"Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance."
Nothing great has ever happened without pain and trials of the ones who accomplished it. Trials of many kinds bring us closer to Christ, and almost force us to depend wholly on Him and no one else, including ourselves.
Endurance is required to reach our goal of bringing the Kingdom of Heaven here. We must run our race with endurance. Without endurance, it's a sprint, and, while it may have great results, we don't want to be disqualified ourselves.
What trials are you facing? I know we're facing some big ones. Thank God today for your trials, not because of the pain, but because of the long-term result, which we may not see for a very long time.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
James 1:1a
"James, a bond-servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Chris,"
James declared himself a "bond-servant." What is that? A servant is one who serves (duh!), but a bond-servant implies something a little different.
When a servant or a slave had worked long enough to pay off a debt (or if the time limit on debt had run out...Jewish culture had such an awesome way of dealing with debt), he could make the choice to go out on his own as a free man, or he could stay with his master, because he loved his master, and was then a bond-servant.
A bond-servant doesn't serve because that's his job or because he's paying off a debt or because that's the position he was born to. A bond-servant serves because he loves his master. James declared himself a bond-servant because he served Christ out of love for Christ, not out of obligation to repay the enormous debt which all of us who have accepted Christ's salvation have been relieved of.
Are you a bond-servant, or just someone trying to work to earn the salvation you've already been given?
James declared himself a "bond-servant." What is that? A servant is one who serves (duh!), but a bond-servant implies something a little different.
When a servant or a slave had worked long enough to pay off a debt (or if the time limit on debt had run out...Jewish culture had such an awesome way of dealing with debt), he could make the choice to go out on his own as a free man, or he could stay with his master, because he loved his master, and was then a bond-servant.
A bond-servant doesn't serve because that's his job or because he's paying off a debt or because that's the position he was born to. A bond-servant serves because he loves his master. James declared himself a bond-servant because he served Christ out of love for Christ, not out of obligation to repay the enormous debt which all of us who have accepted Christ's salvation have been relieved of.
Are you a bond-servant, or just someone trying to work to earn the salvation you've already been given?
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