Life audio
 hello thank you for listening to your daily Bible verse the podcast that examines one verse each day to learn more about box and I'm excited to let you know that my latest devotional book has just released keeping hope alive devotions for strength in the storm contains portions that providing in bite-sized pieces for Minds on overload your coffee wherever Christian books are sold after this short word from our sponsor will dive into today's Bible verse James 1 2
 today's Bible verses James 12 brothers and sisters when Troubles of any kind come your way considering an opportunity for great joy
 one morning I read today's Bible verse in my quiet time and it seemed to leap off the page in a fresh way I thought to myself how the perspective God wants us to have towards problems is so different from our human been this is really good stuff I have no way of knowing at this first was about to become very personal 12 hours later my left Achilles tendon rupture and I landed in a non weight-bearing cast for three months I lived in a three-story townhouse at the time and my bedroom was on the Upper Floor so that night I found my way up 15 stairs with no idea how I'd managed to get into bed once I reach the top but one thing I did know I would need to put this first into practice for the next three months would be long and miserable and if I was miserable everyone in my family would be miserable too
 a lot hung on my willingness and ability to apply this command
 James wrote these words to Believers facing persecution
 their troubles were far more serious than mine persecution had increased after Stephen's martyrdom and Christians were scattered throughout the Roman Empire fairly young and their face and the support of well-established churches they were often tempted to settle for an intellectual knowledge about Christianity rather than Embrace its life-changing truth so James wrote a letter to encourage them in their face in the midst of a hostile environment
 he wasted no time addressing an important matter when Troubles of any kind come your way he wrote he could have said if Troubles of any kind come your way but doing so would have given the Believers false hope I'm a trouble-free life and that's not the way life works we all know that we all experienced troubles it's not a matter of if but when James got it right
 he knew his audience face persecution for their face but he knew they'd faced problems of other sorts as well perhaps that's why he address this topic with a wide brushstroke using the words Troubles of any kind problems coming every shape and size they might be health-related cancer for instance long-haul covid or chronic pain they might be relationship-based or involve Financial concerns the list of potential problem seems endless natural disasters accident parenting stress being overlooked for a job promotion or waiting on God to answer to a prayer trade for what feels like forever those are just a few there are many other specifics are as unique as our DNA
 whatever our troubles look like we as Believers are to demonstrate an attitude contrary to our natural bent that is where to consider these troubles as opportunities for Joy not something to be avoided James Roche great joy we discover the reason for this great joy when we read the next couple of verses James 13-24 say 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
 there is no one denies that troubles are painful but they do provide opportunities for Great Joy because of the outcome they strengthen us and build endurance into our lives perhaps we can compare them to physical exercise my husband and I do cardio and weight-lifting exercise has several mornings a week because we want to be strong sometimes those exercises later that pain isn't enjoyable at the time but the outcome is good and makes a temporary pain worthwhile
 troubles strength in our spiritual muscles they develop stamina patience and perseverance they refine our faith they burn off the dross to reveal pure gold
 Peter encourage Believers with a message nearly identical to the one James offered in 1st Peter 1 6 and 7 he wrote so be truly glad there's wonderful joy ahead even though you must endure many trials for a little while these trials will show that your faith is genuine is being tested as fire test and purifies gold so your face is far more precious than mere gold so when your faith remains strong through many trials it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on a day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world
 our perspective toward our problems is vital to our spiritual growth opportunities for Joy because they strengthen and refiner face leads to God's blessing. God bless and temptation of life that God has promised to those who love him
 it's so my friend what trouble are you facing today
 what is an opportunity for joy
 for allowing troubles in our lives we much prefer to do life without problems but our spiritual muscles would grow flabby and useless help us look at them to your eyes and see them as opportunities for great joy in Jesus name I'm in the production of life and if you like what you heard today please take a second to rate and review this podcast in your favorite podcast app so that more listeners like you can find the show for more faith build inspirational podcast visit us at life audio.com