James (W1D2) Pure Joy
Week 1. Tuesday: Pure Joy
PRAY: Ask God to speak to you from His Word.
READ: James 1:2-4
2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds,
3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
UNDERSTAND: get a deeper understanding of the key words
Consider it pure joy: Pure joy is not temporary happiness but rather enduring, complete joy. This joy is found by trusting that God is in control.
Trials of many kinds: Life is full of troubles that have a purpose (John 16:33).
Testing of your faith: The testing of our faith is the purpose behind the trials we face as believers. We cannot grow without pain. Even Jesus was tested in Matthew 4:1-13. The Greek word for “testing” is dokimion which means a positive test that is intended to make our faith genuine (1 Peter 1:6-7). The end result of these tests is perseverance or steadfastness which allows us to endure hardship.
Let perseverance finish its work: If our goal when being tested is to get out of the test, we will miss out on what God is teaching us. Instead of asking God to remove the trial we should ask God to help us learn all that He wants to teach us.
Mature and complete: Without the testing of our faith we cannot grow and mature in our faith. We need to endure trials in order for our faith to be complete. If nothing ever goes “wrong” there would be no opportunity to trust God more.
APPLY: What is this passage calling me to do?
How can we find joy in the midst of trials?
What trials have you faced? What did you learn? How did your faith grow?
PRAY: Ask God to help you trust Him more in the difficult times of your life.
