COUNT IT ALL JOY

Psalm 110:3 (KJV) — 3 Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning: thou hast the dew of thy youth.

Luke 4:21 (NKJV) — 21 And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

Luke 4:21 (NLT) — 21 Then he began to speak to them. “The Scripture you’ve just heard has been fulfilled this very day!”

Luke 4:21 (The Living Bible, Paraphrased) — 21 Then he added, “These Scriptures came true today!”

Acts 19:20 (NKJV) — 20 So the word of the Lord grew mightily and prevailed.

Acts 19:20 (NLT) — 20 So the message about the Lord spread widely and had a powerful effect.

2 Thessalonians 3:1 (KJV) — 1 Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may have free course, and be glorified, even as it is with you:

Jeremiah 23:29 (NIV) — 29 “Is not my word like fire,” declares the Lord, “and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces?

Isaiah 55:11 (NIV) — 11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.

1 Timothy 1:18 (NKJV) — 18 This charge I commit to you, son Timothy, according to the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you may wage the good warfare,

Numbers 23:19 (NKJV) — 19 “God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?

1 Chronicles 17:23–26 (NKJV) — 23 “And now, O Lord, the word which You have spoken concerning Your servant and concerning his house, let it be established forever, and do as You have said. 24 So let it be established, that Your name may be magnified forever, saying, ‘The Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, is Israel’s God.’ And let the house of Your servant David be established before You. 25 For You, O my God, have revealed to Your servant that You will build him a house. Therefore Your servant has found it in his heart to pray before You. 26 And now, Lord, You are God, and have promised this goodness to Your servant.

James 4:2–4 (NKJV) — 2 You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask. 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures. 4 Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

James 1:2–4 (NKJV) — 2 My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. 4 But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.

James 1:12 (NIV) — 12 Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.

Perseverance is to continue doing something despite difficulty or delay in achieving success.

According to JAMES 1:2–4, 12, there are two reasons why Christians should rejoice when they face trials of various kinds.

First, we should rejoice because we know that when our faith is tested, the result is perseverance (1:2–3).

As an athlete endures in order to build up endurance, so a Christian perseveres under trial in order to build up perseverance.

Perseverance contributes something important to our character. It “must finish its work so that [we] may be mature and complete, not lacking anything” (1:4).

The alternative is a personality that may love the Lord when things are going well, a character that is bold and happy on bright days in the Spring, but knows little of steadfastness under duress, of contentment when physical comforts are withdrawn, of quiet confidence in the living God when faced with persecution, of stability in the midst of a frenetic pace or a massive disappointment.

In other words, in a fallen world perseverance contributes maturity and stability to our character—and trials build perseverance.

So James is very bold: we should, he says, “consider it pure joy” whenever we face trials of various kinds.

This is not because we just enjoy suffering for no reason, but rather because we if we remember the Christian’s goals.

If our highest goals are creature comforts, this passage is incomprehensible; if our highest goals include growth in Christian character, James’s evaluation makes eminent sense.

Second, the Christian who perseveres under trial is blessed “because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him” (1:12).

In other words, perseverance is a necessary ingredient to genuine Christianity.

A real Christian, on the long haul, sticks: he or she perseveres. There may be ups and downs, there may be special victories or temporary defeats, but precisely because the One who has begun a good work in us completes it (Phil. 1:6), real Christians stick (Heb. 3:14).

They continue to be “those who love him.”

Thus Christians facing a trial must perceive not only the threat or the unpleasantness or the disappointment, but also the challenge for which God’s grace equips us: to press on.

Knowing full well that the ultimate reward, meted out by grace, is “the crown of life”—the crown that is life

The life of the new heaven and the new earth, the heritage of all Christians.

Thus, once again James is entirely realistic to perceive that the person who perseveres under trial is “blessed.”

It is an easy calculation, provided we remember the Christian’s goals.

What are Christian Goals?

Spiritual goals are simply the steps we purposely take to draw closer to our God. As Christians, our plans must involve walking like Jesus on a daily basis to achieve the ultimate goal of developing a close relationship with God.

What does the Bible say about spiritual goals?

It’s quite simple, my dear, but so hard to do. Jesus was asked by a scribe, “What is the greatest commandment?” Jesus answered in Mark 12:30, “And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.” And, how do we love the Lord? We get our answer in Matthew 6:33, by seeking first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness, then everything else will fall into place.

In other words, we must die to self and in order to do this, we must read, know, and understand the Living Word. Gaining wisdom by reading the Holy Bible must be an aim or goal of spirituality.

Psalm 40:1–3 (NKJV) — 1 I waited patiently for the Lord; And He inclined to me, And heard my cry. 2 He also brought me up out of a horrible pit, Out of the miry clay, And set my feet upon a rock, And established my steps. 3 He has put a new song in my mouth— Praise to our God; Many will see it and fear, And will trust in the Lord.

Acts 14:22 (NKJV) — 22 strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and saying, “We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God.”

2 Corinthians 4:7–11 (NKJV) — 7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. 8 We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed—10 always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. 11 For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus’ sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.

There is a glory waiting for us when we go through suffering

2 Corinthians 4:16–18 (NKJV) — 16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. 17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, 18 while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

Galatians 6:2 (NKJV) — 2 Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

2 Corinthians 1:4 (NKJV) — 4 who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

Job 2:9–10 (NKJV) — 9 Then his wife said to him, “Do you still hold fast to your integrity? Curse God and die!” 10 But he said to her, “You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips.

Two ways to respond to suffering.

Psalm 34:19 (NKJV) — 19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous, But the Lord delivers him out of them all.

Isaiah 12:3–6 (NKJV) — 3 Therefore with joy you will draw water From the wells of salvation. 4 And in that day you will say: “Praise the Lord, call upon His name; Declare His deeds among the peoples, Make mention that His name is exalted. 5 Sing to the Lord, For He has done excellent things; This is known in all the earth. 6 Cry out and shout, O inhabitant of Zion, For great is the Holy One of Israel in your midst!”

Psalm 16:11 (NKJV) — 11 You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Nehemiah 8:10 (NKJV) — 10 Then he said to them, “Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet, and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. Do not sorrow, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”