<p><span class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold">For Reading and Meditation:</span><br><span class="italic">     <span class="scriptRef" ref="jas+1:2-8">James 1:2-8</span></span></p><p>We continue meditating on the first verse of  <span class="scriptRef" ref="ps+73">Psalm 73</span>: "Surely God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart." The psalmist has gone through an experience of crippling doubt but the great thing is this: he has emerged from it spiritually enriched and with a deeper confidence in the goodness of God. So he starts with that conclusion and then tells us how he got there. This is one of the great values of the psalms - they reflect and analyse the experiences that we are called upon to face. Ray Steadman says of the psalms: "They are an enactment of what most of us are going through, have gone through or will go through in the walk of faith." Every one of us will be able to understand the psalmist's struggle: we start off with a positive faith in God's goodness and then something happens which causes us to be plagued with doubts. The problem then is how to get back to where we were. This is what the psalmist does in this psalm - he shows us how to return to the place where the soul finds true peace. We should not forget that the strongest convictions are born in the throes of doubt. The statement "God is good to Israel" is a statement grounded in experience. In a similar vein, Dostoevsky, the famous Russian novelist, could say: "It is not as a child that I believe and confess Christ. My hosannah is 'born of a furnace of doubt.' " Doubts may discourage but they need not demoralise you. It is not what happens to you, but what you make of it that matters. </p><p class="center-it italic bold mlr40 mtb20">Gracious and loving Father, I pray that You will do for me what You did for the psalmist and help me turn my strongest doubts into my strongest beliefs. I offer You my willingness - now add to it Your power. In Jesus' Name I ask it. Amen.</p><div class="tl-lightgrey mt20 pt20 flexbox-row-wrap jc-around"><div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">AdditionalVerses</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li><span class="scriptRef" ref="ps+13:1">Psalm 13:1</span></li><li><span class="scriptRef" ref="ps+69:3">Psalm 69:3</span></li><li><span class="scriptRef" ref="ps+119:82">Psalm 119:82</span></li></ul></div>

<div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">Questions to Consider</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li>What characteristic did the psalmist display?</li><li>What was his confession of faith?</li></ul></div></div>

Let a little light into your soul every day with this wonderful devotional from English pastor Selwyn Hughes.

Every Day Light with Selwyn Hughes

" that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." (v. 4) 

<p><span class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold">For Reading and Meditation:</span><br><span class="italic">     <span class="scriptRef" ref="jas+1:1-18">James 1:1-18</span></span></p><p>The Bible is replete with instances of God's wisdom moving men and women through the most difficult times to the most wonderful ends. Take Abraham for example. Although he is known in Scripture as the "the friend of God," he was capable of some shabby behavior. On one occasion he actually compromised his wife's chastity  (<span class="scriptRef" ref="ge+12:10-20">Genesis 12:10-20</span>), and later, submitting to her pressure, fathered a child by Hagar, their maid  (<span class="scriptRef" ref="ge+16:1-16">Genesis 16:1-16</span>). Then, seeking to avoid Sarah's hysterical recriminations, he allowed her to drive Hagar away from their household  (<span class="scriptRef" ref="ge+21:8-21">Genesis 21:8-21</span>). Clearly, Abraham was not a man of strong principle and there were great flaws in his character. But God in wisdom dealt with this man and brought him through some great trials until he was changed from a man of the world to a true man of God. The same wisdom which ordered the path Abraham trod orders our lives. We should never be taken aback when unexpected and upsetting things happen to us. We should recognize that no matter how hard the trial, God's power will be there to get us through, and God's wisdom will ensure that the trial will be worth more than it costs. I like the almost tongue-in-cheek way Jim Packer describes what may be God's design when He permits us to go through trials: "Perhaps he means to strengthen us in patience, good humor, compassion, humility, or meekness by giving us some extra practice in exercising these graces under specially difficult situations." "Some extra practice." Some of us, myself included, sorely need it.</p><p class="center-it italic bold mlr40 mtb20">Father, help me grasp this truth once and for all, that Your wisdom ensures the trials I go through are worth far more than they cost. You are more committed to making me like Jesus than I am myself. It hurts sometimes, but deep down I am grateful. Amen.</p><div class="tl-lightgrey mt20 pt20 flexbox-row-wrap jc-around"><div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">AdditionalVerses</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li><span class="scriptRef" ref="isa+48:1-10">Isaiah 48:1-10</span></li><li><span class="scriptRef" ref="ps+66:10">Psalm 66:10</span></li><li><span class="scriptRef" ref="mal+3:3">Malachi 3:3</span></li><li><span class="scriptRef" ref="1pe+1:7">1 Peter 1:7</span></li></ul></div>

<div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">Questions to Consider</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li>What process is God's testing likened to?</li><li>What is the end result?</li></ul></div></div>

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds " (v. 2)

<p><span class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold">For Reading and Meditation:</span><br><span class="italic">     <span class="scriptRef" ref="heb+10:19-31">Hebrews 10:19-31</span></span></p><p>The Bible is a veritable mine of information on the fact of God's faithfulness. More than 4,000 years ago He said: "As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease"  (<span class="scriptRef" ref="ge+8:22">Genesis 8:22</span>). Every year furnishes us with fresh evidence that He has not gone back on His Word. In  <span class="scriptRef" ref="ge+15:13-14">Genesis 15:13-14</span>God declared to Abraham: "Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and ill-treated four hundred years. But  afterwards they will come out with great possessions." Did that happen?  <span class="scriptRef" ref="ex+12:41">Exodus 12:41</span> says: "At the end of the 430 years, to the very day, all the Lord's divisions left Egypt." The prophet Isaiah predicted that a virgin should conceive and bear a son whose name would be Immanuel  (<span class="scriptRef" ref="isa+7:14">Isaiah 7:14</span>). Centuries later the prediction came to pass. In  <span class="scriptRef" ref="ga+4:4">Galatians 4:4</span> we read: "But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman ." I wish I had the space to take you through the pages of Scripture and show you how faithful God has been to His Word. But you have a Bible for yourself; study it. Read it to know God. It is absolutely imperative that we who live in an age when unfaithfulness abounds, should acquaint ourselves with the fact of God's faithfulness. This is the basis of our confidence in Him. And this is why the Bible fairly bulges with this great and gripping truth. The more of God's truth we pack into our souls, the better equipped we are for the road that lies ahead.</p><p class="center-it italic bold mlr40 mtb20">Gracious and loving Father, the more I learn about Your nature and character the more I want to know. Just these glimpses I am getting set my soul on fire to know You more intimately. Take me deeper, dear Lord. In Jesus' Name. Amen.</p><div class="tl-lightgrey mt20 pt20 flexbox-row-wrap jc-around"><div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">AdditionalVerses</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li><span class="scriptRef" ref="mal+3:7">Malachi 3:7</span></li><li><span class="scriptRef" ref="ps+103:17">Psalm 103:17</span></li><li><span class="scriptRef" ref="ps+102:27">Psalm 102:27</span></li><li><span class="scriptRef" ref="jas+1:1-17">James 1:1-17</span></li></ul></div>

<div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">Questions to Consider</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li>What did the Lord declare to Israel?</li><li>How did James put it?</li></ul></div></div>

"Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful." (v. 23)

<p><span class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold">For Reading and Meditation:</span><br><span class="italic">     <span class="scriptRef" ref="jas+1:1-12">James 1:1-12</span></span></p><p>We are meditating on the second of Christ's Beatitudes: "Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted." Yesterday we saw that the meaning of this statement is that when we are willing to experience sorrow and grief, then God is able to use these encounters to sensitise our spirits and make our ministry to others more effective and more fruitful. I am afraid, however, that the majority of Christians, myself included, greatly fear this truth. Some years ago after I had expressed this same truth a woman wrote to me thus: "I am terribly afraid of what you said concerning grief and sorrow being the means in God's hands of deepening our sensitivity to others. I have not found this to be so. I find that grief and sorrow make me more concerned about myself than about others. Thus I cannot pray the prayer you suggested: 'Lord, put all the pressure on me You want; I know that the pressure You permit is all part of Your purpose - to make me the kind of person You want me to be.' " We must always be careful that we do not interpret Biblical truth by human experiences; we must interpret human experiences by Biblical truth. Scripture tells us that God permits pressure for a purpose, and that sorrow and grief will produce tremendous benefits in our lives - providing we let them. There's the rub! Whenever Biblical principles don't seem to work for us, then don't question the principle - question whether or not you are open to it, and whether you are applying it in the way God directs. There is very little point in arguing with God - He's always right. </p><p class="center-it italic bold mlr40 mtb20">O Father, help me to see that when things are not working out the way Your Word decrees, the problems are not on Your side - but on mine. And help me to side with You and against myself in such issues - for You are always right. Amen.</p><div class="tl-lightgrey mt20 pt20 flexbox-row-wrap jc-around"><div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">AdditionalVerses</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li><span class="scriptRef" ref="job+23:10">Job 23:10</span></li><li><span class="scriptRef" ref="1pe+1:1-9">1 Peter 1:1-9</span></li><li><span class="scriptRef" ref="isa+48:10">Isaiah 48:10</span></li><li><span class="scriptRef" ref="2co+4:17">2 Corinthians 4:17</span></li></ul></div>

<div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">Questions to Consider</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li>What was Job's testimony?</li><li>What does our suffering bring about?</li></ul></div></div>

"Dear brothers, is your life full of difficulties and temptations? Then be happy." (v. 2, TLB)

<p><span class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold">For Reading and Meditation:</span><br><span class="italic">     <span class="scriptRef" ref="php+2:5-11">Philippians 2:5-11</span></span></p><p>We continue meditating on the importance of learning to think spiritually. It is sometimes interesting to listen to Christians discussing together both earthly and heavenly issues. Take politics, for example. When involved in a discussion on this subject, many Christians seem to put their Christianity on one side and bring out all the prejudices and worldly arguments which they have been accustomed to use over the years. What does this say to us? It reveals the great need we have to break with the idea that life can be viewed on two levels - the natural and the spiritual. The Christian must learn to view everything from a spiritual viewpoint or otherwise he will fall prey to the same problems that the psalmist had. The great preacher C.H. Spurgeon once told a group of theological students that after they entered the ministry they should not be surprised to find that people who prayed like angels in a church prayer meeting could act like devils in a church business meeting. Unfortunately the history of the Church proves his statement to be true. How can this happen? It's because in a prayer meeting people think spiritually, but in a business meeting they revert to their natural thinking, with all its prejudices and worldly assumptions. They have a party spirit within them and as soon as any one bumps against them - out it comes. Our Lord, as our text for today shows so clearly, saw everything from a spiritual point of view. This is why, in the hour of overwhelming testing, He was able to say: "Not my will, but yours be done" (<span class="scriptRef" ref="lu+22:42">Luke 22:42</span>). </p><p class="center-it italic bold mlr40 mtb20">My Father and my God, forgive me that so often my thinking is based on natural, rather than spiritual, perspectives. I think spiritually about some matters, but not all. Help me, dear Lord. In Jesus' Name. Amen.</p><div class="tl-lightgrey mt20 pt20 flexbox-row-wrap jc-around"><div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">AdditionalVerses</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li><span class="scriptRef" ref="jas+1:1-8">James 1:1-8</span></li><li><span class="scriptRef" ref="mt+6:22">Matthew 6:22</span></li><li><span class="scriptRef" ref="1co+2:16">1 Corinthians 2:16</span></li></ul></div>

<div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">Questions to Consider</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li>What makes us unstable?</li><li>What happens when we are single-minded?</li></ul></div></div>

"Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus." (v. 5, NKJ) 

<p>You are all sons of light and sons of the day. . . . Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober.<br><br>It is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. § Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. §  Cast away from you all the transgressions which you have committed, and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. § Lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. §  Little children, abide in Him, that when He appears, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming. If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness is born of Him.</p>

Daily Light on the Daily Path or Daily Light is a Christian daily devotional scripture reading published by Bagster & Sons about 1875. It has been reprinted continually since then. It consists of brief groupings of scripture passages which speak to prominent Biblical themes—two themes (morning and evening) for each day of the year. It appends no commentary, but simply allows scripture to speak for itself.

Morning Daily Light

 Awake to righteousness, and do not sin. 

<p>Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, neither faints nor is weary … He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might He increases strength. § Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand. § You have been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shade from the heat; for the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall.<br><br>The testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. § Do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise. </p>

 Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart. 

<p>Surely the wrath of man shall praise You; with the remainder of wrath You shall gird Yourself. § You meant evil against me; but God meant it for good.<br><br>All things are yours: whether … the world or life or death, or things present or things to come—all are yours. And you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s. § All things are for your sakes, that grace, having spread through the many, may cause thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God. Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.<br><br>My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.</p>

 We know that all things worktogether for good to those who love God. 

<p>We … glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us. § Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. § My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. § Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. § Most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me … For when I am weak, then I am strong.</p>

Evening Daily Light

 Indeed we count them blessed who endure. 

<blockquote>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into various trials"</strong> (<a id="verse_1632880572366279" href="https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/James/1/2">James 1:2</a>).</p>
</blockquote><p style="text-align: justify;">You can be sure that you are in the will of God when He keeps you dependent upon Himself, walking in the Holy Spirit, and abiding in the Lord Jesus Christ.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">"Often all we think of is, having our need met; but how little a thing is that with God! It would cost Him nothing, we may say, to meet the need of a lifetime in a moment; and a lesser love than His would supply it at once, and get rid of the constant burden.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">"But that is not His way. To supply the need is a small thing; but to supply it in such a way as to make us feel in each seasonable supply the Father's heart never withdrawn from us, the Father's heart ever employed about us - that is what He means. Give us our daily bread': is it not much more than to ask, Give us now, that we may not have to come again?'"</p><p style="text-align: justify;">"The God-given experience of the Spirit's working many a time passes away, and leaves the soul apparently dull and dead. This is only until the double lesson has been fully learnt: (1) that a living faith can rejoice in the Living God, even when feeling and experience appear to contradict the promise (<a id="verse_1632880572463835" href="https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/Romans/8/28">Rom. 8:28</a>; <a id="verse_1632880572981195542" href="https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/Romans/8/29">29</a>); and (2) that the divine life only predominates as the life of the flesh is held in the place of death, inoperative (<a id="verse_1632880572336884" href="https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/Romans/6/11">Rom. 6:11</a>a). The life of the Lord Jesus is revealed as His death works in us (<a id="verse_1632880572546541" href="https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/2-Corinthians/4/11">2 Cor. 4:11</a>; <a id="verse_163288057220371460" href="https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/2-Corinthians/4/12">12</a>), and as in weakness and nothingness we look to him (<a id="verse_1632880572555416" href="https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/2-Corinthians/3/18">2 Cor. 3:18</a>)." -A.M.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>"Knowing this, that the testing of your faith worketh patience"</strong> (<a id="verse_1632880572446085" href="https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/James/1/3">James 1:3</a>).</p>

A 365 day devotional that will help you in your Christian growth and walk with the Lord Jesus Christ.  This devotional is a collection of quotes from some of the best authors in the realm of Christian growth that has been organized by Miles J Stanford.  This devotional study is divided into 12 sections each containing 31 daily portions.

None but the Hungry Heart

 "Thy Will Be Done" 

<blockquote>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Tribulation worketh patience"</strong> (<a id="verse_1632878015313548" href="https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/Romans/5/3">Rom. 5:3</a>).</p>
</blockquote><p style="text-align: justify;">The source of our Christian life is a Person, and the growth of that life in us is a gradual process - comparable to a grain of wheat, or a branch in the vine.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">"A person whose ancestors for three or four generations have all been Christians, may inherit their virtues; but although affecting his life for good, they do not count before God as righteousness, for they are not the fruit of the directly imparted divine life. A believer may thus inherit patience, and although he may be but a babe in Christ, he is seen to be more stable than a more advanced believer, because whatever goes wrong he stands unruffled.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">"To empty him, the Father puts him in circumstances where his natural patience' fails. After repeated failures of his natural virtue of patience, he realizes that it is not enough to meet all trials, and carry him triumphantly through them all. Then he turns to the Father to give him His own unfailing patience." -E.R.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">"Spiritual growth is from stage to stage. There are great days, days of decisive battles, days of crisis in spiritual history, days of triumph in Christian service, days of the right hand of the Father upon us. But there are also idle days, days of apparent uselessness, when even prayer and service seem a burden. Are we, in any sense, renewed in these days? Yes, for any experience which makes us more aware of our need of the Father must contribute to spiritual progress, unless we deny the Lord who bought us." -W.G.S.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">"It is not a man's thanksgiving that he has been set free from suffering; it is to be thanksgiving that he has been set free through suffering. Thou hast enlarged me when I was in distress' (<a id="verse_1632878015629915" href="https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/Psalm/4/1">Ps. 4:1</a>)."</p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>"For you surely know that what is genuine in your faith produces the patient mind that endures"</strong> (<a id="verse_1632878015980133" href="https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/James/1/3">James 1:3</a>, Wms.).</p>

 His Patience 

<p><h3>Trials and Temptations</h3></p><p><span class="bible-text "> <sup class="verse-num ">2 </sup>Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,  whenever you face trials of many kinds,   </span><span class="bible-text "> <sup class="verse-num ">3 </sup>because you know that the testing of your faith   produces perseverance.   </span></p>

James 1:2

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,<ft>1</ft> whenever you face trials of many kinds,<cr>1</cr> 

because you know that the testing of your faith<cr>1</cr>  produces perseverance.<cr>2</cr> 

James 1:3

 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.  

From Wikipedia: 

The New International Version (NIV) is an English translation of the Bible first published in 1978 by Biblica (formerly the International Bible Society). The NIV was published to meet the need for a modern translation done by Bible scholars using the earliest, highest quality manuscripts available. Of equal importance was that the Bible be expressed in broadly understood modern English.

The NIV is published by Zondervan in the United States and Hodder & Stoughton in the UK. The NIV was updated in 1984 and 2011 and has become one of the most popular and best-selling modern translations.

OT: Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia; additional sources;
NT: UBS Greek New Testament; Novum Testamentum Graece; additional sources;

New International Version

 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.

James 1:2-3

<p><span class="bible-text ">Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,  whenever you face trials of many kinds,   </span><span class="bible-text ">because you know that the testing of your faith   produces perseverance.   </span></p>

 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,  whenever you face trials of many kinds,   because you know that the testing of your faith   produces perseverance.  

Bible Verse of the Day

September 18, 2022

James 1:2-3 NIV

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