November 3, 2023

Chapter 4 The Cause of Conflicts

James here tells us that the reason conflict exists is because of desires unsatisfied. When desires within our hearts are unmet and unfulfilled we resort to horrific ways of satisfying those desires. So in simple words: We all have this “want” that needs to be satisfied. And so the way we go about trying to satisfy that will determine our character and actions.

James 4:1-2

💡 በእናንተ መካከል ያለው ጦርነትና ጠብ ከየት የመጣ ነው? በውስጣችሁ ከሚዋጉት ከምኞቶቻችሁ አይደለምን? ትመኛላችሁ፤ ነገር ግን አታገኙም። ትገድላላችሁ፤ በብርቱም ትመኛላችሁ፤ ልታገኙም አትችሉም። ትጣላላችሁ፤ ትዋጋላችሁ

💡 What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight.

Ask and You Shall Receive

Here God tells us that even those of us who acknowledge these desires and don’t resort to conflict to satisfy them will go to God and ask him to satisfy and fulfill those desire. But he says that even these request are denied. Even tho we’ve set our minds on the proper path of reaching out to God for the fulfillment of these desires, he will still deny our requests because our intentions aren’t in the right path.

James 4:2-3

💡 አትለምኑምና ለእናንተ አይሆንም። ትለምናላችሁ ግን አትቀበሉም፣ ለራሳችሁ ሥጋዊ ደስታ በማሰብ በክፉ ምኞት ትለምናላችሁና።

💡 You do not have because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.

So when Jesus said the following there’s a little clarity to be made for us:

Matthew 7:7-8

💡 ለምኑ፣ ይሰጣችኋል፤ ፈልጉ፣ ታገኛላችሁ፤ አንኳኩ፣ በሩም ይከፈትላችኋል። የሚለምን ሁሉ ይሰጠዋል፤ የሚፈልግም ያገኛል፤ ለሚያንኳኳም በሩ ይከፈትለታል።

💡 Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

The fact of the matter isn’t that “Anything you ask will be given to you” but it’s “Ask with the right intentions and you will receive it”

Recipes for Asking God in Prayer

Of-course, figuring out who to ask and in what intentions to ask is just one piece of the puzzle. God also has other requirements in the way we should ask him so that our requests can be granted. And they’re as follows:

Ask God → James 4:2

💡 አትለምኑምና ለእናንተ አይሆንም።

💡 You do not have because you do not ask God.

Ask God with the right intentions → James 4:3

💡 ትለምናላችሁ ግን አትቀበሉም፣ ለራሳችሁ ሥጋዊ ደስታ በማሰብ በክፉ ምኞት ትለምናላችሁና።

💡 When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.

Ask according to His will → 1 John 5:14

💡 በእግዚአብሔር ፊት ለመቅረብ ያለን ድፍረት ይህ ነው፤ ማንኛውንም ነገር እንደ ፈቃዱ ብንለምን እርሱ ይሰማናል።

💡 This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.

Ask in Jesus’ name → John 14:13-14

💡 አብ በወልድ እንዲከብር፣ በስሜ የምትለምኑትን ሁሉ አደርገዋለሁ፤ ማንኛውንም ነገር በስሜ ብትለምኑኝ፣ እኔ አደርገዋለሁ።

💡 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.

Ask precisely and concisely → Matthew 6:7-8

💡 ስትጸልዩ፣ ከንቱ ቃላት በመደጋገም ጸሎታቸው የሚሰማላቸው እንደሚመስላቸው አሕዛብ ነገራችሁን አታስረዝሙ። እነርሱን አትምሰሏቸው፤ አባታችሁ ከመለመናችሁ በፊት ምን እንደሚያስፈልጋችሁ ያውቃልና።

💡 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

Ask in Thanksgiving → Philippians 4:6

💡 በነገር ሁሉ በጸሎትና በምልጃ፣ ከምስጋናም ጋር ልመናችሁን በእግዚአብሔር ፊት አቅርቡ እንጂ ስለ ማንኛውም ነገር አትጨነቁ።

💡 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

Ask believing He will grant your prayers → Matthew 21:22

💡 If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.

💡 እምነት ካላችሁ በጸሎት የምትለምኑትን ሁሉ ትቀበላላችሁ።

Keep praying and never give up → Luke 18:7-8

💡 እግዚአብሔርስ ቀንና ሌሊት ወደ እርሱ ለሚጮኹ ምርጦቹ አይፈርድላቸውምን? ከመጠን በላይስ ችላ ይላቸዋልን? እላችኋለሁ፤ ፈጥኖ ይፈርድላቸዋል

💡 Will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? 8I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly.

Delight in God → Psalms 37:4

💡 በእግዚአብሔር ደስ ይበልህ፤ የልብህንም መሻት ይሰጥሃል።

💡 Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.

So when dealing with our desires we should ask God to fulfill those desires instead of resorting to conflict, though not asking God will inevitably lead to conflict. But also when we ask God to fulfill our desires we should continuously ask him in the right intentions, according to his will, precisely and concisely, in Jesus’ name believing that he will meet our desires and grant our requests while all the more thanking and delighting in Him.

Either God or The World

Here God clearly tells us that there’s no mutual friend between the world and God. God’s giving us an ultimatum here: befriend the world and lose Him or befriend Him and lose the world.

James 4:4

💡 ከዓለም ጋር ወዳጅነት ከእግዚአብሔር ጋር ጠላትነት መሆኑን አታውቁምን? ስለዚህ የዓለም ወዳጅ መሆን የሚፈልግ ሁሉ የእግዚአብሔር ጠላት ሆኗል።

💡 Don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.

But it doesn’t stop there. God says that if we so choose the world over Him. He will be jealous.

James 4:5

💡 ወይስ በውስጣችን ያሳደረው መንፈስ አብዝቶ ይቀናል በማለት መጽሐፍ የተናገረው በከንቱ ይመስላችኋልን?

💡 Or do you think Scripture says without reason that he jealously longs for the spirit he has caused to dwell in us

God’s jealousy isn’t an evil kind, His jealousy is for the well being of His children and the well being of their spirits.

James here was referring to the following OT verses:

Exodus 34:14

💡 ስሙ ቀናተኛ የሆነው እግዚአብሔር ቀናተኛ አምላክ ነውና ሌላ አምላክ አታምልክ።

💡 Do not worship any other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.

Exodus 20:5

💡 አትስገድላቸው፤ አታምልካቸውም፤ እኔ እግዚአብሔር አምላክህ የሚጠሉኝን ልጆች ከአባቶቻቸው ኀጢአት የተነሣ እስከ ሦስትና አራት ትውልድ ድረስ የምቀጣ ቀናተኛ አምላክ ነኝ

💡 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me

Deuteronomy 4:24

💡 አምላካችሁ እግዚአብሔር (ኤሎሂም ያህዌ) የሚባላ እሳት ቀናተኛም አምላክ ነውና።

💡 For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.

Remove Pride, Be Humble

James 4:6

💡 But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.”

💡 ነገር ግን ጸጋን አብዝቶ ይሰጠናል፤ መጽሐፍም፣ “እግዚአብሔር ትዕቢተኞችን ይቃወማል፤ ለትሑታን ግን ጸጋን ይሰጣል” ያለው ስለዚህ ነው።

Here James was quoting the proverb verses → Proverbs 3:34

💡 እርሱ በዕቡያን ፌዘኞች ላይ ያፌዛል፤ ለትሑታን ግን ሞገስን ይሰጣል።

💡 He mocks proud mockers but shows favor to the humble and oppressed.

Humility is also echoed again a couple verses down → James 4:10

💡 በጌታ ፊት ራሳችሁን አዋርዱ፣ እርሱም ከፍ ከፍ ያደርጋችኋል።

💡 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.

Respond to the Call of God

Here James gives an overview of how we should respond and live our lives. He maps things out based on relationships with ourselves, with God and with the devil.

James 4:7-9

💡 እንግዲህ ራሳችሁን ለእግዚአብሔር አስገዙ፤ ዲያብሎስን ተቃወሙት፤ ከእናንተም ይሸሻል። ወደ እግዚአብሔር ቅረቡ፤ እርሱም ወደ እናንተ ይቀርባል። እናንተ ኀጢአተኞች እጃችሁን አንጹ፤ እናንተ በሁለት ሐሳብ የምትዋልሉ ልባችሁን አጥሩ። ተጨነቁ፤ ዕዘኑ፤ አልቅሱም። ሳቃችሁ ወደ ሐዘን፣ ደስታችሁም ወደ ትካዜ ይለወጥ።

💡 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom.

Simply put:

Submit to God → Yield to God’s sovereignty over your life and align your will with God’s
Resist the Devil and he will free → Stand firm against the devil and he will leave you
Draw near to God and He will come near → God reciprocates Love and connection
Cleans your hands → Live Righteously and be upright in your works
Make up your minds → Stop wavering your devotion between the world and God
Deeply repent and be humble → recognize your sins, mourn over them, and express genuine remorse and then transform by your change of heart

Judging Others

The Law states that we should love our neighbors as we love ourselves, and so if we then speak ill and judge our neighbors we are going against the law. He highlights the arrogance and presumption in human judgment when compared to the supreme authority and wisdom of God.

James 4:11-12

💡 ወንድሞች ሆይ፤ እርስ በርሳችሁ አትወነጃጀሉ፤ ወንድሙን የሚወነጅልና በወንድሙም ላይ የሚፈርድ በሕግ ላይ ክፉ ይናገራል፤ በሕግም ላይ ይፈርዳል። በሕግ ላይ ብትፈርድ ፈራጅ እንጂ ሕግን አድራጊ አይደለህም። ሕግን የሚሰጥና የሚፈርድ አንድ ብቻ ነው፤ እርሱም ሊያድንና ሊያጠፋ የሚችል ነው፤ ነገር ግን በባልንጀራህ ላይ የምትፈርድ አንተ ማን ነህ?

💡 Brothers and sisters, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against a brother or sister or judges them speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it. There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you—who are you to judge your neighbor?

It’s the lawgiver that judges.

Pride in Planning

Here James shows us the uncertainties of life and encourages us to take a more humble path into living. Which is to drop being prideful in this unpredictable life and to acknowledge the sovereignty and the will of God in our lives.

James 4:13-16

💡 እናንተ፣ “ዛሬ ወይም ነገ ወደዚህች ወይም ወደዚያች ከተማ እንሄዳለን፤ በእርሷም አንድ ዓመት እንቈያለን፤ እንነግዳለን፤ እናተርፋለንም” የምትሉ እንግዲህ ስሙ። ነገ የሚሆነውን እንኳ አታውቁም። ሕይወታችሁ ምንድን ናት? ለጥቂት ጊዜ ታይቶ ኋላ እንደሚጠፋ እንፋሎት ናችሁ። ይልቁንም፣ “የጌታ ፈቃድ ቢሆን እንኖራለን፤ ይህን ወይም ያንን እናደርጋለን” ማለት ይገባችኋል። አሁን ግን በትዕቢታችሁ ትመካላችሁ፤ እንዲህ ያለው ትምክሕት ሁሉ ክፉ ነው።

💡 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 in your arrogant schemes. All such boasting is evil.

The Responsibility of Knowledge

As a christian, It's not just about committing wrongful actions but also about neglecting to act when an opportunity for good arises.

James 4:17

💡 እንግዲህ መልካም የሆነውን ነገር ማድረግ እንዳለበት እያወቀ የማያደርግ ሰው ኀጢአት ያደርጋል።

💡 If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.

With great knowledge comes great responsibilities