Dear God, Please Accept My Resignation

Pastor Greg Kritz March 5, 2017

James 4:1-2 NASB

What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members? 2 You lust and do not have; so you commit murder. You are envious and cannot obtain; so you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask.

James 4:3 NASB

You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures.  

James 4:4 NASB

You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. 

James 4:6-8 NASB

[…] Therefore it says, “GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE.” 

7 Submit 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. 

James 4:9-10 NASB

Be miserable and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.


God rewards a faith that relies 
upon Him as our source.

James 4:3 NASB

You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures. 

GOD DRAWS A LINE IN THE SAND 
“You’re either with Him or against Him”

James 4:4 NASB

You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

God Makes a Way of Escape

James 4:6

[…] Therefore it says, “GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE.” 

A Christian life that sits on the couch and waits for God to do something is wicked and unbiblical

James 4:7 NASB

Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.

“It is accepted practice to make our Christian life a playground rather than a battleground” - AW Tozer

Ephesians 6:11 NIV

Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.

1 Peter 5:8-9 NIV

Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 

9 Resist him, standing firm in the faith,[…]

Philippians 3:12 NIV

Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.

Resistance to evil gets easier the closer you are to Jesus

James 4:8 NASB

Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. 

I take my sin seriously because God does.

James 4:7-8

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

James 4:9-10

Be miserable and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.

Legitimate Children of God will Struggle Against Sin and Resist with Effort

Hebrews 12:4-11 NIV

In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. 

Act Now with Urgency

Answer these two questions:


1. What stirs my affections for Christ Jesus?


2. What robs my affections for Christ Jesus, even if not immoral?

Make a Decision to Take a Stand