James 4 What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? 2 You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. 4 You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. 5 Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”? 6 But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” 7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.
Longing for more. There is nothing wrong with wanting more of some things. The problem comes when enough is never enough - especially when God is not enough. Sometimes we catch ourselves (or worse yet, do not catch ourselves) being dissatisfied with the life God has given us. We want more. We allow the old selfish desires to tug too strongly, to compare ourselves with what everyone else has, to give in to pride and think "I deserve more." What a slap in the face to grace, whereby God reminds us that we really do not want what we deserve, and that He has given us far above what we could ever ask for in Christ. I love to mediate on this passage and get my mind straight. Bow before God. Trust in Him - that he cares about what is best for you. He will give more than you could ever imagine. He loves us that much.
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