TFL: "When Trials Come, Part 1, A" *****
- James is written to show believers how to live in the world
- The Christian experience is not revealed in a far off heavenly place, but it is revealed in the rough and tumble of everyday life
- Our lives are crowded in upon by trials and tribulations
- We are not yet in heaven
- Tears, doubts, trials, etc will come upon us
- There is no exemption
- One of greatest illusions of life is to look to another person and wish we were them
- James says have joy in trials – why?
- Because you know (see below)
- Bring how we feel under the dictate of what we know
- Knowledge over feelings not feelings over knowledge
- People are so used to the Christian success story
- 14:36 Christianity is a big cover up
- We all have wheel barrels full of sorrow, trials, and tribulations
- What do we know
- Testing of faith produces perseverance: Faith itself does not
- Just like a muscle, if not stressed, faith too will atrophy
- In shunning trials, we shun blessings
- Perseverance produces maturity
- In the creed we say we believe in the father, but we don’t really know we believe until everything collapses
- Until the day it appears He has left us, until the day it seems He does not even hear our prayers, let alone answer them
Advertisement
