On to the next few verses…
As believers, we’ve learned that trials work patience in our life.
There are some basics in our Christian life: having Joy ~ facing trials ~ learning patience
…back to having Joy.
It’s a cycle.
And we’ve learned that we must be single minded and
Ask God for His wisdom ~ Be confident that He will lead us ~ Continue in this direction with faith!
Today we’re talking through James 1:9-12
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.
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.
I must admit, I do not recall ever having heard these verses taught, outside of the last one. It’s easy to want to talk about receiving a crown! 🙂
But the poor should rejoice in being exalted and the rich should rejoice in being made low… and the reason for this upside-down-thinking is that we are each going to fade away from this life, as the grass withereth and the flower falleth.
Since James is speaking to believers about trials and patience and asking for wisdom, I tend to think that James is telling us to realize we are all equal before God.
No matter our social or economic positions on this earth {which can change quickly, God see us each, equally, as His child [those of us who are believers]. Just as we, as moms [since I mostly write from my mom-perspective], love each of our children with all of our being, God loves each of us equally.
Of course, sometimes one child or another will be worthy of a blessing whereas another will be in need of gentle correction and guidance back to the right path… so it is in our Spiritual Lives.
There are days when I feel that prod from the Lord that I am not where I need to be… and I’ve had a few days where I felt very close to Him and know that certain situations were a direct blessing from my obedience.
In the end, we will ALL fade away from this life and enter into His Presence on equal ground. No amount of poverty or riches from this life will influence our rewards in Heaven.
Through faith-trials, Patience works her Perfect Work in each of us.
And God offers His Wisdom to anyone who will ask it of Him… with a steadfast faith.
And when we endure the temptations, we will be blessed. We can receive a Crown of Life… which is promised to those that love the Lord and endure through the tribulation {even being faithful unto death [Revelations 2:9-11]}.
I do believe there is so much more we could learn just from verse 12 and the cross-reference mentioned about trials and patience and faithfulness and our testimonies; but this is a blog post, not a book 🙂
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