“Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.
“Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am being tempted by God,’ for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.” (James 1:12-15 ESV)
What kinds of trials are intended here, do you think? And this isn’t speaking just of men, but “man” is a general reference to human beings, male and female. But to what specific people? This is speaking to Christians, to those of us who have been crucified with Christ in death to sin and raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer as slaves to sin but now as slaves to God and to his righteousness (Romans 6:1-23).
So, what kinds of trials? They can be all kinds of trials, from little and minor ones to very big ones. They are anything, big or small, which unsettle us, and which have the potential to undo us and to cause us to be afraid or to lose faith and patience. So if we remain steadfast in our trials then we don’t let them get the best of us, but we conquer them, by the Spirit. We learn to rejoice even in our difficult times, and to keep moving forward.
And a particular trial the Lord is bringing to mind is related to us who are out in the public sharing the truth of the gospel of our salvation day after day after day. We are in a place of submission to our Lord, a place of listening and learning at his feet, and a place of hearing from him what he wants us to share each day from our daily times with him. We are firm and steadfast in our walks of faith in the Lord Jesus, by the grace of God, and in his power.
But it appears much that what we are sharing each day from the Scriptures falls on deaf ears, as though not many are listening. And this really has nothing to do with a person’s style of writing, at least not in this scenario, but this has more to do with who is listening to the truth of the gospel versus who is listening to the lies of the enemy and to wolves in sheep’s clothing who are telling people what their itching ears want to hear.
And so the majority of the people out there, including many who profess faith in Jesus Christ, are not in a place of hearing from the Lord and listening to the truth and following the truth of God’s word and his commands because they are preferring the lies which make no requirements of them to submit to Christ as Lord and to die daily to sin and to walk in obedience to the Lord’s commands. And they like it that way.
For so many of them are believing the lies that they can believe in Jesus, have all their sins forgiven, and be on their way to heaven, but while they continue in deliberate and habitual sin against the Lord. And so they are not really in a place of hearing from the Lord and what his word teaches. They are rather in a place of following after what their sinful hearts desire. For they are the self-indulgent who go by their feelings and by their flesh who are no-shows when it comes to truly hearing the Lord and obeying him.
But then there are others who make promises and who make commitments to change and to follow the Lord in obedience and to no longer indulge in the sinful desires of the flesh, but they never show up, i.e. they don’t follow through with their promises, but they remain in their sins and in their fleshly indulgences, and so they become defectors, deserters, and traitors to the faith that their lips profess because they don’t do what they promise.
And this can be a trial to those who love them, and who try to help them, and who encourage them or even counsel them, and then to see them make the same promises over and over but then to go right back to following after the flesh and to indulge in the sinful cravings of the flesh. And this isn’t about a handful of people, but this appears to be describing the majority of people who profess faith in Jesus Christ here in America, if truth be told.
And so those of us who are out in the public each day sharing the truth of the gospel may get disheartened when we see little response to the truth of the gospel and when we see the masses flocking after the charlatans and the wolves in sheep’s clothing who are feeding the people the lies, who are telling them that their sins no longer matter to God and that they don’t have to obey the Lord and that no works are required of them by God.
So we are blessed if we remain steadfast under trial, and if we keep listening to the Lord, and if we keep obeying his commands, and if we keep speaking the truth of the Scriptures, and not the lies, even if we see little response and we see so many being deceived and following after the flesh and not the ways of the Lord. For when we have endured, and we have stood the test, we will receive the crown of life God has promised those who love him.
And please know here that to love God is to obey him. To believe in Jesus is to obey him. It is to leave our lives of sin behind us and to now follow him in obedience to his commands in holy living. For the one who continues in deliberate and habitual sin against the Lord, and who does not obey the Lord, in practice, does not know God, is not in fellowship with Christ, is not saved from his sins, and he will not have eternal life with God.
[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; Jn 6:35-58; Jn 15:1-11; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-24; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-11; Titus 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 10:23-31; 1 Co 10:1-22; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]
Gentle Shepherd
By Gloria Gaither / William J. Gaither
Gentle Shepherd come and lead us
For we need you to help us find our way
Gentle Shepherd come and feed us
For we need your strength from day to day
There's no other we can turn to
Who can help us face another day
Gentle Shepherd come and lead us
For we need to you to help us find our way
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gJwuh61eHA
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