Day 2 - Week 64 - James 1:2 "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, when you are faced with trials of many kinds."

Depending on which translation you are using, there are various adjectives preceding the word "joy".  Some say "pure joy", some say "all joy", others "nothing but joy, and even some say "great joy".  How are we able to anticipate trouble and trials in our lives with great joy? 

If we can think things through from the Lord's perspective, our feelings respond.  We know that God intends to use these things for our good and for His glory, and we can count it all joy.  I like the way the Phillips version puts this passage:  When all kinds of trials and temptations crowed into your loves my brothers, don't resent them as intruders, but welcome them as friends!  Realize that they come to test your faith and to produce in you the quality of endurance.  - Robert J. Morgan, 100 Bible Verses Everyone Should Know by Heart

I believe that when Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven," He was addressing this same perspective.  He was telling an earthly audience that those that they see around them that are sad and broken-hearted are just the people who will most likely seek God through their times of trouble.  When we are puffed up with our self-sufficiency, it can be the most difficult time of our lives to acknowledge God's supremacy over us.

Trials and troubles will come in our lives...we choose how to view them.  As Christians, we can face them with the confidence that God knows exactly what we are going through, and that He will use these very times to build in us a stronger faith, a faith that will be ready to stand the trials that are yet to come, and a faith that will endure to the end.  And not endure grudgingly and bitterly ("I'm suffering for the Lord!"), but endure with a spirit of joy.

Thank God this morning that He is the giver of joy in the middle of your trials and troubles.  That He will allow you to see His light in the middle of the darkness.  That He alone can give you the confidence to see your current problem through, and that He will give you a testimony to share on the other side.  A testimony of faithfulness and strength --- a testimony that you will share with a joy that will draw others to Him.

Day 1 - Week 64 - A joyful verse that's hard to love!

It's a beautiful May morning and I'm reminded of the words to one of my favorite old hymns that I recently learned my little 5 year-old granddaughter, Genny, is working on memorizing!  It made my heart happy to think about her keeping these words in her heart as she grows up and goes through life.  These words will be able to change the way she looks at life and the various problems that she will encounter along the way.  I'm so thankful to my son and his wife for instilling in their girls' lives the most important tools that they can give them...faith in the living and powerful God, knowing Jesus Christ as their Savior, and allowing the Holy Spirit to work in their hearts to build and keep that faith.

This is my Father's world,
and to my listening ears
all nature sings, and round me rings
the music of the spheres. 
This is my Father's world: 
I rest me in the thought
of rocks and trees, of skies and seas;
his hand the wonders wrought.

This is my Father's world,
the birds their carols raise,
the morning light, the lily white,
declare their maker's praise. 
This is my Father's world: 
he shines in all that's fair;
in the rustling grass I hear him pass;
he speaks to me everywhere.

This is my Father's world. 
O let me ne'er forget
that though the wrong seems oft so strong,
God is the ruler yet. 
This is my Father's world: 
why should my heart be sad? 
The Lord is King; let the heavens ring! 
God reigns; let the earth be glad!

Maltbie D. Babcock

If you know the tune to these words, I bet you're singing them now!  And I bet you are feeling just a bit more joyful than you were before because you have been reminded of the hope that you have...are you overflowing with that hope?  When you face problems today, let these words wash over you and give you a refreshment of hope to carry you through...this IS our Father's world!

Speaking of refreshment...time to refresh ourselves of our verses and then add one more!

Obedience (10)
2 Chronicles 7:14 If my people who are called by My name humble themselves, pray and seek My face, and turn from their evil ways, then I will hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land.
Lamentations 3:40 Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the Lord.
Romans 12:2 Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern the good, pleasing and perfect will of God.
Romans 12:11 Do not lack diligence; be fervent in spirit; serve the Lord.
Romans 12:12 Rejoice in hope, be patient in affliction, be persistent in prayer.
Romans 12:18 If possible, on your part, live at peace with everyone.
2 Corinthians 9:7 Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
Hebrews 10:25 "Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching." (NKJV)
Proverbs 1:7 "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction."
Proverbs 15:1 "A gentle word turns away anger, but a harsh word stirs up wrath."

The Holy Spirit's Role in our Lives (6)
Ephesians 5:18 "And don't get drunk with wine, which leads to reckless actions, but be filled with the Spirit."
Ephesians 5:19 "Speaking to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making music in to the Lord in your hearts."
Ephesians 5:20 "Giving thanks always for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ."
Ephesians 5:21 "Submitting to one another in the fear of Christ."
Galatians 5:22 "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control."
2 Timothy 1:14 "Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you...guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit living in us."

Joy: God's Kind of Happiness (12)
Psalm 118:24 "This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it."
Philippians 4:4 "Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!"
Philippians 4:5 "Let your graciousness be known to everyone. The Lord is near."
Philippians 4:6 "Do not worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God."
Philippians 4:7 "And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."
Romans 15:13  "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope through the power of the Holy Spirit."
Remember last week when I said how much I loved Romans 15:13 and the power that it expresses?  Well this week's verse is just as powerful, but it's rather hard to love. 

James 1:2 "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds."  I think about James writing this letter to Jews who had been scattered due to persecution, and that his first words immediately after his greeting to them were ones of such "encouragement"!  You get a letter that starts like that, and you might be hesitant to finish it!  James packs a lot of punch into his letter, and it is very well worth your study.  Some call it the Proverbs of the New Testament because it is so full of practical wisdom to apply to our Christian walk. 

For this week, though, we will camp out on just this one little, powerful, verse and see how it impacts us...you can be assured it will!

Day 4 - Week 63 - Romans 15:13 "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit."

The past few days have brought with them several occasions for joy, for God's peace and for hope. Have I overflowed? In certain moments, yes, there has been that degree of hopefulness. But in other moments, my focus was distracted and my hope was diminished. Our continual hopefulness is dependent upon our continual focus on God's plan for us. Once our eyes are turned toward this world, and its deceit, hope seems to fly away, doesn't it?

A few days ago, my children's grandfather passed away. He was my father-in-law for eleven years, and even though that time frame of my life seems a long time ago, he was a big part of my years when I was transforming from a fairly naive 18-year old, to a 29-year old mother of two. He was a good man and he was a difficult man. He was completely opposite of my daddy, who was a calm and gentle man. He was a cowboy and he drank and he smoked and he cussed. And I know I wondered if there was any way this man could ever go to heaven.

But in the years that have passed, I have learned so much about life and people, about my own sinfulness, and about the abundant grace of God. And that the cause for hope is not in the high level of our behavior, but in the absolutely high and incomprehensible level of God's love. I was reminded of this hope on the day of my ex-father-in-law's funeral services, when I heard of his proclamation of faith at an early age, and also his affirmation of his faith to his minister in recent years.

And God's hope was again affirmed when I heard a minister on television talk about salvation with the analogy of all of mankind swimming toward shore, with not a one of us having the ability to make it to safety.  So if you're going under water for the third time, does it matter if you're 50 yards from shore or 10 yards? If you're in 50 feet of water or 10 feet?  It doesn't matter how far you've come toward safety, you will still perish.  But the promise we have is that Jesus' sacrifice builds the bridge conveying us out of our drowning pit toward the shore of salvation.

God is the God of hope for all --- it doesn't matter who you are, what you have done or where you are right now.  When He hears us call for His help, His hand is ready to reach down and save.   I thank God that He IS the God of hope...that we all have hope of His eternal home where we have a place prepared for us.  And the best thing is that the hope of that home has nothing to do with how good I am, but only in my trust of my Father who loves me, and who loves you, and who loves a crotchety old cowboy named Walt.  I look forward to the day when I see him again, two redeemed sinners greeting each other on the streets of gold.

Keep the hope!