Consider it Pure Joy

Chapter one will hit all the important themes and words that james will come back to in ch 2-5

think of it like a thesis statement

James 1:2–4 “Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. 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.”

most of the time after the introduction the writer gives a prayer of blesssing or thanksgiving, not so with james he goes right into it and hits hard

a question the believers and Jews would have been asking themselves is why are these things happening to me? Which James is not super concenered with answering, instead he looks at the purpose of suffering and sees what God is wanting to accomplish

Consider it all joy

James 1:2 “Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy.”

The joy here does not mean you can only fill joy but that intense and complete joy

All sorts of trials

what is a trial- not a temptation but an outward circumstance

this means its all trials we go through not just the small ones or just the big ones

it is struggling on tests, learning how to hold your tongue, your family, grief, mockery, poverty

we cannot avoid trials but we can chose how we react to them.

Testing of your faith

James 1:3 “For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow.”

testing is not fun, but it shows the true depth of faith

it is like refining precious metal. The more refined it is the more it is worth.

refining is melting the metal down in a crucible and removing or burning all the impurities away.

We are impure, we all do not have whole-hearted devotion to the lord. Like in rom 7

produces endurance

This is not a passive thing, but this is what faith brings to the table in hard times.

The Letter of James, Second Edition 1. Trials and Spiritual Wholeness (1:2–4)

“[endurance] is what faith, hope and love bring to an apparently impossible situation,

You will be perfect and complete

James 1:4 “So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.”

we are to strive after this with all our heart and one day we will be pure, no impurites left in us, that does not mean no diversity. You are still you, it will not be boring but wonderfully amazing

The words mean mature or complete we will no longer be lacking

endurance cannot be complete until we get to the goal we are enduring for.

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