“Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you will know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything” James 1:2–4

My husband quotes these verses a lot. I used to feel uncomfortable when he did because I knew I did not “count it joy” when I had difficulties. I often thought of trials as a nuisance. But God has been teaching me, and finally it has become clear to me why I need to count it all joy.

Recently, I read Majestic is Your Name. This book contains a collection of writings by Teresa of Avila, who lived during the fifteenth century. She wrote,

“Be happy when you are blamed and accused wrongly, for then you have the chance to see all the bitter, hostile, or self-pitying responses that your sinful soul wants to spew out— as if these puny things could in any way defend you! Watch and see if any of these poisons come out of you when your spirit is pricked by an accusation. Only then can you see yourself as you are, and confess thy sin that is within you, and forsake yourself again into the Lord’s care.”

You see, when we run into difficulties or accusations, we can choose to respond in joy, or we can react negatively. Our response is the barometer as to how we are doing spiritually.

I encourage you to choose to respond with joy to every difficulty or nuisance that comes your way today. It is an act of affirming that God is the blessed controller of all things.

Lord Jesus, I do thank You for the trials that come into my life. Whenever my soul is pricked by a sarcastic remark, or I am misunderstood or slighted by someone, my reaction to this lets me realize again that I am a sinner, desperately in need of Your strength to respond in love and kindness and patience. Thank You for continually pointing out my need of total reliance on You. Amen.

By Katherine Kehler
Used by Permission

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“For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.”  I Timothy 4:8

A recent article in the Washington Post caught my eye. It was entitled: Exercise Could Slow Aging.  It was an interesting read. It seems that active people have cells that look younger on a molecular level than those of couch potatoes. The bottom line was that there is strong evidence to show that exercise may stave off aging. People who exercise regularly look and feel younger and actually live longer.

Paul spoke of physical training in his first letter to Timothy and noted that while physical training has some value, godliness is of even greater value. He was talking about the exercise of being close to God through prayer and the study of the Word.

Pastors talk about church growth, and usually are referring to numerical growth, getting more members for the church. But, I believe that when the Bible talks about ‘church growth’ it refers to ‘spiritual growth’. We are directed to grow in our knowledge and faith. The task of adding more believers to the church belongs to God. Our church growth task is to grow in our relationship with Jesus.

Our individual task of growth with Jesus comes through the daily discipline of quiet time, Bible reading and study and concentrated prayer. It is a program of spiritual exercise. I once heard of a book entitled Working Out with the Word of God.  We all need a daily workout with God.

In today’s world, there is so much emphasis on being physically fit. Perhaps many of you have been influenced by the drive to “get into shape.” The benefits of entering into a physical fitness program are many. You will have a healthier body and probably live longer. You will have more stamina. You will look better, feel better about yourself, and be able to relate to others with more confidence.

While it is good to be concerned with physical training, it is even better to be concerned with spiritual training. We are not only “physical” beings, but we also have a spiritual dimension to our lives.

Yes, with good physical fitness, we will live longer and ultimately die with a healthier body, but spiritual fitness goes beyond the grave. Are you committed to the daily discipline of getting and being spiritually fit?

by John Grant
used by permission

John Grant is a former Florida State Senator and is a practicing attorney.

RELATED READING

• Bible Study on the book of Colossians
• Bible Study on the Book of James
• Where to Start Reading the Bible

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“After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.” Acts 4:31

My attitude had sunk to the bottom, in huge clumps of self-pity and feelings of unworthiness. I’d become frustrated trying to find the best way to be God’s salt to a world that needed it so desperately. Each attempt only weighed me down further, like trying to climb out of a sandy pit with boulders in my pockets.

It says in Acts 4:31 that after the disciples prayed, the walls shook and the Holy Spirit filled them. When I read that, it hit me. I needed to stop and pray. Pray to be shaken a bit to redistribute my attitude, sense of purpose, and mission. It reminded me of the way a salt shaker is tapped get all the clumped salt to dislodge. That way it can be used again, and it is easier to determine how much more it will need to be refilled.

So I prayed:

Lord, Let your Holy Spirit shake my walls and empty me of all my worries and self-doubts so You can fill me up with Your presence. Dislodge the worries that are clumping together the talents You gave me to be Your salt. Where I am lacking, fill me once again. Amen.

Thought: – The next time you feel too deep in the valley and you’re wondering if you are making a difference, pick up the Bible and read about how the Holy Spirit worked through the early disciples in Acts 2-4. Dare to ask God to shake you up a bit so He can fill you anew with the Holy Spirit. Then Praise Him.

By Julie Cosgrove
Used by Permission

FURTHER READING

•  Spiritual Oxygen: Are You Getting Enough?

•  How to be Filled with the Holy Spirit

•  How you can Walk in the Spirit – printable lesson (pdf file)

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“Since He did not spare even His own Son for us but gave Him up for us all, won’t He also surely give us everything else?” Romans 8:32

George was very faithful in his Christian walk. In fact, he had a little black book in which he recorded all of his activities for each day. These included daily devotions, note-taking, verses to be memorized, appointments to be kept and every activity of his life. Outwardly he seemed so perfect that I, as a young Christian, wanted to be like him. Then one day he had a nervous breakdown. As he told me later, the last thing he did before he went to the hospital was to throw away his little black book and tell his wife he never wanted to see it again. Without realizing it, he had become very legalistic in his relationship with God rather than accepting, by faith, what God had already done for him. while in the hospital he began to recall some of the thousands of verses which he had memorized through the years. It was then that he relaxed enough to allow the Holy Spirit to illumine his mind to comprehend the importance of living by faith.

As Paul writes to the Galatians in the third chapter: “What magician has hypnotized you and cast an evil spell upon you? For you used to see the meaning of Jesus Christ’s death as clearly as though I had waved a placard before you with a picture on it of Christ dying on the cross. Let me ask you this one question: Did you receive the Holy Spirit by trying to keep the Jewish laws? Of course not, for the Holy Spirit came upon you only after you heard about Christ and trusted Him to save you. Then, have you gone completely crazy? For if trying to obey the Jewish laws never gave you spiritual life in the first place, why do you think that trying to obey them now will make you stronger Christians?” (Galatians 3:1-3, LB)

I ask you again: Does God give you the power of the Holy Spirit as a result of your trying to obey His laws? No, of course not. He gives that power when you believe in Christ and fully trust Him. The greatest heresy of the Christian life is legalism; and yet, it inevitably seems to attract dedicated, committed Christians. They are happy to accept salvation as a gift of God by faith. But like the Galatians, they insist on earning their way thereafter.

We must never forget that salvation is a gift of God which we receive by faith. Nothing can be earned. If we believe God, we will want to work to please Him, not to earn His favor.

Bible Reading: Romans 8:33-39

Today I will invite the Holy Spirit to protect me from becoming legalistic in my walk with Christ. Having received salvation by faith, I shall claim each day’s blessings by faith as I live the supernatural life.

By Dr. Bill Bright
Used by Permission

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“This is my body, given for you; do this in remembrance of me.” Luke 22:19 (NIV)

I remember waking up in a narrow twin bed. I was at a women’s retreat: two nights away from home, with time to spend with God in the company of other women. It was still early. I reached for my Bible and opened it to Luke chapter 22. I heard the women in the hallways, getting ready for the day. There was cheerful chatter and noise that can only happen at a women’s retreat where thirty women have to share bathrooms and hairdryers.

I was still reading when the Spirit stopped me in my tracks:

This is my body, given for you;
This is my body, given for you;
This is my body, given for you!

The words rang in my ears as I heard the sound of the women in the background. Thoughts and emotions collided. This is my body given for you. These were members of our church “the Body of Christ” and they too were given to me. I had always thought only of Christ’s physical body and His offering when taking communion. For the first time, I felt the sacred gift in the presence of my fellow members of the Body. These are the people we share our lives with, our community. A gift to everyone who is willing to partake.

By Idelette McVicker
Used by Permission

Photo Credit – Tom Sens ; https://www.flickr.com/photos/riverofgod/
Some Rights Reserved: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/2.0/

Further Reading

•  Easter articles

• The Easter Story

•  Salvation Explained

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“Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart: wait, I say, on the Lord. Psalms 27:14

Waiting patiently is not a strong suit in our fast paced society. We want instant everything and we want it with overnight doorstep delivery. We are in a hurry to get everywhere and once we get there we are in a hurry to leave. We are living in a horn-honking, microwaving, fast-food, express lane world.

We have invented the “honko-second,” which is the time between when the light changes and the person behind you honks his horn. It is the fastest time interval known to man.

Waiting may well be the hardest thing a person is called to do and simultaneously often the most valuable investment of our time. For it is in waiting that we grow. Haste can bring more than waste. It can bring disaster, especially if you are a type A+ personality like me. I want everything done and I want it done today, even if it is done wrong. Not really, but I often act and think that way. On the DISC chart, I am a D+, but when I wait and plan and calculate my moves, I move so much better.

God told Moses to wait four hundred years. In fast, forty-three times in the Old Testament, the people are commanded to wait upon the Lord. The last words in the Bible are about waiting.

The ability to wait is a test of maturity, often referred to by psychologists as the ability to endure delayed gratification. What we want, we want now, but if only we will wait, often the reward will be all the greater.

Isaiah writes to remind us that those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.

We gain strength as we wait and when we are ready to run, we run with power and strength. When we soar with the eagles, we rise above our problems that otherwise weight us down.

Most importantly, when we wait, we have time to put everything else out of our life and focus on God. Waiting can be a spiritual experience, a resting experience, a growing experience, a strengthening experience and a building experience. Remember the next time you get impatient that it may be God’s time for you to wait so you can be ready to soar.

By John Grant
John Grant is a former Florida State Senator and is a practicing attorney
Used by Permission

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