Complete Believers
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2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds,
3 because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.
4 Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
5 If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.
6 But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.
7 That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord;
8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.
1. Complete believers find pure joy in the midst of trials
1. Complete believers find pure joy in the midst of trials
Pure is free of contamination
Pure joy is not contaminated by what happens to you
Pure joy has to do with your position in Christ
11 You reveal the path of life to me; in your presence is abundant joy; at your right hand are eternal pleasures.
Learn to run to the Lord in the midst of trials
Jesus is always in the boat with you
2. Complete believers stand against trials
2. Complete believers stand against trials
The story of an eagle in a chicken pen
If you hang out with chickens you will never fly
You are an eagle
Rise above the storm
Face the trials, stand firm, and watch God deliver you
23 Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.
Don’t let the negative happenings around you enter your heart
Your heart determines your boundaries
The eagle adapted to its environment and acted like chickens
3. Complete believers are finishers
3. Complete believers are finishers
Perseverance is the capacity to hold out in the face of difficulty
Perseverance must finish its work
Don’t get out of the oven before you are fully cooked
12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.
The trial is not permanent
The trial has a purpose
Let God reveal it to you
Continue in prayer
4. Complete believers know God to be Jehovah-Jireh
4. Complete believers know God to be Jehovah-Jireh
God does not need our help to provide for us
God does not need our help to protect us from evil
God does not need the peoples permission to provide
God provides for those who ask and do not doubt
Get rid of your doubt
Your doubt imagines the worst before it happens, why not imagine the best—belief
God does not run out of blessings for us
17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.
God is still Jehovah-Jireh
5. Complete believers are stable
5. Complete believers are stable
To be unstable pertains to being unable to be controlled by something or someone—not controlled by, not subject to, uncontrolled; liable to fall or sway; marked by emotional instability
Stable means not likely to fall or give way, firm, steady. Able or likely to continue or last, firmly established, permanent; resistant to sudden change or deterioration; not wavering or changeable in character or purpose; dependable
1 It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.
Don’t be tossed around by every news report
Don’t let your faith be shattered by negative reports
Whose report will you believe?
58 Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.
Complete believers are not moved by the happenings
Complete believers are moved by the Spirit of God
13 Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong.
Complete believers are always on guard
Complete believers are proponents of the Faith
Complete believers are courageous because they know that if God is for us, He is more than the world against us
Complete believers are strong even when they are weak
Don’t lose your faith over negative reports
The Word of Truth outweighs facts