Latest / Life For Toledo / Persevering Through Trials James 1:12

Transcript

Persevering Through Trials James 1:12 · Life For Toledo

• 0:00
  I'm thinking today of James chapter 1 verse 12.
• 0:02
  It says, Blessed is a man who perseveres under
• 0:06
  trial. For once he has been approved, he will
• 0:09
  receive the crown of life, which the Lord has
• 0:12
  promised to those who love him. The bottom line
• 0:14
  is, you're probably going to face some difficulty.
• 0:17
  You might be sorrow, might be anxious, might
• 0:20
  be hurt. You might be abused verbally. You might
• 0:24
  have health concerns. Something might break down.
• 0:27
  You might be faced with temptation. You're going
• 0:29
  to face some difficulty in this life. And it's
• 0:32
  when we persevere through those trials that it
• 0:36
  says that we will be blessed with the crown that
• 0:39
  the Lord has promised to those who love him.
• 0:41
  And so the equation goes like this. If you love
• 0:44
  God, you persevere. And then you get the crown
• 0:47
  that the God of heaven has laid out for those
• 0:51
  who love him and persevere. So what does persevering
• 0:54
  mean? It means staying the course. It means not
• 0:57
  finding an excuse not to do that which God has
• 1:01
  ordered you to do, which he has asked you to
• 1:03
  do, which would be an obvious outflowing of your
• 1:06
  love for him. So you love God and are found faithful
• 1:10
  despite the difficulties that you face. And at
• 1:13
  the end of that, a crown of life will be placed
• 1:16
  upon your head, a special crown that God has
• 1:19
  promised for those who love him, because that's
• 1:21
  what it means. to show your love for God. Face
• 1:24
  those trials and persevere and be found faithful.
• 1:27
  It means you've got to get in church. It means
• 1:29
  you've got to study your Bible. It means you've
• 1:30
  got to pray. You've got to serve. You've got
• 1:32
  to give. You've got to be what a Christian would
• 1:35
  be, a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ. And
• 1:37
  don't let today's trouble stop you from being
• 1:40
  what God has called you to be.