What does God speak to you…

from these next few verses in James?

 Pray with me, Friends—“Dear Lord, it is foolish of us to come to your Word, seeking to understand it, with only our human understanding.  God, I know that some of us have advanced educational degrees, others have taught your truths for years, and still others are just beginning to open the pages of your Word; no matter.  We will not comprehend--the eyes of our hearts will not be opened--without the illumination of the Holy Spirit.  Please show us what you mean for us to grasp out of these next few verses, we pray.  Amen”

There is a richness that comes in comparing the same teaching from several Bible translations that we ought remember to avail ourselves.  So today, I invite you to read James 4.13-16, three times, and ask yourself, ‘What is God speaking to me from these verses?  What is the message here?’ 

Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.  Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.”  As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil.  New International Version

Look here, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we are going to a certain town and will stay there a year. We will do business there and make a profit.”  How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little while, then it’s gone. What you ought to say is, “If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.” Otherwise you are boasting about your own plans, and all such boasting is evil.  New Living Translation

“Just a moment, now, you who say, “We are going to such-and-such a city today or tomorrow. We shall stay there a year doing business and make a profit”! How do you know what will happen even tomorrow? What, after all, is your life? It is like a puff of smoke visible for a little while and then dissolving into thin air. Your remarks should be prefaced with, “If it is the Lord’s will, we shall be alive and will do so-and-so.” As it is, you get a certain pride in yourself in planning your future with such confidence. That sort of pride is all wrong.”    J.B. Phillips

Consider what God would have you to understand from these three glimpses of the same verses.  Then, HIT ‘REPLY’ and tell me of your insights, please.  Let’s share together an understanding of the richness of God’s precious words to us.

Christine