. Like when AOC said, “I plan to run for president.”

Psalm 2:4, 37:12-13, 59:8, God laughs at the schemes of man against Him.

Other times rather than laugh, He rebukes man’s plans, like in our text today, and the parable Jesus tells in Luke 12:16-20:

“The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. ¹⁷ And he thought within himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’ ¹⁸ So he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. ¹⁹ And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years (golden nest egg, IRA, 401K, retirement); take your ease (move to Florida); eat, drink, and be merry (Play cornhole, golf, lounge by the pool).” ’ ²⁰ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’

Does that remind you of someone?

Isaiah 14:13-15

For you have said in your heart:

‘I will ascend into heaven,

I will exalt my throne above the stars of God;

I will also sit on the mount of the congregation

On the farthest sides of the north;

¹⁴ I will ascend above the heights of the clouds,

I will be like the Most High.’

¹⁵ Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol,

To the lowest depths of the Pit.

 

So, does that mean we shouldn’t make plans?

Jesus says in, Matthew 6:26:
 Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?

Should we just go with the flow, que sera sera, don’t think about tomorrow, whatever will be will be?

Well, if we only look at cherry-picked verses, it might seem that way. That’s why we must consider the whole context of the Word of God and always consider the context of each text.

The parable of the rich fool in Luke was in response the greed of a man who just told Jesus:

“Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”

¹⁴ But He said to him, “Man, who made Me a judge or an arbitrator over you?” ¹⁵ And He said to them, “Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.” Luke 12:13-14.

Then, He told the parable of the rich fool.

In Matthew 6 Jesus was teaching about trusting God and not worrying when He mentioned the birds of the air. The verses before and after read:

²⁵ “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?

²⁶ Look at the birds of the air...your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?

²⁷ Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?

³⁴ Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Today has enough trouble of its own. Matthew 6:25-27, 34.

We’re not supposed to worry about tomorrow.

We’re not supposed to put our faith in tomorrow.

But we are supposed put faith in God as we plan for tomorrow.

Plans: Hebrew: machashabah: cunning work, curious work, imagination, invented, means, purpose, thought.

Proverbs 12:5
The thoughts (machashabah) of the righteous are just, But the counsels of the wicked are deceitful

Proverbs 16:3
Commit your works to the LORD, and your thoughts (machashabah) will be established.

Proverbs 21:5
The plans (machashabah) of the diligent lead surely to plenty, but those of everyone who is hasty, surely to poverty.

We should plan (machashabah) for our family, education career, retirement, especially, most importantly, our eternity.

Matthew 6:19-21,33
 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; ²⁰ but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. ²¹ For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also...

³³ But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

God planned (machashabah)for you from the foundation of the world.

Matthew 25:34
Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.

... (41 “Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels) 

From the foundation of the world?

Whoa. Wow.

That puts it into...

14 PERSPECTIVE

¹⁴ whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.

Psalm 144:4. Man is like a breath; his days are like a passing shadow.

1 Peter 1:24. For, “All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall,

Our life is but a flash in a pan, but God made a Way for that flash. From Eternity past, before the world began, you were a glimmer in God’s eye.

In America, about 8,500 people that were alive yesterday, are not today. About 1 person dies every 10 seconds; that’s around 360 an hour.

Just last week, three kids that we sent Bibles to this past Christmas, could’ve been part of those statistics. They were riding with three other friends, when they felt the urge to get out of the car. They did. Shortly after, the car smashed head on into a tree.

Life is a vapor.

By this time tomorrow, I may be in Eternity.

Before your next breath, you may be.

That should not scare us.

Christians are Eternal beings with a Heavenly Home;

strangers, pilgrims, of whom this world is not worthy.

Whether we live a hundred years, or a hundred days...

Life is a vapor.

A precious, priceless, vapor, that Christ died to save, but a fragile, vapor, nonetheless.

What’s worth losing sleep over?

Not the petty whims and wishes in our plans of vapor.

But fulfilling our Divine Eternal Purpose and Calling, that’s worth losing sleep, that’s worth fighting for, dying for, even more, that’s worth, living for.

What’s that look like?

The lost souls God has given us to reach.

Leave the 99 to search high and low for that one lost sheep.

Turn the house inside out to find the one lost coin.

It’s not God will for any to perish. 2 Peter 3:9

God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked. Ez. 33:11. Because He knows that once we breathe our last, then comes judgement.

No second chances.

No getting prayed out of purgatory.

Because this life is but a vapor, we must make the most of every opportunity.

NO not for pleasure and good times, but to make an Eternal difference in all those God has given us.

Who has God given you?

Those you can influence.

What have you done to draw them to Him?

What’s your PLAN to do so? TODAY. It can’t wait.

Life is a vapor.

I don’t know what to say. I don’t want to scare them away.

God knows.

Trust Him.

Preprayer (their heart and yours).

Then open your mouth and let God fill it.

He will not let you down.

Proverbs 3:5-6
Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
And lean not on your own understanding;
In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall direct your paths.

Psalm 37:4
Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart.

Serving the Lord is delight, not drudgery.

Delight in Him and He will put the desires in you that He wants you to have. That’s when life gets gloriously, joyfully, awesome, because, then you do what you desire and delight to do, with God’s blessing.

When we have this delightful Devine Eternal Calling to pursue, why do we take our plans so seriously?

Why lose sleep, peace, sanity, over a vapor that vanishes, in a breath.

What if our plans fail? So? Will it make an Eternal difference?

If not, don’t stress.

If so, then we probably have the right perspective. So, stay the course, finish well, don’t get entangled with earthly distractions that pull us from our Heavenly priority.

15 PRIORITY

Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.

Once we get our Eternal Perspective correct, the proper Priority should be easy.

If the Lord wills, is simply putting Him first.

Including Him first in our plans, is the surest, way to victorious Christian living.

His plans succeed. 

Our plans fail.

It may not be easy, but it’s always best.

Jesus gave us the best example, in the garden.

“Father, not My will, but Thine be done.” Luke 22:42.

“If the Lord wills...” is not just words tack on a phrase, like we tack, “In Jesus name” on the end of a prayer.

It’s an attitude of the heart.

God first. Period. In everything. No matter what.

The more we mature in Christ, the more dependent upon Him we become.

You don’t want to drive a block without praying for His Protection.

I can never give a message without telling the Lord, I can’t do this without You.

Notice, the plan is still there. If the Lord wills we shall do this or that... today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit.

God doesn’t take your life, your plans, your dreams, your desires, He fills them above and beyond all you could ever ask or think.

The devil steals, kills, destroys, Jesus gives abundant Life. John 10:10.

There’s no greater fulfillment, than yielding your will, to His.

James 4:6-7
“God resists the proud,
But gives grace to the humble.”

⁷ Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.

Which is great to know because our next point is the devil’s favorite weapon of mass destruction.

16 PRIDE

¹⁶ But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.

That word for “arrogance” is only found twice.

The other time is...

1 John 2:15-17
 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. ¹⁶ For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. ¹⁷ And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.

Life is but a vapor, we are passing away, the world is passing away, but the will of God abides forever,  thus we must not delay, wait, or procrastinate...

17 PROCRASTINATION

Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.

We’ve heard this before, just with different words:

Be doers of the Word, not hearers only (James 1:22).

Faith without works is dead (James 2:14-26).

I know it’d be good if I read my Bible, prayed, went to Church, stopped that bad habit...

I will. Later. Tomorrow.

Life is a vapor.

To delay in doing good, to procrastinate, is to miss the mark.

To miss the mark, is sin.

Delayed obedience, is disobedience.

Ephesians 5:15-17
See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, ¹⁶ redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
¹⁷ Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is.

Let’s pray.

Lord Jesus, thank You for this moment to submit to You our plans, perspectives and priorities, humbly, without delay. Now Lord, please don’t let us confuse submission with slothful. Convict us to get up and be doers of the Good we know to do, that when this vapor has vanished, You’ll find us faithful, soul winners and disciple makers to all those You’ve given us.

Thank You.

We love You, forever.

Amen.

 

 

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The Power of Pentecost, Acts 2:1-4

When the Day of Pentecost had fully come they were all with one accord in one place. ² And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. ³ Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. ⁴ And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

My oh my, how time flies.

The busier we get the faster it flies.

Jesus compared the last days to labor pains. As the time for delivery draws near, the time between labor pains becomes more frequent and intense.

We’ve been busy lately.

April 19-25 America Read the Bible

 May 7 America's National Day of Prayer

 May 17 America Rededication to the Lord

 May 24 Pentecost Sunday

 May 25 Memorial Day

 July 4th America's 250th Anniversary

That’s just looking through a small and narrow Church window.

National events converging like this are no coincidence, but Providence.

Timing is powerful.

Yesterday we remembered, Pentecost, the birth of the Church and those who gave their lives to give us the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Today we celebrate, Memorial Day, and honor those who gave their lives so we can freely worship Jesus Christ.  

Let us live worthy of the lives they gave.

Divine Timing changes the trajectory of nations.

We are living in very consequential times.

There are two kinds of time. Kairos and Chronos.

Chronos is time that can be measured by calendar or clock. We operate by chronos (chronological) time.

God operates in Kairos. The fullness of time. When the time is right, God moves.  

Galatians 4:4-6
 But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, ⁵ to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.

God lives outside time but uses time to tell HIStory.

For example, He sent the angel Gabriel to Daniel in 539 BC to lay out the seventy-week timeline to the end of time. (Daniel 9:25-27).

He spelled out 483 years (173,880) in advance the very day Jesus would ride into Jerusalem on what we now call Palm Sunday.

They called it Lamb Selection Day. It was the day each family chose the spotless lamb they’d use for the Passover.

The priests would examine the lambs and accept or reject them as worthy.

Jesus, the True Passover Lamb, rode into Jerusalem, on that very day, to be accepted or rejected.

At first the people gladly accepted Him, cheering, “Hosanna to the Son of David, blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.” Matthew 21:9.

But by Friday, deceived by corrupt religious leaders, they shouted for Jesus to be crucified.

Which led to the Divinely timed crucifixion of Jesus. Not just the day, but the hour, 3:00. The very time the Passover lambs were slain, Jesus, the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world said, “Father into Thy hands I commit My Spirit” and with those words, His bowed His head and His body died.

And just like that, the first of the four spring feasts were fulfilled.

Thus, fulfilling once and for all the True meaning of Passover.

For over 1,400 years, multiplied millions of lambs had been slain year after year commemorating the first Passover when the blood of the Passover lamb over the doorpost caused the death angel to pass over that household. That night Israel was released from Egyptian bondage.

The Passover when Jesus died, opened the door, making a Way for all mankind to be released from the bondage of sin.

The next day, was the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Lev. 23:6). Reflecting Jesus sinless body, since leaven represents sin. He was the Perfect, sinless sacrifice, like a grain of wheat planted waiting to burst forth as the First Fruit of an abundant harvest.

John 12:24
Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone: but if it dies, it produces much grain.

Then, He rose on the Feast of First Fruits. Jesus is the First Fruit of the Resurrection, representing many more resurrections to all who follow Him.

Which brings us to the feast we commemorate today.

Pentecost

Lev. 23:16-17, Count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath; then you shall offer a new grain offering to the Lord. ¹⁷ You shall bring from your dwellings two wave loaves of two-tenths of an ephah. They shall be of fine flour; they shall be baked with leaven. They are the firstfruits to the Lord.

Pentecost. Greek: fiftieth. Also called: Feast of Weeks or, Shavuot, which means, weeks.

Pentecost celebrated the first fruits of the wheat harvest.

During Pentecost they baked two loaves of leavened bread which was different from the other feasts because leaven represented sin.

During Passover, all leaven had to be removed from homes.

Every other grain offering in Leviticus had to be made without leaven.

However, in this case, the leaven stayed, because we all have sinned, but through Christ we can be forgiven and accepted as children of God.

Come as you are. He will cleanse you. While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8.

 Two loaves were baked and waved as an offering to the Lord, and then, given to the priests to eat.

The two loaves represent both Jew and gentile, being made into one family, yet maintaining distinct identities.

Furthermore, this represents the firstfruits of the harvest of souls. By the time this beautiful day of Pentecost had fully come to an end, 3,000 souls were saved, born again. Acts 2:41.

And that was just the first wave that has been rolling in wave upon wave from that day to this.    

Later, not recorded in Scripture, but the Rabbis added commemorating the giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai, because it also took place during Shavuot.

At Sinai God wrote the law in stone.

But God had something much better planned.

At Pentecost God wrote the law of love in hearts.

Did you notice, we just addressed the first four of the seven feasts of Israel? (Passover, Unleavened Bread, First Fruits, and Pentecost).

They occur during the spring and have already been fulfilled by Christ in the New Testament.

The final three feasts (Trumpets, Atonement, and Tabernacles) occur during the fall, all within a fifteen-day period.

Many (including me) believe that just as the spring feasts were fulfilled during the Lord’s first coming, the three fall feasts will be fulfilled according to the appointed times of His second coming.

Did you know the Hebrew word for “feasts” (moadim) literally means, appointed times?

Spring Feasts yet to be fulfilled:

Trumpets (Leviticus 23:24). The first of the fall feasts. Many believe this day points to the Rapture of the Church when Jesus will appear in the heavens as He comes for His bride, the Church. The Rapture is always associated in Scripture with the blowing of a loud trumpet (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 and 1 Corinthians 15:51-53).

Day of Atonement (Leviticus 23:27). Prophetically pointing to the day of the Second Coming when Jesus returns to earth and the Jews that remain will "look upon Him whom they have pierced," repent of their sins, and receive Him as their Messiah (Zechariah 12:10 and Romans 11:1-6, 25-36.

Feast of Sukkot, or Tabernacles or Booths (Leviticus 23:34). Foreshadowing the beautiful time when the Lord will dwell (tabernacles) on earth with man.

Revelation 21:3
And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God.

 When the Day of Pentecost had fully come...

Okay, back to The Feast of Pentecost.

This was another Kairos moment. A Divine appointed time.

In the fullness of time. When Pentecost had fully come. This wasn’t any regular Pentecost.

It was a Divinely timed fulfillment of all Pentecosts.

After Jesus resurrection He walked and talked with folks for 40 days offering undeniable proofs of His resurrection.

Before He ascended into heaven, He told His disciples to wait in Jerusalem where you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit and  you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth. Acts 1:4-8.

... they were all with one accord in one place. 

They were together in the same place, the same location, but more they were united in one accord, together in soul and spirit.

Oh, how Jesus longs for His Church to be in one accord like that, of the same heart and mind as Him.

In John 17 on His last night alive in the flesh, before being crucified, He prayed earnestly, repeatedly, that we’d be one.

On this glorious day of Pentecost, they were all of one accord...

² And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. 

The sound was real and it was loud and heard outside and caused the whole town to come running to see what they were hearing.

³ Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. 

They could see what appeared to be tongues of fire on each one of them individually, all 120 of them.

They were together, heart and soul, but the Lord gave them individually, personally, their own manifestation of the divided tongues as of fire.

The gifts of the Holy Spirit are given individually as He wills. 1 Corinthians 12:11.

⁴ And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and willingly spoke with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them. Not forced them.

They were filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke with other tongues.

Speaking in Tongues is listed as a gift of the Holy Spirit, never as the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Paul writes in 1 Cor. 14:5, “I wish you all spoke with tongues.” And then, in verse 18 he says, “I thank God that I speak in tongues more than you all…”

According to Scripture; Tongues are a gift, a gift to seek, but not the gift of the Holy Spirit. Not the evidence of the Holy Spirit.

 

The greatest gift, the most excellent evidence of being filled with the Holy Spirit is, His Love flowing through us.

See more: Spurling Silver: With Other Tongues, Acts 2:4-13

They were in one accord with one tongue, filled and led by the Holy Spirit. Now that is world changing, soul saving, dunamis, dynamite, Power.   

Which is what Jesus was talking about. Power. His Presence. His Spirit. Dwelling in us. Empowering us to be His witnesses spreading His love and light.

Like a reverse of the curse of babel.

At babel they were in one accord with one tongue, dishonoring God. So, God gave them different languages, that confused and separated them.

Now at Pentecost they speak different languages, that bring unity and clarity and glory to God. 

Being baptized with the Holy Spirit equips and empowers to complete the original command in the beginning, be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, subdue it… go into all the world and be His witnesses. Tell His Good News

After this they were transformed. No more hunkering and hiding behind closed doors, but bold as lions, courageous witnesses all the way through the jaws of death. So much so that their word for witness (martus) is where we get our word, martyr.

To be a witness for Christ, means giving your life for Christ.  

After this they faced ridicule, slander, lack, temptation, false imprisonment, torment, torture, death. Not one of them turned back.

On this Powerful Pentecost the Lord poured out His Spirit on the world. The 120 spoke in tongues; however, the multitude heard, each in their own native tongue. Acts 2:5-11.

On the glorious birthday of the Church, the Lord poured out gifts of tongues and interpretation simultaneously to every nation under heaven represented there that day in Jerusalem. Resulting in thousands being saved.

The firstfruit that blossomed that day has spread all the way to us today. Jew and gentile together in one accord as one big, noisy, messy, happy, loving, family of God.

Galatians 3:28
There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

Are you baptized with the Holy Spirit?

That doesn’t mean: “Do you speak in tongues?” It doesn’t mean: “Are you saved?”

It means: Are you filled with the Holy Spirit’s Power to be His witness to the world?

Are the fruits and gifts of the Holy Spirit evidenced in your lifestyle?

The Fruit of the Spirit is:

Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such there is no law. Galatians 5:22-23.

Gifts of the Spirit are:

Wisdom, Knowledge, Faith, Healings, Miracles, Prophecy, Discernment, Tongues, Interpretation. 1 Corinthians 12:4, 8-11, 28.

Do you want to be baptized with the Holy Spirit?

If so, ask.

Luke 11:13
If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”

Let’s pray.

Lord Jesus, we invite you to baptize us with Your Holy Spirit, so through us You may freely flow, transforming us into soul winners and disciple makers, leaving a trail that leads straight to You.

Thank You.

We love You, forever.

Amen.

 

Prayer Requests:

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Email: pray4measap@aol.com

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This was feed for you to read. Now it’s Seed for you to sow.

Thank you for sharing.