“Or do you think that the Scripture speaks to no purpose: “He jealously desires the Spirit which He has made to dwell in us”?  James 4:5

James describes God as one who wants more than anything else, to be in relationship with us. A truly sad revelation came to me this morning as I read the above verse.  How God must miss us since mankind fell in the Garden!  Adam and Eve walked in constant, perfect unity with Him but after they ate of the Tree of Knowledge, things were never the same.  While it is true that Jesus died to restore that severed relationship, even among saved believers today, how often does knowledge get in our way? How easily faith can be replaced with fear and doubt!  Though perhaps only temporary lapses in faith, it is certainly not the constant unbroken spirit to Spirit relationship that God had with the first couple.  How terribly sad for God and for the first time since I met Jesus, I believe I actually sensed His loss and wept bitterly for the Father.

If we are brutally honest with ourselves, most of us would have to admit that from time to time our minds get in the way of our faith as we wonder, however briefly, if God is real.  For Adam and Eve, there was never any doubt.  In fact, it was not doubt about God’s existence that got them into trouble. Even satan never suggested that God was not real, only that He had not really said that they would die if they ate the fruit. Once they succumbed to that temptation, head knowledge has plagued us ever since.  Mankind may not have died physically, but the unbroken relationship with God most certainly did.

When I read James 4:5, the word “Spirit” jumped out at me. God jealously desires the “Spirit which He has made to dwell within us.”  This of course refers to the Holy Spirit, but I wondered ...well I am not sure what I wondered, but in a nutshell, God desires the Spirit within us to connect with His, unfettered by knowledge, cares, desires for worldly things, etc. 

This would seem to be born out by the context of chapter 4 because James also describes friendship with the world as causing enmity with God:

“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 4:4

And in verse 3 he describes our wrong motives:

“You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasureTherefore I can only conclude that asking for things for my own pleasure and being a friend of the world just might prevent the Spirit who dwells within me from fellowshipping with the Father. The good news is that when Messiah Jesus  returns that will all change!  But for now I must do the best I can by keeping my mind off the world and onto the higher things of God, as much as possible.

Father, please help me desire only the things which I need and that You want me to have. Let me not fall victim to the worldly trappings and concerns that interfere with the perfect relationship which You desire me to have with You. May anyone who reads this prayer and desires Spirit to spirit relationship to You be granted such.  In the mighty, glorious name of Jesus.  AMEN!