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Morning Message Text: James 1: 2-8
Trials and Temptations
2 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.
4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
5 If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.
6 But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.
7 That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord.
8 Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.
Morning Message:
As Christians, asking God should be the easiest thing in the world to do. It is amazing when you think about it that we would not go to God with our every need. It speaks to a lack of comfort in our faith and a weakness in our relationship with God. Anyone here have rich parents or grandparents? If we had someone here on earth that could help us with our needs, wouldn’t we ask for help? If we didn’t ask them for help, and instead, just struggled without things, well, that would speak volumes about our relationship. God calls us into a personal relationship, a relationship where we can call him Father and depend on His love. If we are truthful, we acknowledge that we don’t always feel as close to God as we should.
The first thing that we must do in order to draw into a closer walk with God is to see God clearly. Matthew 5: 8 says, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” I read this somewhere and I had to let it sink in: Polishing the mirror on a giant telescope is a complex process. Removing imperfections from the surface is necessary to achieve a clear image. The more imperfections removed, the purer the reflection of the heavens will be. There is also a connection between purity and seeing God. Since no one has seen God, what did Jesus mean when He said that the pure in heart shall see God? Ultimately, believers will see the Lord in His presence, but for now Jesus’ words must be interpreted spiritually. The apostle John wrote that he who does evil has not seen God. Meaning the evildoer has not recognized God in His worthiness and righteousness. Just as the imperfections in a telescope mirror can blur the vision of the heavens, so the imperfections of the heart can blur a true vision of God. Here is the first secret. We must purpose daily to live with clean hands and a pure heart in order to see God and enjoy His presence.
As Christians we have to allow God to change the way we think about trials. James says, “consider it pure joy.” He is telling us to appraise our situation intelligently, confident of the good that God can do through it. Jesus demonstrated this in his life. Jesus, having learned of the tragic and brutal death of John the Baptist, went alone to a deserted place. But even there, there was a crowd of thousands who had gathered with their needs of healing and for daily bread. Jesus cared for their sick, and He fed the hungry crowd. But He also trusted God to be with Him in His own time of trial, even as He did in the Garden of Gethsemane. The trials that God allows strengthen the believer and are different from the consequences of sin in a believer’s life.
There is the easy way. The way that is more pleasing. The way to get where we want to be without very much resistance. I read a book a long time ago when I was just beginning my serious walk with Jesus. It was called, “The Road Less Traveled.” It took me a long time to grasp what the author was trying to convey, but the older I get, the more I understand what he was trying to say. Perseverance does not require us to resign ourselves to whatever happens but to have a tough resolve or brave endurance in adverse circumstances. Trials produce durability as well as maturity. Mature means to be fully and completely developed. Complete refers to being whole. Without trials, Christians cannot develop to maturity or wholeness. Think about this, the road less traveled is the more difficult choice, but it is the shorter, more direct path to where you need to be. Jesus tells us very plainly that the road to life is narrow and the wide path that most take leads to destruction.
James encourages us to consider such times as “all joy.” But joy, too, may be the furthest thing from our hearts and minds when we are so besieged. “Lacking in wisdom” in how to handle our crises. But joy comes from the God who gives lavishly. To ask God means that we do not come grudgingly, as if God cannot help us. We ask with open hands. And God, through Christ, has promised not only to fill our hands but also our hearts and our lives with promise, hope and joy. Those with wisdom know what to do in the midst of confusing circumstances—a clarity that only God can give, but one that He will provide without finding fault if His children only ask. Generously means stretching out. Picture a beautiful banquet table arrayed with all the delicious morsels of wisdom that God has made available to believers. That is how generous God is toward His children. If you belong to Jesus, all you have to do is, ask.
There is one catch to just asking. You can’t be double minded. The double minded person is spiritually conflicted and therefore unstable in all ways. True faith produces people who are stable, looking only to God for wisdom they need, knowing He will respond. James 4: 2-3 says, “You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you can not get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.” Asking God is easy! Asking rightly should be the goal of every follower of Jesus.
In Christ’s Love and Peace,
Pastor Bob
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