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James 1:1-4
James 1:1-4
“My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials.” That statement from James 1:2 is easy to make, and so difficult to obey. Count it all joy when you’re in the midst of pain and difficulty. How can you and I rejoice when everything around us, seems to be going against us?
Well number one, we know something; we are in on a divine secret. What do we know? Well James tells us, “Knowing this, that the testing of your faith worketh patience.” In other words the trials of life are not working against us, they are working for us. This is James’ way of quoting Romans 8:28 and, “We know that all things are working together for good to them that love God.” Old Jacob said, “All of these things are against me,” (Genesis 42:36) and actually God was working all of those things for him. We know that trials work for us.
Secondly, we know that God’s goal is maturity. You see the testing of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work. God wants to develop maturity in our lives. Children for the most part are usually impatient. You get in the car to head off on vacation or just to go to the grocery store and right away they are wriggling and they are impatient. “Are we there yet?” “No, we’re not.” “How many more hours?” Well Christians get this way even adult Christians. God’s goal is maturity. How does God mature his children? Not by lecturing to them, but by putting them into the experiences of life that build character.
Thirdly, the secret is faith. “Knowing this, that the testing of your faith worketh patience.” Not your love, not your hope, your faith. Do you really trust God? Ah, he says let patience have her perfect work, that you may be perfect. That means mature, entire, lacking nothing. You see we do not live on explanations, we live on promises. And when you live on promises you live by faith. You don’t try to second guess God. We know that trials are working for us if we’re trusting God. We know that He will develop a maturity if we are trusting God. Therefore count it all joy and let patience have her perfect work.
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By Back to the BibleJames 1:1-4
“My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials.” That statement from James 1:2 is easy to make, and so difficult to obey. Count it all joy when you’re in the midst of pain and difficulty. How can you and I rejoice when everything around us, seems to be going against us?
Well number one, we know something; we are in on a divine secret. What do we know? Well James tells us, “Knowing this, that the testing of your faith worketh patience.” In other words the trials of life are not working against us, they are working for us. This is James’ way of quoting Romans 8:28 and, “We know that all things are working together for good to them that love God.” Old Jacob said, “All of these things are against me,” (Genesis 42:36) and actually God was working all of those things for him. We know that trials work for us.
Secondly, we know that God’s goal is maturity. You see the testing of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work. God wants to develop maturity in our lives. Children for the most part are usually impatient. You get in the car to head off on vacation or just to go to the grocery store and right away they are wriggling and they are impatient. “Are we there yet?” “No, we’re not.” “How many more hours?” Well Christians get this way even adult Christians. God’s goal is maturity. How does God mature his children? Not by lecturing to them, but by putting them into the experiences of life that build character.
Thirdly, the secret is faith. “Knowing this, that the testing of your faith worketh patience.” Not your love, not your hope, your faith. Do you really trust God? Ah, he says let patience have her perfect work, that you may be perfect. That means mature, entire, lacking nothing. You see we do not live on explanations, we live on promises. And when you live on promises you live by faith. You don’t try to second guess God. We know that trials are working for us if we’re trusting God. We know that He will develop a maturity if we are trusting God. Therefore count it all joy and let patience have her perfect work.