Author: mary

“For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing,” James 1:3-4 states. The testing of our faith is not something we necessarily want. It is usually not pretty and requires some brokenness to take place. However, as these verses state, testing is needed for growth for the Christian.

Just as a child grows every year, a Christian must grow in their faith. They must not stay where they began, but must grow everyday. The testing of faith is what brings about the most growth. When you are tested, you will give your endurance a chance to grow. This verse says that when your endurance is fully developed, your faith will be perfect and complete. Look at a child and how they develop vocabulary. As a young child, they know very little language, but as they have more experiences, they grow and learn. If once they were adults, they only stayed at a young vocabulary stage, they would not be able to do most of the things that adults do. The Christian life is the same way. If we do not allow our experiences to grow and change us, then we stay at the same faith we had when we first came to know Christ and never change.

Trials and tribulations are necessary for growth. It is in those times that we depend on the Lord and grow closer to Him. May the testing of your faith bring about growth in your faith and the joy to see you through.

James 1:2 tells us, “Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy.” We can have joy if we are in trouble? This sounds impossible when the days seem to crash in around you. It is impossible without God. There is no joy anywhere but Him. If you try to live without God and His promises, you will only find emptiness. He is the only one who can fulfill. He brings life, He breathes life, and revives the weary soul.

Joy can be found in Him because He sees every moment. He knows what comes before and what comes after. He is the keeper of the days, so He can be trusted. Psalm 139:16 says, “You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.” He knows our days, so we can trust Him.

We can have joy in the midst of sorrow because we know the author of the story. He works for our good, as Romans 8:28 says. That doesn’t mean that we will only know good things. Instead it means that He will be the good in the midst of everything that is not.

In the Old Testament, the Priest was responsible for sacrificing animals for the people’s sins. When Jesus died on the cross, He took on those sins eliminating the need for sacrifices from the people anymore. As 2 Corinthians 5:21 says, “For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.” He was the perfect sacrifice, unblemished and clean. His sacrifice would mean hope for the world. It would mean no more sacrifices. The world would have a choice to make. Accept the sacrifice of Christ and God’s forgiveness of sins, and inherit a life of joy with God on earth and eternal life with Him in heaven. Anyone who chooses His perfect sacrifice, the free gift of salvation, is made right with God.

Everyone in this world has a choice to make. Romans 3:23 tells us that we all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of Christ. No one is righteous. Everyone is in need of a Savior. Evaluate your own life and if you have accepted this great gift. Then, spend some time in prayer for the people you know and love. Pray for their salvation. Call them each by name before. The Lord, pleading on their behalf. Ask Him to send you into the world to carry the message. Pray and seek His face today.

We are God’s message bearers. We carry the greatest gift and message known to mankind: the gift of salvation. 2 Corinthians 5:19-20 calls us His ambassadors, “For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!”

God’s message is a powerful message we need to share with the world: He has reconciled man to Himself and because of the death of Jesus on the cross, He no longer counts the sins of man against Him! This is such good news for man! We must share this with the world. However, in order for man to accept this message, he must understand what sin is and that sin separates us from God. This is hard for man to understand. We must share the urgency of this message, but also the beauty of it, knowing that God, in all of His love for mankind, gave up His beloved Son so that we might live with Him in eternity.

He has made us ambassadors, ready to share the message with the dying world, pleading with them to come back to God. We have such a great privilege and pleasure carrying this great message.

Salvation is a gift from God for the purpose of bringing us back to himself through Christ (“And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him” 2 Corinthians 5:18). God’s first act of reconciliation was through Jesus Christ. He brought His Son into the world to save the souls of man and reconcile man to God.

The second act of reconciliation is through God’s people: believers. He wants us to reconcile others to Him. Our job is to share the hope of His salvation with the people around us, our community, our nation, and to the ends of the earth. We can do this locally by sharing about what He has done in our lives with the people around us. We can get involved in mission trips both within our nation and globally. If that is not something you can do, then you can participate by giving and praying for those on mission.

Work to reconcile others to Him out of the love you have for God. He has reconciled you so that you may spread His great love to others.