Guided Bible Studies for Hungry Christians

James - The Pillar of Working Faithful Lesson 3

The Faith of Trial and Tribulations

The LORD GOD is the LORD GOD. He is not to be trifled with and He is not on standby to fulfill your every pleasure at your convenience. He wants His People to be firm, standing on the solid foundation of Jesus Christ, and faithfully asking Him for the things needed to accomplish His Works, with the confidence that He will provide. He does not want a worker who waffles and tosses between wise thoughts and foolish, repetitive, fading requests, wasting his time with vain things that are buffeted around and guided by the current “wind” blowing through.

The LORD GOD has equipped Christians to overcome every trial and temptation. He has taught you how to be steady and secure in your request to Him. He has told you exactly how the things from Him can be confirmed and verified. His Word has revealed every trick the wicked might try, and has provided you with warnings and guidance on how to overcome these attacks. When you are faced with temptation, be joyful, patient, watchful, stable, wise and most importantly....BE FAITHFUL!

“James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting.” (James 1:1 AV)

21. James considered himself to be a servant to both the LORD GOD and the Lord Jesus Christ.

22. The Epistle of James was written to the Christian faithful who came from twelve tribes of Israel, which were scattered abroad.

Faithful Patience

“2 ¶ My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; 3 Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. 4 But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.” (James 1:2-4 AV)

23. You should be joy filled when you fall into “diverse” adversities. “Diverse” or “motley” is a perfect name for people or things that are very different from one another and do not seem to belong together.

Diverse temptation, is a condition of confusion that both young and mature Christians experience often. It is the time when you are surrounded by trouble, and mixed messages are coming your way. You feel the pull of righteousness and the push of wickedness, and this big black cloud, and white light seem to swirl together and paint everything grey. What seems right is wrong, what seems wrong is right. You face a strong temptation to react and resolve and to fix the things that are happening.

Christians often respond quickly and resolutely to this condition, often making rash and incorrect decisions. They feel the forces of wickedness and trouble stirring, and the natural reaction of their human nature wants to fight, flee, fear or freeze. Yet, the righteousness dwelling inside them through the presence of the Holy Ghost stirs the Christian to patience, to waiting for the resolution to come.

You must have strong enough faith that the situation will be resolved according to the LORD GOD’s Will, and you must have the patience to let it happen!

When you patiently wait as the adversity swirls around, you are allowing the LORD GOD’s Will to be accomplished, and resolution made perfect.

It is through these perfect solutions of the LORD GOD that will bring a joy to your being. How wonderful it is to be able to stand in the midst of a swirling cloud of activity, not understanding the problem exactly, and certainly not able to solve anything, yet confidently aware that the LORD GOD will resolve the issue in His time and way that will be perfect.

Faith to Ask the LORD GOD to Provide

“If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.” (James 1:5 AV)

24. You know if you lack wisdom. Wisdom is the combination of knowledge and understanding that is often gained through experience to make sensible decisions and judgments. When wisdom is lacking, the ability to manage things in the worldly natural life and the spiritual life is difficult.

25. The LORD GOD gives wisdom liberally to all of His People. Wisdom gives Christians the ability to hear the LORD GOD and discern His Will.

26. The LORD GOD will not give you wisdom if it is used to upbraid others. If wisdom is used to elevate yourself above others, and used to taunt and make others feel lessoned, the LORD GOD will not give you wisdom.

“But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.” (James 1:6 AV)

27. You must have enough faith, that when you ask the LORD GOD for something, that you do it without wavering.

The LORD GOD is the LORD GOD. He is not to be trifled with and He is not on standby to fulfill your every pleasure at your convenience. He wants His People to be firm, standing on the solid foundation of Jesus Christ, and faithfully asking Him for the things needed to accomplish His Works, with the confidence that He will provide.

He does not want a worker who waffles and tosses between wise thoughts and foolish, repetitive, fading requests, wasting his time with vain things that are buffeted around and guided by the current “wind” blowing through.

“For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.” (James 1:7 AV)

28. The LORD GOD does not want you to think that you will receive anything from him automatically.

“A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.” (James 1:8 AV)

29. A double minded man is unstable in everything. If a man wavers back and forth and vacillates his opinion and his purpose, then he is unstable to himself, to others, and most importantly, to the LORD GOD.

So, the LORD GOD wants you to ask for wisdom, and he wants to give it to you liberally. He does not want you to hesitate to ask Him for anything that you need, but, he wants you to make sure that you use that wisdom He gave you, before you make your request. He does not want you to think that you can have anything you request, but to faithfully know that anything you request from Him in Wisdom will be given. And if for some reason, God forbid, that you should come to Him without wisdom and waver in your requests to Him, He will know you to be unstable.

Faith in Your Station in Life

“9 Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted: 10 But the rich, in that he is made low: because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away. 11 For the sun is no sooner risen with a burning heat, but it withereth the grass, and the flower thereof falleth, and the grace of the fashion of it perisheth: so also shall the rich man fade away in his ways.” (James 1:9-11 AV)

30. There are different degrees of the station in life in any Christian congregation. The brother of low degree should rejoice because he has high rank in God’s Kingdom.

31. The brother who is rich should rejoice because he is made low in this life. It is through that “making low”, that allows him to become eligible to be exalted in the Kingdom of the LORD GOD.

32. If a rich Christian keep his ways of superior being, and does not change his ways when he is brought low, then he will wither, fade away and perish with the brightness of those who are exalted in the brightness of light from Jesus Christ.

Faith to Endure Temptation

“12 Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him. 13 ¶ Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: 14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. 15 Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. 16 Do not err, my beloved brethren.” (James 1:12-16 AV)

33. If you endure temptation, you are blessed with an extreme happiness and a sense of well being.

34. When you endure temptation faithfully and successfully, you are showing the LORD GOD that you love Him and His Word and His Way.

35. When you show the LORD GOD love, he promises to give you a crown of life and a place of exalted honor in His Kingdom.

36. When you face temptation, you should never say that it is the LORD GOD that is tempting you. He does not tempt with evil, nor does he tempt any man.

37. Temptation comes from evil.

38. The LORD GOD can never be tempted by evil.

39. When a person is tempted, he is drawn away because of his own craving for what is forbidden.

40. When lust of a person is active, then the opportunity for enticement occurs.

41. Lust causes sin and sin, when it is finished doing it’s destruction, causes death.

42. You should be extremely careful to avoid roaming from the Truth and walking from the Ways of the LORD GOD.

Faith in the Gifts that the Father in Heaven Gives His Children

“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” (James 1:17 AV)

43. Your Father in Heaven sends good and perfect gifts to all of His children.

44. The gifts your Father sends you are without variableness. The quality of perfection and goodness in every gift He gives, never changes, never varies. It is easy to know the gifts He gives because of this knowledge.

45. The gifts your Father sends you are without shadow of turning. The perfect and good gifts that your Father in heaven sends you are not going to change and evolve into something else. The gifts are perfect and unchanging.

“Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.” (James 1:18 AV)

46. Your very nature was made with the Word of Truth, and His Truth was placed into you at the very moment of your birth.

As a chosen, called or faithful person, you are the LORD GOD's first efforts of making Man in his own image. He infused special things into you through His Word of Truth, different from what is given to other living beings of the world. This difference between you and the worldly creatures is the Word of Truth that dwells within you.

It is the Holy Spirit that gives you the ability to discern gifts from the LORD GOD, and temptations of wickedness and you must have faith that you are able to do this through the revealing of Truth by the Holy Spirit.

It is vitally important that you understand how your LORD GOD provides to you, and the type of gifts he gives. If you have no understanding, then it is easy for the wicked to trick you into believing a gift or provision is from Him, when in reality it is given to you to cause fall from His Grace. The wicked forces in the world have every intention of tempting you with evil through your lust. Often, they try to stir that lust and trick you by giving you a gift that appears righteous in nature but turns quickly into something quite recognizable as wicked.

For instance, often a person is tricked through lust that if he prays a certain prayer correctly, that he will receive wealth. When the prayer is said, and the wealth comes, it appears for a moment to be righteous and true. But when the Word of God is examined closely, and the types of gifts He gives to His believers known, it reveals the sudden fortune from prayer to come from Satan, and not from Him, and originating from evil lust and not righteous wisdom. By describing the perfect and good types of gifts your Father sends, you are better equipped to recognize the fake righteous gifts put into your presence to cause you to lust, succumb to temptation, prosper, and fall.

Know your LORD GOD through study of His Word. Know your LORD GOD through the personal relationship and steady walk with Jesus Christ. Know your LORD GOD for who He really is, not who the wicked forces try to make Him be. Most importantly, have faith of your knowing, have faith of your moving, and have faith of your discerning through the presence of the Holy Spirit that dwells within you.

The LORD GOD has equipped us to overcome every trial and temptation. He has taught you how to be steady and secure in your request to Him. He has told you exactly how the things from Him can be confirmed and verified. His Word has revealed every trick the wicked might try, and has provided you with warnings and guidance on how to overcome these attacks. When you are faced with temptation, be joyful, patient, watchful, stable, wise and most importantly....BE FAITHFUL!

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Cite Article Source

MLA Style Citation:
McFarland, Kathy L. "The Faith of Trial and Tribulations." James - The Pillar of Working Faithful Jan 2006. <http://guidedbiblestudies.com/sermon/james3.htm>.

APA Style Citation:
McFarland, Kathy L. (2006, January) "The Faith of Trial and Tribulations." James - The Pillar of Working Faithful Retrieved from http://guidedbiblestudies.com/james3.htm

Chicago Style Citation:
McFarland, Kathy L. (2006) "The Faith of Trial and Tribulations." James - The Pillar of Working Faithful (January), http://guidedbiblestudies.com/james3.htm (accessed )

About the Author

Kathy L. McFarland is a Becker Bible Studies Teacher and Author of Guided Bible Studies for Hungry Christians. She is a Religious Studies student of Liberty University, Hebrew language student attending Israeli taught Ulpan and a Homeschool parent teaching the things of God. She is also well-known as a child advocate of innocent children tortured and suffering from the abuse of sexual perversion, out-of-control violence, and pathetic neglect by a carnal world gone mad.

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