Ep. 3: Facing Crises with Joy

In this episode, I discuss how to face life's trials with joy and faith. Drawing on James 1:2-8 and personal testimony, I reveal why trials are essential for spiritual growth and how rejoicing in difficulties fosters character development and the fulfilment of God's purpose. 

Transcript

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Welcome to On This Rock, the discipleship podcast that trains you to follow Jesus Christ. As you listen, we trust you'll gain a deeper understanding of who he is and anchor your identity in Him. Christ in you is the only hope of receiving God's glory. Trade your pebble for the rock of ages. Welcome to the show with your host, author, and seasoned Bible teacher, Nana Hello, loyal listeners. Happy New Month. Whether you're about to face a trial, you are currently experiencing a trial, or you're about to emerge from a trial, this message is for you. So stay tuned. Trials are a part of life and as Christians, they test our fate. Joseph Endeared many trials. Psalm 1 0 5 19 tells us that until what God said to him came to pass the word, God had given him, tried him. So your faith in God's word will try you. In fact, your trials will expose whether you are trusting in God's word. You are on a false foundation, whether you are on the rock or or not. So last year really was like a job year for me. God was like, you are going through a job experience. You are in a job season. And it exposed places where I wasn't planted on the Lord. I was really living on a ble and not the rock. And um, I had to come into alignment. I'm still on that journey, but it also challenged places where I was family rooted in Christ. It really challenged me. And, um, the trials did a lot, did a lot. It really taught me a lot of things, and through it all, God taught me something that I wanna share in this message. As I counted my losses and struggles in my quiet time with the Lord, thinking, oh God, if I'd just gone through one of these problems, that would've been enough. Why did you let me go through so much? Wild is chaos. Why so many different situations? Why so many different things I have to deal with? And as I was counting these struggles and counting these storms and counting these disappointments, you know, and counting the negative and, and feeling like, you know, God, I even felt like you abandoned me. I know you didn't abou abandon me because you said you don't abandon us. But I felt that way in situations where it seemed like you just left me to sink or swim and I really had to find, find the ground, find the word to swim because. If I didn't swim, I would've sunk. I would've sunk the people who have sunk. You know, the tests are real. And he just had one phrase. He said, let it be worship. Let it be worship. The real issue is your worship. What do you worship? What have you put above me or beside me? Are you going to be loyal to me? Are you gonna keep on walking the walk after all that you've learned? And I, and also I also realized that I'd forgotten some things that I had learned. I, I have to go back and listen to my own messages. We learn things and we think we know them'cause we heard them, but there's some messages I've discovered. You have to keep on listening. You have to keep them close to your heart. You have to know which ones are the jewels that you need to keep close. So if you notice. Apostles like, like Peter, they, they were like in second Peter. He was like, it's not hard for me to repeat this stuff. Paul was the same. He was like, you know things, but I'm reminding you I'm gonna keep on doing this. Peter said, until I die, because I wanna make sure that you don't slip up and you don't fall away because sin is deceitful. Hebrews fault tells us sin is deceitful. So we should encourage ourselves. One with, with one another. We should encourage ourselves daily. Do you have a touching point with believers Daily? Do you have people you pray with daily? These are all safety nets. It's not something you know that is informational that's gonna help you. It's the one that's alive. It's the word that's alive in you. It's the word that Jesus said is spirit and in life and life. That's gonna help you. And worship has to do with spirit and truth. Jesus said, God is looking for worshipers, those who are truly following him in spirit and in truth.'cause there are many who profess him, but they're not following him in spirit and in truth, they're following other things. They may even be worshiping themselves and we live in perilous times. And so to love him and to remain in Christ. It's really going to take you anchoring yourself in the truth. So instead of counting betrayals and losses and disappointment, the consistent message God gave me was counted all joy. Instead of counting the negative, counting it as despair, counting as joy. Now it seemed counterintuitive. But it proved effective. It really was, and it, it continues to be effective. And so that's the focus of my message. That's my long introduction to the message. So let me read the text to you and then we'll analyze the text. And the text is James one, two to, um, I'm gonna read until five, or maybe even feather until eight. So I'm reading the King James. I'm gonna try to paraphrase it. James says, my brethren, my brothers and sisters count at all joy when you fall into diverse temptations, different kinds of trials and temptations knowing this. So, do you know this? He says, you must know this, that the trying of your faith, Wes, patience. So he's equating your trials with trying of your faith. Every situation you go through is testing what you say you believe. And he says, but let patience. So he says, the trial is working something, it's producing endurance in you. And this is really the only way that endurance is going to be produced in you. And it's a necessity'cause Jesus warned us that only those who endure until the end will make it will be saved. So it's not how you start. People start on fire, then they let the fire die. And Jesus says, we need endurance to pretty much keep the fire of his love. So James in verse four says, but let patience, let endurance. Now where can James talks about patience. You have to go back and look at the translation. So there, there are really three words that I'm going to use interchangeably. You know, God can, James uses long suffering for what we consider patience can. James uses patience for what we consider endurance. And, and, and then there's another word, perseverance that's also used in scripture. Now, these are interrelated and I could do a message on each one, but they're, they're interrelated. And when I'm talking here about patience, I'm really thinking about all three.'cause that sometimes you need to wait it out and sometimes you need to persevere in doing the right thing that God showed you to do. So in talking about joy, persevering, staying in joy. Until you weather the storm. And then you also need to endure, which is simply bearing out. So bearing the burden. So let's say the picture really of a runner. You are running a race and you need endurance to make it to, to the end.'cause it's a marathon. The Christian life is a marathon. It's not a sprint. Some people sprint, they start with the sprint. They don't know how to keep the fire. They don't know how to keep the word burning alive in love with Jesus, that they still obey him, still follow him, and they don't fall away. You know, they don't fall away like Judas did, who betrayed him. And so coming to verse four, James says, let endurance, let patience, let perseverance have her perfect work in you. Because trials are the only way that you can have that you can come into maturity in these fruits. That you may be perfect and entire, that you may be, in other words, mature and complete wanting nothing. I'm going to analyze this in a, in a moment, and then verse five, he says, if any of you lack wisdom, let him ask God. Who gives all people liberally and ab braids not, and it shall be given him. So it shows you what you and I need in our trial. We need, you know, we need, we need joy to get through it, but we need wisdom to, to have direction'cause wisdom, the Bible says, is profitable to direct us. We need to know how to apply the word that we know that six says, but let him ask in faith. Nothing wavering. That's really you, you, you are, you're getting hit because the enemy wants you to waver because everything is designed to cause you to waver. And God wants us that if you waver. That you will be like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. So it shows you where this enemy's coming from. It's a water spirit. It it's, but it's also coming from the wind. Right? The spirit of the age is, is we are, we are told, if you read scripture, uh, in Ephesians, you know, the it is, uh, is in the air. Now I'm, I'm not gonna get into that part, but I just wanna highlight these things to you that we're dealing with the air, we're dealing with the water. And then he says, but let him ask in faith, nothing wavering.'cause your wavering has to do with water. And then he says he that waves is like a wave of the sea, driven with the wind and tossed. Then in verse seven he says, for let not that person think that he will receive anything of God. So all the devil has to do is make you waver. To make you waver, to ensure you get nothing. So today you believe correctly, but tomorrow you're off the foundation. All he has to do is make you waver, and he does that if he succeeds in making you waver. Y the Bible says, you receive nothing. So we need to be settled. We need to be fixed on the wisdom of God and take action. James is all about taking action, you know, and then he says a double minded person is unstable in all that he does. Uh, it causes instability, wavering, uh, and then he says. Let the one Yes. So that, I'm gonna pack there. I'm gonna stop there. Now let, let's really analyze that. Let's look at this in a bit more detail. So James is very practical. You know, James compliments, Paul's emphasis in romance, on salvation by faith in Christ alone. And for many of us, we need that because we're so WEX oriented that we put the cut before the horse and we wanna use works to try to earn God's favor. And we need Romans to really understand that. No, it's really all by faith. Once again, if you, if you get that order wrong, you also get nothing'cause you're trying to receive the promise with Ishmael. And God says, only Isaac will receive the promise, only the Christ right in you. Only the new creation is entitled to the benefits, the promise. And that's how we need to know our identity. We need to be anchored in our identity. So now Paul. That's his emphasis. But James, his emphasis is on your works. James says, if you have faith, but you don't, this is in, in the subsequent chapters. He says, if you say you have faith but you don't back it up with works, actually works, will show you whether you really have faith. So your works will show whether you do, you have faith for real. So we need wex, we need, we, we are saved by faith, but we need Wex'cause Wex. Show fruit. WEX will tell you what you're actually cultivating in your heart. John is the same in confess, John. He says, WEX will show you whether you're walking in darkness or in the light. And if you say, but you don't do, then you're in self-deception. So the two have to harmonize what you believe has to harmonize with how you live. When we're first saved, you know that we're out of harmony.'cause we're new creations. We're no, we're new believers and we don't really, we're not, we are not schooled. The scripture says in the word about righteousness. We don't truly understand the word about righteousness, which is really the ultimate foundation. It, it's your righteousness in Christ and everything builds on that. So the test really challenged that, you know, and expose what's there and. All the other things there one way or another, manifestations or reflections of that. So I also encourage you to listen to the messages and the podcasts I have about that. I'm still tested in this area. God's still working on my foundation in this area. I don't by any means claim to have it all, but. I, I've learned something that I can share today and today, the emphasis of my message, unlike my other messages on righteousness, really, which have to do with fate, focusing on the believing part. Now this is believing, but this is focusing on the works part. The, the, the Abraham believed, and so he did. So this is where it's the fate. If you really have the fate, you do, you rejoice. You do X, Y, z. And that's where this is really targeting. And it's so important, you know, in Revelation two and three, Jesus is talking to his churches and he doesn't come and say, I know what you believe. No. He says, I know your works. To each one of the seven churches, sobering messages, he says, I know your works. And he says, I'm judging you by your deeds. I'm not judging you by what you're saying. Your, your, your words are a form of wax too, in the sense that your speech, your confession also exposes what's in you. But he is talking about character and he is talking about actions. And James wants us that we can deceive ourselves if our actions are not aligned with the word that we say We believe. So we must do what he says and not just hear it. Sometimes when we leave the doing too long, our hearts become hardened. That's also another message.'cause if your heart is hardened, you have a hard time hearing the word, you have a hard time receiving that word. And James was writing to believers who were scattered and persecuted and, and they were reverting to worldly ways of living because of their suffering. So the suffering is real. The the temptations are real. There's no denying any of that. But this message is, is really to encourage you to follow the way that God has given us to go through them and to go through them successfully. And he has made a promise in James one 12. He says, those who are able to go through. The trial and to endure. There is a blessing at the end. God is, has a blessing for you at the end of your trial, and he has a crown of life. At the end of your trial, he wants to shift you out of the que life, the natural life into the zoe life, the eternal life. He wants to give you the crown of life. He wants to give you the new life he wants to give you. Something that's permanent and that's beyond the changing circumstances. So he wants to use the changing circumstances to build something in us, but the enemy also wants to use the changing circumstances to destroy us, to steal from us, our destiny, our calling, our identity. He wants to use it to steal, kill, destroy. He wants to use it to cause you to miss God. So he also wants to use them. And the question is, whose way are you going to follow?'cause the world's way, ultimately the worldly way. Ultimately it is going to lead to destruction away from God. And so we wanna know God's way. And so when I'm talking about the worldly way, James, you know, John defines that for us. He says, the love of the world is the last of the flesh. The, the, the Cottin, which is the last of the eyes and the pride of life. That's also who are the message that I'm not gonna get into.'cause my focus really is on getting through your trial with joy. And so let's now come to. What James is saying. So James one, two. James is saying that believers must count trials not as reasons for despair, but as reasons, opportunities to draw on the joy of the Lord. So you're going through a trial. It's your time to really pull on that joy of the Lord. It's your time to really practice rejoicing. Put on the praise music, talk to God. Ask him to give you songs of deliverance, songs about joy. Start to praise him. Thank him. Bless him because you're rejoicing. In him. Your joy is not coming out of temporary situations. Your joy does not come out of things that are external. Your joy comes out of your faith In him. It comes out of him. In fact, this is his joy that he's sharing with you and me because we are new creations in him. So we have to pull on that joy that comes from the Lord. Instead of dwelling on the external situations. And when you start to rejoice, there is an anointing that is released if you, if you press in, if you press through, you come to a point where Holy Spirit takes over, you come to a point where there is an anointing that's released and the anointing breaks, the yolks, the anointing brings, brings deliverance.'cause where the spirit of the Lord is, there is deliverance. And so in your, in your dancing and you're rejoicing in your. Singing, you are doing something. You're inviting God into your situation, and Psalm 22, 3 tells us that God is enthroned in the praises of his people. So you're giving him a throne to come into your situation. Psalm 29 10 also says that God is enthroned above the stones. So what you're doing is you're ascending beyond the fest and second heavens. And you're coming into a realm where evil cannot dwell, and a realm that is above all evil, above all principalities, powers, might dominion as sufficient success. It. It's the, and Ians two also talks about, it's a place where you are enthroned in Christ, where Christ is seeded in the heavenly places. So you're taking your position in Christ through rejoicing and you come into a place where now you can you through your. Priesthood can, because you're offering sacrifices as God's priest, you can now come into exercising your authority, your dominion as, um, as a, as a kingdom of priests. So it, it's, it's strategic. It's not just something you're just doing and ignoring your circumstances. It's something that you're doing to bring God into your circumstances, to show you who's really God, who's really king, who's really in charge, you know? And so James tells us that the situations are unavoidable. They don't want you, there're coming. They'll come. Jesus illustrates four types of trials in the parable of the Soah, and they fall into good times and hard times. But James is just focusing on the, the hard times trials. In fact, the good times trials are more dangerous because they can make it complacent so that you don't see you're in a stupor and you're not, you're not aware of danger that's coming. But the bad times can also put you in a, a whole lot of anxiety and, and, and, um, and worry. That can really also put you in a stupor that you don't see the devara coming. Once again, so Joy will, will give you focus. Joy will keep you alert. It'll help you to be watchful. Joy reveals character. Joy will bring perspective. Joy shows that you're not looking on your circumstances, but you're shifting your gaze onto God. And James one three explains that the trials are beneficial and a cause for celebration because like I said, they cultivate. Character. They cultivate patience, perseverance, and durance. God will tell you to wait. There are things I have to tell you, I've gone through that God first, when he first showed me these things and, and gave me hope about these situations, I thought they were just gonna happen overnight. And it's been years and I'm still waiting, you know, and it hasn't happened yet, but there's been a character development in the waiting. Abraham had to wait 25 years. 25 years. He waited, but God came through. But, but it wasn't a passive weight. God walked him through a process. He built him up and he built altars. In each place where he offered sacrifice, God showed him something that brought him more and more into full fate. So by the end, he was perfect and complete. And God said, now I know you fear me. And God said, okay, now you're gonna see the fulfillment. And then it came to pass. So your trials are working for you. They're working for you. And so we have to face them with this in mind that God is using them to work something in us to develop these character traits that can only come through trials. And also to tell us that we need to use joy because joy is the only way. That we can endure them. It's the only way that we, the fruit can actually come. This fruit of joy will bring the fruit of endurance. And so you need it. You must practice joy. You must practice rejoicing. Now, the trials will expose the false foundations, like I said, and help you to become anchored in him so that you are not shaken, you are not shifted.'cause the trials that are coming to the weld will shake the weld. And if you are also. Worldly you will be shaken. But if you are anchored in Christ, it will not move you. Yeah, you may feel negative here and there, but not it won't last. You'll find yourself in the joy of the Lord'cause you have practiced joy. You have learned character development. And so James one four says He really urges us that we should allow endurance to complete its work. We must allow God to develop that character, to prepare us. We must allow God to mature us in our faith so that we are nothing missing, nothing broken. So that. What does that mean? You are not broken. Even though you've gone through things that broke you, God has fixed you. You learned joy. You learned to rejoice. You learned to trust in him, to fix you up, to give you a new perspective so you are not broken even though things broke you, even though they were meant to break you. Because Jesus is coming for a church that's not wounded and he's coming back and he's coming for a church that's without spot or wrinkle. So you're not broken means you're not wounded because wounds are a doorway for evil. Wounds are a doorway for, for the enemy to attack you. Wounds are a doorway for, for, for things to come in and, and, and make you act in a way that's not godly. So they need to heal and, and we need joy to come into our inner healing. We need joy. It's part of the process of inner healing. And so nothing missing, nothing broken. Nothing broken, okay? Nothing missing means that you are not also missing the, the, the, the, the bedrock. You're not missing the rock that you are fixed on the rock. And nothing missing, nothing broken means I like the King James. Where other vision says, you know that you'll be perfect and complete, an entire lacking nothing. King James says that you'll be wanting nothing. I appreciate that one because through my trials, one of the things that God is teaching me is to learn to know him and trust him as my shepherd. And Psalm one, you know, Psalm 23, such a basic psalm. If you, if you were raised in the church. But it's such a powerful psalm. Psalm 95 talks about worshiping God because he's our God and our shepherd. That tells me the two go together. So if you don't, if you have idols, you don't understand God as your shepherd. So you need a revelation of God as your shepherd. We need a revelation of Jesus Christ as our shepherd. So this is one of the things he's teaching me and, and he says, because David says the Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. Trials will make you want. Trials will prove you are wanting. And when you've been tested and tried and matured, you come out wanting nothing.'cause you've learned that, oh, I'm living with all these things around me that are supposed to make me want, but I want nothing.'cause I've found where my true treasure is. It's in him. So they don't move me anymore. You know, they don't move me anymore. I, I was not used to living with need, living with luck. And then when I went through that and I had to live with need and luck and insufficiency and, and all sorts of situations, then I learned, wow. I, I started to learn to come to a place where those things don't move me anymore, you know, and said, God will, will test you. And that's why. He said it's hard for the rich to enter the kingdom because you are raised with plenty and you're just not used to luck and need. And I had to go through a situation where I had to deal with that and that was rough. And every Christian, at some point or another, you will be tested in that area because money is a God. It's an idol. So that's just one example, you know, but we have to learn to know him as our shepherd. And, um, the chaos really comes to show that you're not walking in his righteousness. And that was my situation with finances in, in many areas of, of finances. So coming to learn to depend on him. Now it means you may have to endure certain situations. But it also means yes, you will go through some situations where you, you fall, you slip up. Don't beat yourself up. Come back into joy and trust in the Lord. Trust the process that he has you on and dear the trial learned that he's teaching you endurance. He's teaching you a new way and you need a revelation of him as your shepherd. So now let's look at three positive outcomes of facing our trials with joy. Looking at James one, one through one through eight. Now, all these have to do with denying yourself. So Jesus said you have to deny yourself to take up your cross and follow him. You don't feel like rejoicing, but you gotta deny that negative. Negative feeling or the what? Whatever's trying to pull you to count it as despair, to count it as joy, and so you have to deny yourself to do what I'm, what I'm talking about. You have to practice discipleship. It goes together. You can't practice the word without denying yourself in the midst of your trials. It's easy to say you rejoice when everything's. Great, right? But when everything's not great and things are going the other direction, and to be able to really give him the sacrifice of joy, that brings him glory, according to Psalm 50, that brings him glory. So let's look at three positive outcomes, like I said, of going through life, denying yourself through trials and practicing joy. One is. When you face trials with joy, it develops your character and helps you mature, which I've been talking about, but I'm gonna say a few more words about, in essence, approaching trials with Joy allows us to grow into mature children of God and, and. It's not because you've done something wrong necessarily. Job hadn't done anything wrong. God says he was righteous. He boasted about him, but he removed the protections he had around him and allowed Satan to test him because there were still areas in his perception of God that needed correction in his own character that needed development. You know, and by the end. Job knew God better. In the last chapter, God shows up and he really, you know, last few chapters to talk to him about who he is and Job learns things about God he didn't know before. And then after that, God restored what he had lost. That's very encouraging to me. So you may lose things because of trials, but don't despair. God has promised restoration at the end. If you make it, if you endure. He'll bring it back around. Sometimes it's our reputation that's attacked. If you're a minister, that's something you can expect to go through. But if you endure and you don't try to defend yourself and you trust God to defend you like Jesus before punch us Pilate, because First Peter two tells us this is something we have to deal with. We, we have to, uh, we have to expect. To suffer persecution for righteousness sake and not try to defend ourselves before ungodly masters, ungodly leaders, ungodly, you know, maybe even pastors, but just submit, submit to God, even on ungodly spouse, submit to God and let God take care of it. Trust God to defend your reputation. Don't try to go out and defend yourself.'cause that can only, that, that just might lead you right off the righteousness of God. Right. It can lead you out because that's not the righteousness of God in action. It's, it's one that's not. Doesn't follow self-justification. Job was trying to justify himself through his trials and God had to teach him something. You know, in the end, his friends thought, oh, surely you must be suffering'cause you did something wrong. Actually, he had done, like I said, nothing wrong. So you have to just allow God to align your character with his righteousness. That's what he's after. And even practicing joy. Uh, brings you into peace, and these are all manifestations of the freedom of the spirit in Galatians five. So. Hebrews six explains that Abraham needed faith and patience to receive God's promise. He needed to exercise perseverance. He needed to continue doing what God had told him. Continue believing. You know, until the end he was, he was tested and pruned and all that, but it developed his character and he's also our example. Now let's look at the second one, facing trials where Joy trains us to reflect Christ image. So facing your trial with joy, it'll train you to reflect the image of God. Now, these are related points. Obviously, if you come into the right character, you will reflect the image of God because that is the character. God is after Romance 8 28 29 says Our highest calling is to be Christlike and God wegs all things. So he wes the trials for our good and that good is conforming us to the image of his son. That's what he's after, so the trials will reveal flawed areas of thinking. Weak, weak foundations. The trials will reveal places where you need to press into God more. You need to dig deeper to come into Christ. You know, and sometimes the trials, yeah, I've said about trials not coming because of things we did, but some trials do come because of poor choices. Because we're ignorance of God's ways, because we know it's ways, but we're just willfully disobedient. And sometimes'cause you just make mistakes, just an honest mistake, you know? But if you just complain and argue with God, it shows a lack of character. It shows a lack of character. Paul says, whack out your salvation with fear and trembling in Philippians two 12. Whack it out. Philippians two is all about having the mind of Christ, having a humble mind, you know, and and going low, and so thanking God and praising God. Even when you feel like, oh man, this is not fair. This is not right. Accepting his discipline. Seeing your trial as correction, as God's training to discipline you as a child.'cause every child needs training, so he must train you to become a mature child of God. And Hebrews 12 says, if we just become discouraged and resentful and we don't see our trials as God's loving discipline, then we're really saying God should treat us as bastards, as people who are not parented. So instead of doing that, we need to let God discipline us so we can produce a crop of righteousness. A harvest of righteousness. So you know, when I was going through my trials last year, and some of them are ongoing by the way, now God told me to dance and it just seems surprising. Especially one time when I had, I had been sued over custody of my children and my time with them. You know, basically the, the, the main issues were about my faith and how I was raising them and, and faith, you know, teaching them about faith. It really went to the root of what I believe and what God had has asked me to do as a minister. And, and my children, you know, I was dealing with the situation of my children being taken away from me. And God was telling me in this situation to dance, to rejoice. And even though the accusations, I couldn't defend myself about some things'cause they're just spiritual things you can't explain. And also some were just flat out false. And he was like, dance, dance your way to victory. And I was like, what in the world? This doesn't look like victory to me, but I really had to have, have a mind shift because all the persecution, all the trials, all there was a real temptation to drift from, from just being joyful in Christ to just slipping into performance. So much fasting, so much praying. Now these are good things and God still required those things of me, but I had to come into a place of rejoicing. Because rejoicing fixed my own attitude towards God.'cause sometimes your trials will make you offended at God, but you don't wanna acknowledge it because you know truth. And so you say, no, I'm not offended at God. I'm I'm, but in you, you're blaming God. You're attacking God inside you. You are. You're also accusing him like the enemy is doing. You're aligning or you're accusing people and you're not walking in love. And God's like, no, actually rejoicing will shift your mind, will shift your emotions from feeling negative. So rejoicing doesn't just bring your. You, you into his presence and bring him into your presence. But rejoicing is sowing the right fruit. So he said to me, so sow in righteousness, sow into the spirit. Now I didn't think rejoicing was sowing in the spirit, you know? And I was, I was, I was kind of baffled a little bit, but I saw the wisdom in it and God warned me. He said, you know, God is not mocked. You reap what you sow. And if you, if you sow religiosity, you're just gonna reap, reap religiosity. But if you sow into true faith, if you sow into Christ, if you sow into the spirit, if you sow into, if you do what God is telling you to do, if you practice the truth, you know, and you don't just fear and complain and act outta fear and complaining, and he shouldn't argue with God and God's methods. You'll see that you will bear the right fruit, you will have the fruit that's coming from the right treat and not the, the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil, which is really a, a fruit of religion deception. The thought that somehow you can rely on yourself and your mind and your your own ideas and your own doings, and somehow come to God's conclusions. So the trials will expose places in us where we are still depending on ourselves and bring us into alignment with God. God uses them to shift us to say, look, I'm still God. Yes, you're going through that. Yes, it looks like it's over, but I'm still, God, the final finalist with me. And if you do it my way, you are gonna come into my, my results. But it may mean that for a while you have to, you do have to fast. If you're not fasting, you, you have really just given up. Be because you're just living in the flesh, you know? But you need to do it in a way that's not just religious. You know, Abel can call it fast. You need to do it in a way that is God's way. You need to know, you need to, don't try to practice somebody else's consecration. You need to know what consecration God has given you in this season. And stay within that. But there's messy, and God was highlighting to me also messy and grace, and he was like, you know, messy gives us the, the what we don't deserve doesn't give us the judgment we deserve. And Grace gives us what also we don't deserve. So messy actually takes away the punishment we deserve. Sorry. And then Grace gives us. What we don't deserve, which is God's ability, God's enablement, God's favor. And we are, we are not doing things practicing hard consecrations to try to earn anything from God. And that's why we have to be careful that we are not slipping into legalism, but we are actually, God is pruning us out of that and bringing us into fate by saying, just dance and praise me, my bread is light. My yoke is easy, so this is what I need you to do. You just do that. And he's going to train you to reflect the image of Christ while you're going through what you're going through, which is like Daniel in the lion's den and in the king, the in the end, the king changing his mind and say, yo God, he's really God.'cause this character, that's not something you just have unless you have a real God. You know? You don't go through these situations like this unless your God is really God. So you're testifying. And God is pruning you and God is disciplining you and he's correcting you. And where you weren't walking in his word, he's bringing you into his word. And yes, for a while you may deal with humiliation, you may deal with debt, you may deal with issues that you can't. It seems like they're above you giants, but, but even in that God is like, I am enthroned on the flat. So you start to move in my way. And I'm gonna show you how to get out of those situations. And then number three is facing trials with joy leads us towards God's purpose. So facing your trial with joy will bring you into God's purpose. Now, a prime example is Jesus on the cross. Hebrews 12, two tells us that Jesus and dear the cross, because of the joy that was set before him, Satan thought he was, he had defeated him. But the Bible says if Satan had known that this was actually going to be the thing that was going to take down what he stole from Adam and Eve and bring restoration to the human race, it was gonna take him down and bring judgment to him.'cause he's now, he's judged through it and he's condemned waiting for his sentencing, you know, and he knows his time is short. So he is working overtime to try to deceive. And kill still and destroy. But the Bible says if he had known haha, the wisdom of God through what looked like foolishness, the cross, he would not have done what he did. And it says if the, if the rulers of this world had known, they would not. So there are things that you are going through that if you follow God and do it his way, he's gonna lead you. Into a place where if the enemy knew, oh my God, he would not have, he didn't know. That was your, your bridge for crossing over from one, one place to another place that God wanted to take you into as a God who through your storms and trials, he will show you things. He will direct you. He will bring, he will bring wisdom that you couldn't have had any other way. And you will learn something about God and you will. You will not only rejoice because you are looking for a way out, but you'll actually rejoice genuinely because you see God's wisdom. You see God's beauty, you see something about him. You see his glory. And you, and you praise him. But to do that, you have to have a mindset that allows you to stay in joy. And the Bible says in Hebrews 12, two that Jesus endured the cross because of the joy that was set before him. So you and I, what is set before us?'cause that is what's gonna help you to, to endure. Are you looking? At that, that's why you, what you count matters. Are you counting the circumstances or you're counting your, your, your, your, your blessings. You're counting your joy in him. You're recounting the things that make you joyful and rejoice about him because Jesus, because of what he set his mind on. Rejoiced, he rejoiced because he knew that enduring the cross would bring you and I to him, and he loves us so much. That was his prize. Now what are you rejoicing over? What have you set before you, you know, rejoicing in God is like David declaring in Psalm 18. I will love you, oh Lord, my strength. I choose to love you. I may not feel like it, but covenant love is a decision. And as you start from that decision, your emotion starts to line up. And so Jesus' experience was what teaches us something. His desire was fulfilled. His desire was fulfilled. In the end, that trial, God can use it to lead you out of one place, one job, one relationship into another, into a bigger purpose. That's gonna bring you more satisfaction, that's gonna help you find your satisfaction in him and in not the things that we try to put our satisfaction in. And then you find that you love better. And so trial trials can shift you from one season into another, and although you may not have the full picture, you'll have to submit to God reverently while you don't understand. While it doesn't make sense, while it seems crazy to people, you have to submit to him. So what do you do when you're facing a trial and you're struggling to find joy? Jesus rejoiced because of what was ahead. What do you do if you don't have anything ahead? If you feel like you don't have anything ahead, what do you do? James one five says, during a trial, we need wisdom. We need divine wisdom, not athlete sensual wisdom, which is self-seeking, which is argumentative, which is prideful. No, that James talks about that in um, James three. He contrasts divine wisdom with human wisdom, with natural thinking, which is self-seeking. Put yourself first. What you want, what you desire, your love, your, your this, your that. Yes, you know your emotions, everything before what God wants. And he says, no, no, no. We need divine wisdom. And that divine wisdom, it doesn't come naturally to us, and so we need to pray and ask God for it. Proverbs says, wisdom is the principle thing. This divine wisdom is the principle thing. Solomon says it's profitable to direct. It brings guidance. It'll show you. It'll, it'll help you. It, it, you need to seek God for it. Seek him until you find it, and it's not relying on past successes with God. David always inquired of the Lord in every situation. He didn't presume that because God, God did it one way the last time he was gonna do it this way. This time he prayed and he asked God, God, what should I? It's just, it's just that simple. We have to be like children to enter the kingdom. But Paul also says, through much suffering, we enter the kingdom. So we need the wisdom to endure the suffering that's gonna bring us into the kingdom. And God promises that he'll give it to us. So joy will help you posture your heart to hear. It'll help you to trust that God will help you. And and James warns though, that when we ask, we should not doubt because now you ask, God gives you wisdom. Now, God highlights a word to you. God shows you He has joy is your way out. Now. God gives you something. He says, now this is what I need you to do. And what happens now, the wavering, the enemy comes to try to cause you to, to try to toss you, to try to make you doubt. The winds will come with their contrary whispers. The waves will come to try to toss you. What do you do? The storms come to try to blow you. Of course. To try to, you know, the winds try to blow you. Of course the storms try to. Taught you to make you waver. You need to be fixated, focused on what God said. This is where conviction comes in. You need, first of all, you need conviction. If what you're hearing. It is not from God. You need to test it. Test the spirits. Like, like First John says, test the spirits. Test it with scripture. Test what you know about God. Test it. You may even need counselors to, to, to help you out. Ka done partners to pray with you, but test it. Is this what God is saying? Don't just move, ha, move hastily. If he's saying this, is this the right timing?'cause sometimes you can move out of timing and that can cause all kinds of troubles that you can avoid. I. God said, open a business. I opened the business at the wrong time. It came with all sorts of troubles. I had to learn, oh my God, just'cause he said it doesn't mean I had to do it right then. And then it had to be born in the spirit first. I had to go through the, the process of seeking him and praying through until what he birthed. The seed of Faith became a full baby that was born in the right time. Yes, there were birthing pains, but. Trying to bread something that's not there is more difficult. It's foolishness and a lot of the things we're dealing with, scripture has two things, two categories. You're either being foolish or you're being wise, and we're talking about spiritual wisdom and, and, and, and foolishness. He's not just talking about, and God says the wisdom of man is foolishness by the way. So it doesn't always, I'm not talking about smarts, you know, just being smart and, and being able to, you know, just do smart things, inventions, and that's not the kind of smart I'm talking about what you live by, what looks like it's wisdom by the world standards because you're putting yourself ahead, but it's not. And James warns that if we don't, if we hear God's wisdom and we don't become settled on what he said, if God says Yes, I can heal you and I wanna heal you. And it's an invitation to seek him for that healing. It's an invitation to, to take that word and, and that seed form and let it become a baby that you see fruit. When you hear that word, he, he wants you to be settled, fixated on that. Tune out all the chatter and all the noise. Anything that would cause doubt. Don't look at your circumstances. Fixate on what he said. He said if we don't do that and we waver wave, basically if, if you don't, if you become double hearing, you hear him, you hear something else. You become double minded and, and, and your double mindedness is, is an indication that of idolatry. It's an indication that you have two masters. You're trying to serve two masters, and God says, we can't serve two masters, so you have to. You have to be fixed on what God said. Now, when you're fixed on what God said, you may still be tested. Abraham heard, God heard that. God said the land is for you and for your descendants. But there was a time when there was strife between his men and lots men. Abraham humbled himself and let Lord choose first. And Lord chose what looked like Abraham's inheritance. But Abraham didn't argue. Abraham said, all right, fine. You take it. That's confidence. That's real confidence. Sometimes you do have to fight back, so you need to know what to fight, what not to fight. But you know, in this case, Abraham had to, God said, I'm, I'm cultivating gentleness. No argument. Just let him take it. Let him take it. Let let them have it. And Abraham did that. And in the end what happened? Abraham had to go rescue locked. It. What he chose became Sodom and Gaura. God knows the future and, and God orders our steps. You are righteous. He's ordering your steps. Even your mistakes. Abraham's mistakes whacked for his good. Abraham Reverenced. God. He submitted and in the end, God still gave him the land, descend. His descendants ended up having the land. God kept his word. So I'm going to close by asking you to just ask God for strength. Ask God for wisdom. Strength is rejoicing the joy of the Lord. The miah says the joy of the Lord is our strength. So when God says build and you're facing storms, what do you do? You rejoice. That's how you're gonna end up building. And not give up. So we need strength. We need strength to walk in love. I like saying this, but it's, it's, um, Paul's prayer in Ephesians three. He said, I pray that God will strengthen you with might in your inner man so that Christ will remain there and you won't kick him out like the church in Lord Isia had done and become lukewarm and he was knocking and way looking for a way back into his church. You know, he says, I want your heart. Um, you need joy for me to stay in that heart. And Paul says, when crisis is in your heart, when you have strength and crisis in your heart, you will able to know God's love and you'll become perfect and complete. So we need strength. We need to rejoice to know the love of God and to be become perfect and complete. And we need wisdom to know what God wants us to do. So let's finish by praying for strength and for wisdom. So father, I thank you for every listener. I thank you for where they're at. I thank you that whether they're in a storm, they're about to go through one coming out of one in the fire, about to go through one. Coming out of one, whatever their situation that you are, Lord, you are God. You have a way out for them. And so I pray that you will strengthen them with might in their inner man, by your spirit. I pray that the joy of the Lord will rise up in them and bubble up. I pray that you will give them songs of joy and rejoicing to pull them out of every negativity, to pull them out of every. Pit and to help them weather the storm. I pray that you will give them wisdom to know how you're directing them in the season where you are asking them to go from into, I, I pray that you will show them what you're asking them to give up, to cut off, to separate from, to come into what you have for them. I pray that you will make it plain, make it clear. Give them vision and show them Lord, that the vision is what they need to fix your eyes on and give them grace to be confident. And believing and trusting, and not be double mindedness. And not be double minded. Pge them of all double mindedness and fix them and help them to be settled and anchored in your word and on Christ the rock, and to see your glory in the name of Jesus. Hallelujah. I hope that blessed you if it did. Don't forget to, like, don't forget to subscribe if you haven't. And, um, and to share. God bless. Until next time, have a great month. Bye. Until next time, stay rooted in Truth And remember, trade your pebble for the rock of ages.