Bona Fide- A Study Of James- Part 12- "Our Plans Or God's Plans?" Series

Bona Fide

A study of James

Part 12

“Your plans / or God’s plans?”

As we continue in our study of James this morning

We come to another spot in the book of James

That may cause us to take a step back just a bit

We live in a world where we are taught to plan ahead

Right?

Measure twice cut once is what my Granddad taught me

From a cowboy perspective

We set strong corners when building a new fence

We use new wire and posts

So that they will last

Because we want that fence to be there for many years and do the job it was intended to do

So we are planning ahead

And

That is a good thing

In our the financial part of our lives

We scrimp and save for the future

We set up 401k’s or invest in retirement plans

So that we will not have to worry about how we are going to eat or how we are going to pay the bills when we get old—er

And that is a good thing

In the area of our health

We exercise or at least think about it

We eat or try to eat right- or at least not let anyone see us eating that whole box of Twinkies

We seek advice about our health from sources that range from Opra- to your Barber- to an actual Doctor who has a degree on this kind of thing

And that can be a good thing- depending on who you are asking

In the area of our stuff

Feeding your horses is in a sense planning ahead

A skinny or dead horse would be of no use

Changing your oil

Greasing your wheel bearings

Painting your house

All of these things are planning ahead

And all of these things are useful

I believe God gave us a brain and he gifts us with the use of things in this world and we have an obligation to take care of them and to use our heads for something other than a place to put our hats

But

James wants us to go deeper in our understanding of God’s part in our lives

Our relationship with him

James wants us to go deeper in understanding God’s plans

Our own plans

And

How we should

We line up ours with his

Please open your bibles to James Chapter 4

James 4:13-16

James in this passage of scripture is writing to believers

It is so important that we understand this

Trying to hold non believers to the same standard that Believers are to be held to will often end with less than desirable results

You see

In order to think like a Christian you must be a Christian

That means that you have called out to Jesus to save you and accepted his grace

Listen

Going to church does not make you a Christian any more than going to Mac Donald’s makes you a hamburger

James 4:13-16

13 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.” 14 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. 15 What you ought to say is, “If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.” 16 Otherwise you are boasting about your own pretentious plans, and all such boasting is evil.

Let me tell you

Making plans is not a bad thing in of itself

It is responsible

But making plans apart from God when we are his Children is irresponsible and is a bad thing

---Pause--

So you may be asking

If making plans is not inherently or always bad

And planning ahead is often good

Why is James even addressing this? And why are you going here Preacher?

Here is the deal

The people in this passage of scripture

Remember they are believers

Are making plans like they are still lost----- Key on this----

What I mean by that

They are leaving God completely out of the equation

They say in verse 13a

“Today or tomorrow we are going to a certain town”

What they are saying they see the future

Notice the word ARE- Not want or desire to

We ARE going-----

Verse 13b

“and will stay there a year.”

How long they plan to stay

Notice the word WILL- not hope or would like to

Verse 13c

“We will do business there”

What they want to accomplish

Once again we see the word WILL

Not want

Verse 13d

“and make a profit.”

He they say what they expect to make

Not hope to make