COUNT IT ALL JOY
James 1:1-8
James 1:1-8
James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are of the Dispersion, greeting.
2 Count it all joy, my brethren, when ye fall into manifold temptations;
3 Knowing that the proving of your faith worketh patience.
4 And let patience have (its) perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, lacking in nothing.
5 But if any of you lacketh wisdom, let him ask of God, who giveth to all liberally and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
6 But let him ask in faith, nothing doubting: for he that doubteth is like the surge of the sea driven by the wind and tossed.
7 For let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord;
8 a doubleminded man, unstable in all his ways.
THE LIFE OF MAN
We live in a world full of God’s goodness, yet full of the evil desires and actions of men. At the same time, we are rewarded with grace and the mercy of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We are reminded by our Savior that Life is but a few days and full of problems.
Job 14:1 Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble.
2 He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down: he fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not. KJV
We don’t mind the few days, but we hate the full of trouble. You can’t have one without the other. We live in a world where social media gives us instant news from all over the world. At the same time, social media presents a world of glory, good times, and fun all the time. Behind the smiling faces and made-up reality is much pain, agony, and destruction. We make it our goal to live for the good times.
It is good for the Chriatian to remember that this is not our home, we are just passing through. We have to deal with the good and the bad to get to our final destination.
The Bible reminds us of the reality of living in this world and the attitude God expect of each believer. We can expect pain physically and mentally every moment of our lives. Yet there is a way to count it all joy. You and I cannot count all pain as joy by ourselves.
James reminds us of who we are and whose we are,
First we belong to the Lord. We were brought and paid for with the blood of
Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
James 1.1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are of the Dispersion, greeting.
POSITION OF SERVANT
James identifies himself as a servant of the Lord. We really don’t like the idea of being a servant but that is our position in the Lord. We are sons and daughters in this world but still servants.
James was writing to the Jewish christians, many of whom had been scattered throughout the Roman Empire after the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Billions of Christians are located throughout the world.
As servants we are under the divine directions of the Lord.
It should be our desire to be servants of Jesus rather than servants of the devil. We strive to to be like Jesus by becoming pure in nature and reverent and obedient to the Lord.
2 Count it all joy, my brethren, when ye fall into manifold temptations;
Joy in difficult situations is difficult to entertain and certainly not part of our
Nature or attitude. The text is not joy of the flesh, but joy in the spirit. The trials we face are numerous. They come one after another. The trials we face vary. The devil knows every weakness we have and will attack us in
Those areas. Trials come at different times in our lives and vary in intensity
How can you be joyful and in pain at the same time?
First we know that Lord has measured our pain to be no more than we can handle.
1 Cor 10:13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as man can bear: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation make also the way of escape, that ye may be able to endure it.
The way of escape is to go to the Lord in prayer and meditation with thanksgiving (Philippians 4:6)
We must understand and conclude that trials are necessary to christian discipline. They are designed to reveal our weaknesses and sinfulness
Through them we discover the mercy and grace of God.
Trials are designed to show the love of God,
Prov 13:24 He that spareth his rod hateth his son; But he that loveth him chasteneth him.
The world today has new way of discipline, time out, go to your room or
Denial of some activity. This is no discipline at all. I believe this new world order of discipline has resulted in more violent activities. A disciplined lifestyle pleases God. He said; if you love me keep my commands.
PROVING YOUR FAITH
James 1:3 Knowing that the proving of your faith worketh patience.
It takes faith to follow God’s commands and allow Him to work in
Your life in His way and His timing.
Rom 8:28 And we know that to them that love God all things work together for good, (even) to them that are called according to (his) purpose.
We can have joy because the trials are the proof of God’s love for us. When we consider what we are going through, we should ask ourselves
What weakness is God trying to improve. Patience is a virtue that can only be developed when we let God work in His timing. God’s time schedule is
Always best. If we are in a rush, we eliminate God’s work.
We are like a 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle. On the box is a pretty picture.
But it takes time to fit all the pieces together to look like the picture on the
Box. To start with we have have confidence we can fit the pieces together.
No one knows us like God He know how to fit the pieces together. That is our joy that God is working on us
GOD IS PERFECTING US
James I:4 And let patience have (its) perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, lacking in nothing.
In the Garden of Eden, man and woman were made perfect. Adam and Eve became broken when they disobeyed God’s command. Over the ages
We have become more broken because of a multitude of sins that are normal in our lives. Some of the pieces are missing and we are lacking the
Character and likeness of God.
We have many pieces that don’t fit the mold God designed. Pieces that need to removed so the correct pieces can be places.
Sin must be removed so righteousness can be placed
Intolerance must be removed so tolerance can be placed
Hate must be removed, so love can be placed
Selfishness must be removed, so unselfishness can be placed
Pride must be removed, so humbleness can be placed
Lying must be moved, so truth can be placed
Ignorance must be removed so wisdom can be placed
Doubt must be removed so confidence can be placed
FROM WISDOM TO JOY
James 1:5 But if any of you lacketh wisdom, let him ask of God, who giveth to all liberally and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. Wisdom cannot be gained with the Lord. Knowledge of the Lord cannot be gained without the study of the Word of God
Would it be great to make the right decisions all the time. Wouldn't it be great to know the right thing to say all the time.
Wouldn’t it be good to be pleasing to God all the time.
Can we learn the secret of extracting joy from troubles?
Joy is a gift from the Lord. It cannot be learned without practice and it cannot be practiced without opportunity.
There is a difference between happiness and joy. Happiness is based on
Circumstances, but joy is from the Lord. Joy is internal.
John 15:11 These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy may be in you, and (that) your joy may be made full.
Joy is meant to balance temptations. Temptations in life are many and non ending. We need the full joy from the Lord. We need the Joy that cannot not be exalted without the Lord
SUMMARY
Now lets look at the verse Count it all Joy in the Greek
Greeting from the end of verse one is placed at the beginning of verse 2
Greeting, count it pure joy when you fall into various temptations
It could read, Wishing you count it pure joy. It takes a change in attitude
To count trials as pure joy.
1, EXCEPT THE REALITY THE GOD HAS DESIGNED YOU TO HANDLE
TRIALS
2. EXCEPT THE FACT THAT EVERYDAY YOU MAY FACE A NEW TRIAL
3. YOU ARE UNDER GOD’S CONTROL
4. HE WILL NOT GIVE YOU MORE THAN YOU CAN HANDLE
5. TRIALS ARE DESIGNED TO SHOW GOD’S LOVE FOR YOU
6. TRIALS ARE DESIGNED TO GROW YOUR FAITH
7. GOD II PERFECTING YOU
8. GOD IS GIVING YOU OPPORTUNITIES TO PRACTICE JOYFUL
LIVING|
COUNT EACH DAY AS THE JOY OF THE LORD
