Count It All Joy

Father, I do thank You for the fact that You are doing a work. Lord, Your Word says in Philippians chapter 2 that You are the God who works in us to will and to do for Your good pleasure. You are doing a work in the midst of this church, here at Calvary Escondido, and in each of our lives. We ask, Lord, that You would continue to do that work. I thank You that we can be confident that You who began that good work will be faithful to complete it until the day that we see You face to face.

We lift Pat and Joyce into Your hands and ask that You would strengthen and encourage them. Pour out Your Spirit upon them, Lord. We ask for a miracle. We pray that You would touch Joyce's body and completely rid her of all the cancer that is there. For the cells that were found in her lymph nodes during the surgery, we pray that as they conduct more tests in the coming weeks, they would find that all of it is completely gone. We ask that You would move in this situation, Lord.

Again, we lift Pat and Joyce into Your hands. We ask that You would continue to encourage them as they take some time off together to be fed, to be encouraged, and to focus upon You and the work that we are praying for You to do in their lives. Pour out upon them, Lord.

We also lift Jeff and his family into Your hands, Lord. As he goes through a difficult trial and his faith is being tested in many areas, we pray, as You prayed for Peter that day, that his faith would not be broken, that his faith would not fail. We ask for the same thing for Jeff: that You would encourage and strengthen him, Lord. May Your joy be his strength as he comes and delivers Your Word over the next several months here at Calvary.

We ask, Lord, that You would fill him to overflowing with Your Spirit. Give him a message from week to week of Your joy and encouragement. Continue to do a work in and through him with Shepherd Staff Ministries and with all the things that You have set before him, Lord. We know that You are doing a work, and we ask that You would help us to continue to trust in You, to trust that You are on the move.

Tonight, Lord, we ask that You would speak to us. As we look into Your Word and start this new book, the book of James, I ask that You would open Your Word to us and make it very clear. Encourage those who may be down tonight, Lord. Strengthen those who may be weak. Exhort those who may just need that gentle word of correction, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.

Would you stand and open your Bibles to the book of James, chapter 1?

We'll read a few verses before we get into our study. James 1, verse 1 states, "James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greetings."

My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into diverse temptations or testings, knowing that the trying of your faith works patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that you may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. And if anyone lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all men liberally and abradeth not, and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering, for he that wavers is like the wave of the sea, driven with the wind and tossed. Let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord, for he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

You can be seated. As the book of Hebrews was written to Hebrew Christians, so also is this book, the letter that James wrote, written to those Jews, those Christians, those Jews who had become Christians, who were now scattered abroad. It says there in verse 1 that this group of people had come to follow the Lord. They were in Jerusalem, but because of persecution and hardship that was coming upon the believers—those Jewish Christians in that area during that time—they began to be dispersed and scattered throughout the world.

They moved away from Jerusalem into the surrounding areas and into the known world at that point in time, taking with them the message, the gospel of Jesus Christ. In fact, that was God's purpose. That was the purpose that Jesus declared. If you would, turn in your Bibles back to Matthew, the Gospel of Matthew, the first book of the New Testament, in the very last chapter.

Right before Jesus ascended into heaven, as He was there on the Mount of Olives speaking with His disciples, He spoke to them in Matthew chapter 28, beginning at verse 18. We read there, "And Jesus came and He spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth."

Go you therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. And lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

So there's Jesus on the Mount of Olives with his disciples. This is, of course, after he had died on the cross and been raised from the dead. Some 40 days later, he has been walking with his disciples. There he is on the Mount of Olives, getting ready to ascend into heaven. Before he does, he gives them his last words. He says, "Listen, guys, I have given you all power. All authority has been given to me, and now I'm giving it to you. So you go into all the world. Go into all nations. I want you to make disciples and baptize them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. I want you to teach them to observe all things, the things that I have commanded you, the things that I've taught you."

Take this gospel, take this good news into the rest of the world. Now, in the book of Acts, chapter 1, we see that right around this time, as he's declaring this to them, he says, "Now, I want you to go into all the world and take this. But first, I want you to tarry. I want you to wait in Jerusalem until you've been given the power, which is from on high, the Holy Spirit. When the Holy Spirit comes upon you, he's going to empower you to be able to be witnesses unto me in Jerusalem, in Judea and Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the world."

He tells his disciples, "This is my purpose. I want you to go out and make disciples. I want you to go out and baptize people in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Bring the word of God to them. But before you do, you need to be empowered. You need to be given that power, that strength to be able to do this work that I'm calling you to."

For all of us know that it's not an easy task that the Lord has given to us. It's not something that we, in and of our own strength, can accomplish on our own. But it's something that, as God empowers the believer by his Holy Spirit, that dynamic, dunamis power, spoken of there in Acts chapter 1, verse 8, gives us the ability to go out and share with the rest of the world. He's given us the authority, his word, but he also needs to give us the ability to do that, and that is by his Holy Spirit.

Well, as is often the case, as you may well know, we get comfortable, don't we? We kind of ease into life, and things start to build up. After we've been really strengthened and encouraged by the word of the Lord, maybe you find yourself up at a women's retreat or a men's retreat, or you go away to a conference. The word of God is shared with you, and you just have this new excitement and encouragement as you come back home.

And you're excited to go out and do the work of the Lord. You're ready. You've been empowered. You have authority. You have the Word of God. You have the power of the Spirit now flowing in your life. But you get back home, and you return to the routine of things, and things start to pile up. The day-to-day mundane tasks crowd your life, and it's easy to feel overwhelmed. You slip back into that comfortable humdrum existence. You know what I mean? I know I've experienced that. Whether I go on a short-term trip, to a camp, or a retreat, I come back excited, but then I ease back into the normalcy of life, and things begin to feel the same. It's easy to get comfortable, especially here in our society. It's very easy to get caught up in the day-to-day things of Southern California.

Yet, the Lord has given us a commission—the Great Commission, as it is called in Matthew chapter 28. We are to go into all the world, to bring the Gospel, to share the Word. The early believers, those early Christians in Jerusalem, had grown comfortable too. As you read through the Book of Acts, you see that a large group of people remained in Jerusalem. They stayed in the church and didn't fully fulfill the commission that God had given them. Some did go out; we see that believers left from Antioch in the later chapters of Acts as Paul and Barnabas began their missionary journeys, traveling to bring the Word of God to the Gentiles, which was God's heart.

However, there was still a group of people in Jerusalem, worshiping the Lord and excited about the things of God, but not really accomplishing the purpose that God had set for them. Sometimes, that is the case in our lives. I have found, and maybe you have too, that God tends to bring something into our lives to stir us up and push us out of our comfort zone. He encourages us to do things that we might not otherwise feel compelled to do. This is exactly what was beginning to happen with the Jewish Christians in Jerusalem. A persecution was starting to arise. The year was around 60 A.D. In just ten years from this point in time, the Roman army would come into Jerusalem and completely overthrow the Jewish nation in Israel, tearing down the temple.

And so, in the ten years leading up to that point in time, there was a lot of persecution building. These Christians were being pushed out of their homes and pressed away from their lives in that area. God's purpose was going to be accomplished one way or another, as God often does. He'll push us if we need a little prodding here and there. Maybe you have experienced that; I know that I have. When I get comfortable and settle into a routine, the Lord tends to come along and say, "All right, let's go. Let's move forward."

Just like when they would plow fields during that time, you remember there in Acts chapter 9 when Saul falls off his donkey. The Lord says to him, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?" Saul responds, "Who are you, Lord?" And the Lord replies, "I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. Isn't it difficult for you to kick against the goads?" Have you ever wondered what goads are? They were used when plowing a field. If you had your ox in front of you and it got tired and didn't want to go anymore, the person plowing would often have a long stick with a pointed end under his arm. If the ox decided to stop and rest, he would give it a little poke in the rear to get it going again.

In fact, they even started to make plows that had these goads on the end. So, as they were plowing, if the ox stopped or backed up, it would be poked by these goads and would get moving again. The goads make you go. Sometimes, the Holy Spirit needs to goad us along. He comes and says, "Come on, let's get going. Let's plow this field that the Lord has set before us. We need to get moving. There's a lot that needs to be done. The Lord is coming soon, and there's work that needs to go forward."

The Lord brought the goad of persecution into the Jewish church in Jerusalem, and these believers began to disperse. They scattered and went out into the rest of the world, bringing the gospel and the purpose of God with them. As they did, James, who was a leader of the church in Jerusalem, wrote a letter. This letter is packed with wisdom and has been called by many commentators the Proverbs of the New Testament. It is filled with practical things that we, as believers, need to know, especially as we go out to serve the Lord.

Although this book is small, just a few chapters, it contains all kinds of information that you and I need as believers who are walking in this world and serving the Lord, employed in His work.

Things that we need to understand are important, and we may need to be exhorted and encouraged to do them. James writes this book. James, the brother of Jesus, the half-brother of our Lord, is spoken of in various portions of Scripture. We see him in Matthew chapter 13, Mark chapter 6, and Galatians chapters 1 and 2. He appears in Acts chapters 12, 15, and 21, as well as in 1 Corinthians chapter 15. His name comes up throughout the New Testament.

James was one of the half-brothers of Jesus. His mother and father were Mary and Joseph. It is thought by many Bible teachers that he did not believe in Jesus as the Messiah until after Jesus had died and risen from the dead. However, after Jesus had risen, James came to faith and developed a powerful faith in the Lord. He became an ardent worshiper of God and an incredible prayer warrior. History records that he gained the nickname "Camel Knees" because he spent so much time on his knees that they became calloused and worn like a camel's knees.

James was a remarkable man, known for his dedication to prayer and worship. He became a leader of the church in Jerusalem and was present when Paul and Barnabas came to speak with the council of Christians there about the Lord bringing the word to the Gentiles. He was one of the individuals who counseled them, advising them on what message to bring to Antioch.

James was a leader in the church, a prayer warrior, a worshiper of God, and the half-brother of Jesus. History also records his death, which you can read about in Fox's Book of Martyrs. Around 63 to 66 A.D., the leaders of the Jewish faith in Jerusalem, particularly those who were part of the Sanhedrin, became increasingly concerned. The gospel of Jesus as the Christ, the Messiah, was spreading, and they were worried about the number of Jews turning to Christianity. They were aware of James and his influence.

Who was the brother of Jesus? They thought it would be a good idea to get this guy James, who obviously knows his own brother is not the Christ. They decided to take him and put him up on a high place at the temple. They placed him in one of the galleries and instructed him to shout out to everybody, "Listen, guys, he isn't really the Messiah. I'm his own brother. I know."

The Sanhedrin commanded James to stand up there and tell all the people who had come to worship at the temple that Jesus is not the Messiah. Well, they were in for a real treat because James, a leader of the church, got up there and began to declare that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. The Sanhedrin was not exactly excited about that, so they pushed him off the temple. As he fell, he came back up to his knees; he wasn't dead. He began to pray to the Lord.

Many Jews who were there that day, led by the Sanhedrin and the council, began to stone him with rocks. But he wouldn't die until a man came with one of those rods used to beat a carpet clean and clubbed him in the head to kill him. Right before they killed him, the words coming out of his mouth were, "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do." That is how this man, James, died—praying to the Lord, "Forgive them for they don't know what they're doing," as he declared his own half-brother as the Messiah, the Christ.

Just a few years before that, he wrote a letter because the persecution was growing strong. It was getting hard to be a believer. He wrote this letter to the Jews who were Christians and had been scattered, bringing the gospel of God elsewhere. He said to them in verse 2, "Brethren, count it all joy when you fall into diverse temptations, trials, testings, or tribulations." Count it all joy when you find yourself going through a trial. That sounds easy, doesn't it? How many of you have read this verse before and thought, "Are you kidding?" I know I have. I look at this and think, "Man, count it all joy. Take it with all gladness, with calm delight."

You could look in the original language and find calm delight. I'm just going to go into this trial, this tribulation, this valley, this testing, just with calm delight. I'm enjoying this. I really like this. Count it all joy when you fall into or when you encounter diverse trials and temptations. That's a very hard verse to fulfill.

I really love James because he just jumps right into it. There's no long, flowery conversation. He just says, "Listen, right off the bat, guys, count it all joy when you fall into diverse temptations."

Now, I led junior high ministry for four years. Junior highers are wonderful. I love junior highers, but they have this knack for coming up to you and taking about 10 to 15 minutes to get to the point. They come up, real excited, and begin to tell you something. They give you the background for a good 10 minutes about what they're trying to say, and then their point takes all of six seconds to express. They go on and on about, "Well, I got to go back and tell you about last Monday at eight o'clock in the morning when I started," and you're just thinking, "Okay, now, what exactly is the point of what you're trying to say?"

I love when people come up to me and know exactly what they want to say and can express it quickly. Well, James is one of those guys. He just says, "Guys, listen, when you fall into diverse temptations, count it all joy."

But I do think that it's almost impossible to do this without verse three. Count it all joy when you fall into diverse temptations, knowing. Circle that word "knowing" in your Bible. In fact, reach over to the person next to you and circle the word "knowing" in their Bible for them. Count it all joy when you fall into diverse temptations, knowing. Knowing what? Knowing this: that the trying of your faith works or produces patience. The trying of your faith produces patience.

Count it all joy when you fall into diverse temptations, knowing. Knowing what? Well, Romans chapter eight, verse 28 says, "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God and to them that are the called according to His purpose."

We know that all things work together for good to them that are the called of God, to them that love Him. In Romans chapter five, we read in verse six and verse three, "And not only this, but we glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation works patience, and patience works experience, and experience brings hope, and hope makes not ashamed." You will not be ashamed.

As James opens this letter, he says you are going to go through diverse temptations and trials. But when you do, count it all joy, knowing that they will produce patience. A young believer, a young Christian, came to an older Christian, one who was looked up to in his church. He sat down and said, "I desire to be complete in the Lord. I desire to really have a good solid walk and be close to God. Would you pray for me?"

The old believer, who knew the Lord well and had been walking with Him for a long time, said, "Father, I pray that you would give this young man trials in the morning, tribulations at noonday, and testings in the evening." Right as he was praying that last little bit, the young man stopped him and said, "Wait, wait, wait a minute. I said I want you to pray that the Lord would just make me a strong believer walking closely with Him."

The older Christian replied, "This is the only way that it's going to happen. It's through the testing of your faith." Warren Wiersbe once said that a faith that can't be tested is a faith that can't be trusted. Our faith needs to be tested. Sometimes we find ourselves going through trials and tribulations and difficult times as the Lord takes us by the hand through those situations, teaching us patience, working in us patience, which brings experience, which brings hope.

If we know that all things work together for good to them that love God and to them that are the called according to His purpose, if we know that and if we know God, then we can go into a trial and into a tribulation with joy. But apart from knowing Him and knowing the truth about Romans chapter 8, verse 28, we may struggle.

The truth about what this passage tells us here in James chapter 1 is crucial. Without knowing these things, it's impossible to have joy in the midst of a trial. It's impossible to have that joy in the midst of suffering and tribulation apart from knowing God. Jesus told us in the Gospels that in the world you will have much tribulation. You'll have much trial and sorrow, but be of good cheer, for I have overcome the world.

If we don't know that, and if we don't know Him, then we can't be of good cheer. We can't gladly go through trials. We won't have calm delight in the midst of the storm unless we know the One who can calm us and calm the storm. So, count it all joy when you fall into diverse temptations, knowing this. Knowing this is the only way to be able to go through those trials, tribulations, and hard days with joy.

In Nehemiah chapter 8, we read that the joy of the Lord is your strength. Truly, as we come into Christ seeking after Him, we find His joy to be a great strength in the midst of trouble. And we do go through trouble; Jesus promised that we would. I already mentioned that verse: in the world you will have much tribulation. That's obviously not one of those promises we wake up proclaiming. "I'm going to have much tribulation. Thank you, Lord." But the promise is there: I've overcome the world.

The promise is also there at the end of the Great Commission, as we read in Matthew chapter 28. "Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world, unto the end of the ages." I'll be with you always. I will never leave you nor forsake you, the Lord has told us throughout the Scriptures. We know this, and in knowing this, we can have joy in tribulation and strength in the storm.

However, we've got to know this, and we've got to trust this. Knowing that the trying of your faith works patience is essential. As our faith is tried and tested, it builds in us patience and endurance, enabling us to go through those things regularly and to endure.

I picked up a book several months ago. It's not a Christian book; it's a book on working out called "Training for Endurance." Rick and I have been following this method for training for endurance. Let me tell you, you've got to have patience to do this. As a runner, I don't like to run slow. In fact, it kind of grates at my pride when I'm running down the street and going really, really slow. I'm sure there are people driving by thinking, "Yeah, like that's helping."

In this method of training for endurance, you've got to start out going extremely slow, where you feel like you're moving like a snail. I'm sure some of you could walk faster than I was running at the start of this thing. It all has to do with keeping your heart rate low. But as time goes on and as you patiently endure through that, you can build up your endurance.

The same is true in our Christian walk with the Lord. We're running to Him in this race. Sometimes it seems like we're going through a valley, and everything feels really, really slow. We pray, "Lord, would you please just move quickly and get me out of this place? Out of this trial. Out of this hard area where I feel like I'm just moving like a snail day to day, and it's just killing me."

Yet, that testing of your faith during that time, wondering, "Lord, are you really here with me? Are you really hearing me?" is where patience is built up. Patience, as mentioned in verse 4, will have her perfect work in you so that you may be complete or perfect, whole, entire, wanting nothing, lacking nothing. Patience has its work in our lives. As God works His patience into us through trials and tribulations, it will lead to perfection and completeness.

Recently, I had a conversation with a guy about this portion of Scripture where it says that you will be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. He told me that we can be perfect here on earth. He believed that as we walk with the Lord, we can, by our own strength and determination, make ourselves perfect. I don't see that in Scripture, and I surely don't see that in my own life. I didn't get a chance to tell this guy this, but what I wanted to say was, "All right, you go out there and work really hard, and when you're perfect..."

You come show me. Because I don't know anybody here on earth, apart from Jesus, who can live a perfect life. But when it says here in James chapter 1, verse 4, that you may be perfect, that word, as you look it up in the original language, could also mean complete. That you will be complete and mature. The very next word is "entire." That you'll be made whole, wanting or lacking nothing.

You see, as we walk with the Lord through the trial, through the tribulation, in the midst of the fire, as did Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego there in Daniel, it is in that place that the Lord builds in you and in me patience. Patience has its perfect work in us, making us realize that in Christ we are perfect. We are complete. We are whole and entire, lacking nothing. Colossians tells us that all the fullness dwells in Christ.

If you would turn in your Bibles back to Matthew, we'll read there. Matthew chapter 6, starting at verse 25. Jesus says there, the words in red, "Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought, or do not worry for your life, what you shall eat, or what you shall drink, nor yet for your body, what you shall put on. Is not life more than meat, and the body more than clothing? Behold the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap, nor do they gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much better than they?"

"Which of you, by taking thought or by worrying, can add one cubit to his stature, or make yourself taller? And why do you take thought for clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin. And yet I say unto you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?"

"Therefore, take no thought, or do not worry, saying, What shall we eat, or what shall we drink, or wherewithal shall we be clothed? For after all these things do the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you have need of all things. But seek you first the kingdom of God."

And his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought, for tomorrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

Jesus, here in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapter 6, says, "Listen, don't worry about all these things." When you're going through a hard time and you feel hard pressed, and you don't know where your next meal is going to come from, where you're going to sleep, or what you're going to put on, in the midst of all these situations that could cause you to worry, He says, "Do not worry, but trust."

You have a heavenly Father who knows the things that you have need of. These are the things that the world seeks after. They don't know the heavenly Father; they don't know this Father of lights who delights to give all things to His children. But we do. So we need to trust in Him, O you of little faith. Sometimes we do have little faith, but I praise the Lord that He said all you need is a faith of a mustard seed, that little bit of faith. The Lord can work with that, and He does work with that every single day.

He wants to increase that faith. Romans tells us that faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. As we spend time with the Lord in His word, going through trials and tribulations, He increases our faith. We begin to realize that as we seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, then all these things that we have need of will be added unto us. We can trust that He'll take care of the things that we have need of.

In the midst of the trial, as He works in us patience, it begins to show us that we are perfect, complete, and mature in Him, that we have need of nothing when we walk with Jesus. What a good message for this group of believers who had begun to be dispersed and sent out from their homes! They couldn't stay in Jerusalem anymore, where they knew everybody and everything was all set in order for them. Now they were being sent out into the Gentile world.

As they go and are being scattered, James says, "Listen, you're going to find yourself in the midst of trials, wondering where your next meal or the next place you're going to sleep is going to come from." But know this: as you go through that test of faith, God is going to build in you patience. He's going to make you mature. He's going to provide for your needs, and you will see that you're complete in Him because all the fullness dwells in God, in Jesus.

And patience will continue to have its purpose and perfect work in you and in me as we go through these trials. It's that testing of our faith, those tribulations which work in us patience, and that patience which works in us experience, and that experience which works in us hope. As we hope in the Lord, we will not be ashamed, says Romans chapter 5. There is no shame in following Jesus. The person who follows the Lord and casts themselves completely upon Him will never be ashamed. They will find that the needs they have will be taken care of, and God will meet our needs. They will lack no good thing, as Psalm 84 tells us in verse 11. No good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly. Those who go through the midst of the trial with the Lord, trusting in Him, will not have any good thing withheld from them. What a great blessing and promise that is for you and for me. As we walk with Jesus and go through trials, no good thing will He withhold from us. Those things that we have need of, those things that we ask of Him.

In the midst of that, if we find that we're lacking in some area, we come to verse 5. If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all men liberally and without reproach, and it shall be given to him. If you find that on this walk, as you're going through the midst of trials and tribulations, you discover a lack—something that's missing, particularly wisdom—then ask of God. Come to the Lord and ask of Him, who gives all things liberally and without reproach. He doesn't hold back. No good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly, as we see in Psalm 84:11. When you find a lack, when there's something missing, we need to go directly to Jesus and to the Father of lights, who delights to give all things, as we see later on in this chapter in verse 17.

Back in the book of Genesis, in Genesis chapter 12, God called Abraham to follow Him by faith. He said, "I want you to go into this new land, this faraway country that you've never been to before. I want you to follow Me there, and I'm going to give it to you as an inheritance." Well, Abraham, in faith, follows the Lord. He goes west from Haran and begins to follow Him, entering the area of Canaan.

And he comes to this place and begins to worship the Lord. He names the place Bethel, the house of God, and builds an altar there. However, the very next verse in the last portion of Genesis chapter 12 tells us that there was a famine in the land. There was something lacking in Abraham's life as he walked with the Lord, going through trials and tribulations. A lack came about—a famine in the land. It says Abraham went south towards Egypt.

Instead of seeking the Lord and saying, "Lord, I have this lack; there is this need. Would you provide?" he goes back down to the world. He returns to Egypt, thinking, "Well, I know I can get what I need down there in Egypt." It is always a dangerous thing for us to go back to the things of this world to seek provision when we have need. We tend to lean upon the MasterCard instead of leaning upon the Master of our souls when challenges arise.

It was in Egypt that Abraham picked up Hagar, who became a great thorn in his flesh as time went on, and whose offspring continues to be a thorn in the side of the Israelites today. Therefore, it is not a good thing for us to return to the things of this world when we have need. We should always go to the Lord first and ask of Him, who gives all things liberally. He is the Father of lights who delights to pour out upon us. No good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly, those who are following Him. If you lack anything, especially wisdom—because all of us do—ask of God. Ask of Him.

Later on in Abraham's life, after he had followed the Lord for a long period of time, after his faith had been tested, and after he had gone through trials and tribulations, patience had been worked into his life. He could say of the Lord at the end of Genesis chapter 22, "You are Jehovah Jireh, the God who provides." But it took time for him to go through tribulations and trials, and it will take time in our lives as well for us to begin to trust the Lord in that way and manner.

Know for sure that if you're going through a trial and a test today, the Lord is the one who is leading you through it. He will bring you through it. I love that in the life of Abraham, you constantly see chapters and verses opening with "it came to pass."

After these things, those trials and tests came to pass. The Lord spoke to Abraham again. In our lives as well, when we go through difficult situations, it comes to pass, and we will come to that place where we look back and say, "After these things, God did this." I have no doubt that in Pat and Joyce's life, as they are going through the trial they are facing right now, there will come a time when they will say, "After these things, it came to pass."

There will be another test that comes to them, to you, and to this church. This is the life of faith, following the Lord. In fact, in Genesis chapter 22, the passage I just mentioned starts out, "As it came to pass after these things, that God did test Abraham." Oftentimes, the Lord takes us through trials and tests to bring us to another trial and to another test. He is building in us and preparing us for each of those things that we will go through.

He is building in us patience, character, and hope so that when we do come through those things, we trust in Jehovah Jireh, the God who provides. In verse 6, it says, "But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavers is like the wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind." When we come to the Lord asking in faith for wisdom or for whatever else we need, we must come in faith, with full assurance, trusting that God will provide as He promised.

Nothing wavering, because he who wavers is like that wave of the sea, tossed and driven by the wind. If you find yourself coming to the Lord and saying, "Lord, I need this thing," but you are kind of back and forth about it, deep down inside you know that maybe you don't really need that new Lamborghini that passed by today when you were driving to Sports Authority. It was really neat, but as we come to the Lord and say, "Lord, I really need this thing," in our hearts we might be thinking, "I really need it, I think."

We can feel tossed back and forth, waiting for God to start wavering on it a little bit. Do I really need this thing? Or if we just have a hard time...

Trusting that, I just don't know if he can do this. He says, "Let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord." Don't expect that he's going to come through if you don't trust him to do so. Cast yourself completely upon him.

Now, God is gracious, and he does often answer us, even when our faith is small, because he is faithful. When I am faithless, he remains faithful still because he cannot deny himself. A man came to Jesus seeking healing for his son one day, and Jesus told him, "All things are possible to them that believe." The man replied, "I believe, but help my unbelief." There are times when we struggle in our faith, trusting in the Lord. He is still a good God, and he will give us the things that we need as we seek first the kingdom of God.

However, when we come to him, we need to trust that he is able to do the things we are calling and asking him to do. If we're wavering about it, then maybe we don't truly trust him. He may need to test our faith a little bit more so that we begin to see that he truly is faithful and will come through. But don't expect that you'll receive anything of the Lord if you're in that place, because that person is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

Wishy-washy, back and forth. "Oh, yeah, Lord, you're great, but I need to maybe do this on my own." "Yeah, Lord, I trust you, but I don't know if you can do this." That person is unstable in all their ways, tossed to and fro like a wave of the sea. Have you ever been seasick before? What a horrible feeling. I'm not even going to go in-depth on it just because we don't need to do that, but it's just a horrible feeling.

I remember right after 9/11 in 2001, it was my little brother's birthday. My little brother's birthday is the 14th of September, and he likes to fish. So, my dad decided that he was going to take my little brother Paul, my brother-in-law Van, and myself out deep-sea fishing. I had never gone deep-sea fishing before, and I have this inner ear problem already. I thought, "Well, you know, all right, I'm going to do this." But I went to the store...

I got Dramamine and everything, and I got the non-drowsy Dramamine. I don't think there is any such thing as non-drowsy Dramamine. We went out there, and it was kind of a gray, rainy day. The water was just kind of... I spent more time sleeping than I did fishing, let me tell you. I went into the little galley there, put my head down, and just went to sleep. No one was really catching anything anyway. The seals were taking all of our bait.

Boy, that's a horrible feeling to be just kind of tossed back and forth. Unstable. Unsettling, isn't it? To be in that place. The Lord doesn't want us to be in that place—unsettled. We looked at last week in Hebrews chapter 13 that the Lord wants to establish us in His grace. We need to be founded upon the Lord. As we walk with Him and as we're founded upon Him, trusting in Him as our sure foundation, then we will not be tossed to and fro. We'll be able to trust a little bit more in Him.

But again, that faith needs to be tested. It's the storm, the trial, the tribulation that tests it. It's in the midst of that tribulation and that storm that we get our sea legs with the Lord. He proves Himself faithful time and time again. We begin to be given His patience and His endurance. That patience has its perfect work in us that will be complete, trusting in Him, lacking nothing.

I believe as we go through this book over the next several weeks that the Lord wants to speak to each of us about these practical things in our Christian lives and in our walks with Him. These are the things that we need to know in our day and in our walks. I'm excited about what the Lord is going to share with us as we go through this passage. I'm also excited that the Lord has given me the opportunity to go through this book again with you all. I'm looking forward to what the Lord's going to share with us.

I encourage you to come out on Sunday morning and hear what the Lord will share through Jeff as well. If you don't come out, get the tapes. God has a word for this church in the midst of the time that we're going through. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the church.

Let's pray. Father, thank You for this passage and for this book.

I thank You for this man, James, Lord, Your brother when You were here on earth. How difficult that must have been to be Your younger brother. Maybe Your parents said to him, "Why can't you just be like Jesus? He never complains."

But Lord, You did a work in James, and You desire to do a work in each of us. That work oftentimes means that we need to go through tribulation, trial, suffering, and testing. But God, thank You that You're the one that's in the midst of the storm with us. You were the one that was walking in the midst of the fire with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

It's there in those fires and in those storms that You strengthen us, Lord. You burn away the bonds that are binding us. Teach us to draw near to You during those times and to find our footing on Your sure foundation. For we ask it in Jesus' name. Amen.