PASTOR JOHN COWLES
FAMILY WORSHIP ASSEMBLY
JAMES – FAITH FOR TODAY!
When Life is Hard! – Week 1
James 1:2-18
It’s an if-then statement.
If your faith is REAL then it will be evident by your ACTIONS!
CHANGE OUR
James 1:2 ESV – Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds.
James 1:2 NLT - Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy.
James 1:3 ESV – For you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.
James 1:4 ESV – And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
Job 5:7 says, “Man is born for trouble, as sparks fly upward.”
Psalm 22:11 “Be not far from me, for trouble is near.”
2 Timothy 4:7 ESV - I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.
ALWAYS ASKING
James 1:5 ESV – If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.
James 1:6 ESV – But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.
James 1:7-8 ESV – For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
Your difficulties WILL always drive you somewhere,
either towards Jesus or away from Him!
James 1:9-10 ESV – Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, 10 and the rich in his humiliation, because like a flower of the grass he will pass away.
James 1:11 ESV – For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits.
James 1:12 ESV – Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.
GOD DOES NOT
James 1:13 ESV – Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one.
Now not every temptation when yielded to leads to sin,
HOWEVER every sin is the result of a temptation!
James 1:14-15 ESV - But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. 15 Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.
James 1:16-17 ESV - Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. 17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.
James 1:18 ESV - Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
James 1:12 NLT – 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.
1 Corinthians 10:13b NLT – …And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.
James 1:12 NLT – 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.