April 5, 2020
Pastors Dave and Cheryl Koop
Follow us: @davidkkoop @koopcheryl
To turn you trial into a triumph you must choose:
1. Joy instead of despair.
My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. – James 1:2,3 NKJV
a. If you value comfort more than character during a trial you will not endure.
b. If you value material things more than spiritual things you will not endure.
c. Your outlook determines your outcome and your attitude determines your action.
But he knows where I am going. And when he tests me, I will come out as pure as gold. – Job 23:10 NLT
2. Persevering instead of giving up.
But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. – James 1:4 NKJV
a. Patience is not passive but a confident expectation that God is going to come through on His promises, no matter how long it takes.
b. The trials of life work for us, not against us.
We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised. – Hebrews 6:12 NIV
3. Wisdom instead of folly.
If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. -James 1:5 NLT
a. God is the source of wisdom and He has not hidden it from you, but for you!
b. Wisdom is the capacity to look at a circumstance and see it from God’s viewpoint.
c. Knowledge comes from study and involves your mental capacities whereas wisdom comes from God and involves your heart.
d. You can’t control the forces coming against you causing you pressure, but you can increase the area factor and decrease the pressure. (P=F/A)
Get wisdom; develop good judgment. Don’t forget my words or turn away from them. Don’t turn your back on wisdom, for she will protect you. Love her, and she will guard you. – Proverbs 4:5,6 NLT
4. Faith instead of fear.
But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. – James 1:6 NLT
a. Focus on the promise not the problem. If you focus on the problem, your life will be tossed around and become unstable.
b. It is the spiritual resources that take you through the tests of life, not the material resources.
c. God will use trials to wean us from immature attitudes that keep us from growing up.
But I have calmed and quieted myself, I am like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child I am content. - Psalm 131:2 NIV
5. Altruism instead of selfishness
“My dear friends, you should be quick to listen and slow to speak or to get angry. If you are angry, you cannot do any of the good things that God wants done.” – James 1:19,20 CEV
True spirituality that is pure in the eyes of our Father God is to make a difference in the lives of the orphans, and widows in their troubles, and to refuse to be corrupted by the world’s values. - James 1:27 TPT
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. - James 1:12 NIV