Prescription for a Healthy Christian Life

Music.

You should have been handed a prescription when you came in.

Everyone have a pill bottle?

If you don't have one, raise your hand. All right, we're giving out free drugs this morning.

We're giving out the prescription for a healthy Christian life.

That's what we're talking about this morning. We've been in a series in James,

and we have a lot to cover in a little bit of time.

I was gonna put a review up, And I am still going to do that, Addison, back there.

But let me give you just a quick refresher, because we've been going through

the book of James for the past seven weeks.

And I hope it's been encouraging you like it has been me as I've been digging into the word.

And one of the things that you'll have found is that the book of James is probably

one of the most applicable book with the most life application in it found in the New Testament.

It's why we love it so much.

We go to it for so much instruction.

Instruction the purpose of the book of James was to

correct the false belief that a person can

have faith without a change of behavior

and to give practical instruction regarding

the Christian life that's the purpose of the book of James and each week we've

been going over we've been giving big ideas for the message so that you'll just

if you can remember the big idea it'll help you a lot in your week.

So if we go back to week one, the big idea was that the testing of our faith

through trials, adversity,

and suffering produces in us a steadfast spirit and endurance.

And endurance is an invaluable characteristic of those who follow Christ.

Christ and we learn that in spite of the world around us, in spite of even our

own lives and our own situations, we can have joy.

I know a lot of us are walking through hard times.

I talk with you on a regular basis and I know some of the struggles that you're

walking through and you say, Pastor Jeff, I just don't have any happiness.

And oftentimes, let me just say this, it's because your happiness Happiness

is based on your happenings. You with me?

But your joy is based on the hope that is found in Jesus Christ.

And so regardless of what you and I go through, you can have a hope and a joy

that surpasses any kind of happiness you could ever find in your lifetime.

So stop pursuing happiness through happenings and pursue joy through Jesus Christ.

In week two, our big idea was that believers are to hear, to receive, and obey the Word of God.

It doesn't do any good if we just hear it.

It doesn't even do us good if we hear it and receive it.

We have to obey and allow the Word of God through the Holy Spirit to become

implanted in our hearts, in our lives.

And so we need to keep the ground and the soil of our hearts soft through confession and through prayer.

Because when the word of God falls on a cold heart, it does nothing.

And that's when the enemy steals it away.

We don't want it to be stolen away. We want you to obey the word of God.

In week three, our big idea was that faith without works is a dead faith.

It's just disobedience. That's all it is. We saw that works and actions are

evidence of our obedience to Christ.

You cannot have a faith that has no actions.

They go hand in hand.

And I believe we talked about C.S. Lewis, how he talked about which one is more important.

Well, they're equally important. It's like asking which side of the scissors are sharper.

They're both used to cut. They're both important. They go hand in hand.

And faith without works is dead.

In week four, our bigger idea was that words, excuse me, words are incredibly

powerful and they carry in them both life and death.

Our words are so powerful. What are you speaking over your family?

What are you speaking over your spouse?

What are you speaking over your grandkids? What are you speaking over your co-workers?

Be careful what you speak because it carries with it so much power, life and death.

And then in week six, our big idea was twofold. And the big idea was number

one, that outward conflict comes from inward desires.

Remember that? We looked into James 4 and it says, where does conflict come?

Where do wars and quarrels come?

It comes from ourselves, our sinful desires that are inside of us.

And then secondly, in the chapter, we saw that you cannot be both a friend of

God and a friend of the world. They're at odds.

They're at odds with one another. Well, we're supposed to love the world. Absolutely.

You love them with all your heart and you rescue them.

We are rescuing them. We meet them where they're at in a non-judgmental way.

We love them, but we refuse to allow them, like Jesus refused to allow us to stay where we were.

That's where that faith and that action comes in.

And this morning, we're going to continue in James chapter 4, verses 6 through 10.

James 4:6–10

And we're going to look at a pretty well-known passage if you grew up in the

church or you're familiar with the book of James.

But I think you're going to be surprised at the depth and the amount of steps

God has given us in his word in these short five or six verses that we're supposed

to put into action into our lives.

So before we jump in and open God's word, would you just pray with me once again?

Father, we love you. We know that the ultimate prescription for life is for

us to get our eyes off of our situations, our sorrows, our sickness, our happenings.

We place our full trust in you.

And as we come here together, we've gathered together as family,

each one of us, because we desire to be more like you. We desire to give you glory.

We desire to be in your presence. And we know that you are here among us. So thank you.

Thank you for your presence, Holy Spirit. And as we open up your word,

would you illuminate our eyes and our hearts so that we can receive it,

we can accept it as what it is. God's word.

We receive it. Speak to us today.

Speak through me. Help me to get out of the way. We just want to hear from you today.

In Jesus' name, amen. Amen.

This week, I had to go to the doctor. I needed to get a refill for one of my prescriptions.

And I don't know how you do with doctors, but I don't like going to the doctor.

I think I take after my dad a little bit in that way.

Where from the littlest time I can remember, every time I would get my blood

drawn, I'd about pass out.

I'd get all sweaty, and my hands are clammy. Feels like I've been in a freezer.

The room starts spinning, and this big guy all of a sudden acts like a little

kid. I've never passed out yet.

Knock on plexiglass. us. A few years ago, I was looking yesterday for a picture.

A few years ago, I went to the doctor and it was during COVID.

So we had to wear the mask. So I had a mask on and I had to get some blood drawn.

And I always preface them. I'm like, just a little heads up.

And I try to make it funny. Just a little heads up.

I'm one of those big wusses that I get dizzy.

I don't do good with needles i might pass out oh that's okay most of you big

strong guys are are worse than the women,

i'm like i know right right i i am not too proud to say that i'm a wuss when

it comes to medical stuff i did a hospital visitation last night dean.

And I got a little bit like, oh, I just don't like it.

But I have a picture, I kid you not, that I sent my wife, and I wish I could

have found it, but it was during COVID, and I had to get some blood taken.

And it's me laying down on this couch in their office with my mask on,

with a yellow, damp, cold cloth that one of the nurses gave me,

and a little sippy cup of juice.

That's me when I go to the doctor. And so they called and they said,

hey, you're due for your annual physical.

I said, I don't need a physical. I just had one last year. I'm good. I'm good.

They said, well, in order for you to get your prescription filled,

you need to come in and see us. I'm like, okay. So I had my appointment.

I went in, I checked myself in. Well, you know, I get checked in. And I like my doctor.

I'm Facebook friends with him. I'd hang out with him, like, if he'd want to hang out sometime.

But he's just a great guy.

But he's still a doctor. And I go to him, and he's going to assess my physical

condition, and he's going to prescribe some medicine or some more activity.

Well, maybe you should eat less ding-dongs and ho-hos and Twinkies.

And maybe he actually told me this week, he's like, well, Jeff,

if you really want to, because I put on some weight and I'm like,

I'm really working hard.

I'm running a lot. I ran six miles this weekend.

Can barely move this morning. But he said, if you really want a rule to live

by, eat breakfast like a king, eat lunch like a prince and eat dinner like a popper.

I'm like, did you come up with that yourself? He's like, yeah,

I was homeschooled. I was like, oh, that figures. Okay.

So anyway, I went in and got a prescription filled.

And he says, so you're here for your physical. I said, no, I just need a prescription filled.

He said, oh, the notes say you need to do, get some blood drawn. I'm like, no, not today.

I should have been fasting for that. And I did not fast.

So we'll have to set up another appointment. But if I could just get my prescription

filled, that'll work. And so, hey, I made it out and I've got my six months

worth of prescriptions and I'm good to go until they call me and I don't answer.

But listen, I know it's pathetic, but that's just how I am with doctor visits.

But I think some of us are the same way.

When we go to the great physician, we get nervous. What's he going to call out in my life?

Is he going to call out that I'm not at church every week?

That I'm going against scripture that says don't forsake the assembling of yourselves

together on a weekly basis like we're supposed to be there?

Is he going to call me out? Is God going to call me out? I'm not giving the

first 10% of my income, whatever comes in. I'm not doing it.

Is God going to call me out? Yeah, he is. And we get nervous and we get scared

because we don't want anything pointed out with us that's wrong with us spiritually.

And this morning, we're visiting with the great physician.

And so you may get a little bit nervous.

You may need a little sippy cup of apple juice. You may need to go get a donut. Don't go get a donut.

Danny's like, I need it. I want another one. but just hang in there because

I've got a prescription for you.

And if you will follow the prescription, I promise you your life,

your spiritual life will get stronger and stronger and stronger and healthier

and healthier and healthier.

And how many of you know, when you, when you go to the doctor and you're pretty

healthy, you're like, bring it on.

I'm all good. Don't prick me, but I'm good. I'm good. I'm good.

So you should have been handed one of these. everyone take your prescription

bottle hold it up show me that you have it and,

then thank Addie and Easton later for for rolling these up and putting them

in okay we're gonna take the prescription bottle lid off these aren't childproof

because I didn't want to have to hear some of you complaining that you couldn't

get your prescription out.

And we are going to read, we are going to read our prescription. Okay.

Let's read it out loud together. All right. Why don't we all stand to our feet,

get the blood moving, and we're going to read this out loud.

And this is James 4, 6 through 10. Ready?

But he gives greater grace.

Therefore, he says, God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.

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

But draw near to God and he will draw near to you.

Cleanse your hands, sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

Be miserable and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom.

Humble yourselves before the Lord and he will exalt you. Great job. Have a seat.

So what we're going to do is we're going to take this prescription that the Lord has given us.

And the reason why I did this, the reason why I printed those up and put them

in the bottles, I want you to take it home.

I want you to put it somewhere, put it by your Bible, that this is a daily reminder.

I need to take my prescription.

I need to apply God's word to my heart and to my life every day.

Now, our big idea this morning is this. an overall theme for today would be

God gives grace to those who are humble and fully submit to him.

God gives grace to those who are humble and those who fully submit to him.

Now in week one, we saw and we studied that James was a Jewish leader and he knew the scriptures.

He was at the temple. And so here James begins and he's quoting Proverbs 3.

And this is what he says. He says, he mocks those who mock, but give grace to the humble.

He mocks those who mock, but he gives grace to the humble.

How many of you need grace on a daily basis?

I do. I need God's grace all over this messed up dude that almost passes out

when he goes to the doctor. I need his grace.

I think it's so important that we look back at verse 5 as we move forward in this passage.

We ended with verse 5 two weeks ago, which says this, Or do you think it's without

reason that the scripture says the spirit he made to dwell in us envies intensely?

If you were here with us, you'll remember that we talked about the fact that God, he's a jealous God.

And he longs to be in your life.

He longs to be included in every aspect of your life, your relationships,

your work, your serving, your giving, your talking, your speech,

your reading, the books that we read.

God wants to be intimately walking through this life with you, and he's jealous.

And the reason why I want to focus on the Holy Spirit is because unless we grasp

verse verse five, that the Holy Spirit, that we should be relying on the Holy

Spirit with every breath, everything that we have.

We will never have the power, hear me, we'll never have the power to live out

the things that he's called us to do.

So we have to have a relationship with Jesus Christ, and we have to have the

Holy Spirit in us, and we have to have him working and moving and nudging and convicting us to live.

This prescription out. Does that make sense? So buckle up. Here we go.

I got 12 minutes and 10 points. This is going to be a record.

First thing we do in our prescription for a healthy Christian life,

number one, submit to God.

Let's start with the definition of submit, if we can. According to the dictionary,

submit means to accept or yield to a superior authority or the,

say it out loud with me, the will of someone else.

To submit to God is to submit and not live any longer for my will.

It's now living in such a way, in such a manner that I am dying to myself,

Paul would say, and I'm yielding to his authority.

His authority is now my authority. So the word of God is my authority because it's his word.

It's inspired. It's God breathed.

We have to be not just in the word. We have to be in complete submission to it. Are you with me?

We've got to submit to God.

Jesus modeled this in the Lord's prayer.

Adam talked about it a little bit this past Wednesday night during our prayer

and worship service. He talked about...

Matthew 6, in the Lord's Prayer, says, Our Father which art in heaven,

hallowed or holy or set apart, be thy name.

Thy kingdom come. What?

Thy will. Thy will be done.

I no longer live for Jeff's will be done, Becky's will be done, Gene's will be done.

No, it's Father, thy will be done in my life.

Thy will be done in my house. Thy will be done in my work. Thy will be done with my finances.

Thy will be done with my health.

Thy will be done in every area of my life. There it is.

That's what Jesus wants us to model our prayers after. That's the life that we have to take.

Your will be done in every aspect of my life.

That's why we need the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen? Because we can't accomplish it on our own.

We cannot say, thy will be done, and then, all right, I can do this.

It doesn't happen that way. Number two, resist the devil.

We must actively oppose, actively withstand the devil's temptations.

Well, how do I do that? I'm glad you asked.

Let me give you just a few ways you can resist the devil.

Number one, pray. Pray. More specifically, through prayer, we need to do two things.

And I put them in your notes so that you can take them home and you can have

these. Pray for God's strength.

Regular prayer strengthens your connection with God, and it helps you resist temptation.

Jesus instructed his disciples to pray that they would not fall into temptation in Luke 22, 40.

And then pray for God's protection.

Jesus prayed, lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

This is a direct request for God's protection against the devil's schemes.

A second thing we can do is we can study and we can memorize Scripture.

How many of you know Scripture is a weapon?

It is a weapon, and so use Scripture as the weapon it is. Jesus,

when he was tempted, what did he do?

He used the word of God. He would say, doesn't it say this?

He always pointed the enemy to scripture.

Point the enemy to scripture. Point yourself to scripture.

Meditate on God's promises. That means to reflect on him.

It'll give you strength and resolve and remind you of his faithfulness.

That's why we have those promise books out there at the Welcome Center.

We have a whole stack of them, I think. We still have some.

If not, we'll order more. But we want you to take one so that you can have God's word in your heart.

Because when you face temptation, you need to do battle. Don't just give in.

Battle. Go to battle. Some of us, we need to go to war against our sin. We've been too shallow.

We've been wusses. Can I say that in church? church.

We've been weak, and it's time to do battle for our families.

Thirdly, avoid situations of temptation.

I can't stress this enough. Isn't it true that half of the trouble we find ourselves

in is because we've not guarded ourselves and we'd allowed ourselves to get

put into situations where we're going to get in trouble.

Maybe it's the places that you go or the times of night that you go.

Maybe it's your phone at night.

Maybe it's your computer that's set up in an isolated area.

Maybe it's walking down an aisle of a grocery store where you're going to be

specifically tempted by something that you struggle with. I don't know every

area, but I do know that when we put ourselves in,

in a place where we're going to be tempted, man, you're setting yourself up for failure, guys.

Avoid situations where you'll be tempted. But when you are tempted,

because we will be tempted,

1 Corinthians 10, 13, one of my favorite verses, my friend, my best friend in

high school put this, he wrote this verse out for me and laid it on my desk

one time. He knew something I was walking through.

That's the kind of friends you want to surround yourself with.

But it says this, no temptation has come upon you except what is common to humanity.

But God is faithful. He will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able.

But with the temptation, here it is, he will also provide the way out so that

you may be able to bear it.

We never have an excuse when we sin.

We can't say, well, he hit me first. You had a way out.

This happened. You had a way out. There's always a way out of temptation.

Number three, draw near to God.

Man, how great is it to be able to be in here worshiping and just say,

Jesus, we love you. We love you.

When we get our eyes off of us, it changes everything.

No matter what you're going through, get your eyes off of yourself and draw near to God.

If you want all that God has for you, align yourself in submission with him and spend time with him.

You know, it's pretty hard to be intimate with someone if you're living in opposition with them.

Careful, might step on a toe. It's hard to be intimate with someone that you're

living in opposition with.

Number four, cleanse your hands, sinners. Cleanse your hands.

He says, purify your actions and behavior by turning away from sin.

And this is an appeal to our outward lifestyle, lifestyle, to our conduct.

Our conduct as Christians is to be clean.

And again, James reminds us that we cannot claim to be Christians if we're not

willing to live in complete obedience to the word of God.

It's that whole theme of James all over again. If you're a Christian,

we should see it in your life.

We should see it in the way you pray, in the way you spend your time with the

Lord, in the way you work, in the way you serve, in the way you give,

in the way you rejoice, in the way you suffer with joy.

Because your joy is based on the hope found in Christ and not in your happenings.

Make this prayer a prayer that you pray daily, multiple times a day. Psalm 51, I love this.

David says, God, create a clean heart in me.

Renew a steadfast spirit within me.

Don't banish me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.

Restore the joy of your salvation to me and sustain me by giving me a willing or obedient spirit.

There are times in our flesh we do not want what God wants for us, amen?

That's when we take every thought captive and we surrender it to the Holy Spirit.

We have to take every thought captive.

Number five, purify your hearts. and he says, you double-minded.

James is again, emphasizing that a healthy heart is a pure heart,

but then he kind of tags this little slam.

He's like, you know, purify your hearts. You double-minded person.

What does that mean? Well, double-minded is someone who struggles Struggles

with consistency and commitment in their thoughts, beliefs, and action.

It comes from the Greek word, it's pronounced this way, which literally means

two souls, two ways of thinking.

Someone might say, I need to be at church, but I'm never there.

I trust God will provide, but I'm going to hold on to everything.

I'm generous. I hold on to everything.

I know I need to be in the word. I don't have time. I'm too busy.

You have to get your heart and your mind aligned with each other.

Put them on the same track.

Number six, and I think number six and seven are really ones that we haven't

talked much about growing up in church. I know I never really did.

Maybe if you grew up Catholic, you would hear more about this.

But number six is be miserable and mourn.

Do you know that mourning can be very godly?

Pastor Jeff, I was good with the other ones. I want to draw near.

I want to submit. I want to pray.

I do not want to mourn. Aren't we supposed to be happy as Christians? What does this mean?

James is telling us, if you're truly a Christian, listen up,

guys. If you're truly a Christian, when we sin, when we make mistakes,

there should be a deep sorrow in us.

We should grieve that we have sinned against God.

We have broken his law. When you sin against your parents, guess what?

You're sinning against God's law. God.

Fill in the blank with whatever sin you're struggling with.

When you own it, we should fall before God and say, God, forgive me. I've broken your heart.

I'm so sorry. I've broken fellowship with you. No wonder I don't hear you.

No wonder my marriage is in shambles. I'm not doing life with you. And God, I'm so sorry.

Forgive me. You should be so broken.

I should be so broken over my sin, the weight of sin.

The Bible is clear that when we sin, we're to be miserable and mourn our sinful actions.

Number seven, James continues his thought about mourning, and then he says, weep.

Action number seven, and weep over your sins.

Let me ask you, when's the last time you were emotional over your sin?

Pastor Jeff, I don't cry. Okay, don't cry.

But the Bible says you're to weep over your sin. You're to be mourning your sin.

I don't care if there are literal tears coming down your face or or not,

on the inside, you ought to be broken over sin.

Absolutely broken. We have to show genuine remorse for our actions.

And not just our actions, but the impact of our actions on other people.

Because how many of you know, when we sin, it affects others.

When you sin in your your relationship with your spouse, guess what?

It's going to affect your kids.

It's going to affect different areas of your life.

Genuine repentance, genuine remorse for our sin and the impact of it on other people.

Number eight, humble yourself before the Lord.

The Christian person doesn't use opportunities to elevate himself or to promote himself.

A Christian serves like Jesus. Jesus, a Christian, will pick up his towel and

start washing the feet of those men and women around him.

I'm not saying you have to go wash someone's feet. I'm saying serve them.

That's the principle behind it.

Serve like Jesus. Humble yourself.

Esteem yourself less than other people.

Count others as being more worthy than yourselves.

If we are to live authentic Christian lives, we must acknowledge our complete

dependence on God, and we must lower ourselves in humility.

I came across a quote this week by a theologian named Paul Seder,

and he said this, A humble person is one who has seen himself as he really is

in the sight of God. Ouch.

A humble person is one who has seen himself as he really is in the sight of

God, has repented of his sin, and is following Jesus as his Lord.

See, there's a pretty big significance in the way someone who recognizes their

complete dependence on the Lord lives compared to someone who lives in such

a way where they empower themselves.

They expect everyone else to apologize, and they never own anything.

Humility always repents. Always repents.

Don't wait for someone to apologize to you. If you've offended someone, go to them. Go to them.

Number nine, trust in God's exaltation.

Stop trying to exalt yourself. God will lift you up.

Did you know that it's never God's desire to put you down? He wants to lift you up.

He wants you to find your right place before him in humility, though, first.

The Lord delights in lifting you up, but it's the person that forsakes sin,

The person that draws near,

that laments over sin, that walks humbly, that walks with a clean heart, that has a clean mind.

It's that person who God will exalt.

And then finally, prescription number 10.

Have to change our mindset. Change your mindset.

For the Christian, there's got to be a shift from it's all about me to it's all about him.

A shift from arrogance and self-reliance to humility and dependence and surrender.

Surrender. When we apply these actions to our our lives. Here's what you're going to find.

And the Lord gave me this and pointed this out Wednesday night,

Adam. So thank you for listening to the Holy Spirit when you were speaking Wednesday night.

First Peter five, it hit me like a, just a ton of bricks.

It says the God of all grace who called you to his eternal glory in Christ.

When we apply all these things, this is what what happens? He will restore.

He will himself restore, establish, strengthen, and support you after you've

suffered a little while. We're going to suffer.

Life is life and it's hard and there's sickness and death and sin and sin impacts

all of us, whether it's our sin or from the sin of someone else.

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And if I could encourage you to do anything today, it's going to be to be humble,

and to yield in complete and utter surrender. I surrender all.

I surrender all. It's time that we as Christians, we wave the white flag and

say, I don't want to live for me anymore.

I want to live for you. I don't want to walk in this path anymore I want to

walk in the goodness and the mercy and the grace that is bestowed upon me by

you Lord Jesus but it only comes through surrender,

you want to do great things for God surrender to him.

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Surrender in complete Complete and utter submission to him.

You see, the kingdom of God is an upside-down economy.

When you live in humility, God himself will restore you.

He'll establish you. He'll strengthen you. He'll support you.

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I just want to leave one verse with you.

And I want you to soul search. I want you to just look inside your heart and

do business with the Lord.

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Lives. We want to claim the name of Jesus.

We want to say that we're a Christian. We want to have that label on our lives.

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But we haven't died to ourselves yet.

We haven't said, I'm going to make you Lord over all areas of my life.

And that's what James is talking about. out.

If you really are a Christian, you no longer live for you. You surrender.

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So maybe this morning you just need to say, God, there's some areas of my life I've taken back.

I've I re-surrender these areas to you.

I'm just going to give you a few moments to pray, to re-surrender these areas

that God has called you to surrender today.

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Repent to him. He is a good, good father and he loves you.

He is for you. He's not against. He's for you.

You've been listening to the Generations Church Podcast. podcast.

Be sure to check back next week as Pastor Jeff continues our study on the book of James.

If you'd like more information about Generations Church, feel free to get in

touch with us at info at generationschurch.us or head over to our website,

generationschurch.us.

Thanks for listening.

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