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The Book of James Lsn # 4, 'I’ve Got That Joy Down In My Heart' Part 2
Trials may seem bad at first but the outcome is designed for good because God only wants
what’s best for us and He knows exactly what will cause us to grow up spiritually and glorify
Him in the process. No one shares God’s non-circumstance dependent joy without His Word in
them because lasting joy comes from processing biblical truth, so if our inner happiness is based
on the mind of Christ, it’s permanent. The only way we will ever enjoy life, our family, our jobs,
other people in our social life or anything else we consider near and dear is through biblical truth
producing God’s inner, unshakable joy in us. The world says: “If you’re healthy, you’ll be
happy” but God says: “If you’re happy, you’ll be healthy!” Proverbs 4:20-22. Self-discipline
links our free-will with our spiritual growth which is the number one priority of the Royal
Family of God and it’s only achieved through the inculcation of biblical truth from consistently
taking in Bible classes and without that, we’d never experience advancement to spiritual
maturity. The spiritually mature set aside the superficialities of life and concentrate on the
essentials of life by avoiding the distractions of pleasure and all the things which would conflict
with daily Bible study. And spiritual maturity is actually only the beginning of success in the
Christian life, not the end and it’s achieved by self-discipline related to the experiential plan of
God and it will continue in exactly the same way! James doesn’t say the pressure of the trial
is joyous; he says it’s our consideration of the entire situation that’s a wonderful source of pure
joy that we wouldn't know otherwise! And in order to consider or count it all pure joy, we must
realize that there is something good even in the worst of circumstances. “Most believers want to
embrace the better of God’s blessings rather than the better hope of God’s presence” Dr. Larry
Crabbe. It’s not the trial itself but the results of the trial that should always remain in our focus.
In that first moment when we all see the Lord Jesus Christ face to face, we will not regret the
painful trials we experienced in this life; what we will regret are the times we were too afraid to
trust Him enough to obey Him! It’s much better to remain silent than to hurt someone with the
wrong words. Pure joy is a serious matter; Hebrews 12:2. Biblical wisdom provides long-term
solutions. God calls us to experience His purpose which mandatorily includes conflict and
suffering. Our emotions cannot be commanded. Undeserved suffering can be a major distraction
to our spiritual success. The Test: Will we apply what we have learned in Bible class?
The Problem: Prayer is not designed by God to be one of His grace solutions for our difficulties.
GOD’S GRACE SOLUTIONS: 1. Post-salvation sin recovery/Power option #1 2. The Filling of
the Holy Spirit/Power option #2 3. The Faith-rest life 4. Grace-oriented focus 5. Biblical truth-
oriented focus 6. Awareness of our ultimate destiny in Christ 7. Personal love for God the Father
8. Impersonal love for God’s creation 9. Sharing God’s unshakable joy 10. Concentration on the
Lord Jesus Christ.