James 1:12-13

” 12. Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.

13. Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:”

As a follow up to the last post “Strange, But True” it is important to understand God does not deal in sin. Yes, as long as their is breath in our bodies, we will always face temptation. But we must understand God does not bring temptation to you.

God allows the enemy to work while it is still his time, but there are limits to what he is allowed to do to God’s people (see Job Chapter 1).

God knows you will be tempted. But he does not temp you. His expectation is that you will endure the temptation without falling to it.

God knows what he has invested in you. The trying of our faith is so that we can better understand what God has invested in us. As we emerge victorious from these trials we learn a little more about God, and a little more about who we are in him. Patience will have its perfect work.

The temptation itself shows us something about ourselves. We learn how vulnerable we are to certain things. Enduring the temptation teaches us that even though I may be vulnerable, I still do not have to be a partaken of that sin anymore. Why? Because the power of God is strong enough to keep me from falling. This is the Blessed knowledge referred to in verse 12 above. God is so faithful that he provides a way of escape – every time, without fail.

God bless you all.

James 1:2-4

“2. My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;

3. Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.

4. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. ”

By definition, divers means an indefinite number more than one.

It may seem strange that the Bible tells us to “count it all joy” when we face an indefinite number of temptations. But it is not so strange when you consider the reason or purpose behind the multiple temptations we face on a daily basis.

According to this same scripture, the trying of our faith amplifies and increases our patience.

By definition, patience is the capacity to accept or tolerate delay, trouble, or suffering without getting angry or upset.

We need patience to successfully navigate life. Once patience is abounding in our lives we can handle every situation we finds ourselves in. Patience will also keep us from falling into bad situations.

Let’s look at temptation. The Bible says we are tempted when we are draw away with our own lusts and enticed (James 1:14). We will never be tempted by things that don’t interest or intrigue us. It is those things that pique our curiosity or the things we have already tasted of and found enjoyment in. That is what we are drawn to. Those things that we have already concluded to be detrimental to our well being in one fashion or another. These are the things we lust after. They are also the things that can destroy us if we continue to give into the temptation.

We serve a great God. A God who promised that with every temptation there is also a way of escape (1 Corinthians 10:13). Patience is needed to look for the way of escape, rather than giving into the temptation. We have to patiently endure until the way of escape is has been revealed or is visible to us. Once it is visible we must love God enough to take the escape route and avoid the temptation.

Eventually, patience will be so well developed in us, that we can avoid putting ourselves in tempting situations. You will begin to appreciate the feeling of deliverance and freedom to the point where you do not want to jeopardize it for the fleeting enjoyment derived from falling to the things you used to lust after.

Patience has a perfect work. It causes you to be whole in God, without feeling you are “missing” things from the life you used to live. Now you are complete in God, no longer desiring the things from your past.

Remind yourself you can experience that old familiar pull without actually giving into it. You can remove yourself from the situation until you are stronger. But do not despise your self or other people when you are tempted. Rather recognize it as the opportunity for a growth of your patience. Trust that God would not put more on you than you are able to bear (1 Corinthians 10:13), and look for the way of escape.

By definition, joy is a feeling of great pleasure and happiness.

It may seem strange, but it is also true – we are to be happy when we are tempted. The pleasure and happiness comes from the knowledge that you are not getting ready to fall, but it is from knowing that God thinks enough of you to try you. He has confidence in you, that you will rejoice and look for the way of escape, thereby pleasing him. You have been positioned for success, not failure.

If you find yourself in a situation where you feel overwhelmed and have every intention of giving into your temptation. This situation is not from God. You need to cry out to God for help immediately, and flee the situation as quickly as possible. Understand that if you want help, and are ready to receive it, God is there to give it. But you have to sincerely ask for it.

Understand that God has a will and a purpose for your life. Trust him to reveal that plan and purpose to you.

Be blessed and keep on seeking God. If you seek him, you shall surely find him!

I just wanted to share one of my favorite scriptures with you….

1 Corinthians 15:51-58

“51. Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,

52. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

53. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.

54. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.

55. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?

56. The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.

57. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

58. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.”

There is a reward at the end. Keep striving to do the will and work of the Lord.

Have a blessed night.

John 4:39-42

“And many of the Samaritans of that city believed on him for the saying of the woman, which testified, He told me all that ever I did.

40. So when the Samaritans were come unto him, they besought him that he would tarry with them: and he abode there two days.

41. And many more believed because of his own word;

42. And said unto the woman, Now we believe, not because of thy saying: for we have heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world. ”

We tend to guard our past, or white wash it and only tell what we want people to know. But there are times when we need to tell people our whole testimony.

I understand the need for discretion. When some people know your history they want to use it as a weapon against you. However, the past is just that, it is the past. You cannot change it. What you can do is share the lessons you have learned from it to save someone else from making the same mistakes.

However, when God has delivered you, worked a miracle on your behalf, made a way out of no way, etc. it is not just for you. The wonders he works in our lives is also for all those that he allows cross our path. You need to tell of the goodness of the Lord.

The Samaritan woman at the well, she ran to tell the men about what Jesus had done. Initially, they took the woman at her word and believed. They then went out to meet Jesus for themselves. They spent time with him. They then moved from believing on the basis of her testimony, to believing Jesus based on the experience they with him.

Our testimony will serve the same purpose. People will be drawn to God because of your testimony. However, they will stay or cultivate their own relationship with him because of how good he his. Your testimony is essential in drawing people to God. But it is God who will give them all the reasons they need to stay.

Tell your testimony, God will do the rest.

Just a word of caution. Make sure you are led by God to understand the appropriate time to share it. There are always wolves out there. But try not to be ashamed about where God has brought you from, your past helped to shape you into the person you are. A person that God can use to reach others. Be bold and trust God.

John 1:39

In this scripture text John was telling the story of how Jesus met his disciples, and invited them to “come and see”.

Simple words, but yet very powerful.

By definition come is to move or travel toward or into a place thought of as near or familiar to the speaker. And see is to perceive with the eyes; discern visually.

This is the most honorable and distinguished invitation you will ever receive. Yet this invitation for all to freely partake.

Jesus has invited the disciples to move closer to him so that they could discern with their eyes his goodness. First hand experience. It is sort of like back stage passes at your favorite event. It is the opportunity to see up close what the casual observer is not privileged to witness.

The invitation of Jesus is never ending. We are always able to move closer to him and witness his goodness to greater degree. We just have to be willing to take Jesus up on the invite.

However, just as the disciples had to sacrifice to follow Jesus, we must be willing to do the same. To follow Jesus, we have to be willing to give up our own ways to seek his. We must be willing to replace the way we have been doing things and governing our lives, with the his will and his ways.

But there are rewards for our sacrifice. We get to enjoy the abundant life he promised, along with the other promises noted in the Bible. We get to experience the miracles he works in our lives daily, and we get to be used as vessels for him. Jesus wants us to “come and see” so he can make disciples of us, and send us out to a world that greatly needs light. Jesus, the light of the world. He gives us power to be witnesses of him.

These are just some of the perks available when we take Jesus up on his invitation. The most important perk is that, if we endure until the end, we get to see his face in peace in heaven.

For me, that goal alone is worth it all. It is worth every sacrifice. But, because God is so good, just getting to know him better makes the journey with it.

Isaiah 55:11

“So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. ”

I was praying the other night and God gave me an “aha” moment. I have been seeking him concerning a few things, he used this to show me the power of his word.

We are supposed to pray according to God’s will (his word). When we do this we are given a solid foundation on which to stand, and from which to resist (James 4:7) and fight (1 Timothy 6:12) the enemy.

When we do this we have comfort in the knowledge that the power of heaven is on our side and we have the right to expect what we prayed to come to pass. We are able to “decree and declare” victory in our lives according to the word.

Hebrews 4:12 says, “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. ”

There are times when we, as believers, forget just how powerful the word of God is. The word can cut going in (situation, person, thing, etc.) and coming out, the word knows your thoughts and intentions. The word is more than enough power to handle any situation we could ever find ourselves in. We are told to keep this word in our mouth always, so we can speak it always (Jeremiah 1:9-10).

When we pray the word, we are praying Jesus. John 1:14, “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. ” Praying the word is always right.

In my “aha” moment, the Lord showed me that I have a right to call those things that be not, as though they were (Romans 4:17), because of my faith in the word of God (see Hebrews11:1).

Why? Because when God sends out his word, it will accomplish the very thing it was sent to do. Every time. You need healing, salvation, deliverance, prosperity, other miracles? The answer is in the word. When you find it in there, the pray according to it, and stand on it in faith. Trust God to do his part, and then stand in expectation, and give God the praise the whole time. Eventually, in God’s timing, you will see the manifestation of your prayers.

Yes, the enemy will fight you, and try to make you think you don’t have what you asked for, or that your prayers were not answered. But don’t listen to those thoughts, rebuke them in Jesus’ name. They are lies from the enemy. Rather stand in faith and know that God’s word will accomplish what it was sent to do.

I hope my “aha” moment is a blessing to you as well.

Mark 6:51-52

“51. And he went up unto them into the ship; and the wind ceased: and they were sore amazed in themselves beyond measure, and wondered.

52. For they considered not the miracle of the loaves: for their heart was hardened. ”

Is there any such thing as a small miracle?

Or do we just take God’s goodness for granted and esteem some blessings higher than others?

God is so very good to us. Most of the time we fail to identify things in our lives as a blessing from God. We take it for granted that certain things just “should” or “must” happen. But the truth is those things that comfort our lives can be gone in a minute.

We must recognize God’s hand in and on our lives and give him praise for the things he has done.

Looking at 5th and 6th chapters of Mark. We see Jesus working several miracles. All of which are praise worthy – he is a great God! In this instance Jesus had just fed a multitude of over five thousand people with 2 fishes and 5 loaves. After everyone had eaten there was 12 baskets of food remaining. It is interesting to note that God is a God of abundance. He does not give “just enough” he gives you more than enough. You will be equipped to be a blessing to others. Moving right into the next miracle, the people left Jesus alone and began to make their way to the next destination. So Jesus began to walk on the water, saw them rowing the boat, would have gone past them, but the people saw him and became afraid. Jesus entered the boat and the winds ceased. At this the people were in amazement.

The amazing thing is these are the same people who just witnessed Jesus feeding the five thousand. They completely forgot about that miracle. Why? Because their hearts were conditioned to just expect certain things so much so that the “miraculous” aspect was totally lost on them.

We do the same thing today. However, we must be careful to recognize God’s goodness, and to give him praise for it.

How is your heart? Have you taken God’s goodness for granted? Are you giving glory to where it is due? The job you have, the home you live in, the clothes in your closet, the food in your cabinets, the car in you driveway are all examples of God’s goodness. The list is endless. A grateful heart always sees the hand of God on the small things. The things that if they were taken away, would have a huge and possibly devastating impact on our lives.

We tend to recognize God’s hand in larger situations such as God sparing us from or during a tragedy.

But we must remember that the same God that heals and delivers, is the same God that kept the electricity, heat, water, and gas on for us.

A grateful heart is the foundation to receive even greater blessings from God. The grateful heart has eyes open to the simplest moves of God, which also places them in the path for even more blessings from God. The Bible tells us in everything give thanks for this is the will of God (1 Thessalonians 5:18).

Psalms 100 tells us “be thankful unto him, and bless his name. For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; ”

How is your heart? Are you thankful in all things? Or do you allow the goodness of God to be overshadowed by life?

I encourage you, take a look at you life daily. Consider the blessings of God. Can you recognize them? When you do, take the time to say a quick “thank you” to God. The more you do this, the more you will see God move in your life, and he will add to you because of your grateful heart.

Some food for thought…

There have been times that I have petitioned God for things or regarding things and really did not get an answer. I felt that God’s silence was an answer in the negative.

But looking at God’s silence from a different perspective, there are times when we are not prepared to hear (and receive) the answer.

Another perspective is that during the process of seeking God, we learn how to listen. We recognize the necessity of stripping away a lot of the baggage we carry that makes it challenging to effectively serve God.

Do not take God’s silence as a rebuke, rather view it as a sign to seek him all the more. To dig in deeper. The process may be hard, but the reward is great.

An entirely different perspective of God’s silence is the hunger it produces in us. This hunger will make you uncomfortable until it is satisfied. The key is not to give up, but be faithful in seeking God. Once God has accomplished his purpose in your process, you will hear the answer. More importantly, you will be ready to receive the answer and run with it. You will be in a position poised for success.

Don’t give up.

James 1:5

“5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. ”

Proverbs 4:5-7

“5 Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth.

6 Forsake her not, and she shall preserve thee: love her, and she shall keep thee.

7 Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding. ”

By definition, Wisdom is the qualify of having experience, knowledge, and good judgement; the quality of being wise.

God expects his children to operate wisely. So much so, that God admonished us if we are lacking, we should ask him for it. In addition to wisdom, we also need understanding. Having these tools in our arsenal is essential to successfully navigate our walk with God. There are many varied situations we must face – especially dealing with people. We always face the option of over reacting, getting angry, getting defensive, loosing our temper, the list goes on.

However, when we have wisdom and operate in it, we see how detrimental these types of actions are, not only to ourselves, but also to the people who may witness them, but especially to the people or circumstances we are dealing with. People are looking at the children of God as the barometer and thermometer of every situation.

No we are not perfect. We make mistakes and stupid choices sometimes. However, we should be ever growing, and maturing.

With growth and maturity comes the exercise of wisdom and understanding. The mistakes and stupid choices should lessen as we walk with God.

Mark 4:38-40

“38. And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish?

39. And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.

40. And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith? ”

Desperation is a mighty tool in the enemy’s arsenal. But we serve a God who instructs to see with the eyes of faith, and not to focus on the present circumstances.

If we governed our lives by looking at our current circumstances we would not even make it to starting line let alone have enough courage to even begin to run the race.

However, through faith we are able to take our mark and begin to run when we hear beginning shot. See Hebrew 11:1. Our faith takes the place of what may beck physically or tangibly missing. This we are use to, and can act accordingly.

Unfortunately there are times when our faith fails us because we took our eyes off of Jesus, and instead chose to focus on the circumstances. Every time we do this, we will fall.

Keep your eyes on Jesus. I guarantee no matter what you are going through, the God that is abiding in you, Is Not Panicking. Through faith, you must keep your eyes on him and act accordingly.

In the scripture text, Jesus was asleep with his head on a pillow. I am sure he was aware of the storm, but it did not bother him, because he knew who he IS. We have to watch him, act accordingly, have faith in who he IS. He will never fail you. Keep calm.

Sometimes you literally have to close your eyes, speak with Jesus to get your bearings. Then open your eyes, and speak to the winds and waves of your circumstances and command them, “peace, be still, in the name of Jesus!”

We are the to never give in to desperation. If you begin to feel the pressure or grip of desperation creeping on you, that is all the alert you need to exercise your faith. Talk to Jesus, then command your situation. God always causes us to triumph.

Know that Jesus is with you. If you have been living in a manner which may have caused him to take a back seat in you life, repent. Allow God to take the drivers seat, and guide your life. Then keep your eyes on him, do as he urges you, walk in faith, and strive to please him.

Be blessed.