Let Your Faith Count: Our Trials скачать в хорошем качестве

Let Your Faith Count: Our Trials

Pastor Keith Hughes Celebration Church Cocoa Beach FL James 1:1-3 What the difference between believing in God and actually knowing God? We live in a world that is obsessed with labels. We call ourselves Believer and many people call themselves Christians. We say we have faith; we go to Church; we read our Bibles, and many of us pray. But what if I told you, that there is a Book in the Bible that challenges everything we think we know about what it means to follow Jesus or our faith in God? This Book does not care about your titles. It does not care about how many verses you have memorized or how loudly you sing on Sunday morning. It only cares about One Thing. Does your faith work? The Bible is for anyone who wants to stop pretending to have faith and start living a life of faith in God. For a time, Jesus’ brothers did not believe in Him, even Jesus own family thought Jesus was out of His mind! But then they saw The Risen King! That moment changed everything. James went from a skeptic to a leader. Jame became a pillar of the early Church. James begins His letter with a statement that sounds completely backward to the human mind. James writes to people who are hurting. These were Jewish believers who had been scattered across the nations. They were refugees. They were the poor. They were the persecuted. For their faith. James 1:2-3 Consider it pure joy my brother and sister, whenever you face trials of many kinds. Joy, James tells them to choose Joy. This seems impossible. When we lose a job or when get a bad diagnosis from the doctor, or when a relationship falls apart, our natural reaction is not joy! It is Fear; It is Anger; It is Despair. But James is not telling us to be happy about the pain! James is not saying we should put on a fake smile and pretend everything is fine. No! James is talking about a deep confidence that God is doing something in the middle of the pain! James explains why we can have Joy. It is because God know what the trouble is doing to us. Because the testing of your faith Produces Perseverance. James 1:3 Perseverance: Persistence in doing something despite difficulty or delay in achieving success. Cheerful endurance. The trials of life are the fires in our lives. God is not trying to destroy us. God is trying to purify us! God wants to burn away, selfishness, pride, and not to reliance on things that do not last. God wants to leave us with a faith that is Solid and Real. James gives us a Promise about what happens if we stay in the fire and let God do his work. James 1:4 Mature and Complete. That is the Goal. God wants us to be Whole. God does not want us to be Spiritual babies who Fall Apart every time something goes Wrong. When we don’t know which way to turn. James 1:5 God does not hold back His wisdom. God does not look at us and scold us for Asking when we are confused. God is a generous, to give us His wisdom. James says we need Wisdom. Now, James does not say we need Answers. To all our Questions. Sometimes God does not tell us why we are suffering, but God always gives us the Wisdom to walk through it. God gives us the ability to see from His perspective. There is a catch, though, James warns us about how we must ask. We cannot treat God like a Backup Plan. We cannot ask for God’s advice while keeping our options open to do things our own way. But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is this person. James 1:6-8 They want God’s helps, but they also want the world approval. They want to follow Jesus, but they also want to follow their own desires. James says this kind of person will not receive anything from God. We have to decide who we trust. Do we trust our own feelings, which change like the weather? Or do we trust God who never Changes? Hebrews 13:8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. The eternal nature of Jesus, promising that His character, love, power, and faithfulness remain constant despite shifting circumstances and situations. It serves as a, anchor for our faith, providing us with stability and assurance of God’s Word, today and forever.