Beyond Our Feelings

 

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance." ~ James 1:2-3

What a statement! 

Count it all joy when you fall into trials? What type of other worldly, counter cultural thinking is that? The world teaches us to act based on our feelings. But this scripture shows that God challenges us to think and act beyond our feelings and abide in truth.

No matter what you're going through, there's a reason to be grateful and to even find joy. For even when it doesn't look like it on the outside, God is doing a mighty work on the inside. Man looks at the outward appearance but God sees the heart. It's where he does his best work.

God bless,

J.W.

Strength of Faith

"My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing." ~ James 1:2-4

In the words of Dr. Dharius Daniels, faith is not just how hard you believe. Faith is about how long you believe. According to James 1:2-4, God tests our faith through time. Thus, faith is based not only on the "bigness" of our prayers. It is also based on the consistency of our prayers.

In other words, many of us get frustrated because we feel that God hasn't answered our prayer. But if we were to go back and examine our faith, we'd see that we haven't really prayed or believed that long. We've got big prayers but we haven't erected a structure that will sustain those prayers over time.

That's why Deuteronomy 6:5 tells us to love God with all of our heart, soul, and strength. The strength of our love of and faith in God is measured by our patience.

It's not just about how hard we believe. It's about how long we believe. Our faith is perfected, i.e. made perfect, through time.

God bless,
J.W.

Don't Say It

"My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing." (James 1:2-4)

Do you know what the enemy's two favorite words are? "I quit". He would love nothing more than to hear you say, "You know what God, I quit. Every promise you made, the purpose and calling you have for my life, I'm done with it all. I quit."

Every trial and test, every obstacle we face the enemy hopes will cause us to say just that. Thank goodness we serve a God of purpose and "all things work together for the good of those who love the God, to those who are the called according to His purpose." (Romans 8:28)

God tells us here in James 1 that we can rejoice in the midst of our trials because trials teach us patience, and that patience is at work to help complete the perfect work that God begins in us when we become saved. We have to remember that when we accept Jesus as our savior, we become a project of His. A project that He says He will work on until it is complete. (Philippians 1:6)

When times get hard, when the money is low, when things seem like they can't get any worse you can still have joy. Rest in God's promises and be patient, knowing that even in times of trouble, not only is God working out the situation, but He is working on you. Remember, we walk by faith not by sight.

Love is Life,

Daniel Lee Robertson