1.2.9 How do you feel about having to face trials and/or temptations? How do you “count it joy” when things are tough?
Ro 8:28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For starters, know God is calling you and your journey will include carrying a cross. Ultimately, however, it all works out in the end.
Neh 8:10 Then he said to them, “Go your way. Eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions to anyone who has nothing ready, for this day is holy to our Lord. And do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” Joy is a source of strength. That isn’t obvious, but experience only proves God’s word given in this verse.
Ro 5:3-5 More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. This passage reads almost as though Paul were quoting James, though Paul puts a little different spin on the subject. The source of joy is the Holy Spirit. This is why I think of joy as internal and spiritual rather than external.
Col 1:9-12 And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. Yet another example of Paul standing in firm agreement with James, amplifying his words, but in no way taking away or changing the meaning of God’s message. Joy here is tied to patience and endurance, strength, knowledge, and obtaining the ultimate prize in eternity.
Happiness is contingent upon exterior conditions. Joy is contingent upon interior conditions. If we count it joy (internal) to fall into diverse temptations (external), we are able to persevere in the Lord (internal) during the trials (external). ’When’ denotes inevitability. Even the non-believer faces diverse trials/temptations. James 1:2 is a preparation verse, girding the saint for what lies in his path. Over time you can grow in faith to the point where trials aren’t distractions dividing you from the Lord, but rather they are the things that propelled you toward the Lord.
And so, the question above looms: Are you able to find the joy?
Neh 8:10 Then he said to them, “Go your way. Eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions to anyone who has nothing ready, for this day is holy to our Lord. And do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” Joy is a source of strength. That isn’t obvious, but experience only proves God’s word given in this verse.
Ro 5:3-5 More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. This passage reads almost as though Paul were quoting James, though Paul puts a little different spin on the subject. The source of joy is the Holy Spirit. This is why I think of joy as internal and spiritual rather than external.
Col 1:9-12 And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. Yet another example of Paul standing in firm agreement with James, amplifying his words, but in no way taking away or changing the meaning of God’s message. Joy here is tied to patience and endurance, strength, knowledge, and obtaining the ultimate prize in eternity.
Happiness is contingent upon exterior conditions. Joy is contingent upon interior conditions. If we count it joy (internal) to fall into diverse temptations (external), we are able to persevere in the Lord (internal) during the trials (external). ’When’ denotes inevitability. Even the non-believer faces diverse trials/temptations. James 1:2 is a preparation verse, girding the saint for what lies in his path. Over time you can grow in faith to the point where trials aren’t distractions dividing you from the Lord, but rather they are the things that propelled you toward the Lord.
And so, the question above looms: Are you able to find the joy?
posted by Lance | 8:14 AM
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