Have You ‘Tried’ Your Faith?

My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. (James 1:2-4)

Rob Cruver, senior pastor of Zarephath Christian Church, in Zarephath, NJ recently provided some valuable insight to the James 1 Bible passage. He shared that back in the day when this epistle was penned, Christian Jews were severely ostracised for their new-found faith in Jesus. They were fired from jobs, excluded from events, banished from the temple, shunned by their friends, and rejected by their families. The ‘divers (various) temptations’ that James was referring to was the allure for these believers to tone-down their Christian rhetoric just enough so they could keep their jobs, friends, and families.

Tempting Indeed

Is that not what we are witnessing today? Aren’t Christians willingly toning down their religious presence so as to not be rejected. Isn’t the government regularly chiming-in, “Be as Christian as you want, but just keep it to yourself.” Don’t our well-meaning friends and families consistently echo the same advice?

This is not the counsel of James.  He admonishes us to stand firm in our convictions and to try (test) our faith and witness what God will do as a result. In this time of patience, our Lord and Savior is working our perfection and wholeness in us. He will meet every need.  If jobs, friends, and families be lost, so be it! God has something better in store for us. It was a tough message for these early believers and it is a tough message for us. The question that remains is do you trust Jesus to keep His word; are you willing to patiently standby while your faith is tried?

Trust Him. He is faithful.

Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Proverbs 3:5-6

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A Day in the Life of a Christian

We groan…

“Attend to us, and hear us; we are restless in our complaint, and moan noisily, Because of the voice of the enemy, Because of the oppression of the wicked; For they bring down trouble upon us, And in wrath they hate us. Our hearts are severely pained within us, And the terrors of death have fallen upon us. Fearfulness and trembling have come upon us, And horror has overwhelmed us. So we said, “Oh, that we had wings like a dove! we would fly away and be at rest.”

And we atone…

“We will call upon God, And the Lord shall save us. Evening and morning and at noon we will pray, and cry aloud, And He shall hear our voice. He has redeemed our souls in peace from the battle that was against us, For there were many…God will hear, and afflict them, Even He who abides from of old…We cast our burden on the Lord, And He shall sustain us; He shall never permit the righteous to be moved.”

And at the end of the day, we have grown.

“We will trust in You.”

(a Psalm 55 remix)

These articles may or may not be related:

• Our Dependance Must Be In The Lord! (pilgrimpassing.com)
• Advent Reflection: Waiting for Forgiveness in Psalm 130 by Mark D. Roberts (lacykitkat.wordpress.com)
• Load Me Lord, by Evans Olang (magnifyhisword.wordpress.com)
• Psalm 84 (King James Version) (loopyloo305.com)
• One Way God Makes Himself Real to Us (mywarminghouse.com)
• When Trouble Overwhelms You, Psalm 55 (thebiblemeditator.wordpress.com)
• Firm (freedomsbrushfire.wordpress.com)
• A call to Confession “My people don’t realize that I am watching them” Hosea 7 (prepareforthelamb.wordpress.com)
• Revive Me In Your Way, Part 1of2, by Evans Olang (magnifyhisword.wordpress.com)
• The Book of Psalms (nelsonmcbs.wordpress.com)

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What Do I Do Now?

Trust in the Lord, and do good; Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness. Delight yourself also in the Lord, And He shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, Trust also in Him, And He shall bring it to pass. He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light, And your justice as the noonday. Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him; Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, Because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass. Psalm 37:3-7

A Common Question

The matter is raised by both new and mature believers alike; “I’m walking with the Lord, but I don’t know what He wants me to do with my life…what should I do?”

God knew we would ask that question, so through His servant David, He provided an answer:

“Become dependant upon Me,” God the Father says to us, “and do good; live where I have placed you and feed on My reliability.”

St Augustine put it this way, “Love God and do as you please.”

Sounds Dangerous

It does sound a little risky, because in the Book of Jeremiah we are warned that, “The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it.” However the good news comes in the accompanying verse:

I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give every man according to his ways, According to the fruit of his doings. Jeremiah 17:10

God agrees: our hearts are evil. But if we (like the Psalmist tells us), delight ourselves in Him, commit our lives to Him, trust in Him, wait on Him, and rest in Him, a wonderful thing occurs—He will transform us. As we give our unconditional love to Him and trust Him, He searches our hearts and minds and essentially repairs the damage! Again, God said it this way:

But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts… Jeremiah 31:33a

We Need Not Worry

St Augustine might have over stated it a wee bit, but Christians who are sold-out for the Lord can do whatever they want, because they have the confidence that God has put His will upon their hearts—God’s will drives our desires.

What if I Make a Mistake

Chances are we will err from time to time. Again, the good news is that God will use those situations to refine us further! God is not going to rebuke His child (when with a right heart) he makes a mistake. Does a parent scold a child when she falls down while learning how to walk? Of course not. Nor does our Father scold His children when they endeavor to do good.

The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, And He delights in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down; For the Lord upholds him with His hand. Psalm 37:23-24

So what should you do? If you’re delighting yourself in Him today, do whatever you feel led to do and let me know how you make out.

These ramblings are typically (but not always) a byproduct inspired by God through my personal Bible study at SearchLight with Pastor Jon Courson and with my pastor at my home church, Calvary Chapel Coastlands

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