Friday, June 12, 2009

Count It Joy.

Last week at bible study, we talked about the first verse in James. Yes, just the first verse. 
We talked about trusting God because He has a plan. Which was a good reminder, but this week was even better. 

It was one of those bible studies where you leave knowing you needed to hear that message. 

"People are born for trouble as readily as sparks fly up from a fire." -- Job 5:7
Part of the discussion was about why we're born into trouble, and why that would turn non-believers away. Why would we want to serve a God who brings us into trouble? Easy. "Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong." -- 2 Corinthians 2:10. 
In times of trial, we turn to God, we draw to him. 

"Be not far from me, for trouble is near; For there is none to help." -- Psalm 22:11
Yes, we turn to our friends and family during tough times - they're always there to help. But God is the only one who can really help us. In Hebrews, it says, "whom the Lord loves he chastens." ... He trusts us to trust in Him through trials. 

This really opened my eyes last night, to how I react. We talked about how non-believers wait for Christians to go through trials and see how we react. Do you endure or fail? I realized that I try to handle things on my own.. more often than I think. But I know I'm not perfect and need to work on this. "Why can't we just let go and let God?" I wish whoever is reading this could've been there last night, because it was such a good message. 


Here's a quote from MacArthur that we read last night: 
"Every trouble that comes into your life and every trial, be it a small one or a large one, becomes a test then of your faith. You either pass or fail. To pass the test--mark it--keeps it a trial. To fail the test turns it into a temptation. If it ends up as sin, it has proven to be a successful temptation. If it ends up in victory, it has proven to be a successful trial. A temptation leads you to sin and makes you fall. A trial leads you to strength and makes you stand. So trials then are tests that reveal the genuineness and the strength of your faith. They can, on the one hand, reveal the genuineness of your faith and they can, on the second hand, reveal also the strength of your faith. What you do through a trial will reveal whether you really believe God and are genuinely saved. And it will also reveal how strong that saving faith really is." 

1 comment:

  1. hoooly cow. i love this one. :)

    'let go and let God' that was the hardest thing for serina and i to do last week when
    we saw one of our best friends at the lowest point in her life. we felt LITERALLY helpless and she was waaayy out of it. but we decided to just go ahead and just give it to God and she is so much better off now.

    it really is the best way to go.. but our human nature makes us want to try to do it on our own.

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