FAITH WORKETH PATIENCE!!! I love our text passage of Scripture. I have been a born-again Christian now for 40 years! I turned 53 this month on March 5, 2020. Wow! Where did my life go? When you're a teenager, those teen years span one-third of your life, so they stand out and have great meaning; but when you get to be my age, 5 years only spans one-tenth of your life, and the years start passing like clouds on a windy day! In my soul, I still feel like I'm 15 years old. I heard Pastor Jack Hyles say in a sermon that us older folks still see ourselves as teenagers, but teenagers view us as dinosaurs. That is so true! I don't feel old, and I still plan to roll my window down and blast my music (I like to feel my music) when I'm 80 years old, God willing, if I live that long (and my hearing aids works...lol). Philippians 1:21, “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”
The Bible is such an amazing Book because our God is such an amazing God! James 1:2-4, “My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.” This passage of Scripture is literally telling us to BE CHEERFUL in our troubles, burdens and heartaches, knowing that God is still on His throne! That is the point I want you to learn from this article. The TRIAL (or testing) of our FAITH WORKETH PATIENCE! The greater your problems in life, the greater your faith should be! The dying world has no faith in God. Jesus said in Mark 11:22b, “HAVE FAITH IN GOD”! You will never know down here that Christ is all you need until Christ is all you have left.
Pastor Jack Hyles put it this way, in the following classic audio sermons:
- “Enjoy Your Troubles While You Can” (MP3, Dr. Jack Hyles; Rough times in the will of God are best times!)
- “Learn To Enjoy Where You Are, While You're On Your Way To Where You Are Going” (Brother Hyles)
My apartment floods every time it rains. I vacuumed up 10 gallons of water a couple weeks ago during a rainy weekend. When typhoon Mangkhut came through last year, with a foam mop I sopped-up 45 gallons of water (that's before I figured out I could just vacuum up the water with my Wet Vac). I was working on my ministry website one night, and heard a rat clawing his way through my back door. I went to Home Depot and bought a piece of wood and a can of foam; I filled the hole and sealed the door shut. I have a 5-gallon bucket in my downstairs restroom to catch water, that floods from the roof when it rains heavy. Due to a leaking foundation, when it rains persistently, glue seeps up through the edges of each of the floor tiles; so I bought three rolls of clear masking tape to seal the glue from getting all over the place. My ceiling light fell and crashed to the floor a couple weeks ago, scaring me half to death. Yet, I PRAISE THE LORD FOR A ROOF OVER MY HEAD! Check this out! I am so very berry cherry merry blessed of God, I begin to cry when I think about it! God is so good ladies and gentlemen!! GOD IS AWESOME!!!
Psalms 107:1-2, “O give thanks unto the LORD, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever. Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy;”
Psalms 106:1-3, “Praise ye the LORD. O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever. Who can utter the mighty acts of the LORD? who can shew forth all his praise? Blessed are they that keep judgment, and he that doeth righteousness at all times.”GOD IS FAITHFUL!!!
Power Through Prayer (a life-changing .PDF book by Pastor E.M. Bounds, 1835-1913)
Faith Worketh Patience
I am very expressive with my feelings, which is how God made me. That is why I love music. My constant toothache-like neck pain (stenosis and radiculitis) gets me down, but I am so thankful and blessed not to have the health afflictions that so many people have. We are all so undeserving of God's love, goodness and mercy. I have been praying much lately. James 5:13a, “Is any among you afflicted? let him pray...”Kindly, my regular web visitors know that I have poured out my heart recently with my feelings in love for the Harvest Baptist Church on Guam, and a young woman that I love. My heart hurts thinking about fellow professed Christians that don't want me. I say that kindly and respectfully. I love them unconditionally and have no ill-will toward any of them, God knows my heart. I pray for them each day in love, truly. Christmas is a lonely time, and I live alone, which makes it tougher; so I've been playing my Hawaiian Steel Guitar (my music website) this week. I like playing along with this nice song I found, “My Yellow Ginger Lei.”
I would never ever intentionally want to hurt anybody's feelings, God knows my spirit. I only withdraw at times, like a turtle, to protect my own heart. Proverb 4:23, “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.” By the way, that is what a wife does—she protects her man's heart! A man is the strength of a marriage; and his wife is the heart. That is why God created Eve from the rib of Adam, because the function of the ribs is to protect the heart! A wife ought to be the nearest and dearest thing to her husband's heart, for she is as his heart. Humbly, I don't claim to be a good Christian. In fact, I feel like the worst (and so should you if you are close to our holy God)! I am praying for God's help and will concerning moving. One day at a time! GOD IS FAITHFUL AND I TRUST HIM WITH ALL MY LIFE!!!
Onward my fine non-feathered friend! FAITH WORKETH PATIENCE!!! Luke 8:15, “But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.” I became curious about the meaning of the word “PATIENCE” in the preceding Scripture passages, which according to James Strong is the Greek word hupomonē, meaning: “From G5278; cheerful (or hopeful) endurance, constancy: - enduring, patience, patient continuance (waiting).” That is very interesting. The same exact Greek word for “PATIENCE” is used for both passages of Scripture in Luke 8:15 and James 1:2-4. The word means more than to wait, but to do it with cheerful and hopeful expectation, knowing that that “all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28b).
THE TRIAL OF OUR FAITH as believers tests (worketh) our faith. Faith is like film, it develops in the dark! While driving, I once noticed a sign in front of a church, which read: “A FAITH MUST BE TESTED!” That truth has stuck with me over the years. I greatly pondered the statement's meaning. The irritating thought occurred to me, that unsaved people suffer the same afflictions, problems and burdens as do Christian; so how can a person's faith be tested, if they HAVE NO FAITH? Then it dawned on me that believers choose to HAVE FAITH IN GOD despite their afflictions, problems and burdens. So having all these bad things (and good things too by the way) TEST a believer's faith! The greatest faith a man can have is to continue praying and living for the Lord, when it seems like God has abandoned him in his hour of need.
“The thing that will reveal your faith is praying when no answer comes. That's the supreme test.” —Brother Lester Roloff, from the helpful sermon titled, Something Everybody Can Do.Patience is hopeful endurance! Patience is not just waiting for something or someone, it is HOW WE BEHAVE WHILE WAITING! The reason why we can have such hopeful patience is because GOD IS FAITHFUL! 1st Corinthians 1:9, “God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.” Amen! Every day of this miserable earthly existence of bodily pain, heartache of soul, frustration of life, loneliness, and enduring hardships, is ONE DAY LESS until we are in Heaven with the dear Savior!
What saith the Scripture? Romans 15:4, “For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope. Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be likeminded one toward another according to Christ Jesus: That ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” God is very patient!
“Good character is not formed in a week or a month. It is created little by little, day by day. Protracted and patient effort is needed to develop good character.” —Heraclitus of Ephesus (535-475 BC)Growing in grace takes time. You can't sit under the Word of God and not be changed! Romans 10:17, “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” However, it takes time for a new believer to change, as they are renewed in their mind by the Word of God (Romans 12:1-2). That is why I am very much against the junk theology being promoted by Pacific Garden Mission's 'UNSHACKLED' radio program, which relentlessly promote the idea that the moment a person comes to Jesus Christ, they instantly become a new creature overnight in behavior, and all desire to commit sins are gone forever! PGM errantly understands this to be repentance. When they tell people to “REPENT and BELIEVE” in all their UNSHACKLED episodes, what they really mean is to turn away from your sins AND then also to place your faith in Christ. It is a TWO STEP false plan of salvation! What they are really saying is that a person must commit to KEEPING THE LAW before Christ will accept their faith in Him for salvation. This is “ANOTHER GOSPEL,” which is accursed by God (Galatians 1:6-7). Case in point!
That is a nice fairytale, but it is not reality! 2nd Corinthians 5:17-18, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;”
Luke 8:15 teaches that we should wait with hopeful endurance, while we continue to preach the Gospel to the lost. If you are a soulwinner, then you know the frustration of witnessing to family, coworkers, friends and strangers who don't seem to be interested. Jude 1:22, “And of some have compassion, making a difference.” There have been many times when I witnessed to someone, where it seemed like they were listening, but then they refused to get saved. And there were other times when I thought my words were falling on deaf ears, but they were taking in every word, and did get saved. The point being is that you never know what a person is thinking. Don't be afraid to witness to people. There are Christians in all walks of life. Just witness the Gospel to everyone! Mark 16:15, “And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.”
I have known Christian men who targeted their soulwinning efforts primarily toward Jews, celebrities and wealthy people, but the Bible commands us to preach the Gospel “TO EVERY CREATURE.” That doesn't mean to preach to your dog or cat, but to every human being, even the lowest and most despicable among us. Romans 2:11, “For there is no respect of persons with God.”
“Our patience will achieve more than our force.” —Edmund Burke (1729-1797)Likewise in James 1:2-4 we learn that with the same type of enduring patience, as Christian believers we ought to maintain a cheerful joy through life's suffering, hardships, health afflictions, loss and heartaches. The Bible tells us why we should be cheerful. James 1:2-4, “My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.” According to James Strong, the word “joy” here is the Greek word χαρά, meaning: “From G5463; cheerfulness, that is, calm delight: - gladness.” The words that follow the “-” (hyphen symbol) are other words in the New Testament which are translated from the same Greek word. So in another Bible passage this Greek word is rendered as GLADNESS. This knowledge helps to understand the proper meaning of a particular word. Words are very important, and their proper meaning.
“We could never learn to be brave and patient, if there were only joy in the world.” —Helen Keller (1880-1968)
We Are Already On the Winning Side in Christ Jesus
I love you dear friend, and there's absolutely nothing you can do about it! Ha, ha! I love you, yes I do, you lucky dog you! Okay, I'm getting crazy! Too late, I know! I passed sane a long time ago...lol. You have to be a little crazy in this world, to keep from losing your mind!We are already on the WINNING SIDE in Christ Jesus!!! ...
Romans 8:31-37, “What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.”I challenge and encourage you dear reader to get into the inspired Word of God. I am right now listening to Alexander Scourby read II Samuel. I listened to I Samuel yesterday, and part of the New Testament from 1st Corinthians. I have been thinking about a precious truth I heard yesterday, echoing in my mind from 1st Corinthians 1:9b, “God is faithful...” The world just doesn't know what they are missing in Jesus Christ! (1st Corinthians 2:9-10). I am miserable in numerous ways in my earthly life, but I enjoy God's presence continually, and have peace like a river, and rejoice with joy unspeakable knowing that my name is written in Heaven in the Lamb's Book of Life! YET BELIEVING, YE REJOICE WITH JOY UNSPEAKABLE!!! Thank you for reading my heartfelt words.
“Faith is the only righteous thing that I can do!” —Pastor Jack Hyles, a quote from the MP3 sermon titled: “God's Reversal Of Psalm 51”
1st Corinthians 16:24, “My love be with you all in Christ Jesus. Amen.”
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