COUNTING IT ALL JOY (38 OF 48)
Scripture: Genesis 32:1-32, Genesis 33:1-20
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Counting It All Joy (38 of 48)
Series: Kingdom Foundations - Genesis
Patrick Edwards
Genesis 32:1-33:20
Introduction
James tells us, ''Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.'' The attitude that the child of God should strive for when going through adversity is joy. Now, of course, this joy in the midst of suffering comes only by faith. We cannot create such a sentiment within ourselves. However, when we take the word of promise given to us by God in the Scriptures and allow the Spirit to feed our faith in that promise, we are then able to trust God and to take hope in what He is doing in us and in His world during our adversity, thus we are able to count our trials as all joy. This is the message of James for us when we are going through adversity.
But what of our attitude and our response as we come to the end of these periods? In other words, what should be our response as we start to see the light at the end of the tunnel? When God brings us to the doorstep of His promise, what then? You see, often when we are going through a trial we tend to find ourselves simply in ''survival mode.'' We say to ourselves that we just need to get through it. We need to trust God and depend upon Him and allow Him to perform His gracious work in us. In other words, there's not much action for us to take during these times, but more of trusting reception of God's work in us. I mean, just think back with me over these last twenty years of Jacob's life. While some action was required on his part to lead his family to leave Haran, the transformation that has been taking place in Jacob's life has not been the result of his works. It's not like he's been engaged in self-reformation. It's been the work of God in Him. God is the one who redeems; God is the one who delivers and save ...
Series: Kingdom Foundations - Genesis
Patrick Edwards
Genesis 32:1-33:20
Introduction
James tells us, ''Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.'' The attitude that the child of God should strive for when going through adversity is joy. Now, of course, this joy in the midst of suffering comes only by faith. We cannot create such a sentiment within ourselves. However, when we take the word of promise given to us by God in the Scriptures and allow the Spirit to feed our faith in that promise, we are then able to trust God and to take hope in what He is doing in us and in His world during our adversity, thus we are able to count our trials as all joy. This is the message of James for us when we are going through adversity.
But what of our attitude and our response as we come to the end of these periods? In other words, what should be our response as we start to see the light at the end of the tunnel? When God brings us to the doorstep of His promise, what then? You see, often when we are going through a trial we tend to find ourselves simply in ''survival mode.'' We say to ourselves that we just need to get through it. We need to trust God and depend upon Him and allow Him to perform His gracious work in us. In other words, there's not much action for us to take during these times, but more of trusting reception of God's work in us. I mean, just think back with me over these last twenty years of Jacob's life. While some action was required on his part to lead his family to leave Haran, the transformation that has been taking place in Jacob's life has not been the result of his works. It's not like he's been engaged in self-reformation. It's been the work of God in Him. God is the one who redeems; God is the one who delivers and save ...
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