FBC Morning Light – October 6, 2022

Faith Baptist Church

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00:18

Well, a good Thursday morning to you. How's your week gone so far this week?

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I trust you're doing well and the Lord is blessing you richly in whatever your endeavors every day.

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Well, today we're reading in James 1 and James exhorts us to do something in this passage that is absolutely counterintuitive.

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In the very early part of the chapter, verse 2, he says, My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials.

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Wait a minute. Did you read that right? Count it all joy when you fall into various trials.

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Now, I don't know about you, but when I'm facing a trial, my instinct is not to count it joy.

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My instinct is to count it anything but, right? My instinct is to count this as something miserable, as something unpleasant, as something

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I want to get out of, something I don't want to deal with. It is something that is bitter, hard, difficult, unpleasant.

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It's something that might make me complain or gripe.

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It's something that might lead me to be angry, but count it joy?

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James is telling us to do something here. He said it's counterintuitive, but it is not impossible.

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How can I do this? How can I count it joy when I fall into various trials?

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They can be trials of any kind, any nature, any form. How can I count it joy? Well, I can only do so if I realize what he says next.

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It is the testing of my faith. That testing of my faith works endurance.

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The trial that I'm going through is a trial that is putting my faith to the test.

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Will I truly trust in my God through this thing? Will I truly believe that what

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I say I believe about the sovereignty of God, what I believe about the purposes of God, as it's spelled out in Romans 8 .28,

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God works all things together for good to them that love God, and worketh called according to his purpose. Do I really believe that?

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Do I really believe that God is using this trial to mold me and make me more like Christ?

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To make me a better man, a better husband, a better father, a better pastor, a better leader, whatever.

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Do I really believe that? You see, I think that when you get right down to it, let's be honest, right?

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When you get right down to it, trials bring out our faith. They reveal our faith.

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They reveal what kind of faith we have. They reveal how deep it is. They reveal how broad it is.

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Yes, the trials are a testing of our faith.

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Those testings are designed to produce endurance. We have much to go through in the course of this life.

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And as long as God gives us breath, we have more to face in the days ahead.

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How will we endure? How will we endure? We will endure as our faith is strengthened, as it is broadened, as it is deepened.

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And how does that faith develop so? Through trials.

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Through the experience of going through trials with our God. So, count it all joy.

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Joy, yes. A difficult task, no doubt, but a vital one.

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A vital one to come out of it in a way that will truly be beneficial in our walk with Christ.

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So, let's meditate on this through the course of the day.

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Think back on the last trial that you endured. How did you deal with it?

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Did you find some way to express joy? To count it a joyful thing, even in the midst of the difficulty?

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Well, I wish I could say I was very successful at that all the time, but I'm certainly not.

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So, this is an area for growth. This is an area for all of us to grow, isn't it? Count it all joy when you fall into various trials.

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Our Father and our God, this is a difficult thing. It really does test our faith.

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And I pray that our faith would be proved genuine and active and vibrant and healthy.

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And we pray you would bless us as we do endeavor to count it all joy when we face various trials.

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We pray it in Jesus' name. All right, well have a good rest of your