This past few months have been really some trying times for me. I have
been struggling in different areas of my life and honestly, it has not
been easy. Maybe it was because experience always brings out the best in
me.
I've been saddled with the responsibility of talking about book of James for some time now and I was wondering what can I possibly say. Don't get me wrong, I could have easily conjured something up. I just didn't want it to be just another thought of mine. I wanted it to be something that everyone of us can relate with. I think I'm almost at that point now. I believe the time is right now though to put my experience and thoughts into words. Hold on tight.
I remember condemning folks about how disgraceful it was to misrepresent the person of our Lord Jesus Christ. Yes, I did that, in all my impeccable, righteous, "I can never fall" self. I hate to confess it, but, I've also been a disgrace! I've made a fool of His name. I've allowed my self fall into the snare of the enemy by letting the lust of heart take over the desires of God for my life. I've been so selfish and careless.
Then, God, in His everlasting kindness and mercy, gently brought emptiness into my spirit so that I could feel the void created by His absence in my life. I began to feel so sorry that I could not approach Him anymore. In His love, He said to my spirit, "count it all joy when you fall into temptations". I quickly picked up my Bible and turned to the book of James. It was there in James 1:2-3.
Trying times does not only mean financial difficulties, failing health, unsettled marriage etc. Trying times, as I've experienced, are times when we walked astray from God to do our own desires. It is that time when we struggle with our loyalty to Him. A time of standing, falling and standing again. It is such a time when we are of ourselves drawn away by our own lusts just to gratify our flesh. Yes, those are trying times.
Then, it makes me wonder why I should rejoice at such a time. It is clear now to me that a man of experience is a man of patience and wisdom. Overcoming trials makes us patient. We become wise because we have learnt from experience and will be able to relate in wisdom to others as to what their reaction will be. A soldier that has battle scars is the one that can be said to have faced the enemy squarely and triumphed. Yes, that is a man of trial!
Woohoo! I feel like preaching now! Patience is a virtue! Yes! When a man is patient, his decisions are not rash! He is the kind of man that "counts the cost" before reacting. Only that kind of man can be like David, "the heartbeat of God". Only that man can have true joy despite all that has happened to him. Only that man can know what it means to make a mistake and still be a winner. Only that man can say that the Christian race is truly an interesting one.
I'm getting really excited but will hold on in Patience and allow you digest all I've said today. Stay glued to this blog and get your mind blown away by the writings of James!
I've been saddled with the responsibility of talking about book of James for some time now and I was wondering what can I possibly say. Don't get me wrong, I could have easily conjured something up. I just didn't want it to be just another thought of mine. I wanted it to be something that everyone of us can relate with. I think I'm almost at that point now. I believe the time is right now though to put my experience and thoughts into words. Hold on tight.
I remember condemning folks about how disgraceful it was to misrepresent the person of our Lord Jesus Christ. Yes, I did that, in all my impeccable, righteous, "I can never fall" self. I hate to confess it, but, I've also been a disgrace! I've made a fool of His name. I've allowed my self fall into the snare of the enemy by letting the lust of heart take over the desires of God for my life. I've been so selfish and careless.
Then, God, in His everlasting kindness and mercy, gently brought emptiness into my spirit so that I could feel the void created by His absence in my life. I began to feel so sorry that I could not approach Him anymore. In His love, He said to my spirit, "count it all joy when you fall into temptations". I quickly picked up my Bible and turned to the book of James. It was there in James 1:2-3.
Trying times does not only mean financial difficulties, failing health, unsettled marriage etc. Trying times, as I've experienced, are times when we walked astray from God to do our own desires. It is that time when we struggle with our loyalty to Him. A time of standing, falling and standing again. It is such a time when we are of ourselves drawn away by our own lusts just to gratify our flesh. Yes, those are trying times.
Then, it makes me wonder why I should rejoice at such a time. It is clear now to me that a man of experience is a man of patience and wisdom. Overcoming trials makes us patient. We become wise because we have learnt from experience and will be able to relate in wisdom to others as to what their reaction will be. A soldier that has battle scars is the one that can be said to have faced the enemy squarely and triumphed. Yes, that is a man of trial!
Woohoo! I feel like preaching now! Patience is a virtue! Yes! When a man is patient, his decisions are not rash! He is the kind of man that "counts the cost" before reacting. Only that kind of man can be like David, "the heartbeat of God". Only that man can have true joy despite all that has happened to him. Only that man can know what it means to make a mistake and still be a winner. Only that man can say that the Christian race is truly an interesting one.
I'm getting really excited but will hold on in Patience and allow you digest all I've said today. Stay glued to this blog and get your mind blown away by the writings of James!
