Count it all joy?

Why would the writer James utter the above statement? The statement actually reads, "Count it all joy when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience or endurance" (James 1:2). The word count means to consider. The writer James is not saying that tests are joy. They are not, they are painful. And truth be told, none of us want trials in our lives at all. James said to consider them joy because of what trials produce in us, patience or endurance which is a fruit of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22). 

This type of attitude requires a laser focus on God and the truth of his word. If we are to discover that our faith is genuine, it has to be put to the test. The way God has decided to do that is through challenges in our lives. The archetype of the one who was righteous and suffered greatly in the Old Testament was Job. Job lost everything. He became so destitute and despaired of life that he cursed the day of his birth and wished he had never been born (Job 3). Yet Job testified, "Though he (God) slay me yet will I trust him" (Job 13:15). 

The life of Jesus as a suffering servant

About 700 years before the birth of Christ Isaiah the prophet said this about the Messiah, "He was despised and rejected and forsaken by men. A man of sorrows and pains, and acquainted with grief and sickness; and like one from whom men hide their faces He was despised, and we did not appreciate His worth or have any esteem for Him (Isaiah 53:3). In the tenth verse of this chapter, it tells us that it pleased the Lord to bruise Christ (Isaiah 53:10). 

Hebrews 12:2 tells us that we are to fix our eyes on Jesus who is the author and finisher of our faith. About Him it says that for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of  God. Now, what was the joy set before Jesus? It has to be two things: 1) fulfilling the Father's will. 2) Redeeming all those the Father gave to Him to come and save. The second point is a subset of the first one.

What this tells me is that our suffering must have an end game, an exit strategy. We should not be suffering for nothing. In other words, we should not be suffering for doing evil, but for doing good; therein lies the joy. Knowing that our suffering for righteousness is NEVER in vain! It is also essential that we pass the test(s) that we are going through so that they do not lead us to temptation and to sin. 

So, when you are going through your trials, that is the perfect time to examine your life and ask yourself, "Am I in or out of the will of God?" If you are out of the will of God, then repent immediately. If you are in the will of God, then pray and endure the fiery trial. Although it is painful, and you want it over, do not give up for God will see you through. He is pressing you so that your faith in Him will strengthen and you can count it all joy.

Final thought: "No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it" (1 Corinthians 10:13). 

God is love

The Bible tells us repeatedly that God is love, and that he is (1 John 4:8). That is why mankind is commanded to love one another. Jesus said to the disciples in John 13:35, "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another as I have loved you, that you love one another. By this, all men will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another."

Love is the supreme virtue of all God's attributes. From his love flows everything else. But what I would like to discuss is what God's love isn't. 

The world's view of God's love is unbiblical. Why? Because it is viewed through a corrupt human lense. The world has replaced God's perfect love for an unholy tolerance of their sins. You have all heard the phrase, "Well God knows my heart." This phrase is used as an escape hatch to excuse one's guilt for the sin(s) they are committing. In their mind, it gets them off the hook with God - so they think.  Since the world's view of God's love is wrong, they divest the Lord of his other immutable attributes such as his wrath, his anger, his hatred of sin and judgment on sinners.  From the world's perspective, the above adjectives regarding God are foreign to him; the fire and brimstone God everyone despises and fears. The kind and tolerant god of this age is the one that everyone prefers. This god makes the world feel better about themselves and there is nothing to fear.

We have neglected God's mercy and grace so much that when calamity strikes in our lives, we (i.e. mankind) blame God for his apparent neglect and supposed insensitivity to our plight. What we must remember is that God must and will always punish sin. Where the world makes their grave mistake is that because God does not exact judgment swiftly all the time, man thinks he is getting away with his sin. Not so! There is a time and a place for everything. God will not remain patient forever with evil doers.

Judgment is coming!

Another magnificent virtue of God is that he is holy. That means he is completely righteous perfect and separate from sinners. As a matter of fact, the Bible commands us to be holy for God is holy (Leviticus 11:44; 1 Peter 1:16). The Bible tells us that without holiness, no one will see the Lord (Hebrews 12:14). Translation, dirty people will never see the Lord. Obviously, I am not talking about physical uncleanness, but regarding a person as degenerate - unsaved meaning they are morally unclean and spiritually dead in God's sight. 

God's love is varied for sure. We cannot look at God's love as passive, turning a blind eye to sin. If we are offended and repulsed by mankind's sins and we are sinful ourselves, how much more does our sinless God have the right to be offended by man's wickedness and judge it? How hypocritical of man to want justice for trespasses committed against them, and not expect God to execute justice against unrepentant sinners? It is a violation of God's holy character 

So, in order for us to know God's love, we need to examine the scripture carefully. Love always tells the truth, no matter how painful it may be to hear. Mankind does not have the right to determine for God what his love is. God has declared it clearly in his word and in the person of Jesus Christ. We must bow the knee to what scripture declares about God's love. Once we understand it, we must practice it by loving all people - way easier said than done; so many people are unlovable.

God is love, always. However, that does not mean that God will not execute judgment on sinners. As a matter of fact, God must judge sin for his holiness' sake. Just like any human judge must execute justice against convicted criminals, God who is the perfect judge must punish all recalcitrant sinners. In this way, God's love is delivering and providing safety from evil people; from those who hate him. 

God is not less loving when he is judging and punishing evil; his character is immutable. Rather, he is exhibiting tough love. Not a love we as sinful people want to endure. But because of man's disobedience, God has to react with anger and wrath against the sin so that man may fear him and would be willing to repent to escape his righteous and fair judgment. 

God is loving mankind by providing sober warnings to them.

God so loved the world that he gave his only Begotten Son (John 3:16). Jesus so loved the world that he died to save it; that is mankind from their sins. Although the reality of Jesus coming to earth to die for the sins of the world is an ancient story, it still baffles and angers man because it is a supernatural love that we will never fully understand. Why in the world would a loving Father sent his perfect sinless son to die for undeserving wretched human beings? Because of his love. Also because we need it in order for us to be forgiven of our sins and be saved. That type of love is perfect because it is sacrificial - benefiting all who place their faith in Jesus' atoning sacrifice. 

Matthew 12:43-45

Jesus said in the title verses above, "When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and does not find it. Then it says, 'I will return to my house from which I came'; and when it comes, it finds it unoccupied, swept, and put in order. Then it goes and takes along with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there, and the last state of that man is worse than the first. That is the way it will also be with this evil generation."

To understand what He meant, we have to understand the entire context. The religious leaders said that Jesus was casting out demons by the power of Beelzebub the prince of demons; in essence Satan (Matthew 12:24). Jesus exposed the foolishness of their logic. He said, "If Satan casts out himself how can his kingdom stand" (Matthew 12:26-27)? In other words, why would anyone fight against themselves? Why would anyone tear themselves down? That is lunacy. The Pharisees' jealousy and hatred of Jesus blinded their reasoning to the degree that they would say anything to discredit Him; not realizing the enormity and danger of their hatred Jesus had to warn them that blaspheming the Holy Spirit would place a person in an unforgivable state with God! You never want to attribute the power of God to that of the devil, ever (Matthew 12:31-32). 

Jesus also made it clear to them that they were against Him because of their adversarial attitude. They were not in support of Him or His ministry. 

Jesus provides two Old Testaments accounts of those who were wise and listened to God's word: the Ninevites during the preaching of Jonah, and the Queen of the south who came from very far to listen to the wisdom of Solomon. Jesus said that both the people of Nineveh and the Queen of the south will rise up in the judgment and condemn His generation because they heeded the Word of God in their day and one greater than Jonah and Solomon was in their midst, namely Jesus Himself (Matthew 12:40-42). 

Finally, Jesus likened His generation to a man who had a demon cast out of him. The demon is looking for an oasis but does not find any. The demon decides to return to the house (i.e. man) that he formerly possessed. The man is cured but apparently has not changed his ways. So the demon returns and brings seven more unclean spirits more wicked than itself and they dwell in that house. The last state of that man is worse than before. Jesus said that is the state of the generation that He lived in. That is also the state of any unrepentant person or generation.

You see Jesus is the light of the world (John 9:5). The light shines on all so that darkness is removed. But when one loves darkness rather than light because of their evil deeds, wickedness will prevail in that person's life (John 3:19). When one is exposed to the true light of Jesus' love and power and decides to reject it, you will be worse off than you were before the light of Jesus came to you. It is as if you were cured of evil by God's power but you remained recalcitrant. Sadly, for a person like that, because you did not put on Jesus Christ (Romans 13:14), you have left yourself wide open for Satan to take control. When the devil returns, he will make sure he will have a greater hold on that rebellious person's life so that they are worse off later than they were before they were exposed to the love and healing power of Jesus Christ.

Two passages all need to take heed to, "Behold NOW (emphasis added) is the acceptable time, behold now is the day of salvation" (2 Corinthians 6:2b).

"Today if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as when they provoked me" (Hebrews 3:15).

Can someone sell their soul to the devil?

Many of us have heard tales or read stories of those who supposedly sold their souls to the devil for a life of riches, indulgence, and luxury on earth only to want to renege on their deal with the devil when their life is over. Can one offer their soul to the devil for sale? Let's take a look at some Bible passages to gain some insight into this serious matter.

To my knowledge, the only person the devil approached about selling his soul to him was the Lord Jesus Christ at the temptation described in the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. The gospel of John does not record the temptation of Christ.

I want to look at the third temptation Satan presented to Jesus. In Matthew 4:8-11 we read, "Again, the devil takes Him up into an exceeding high mountain and shows Him all the kingdoms of the world, and their glory: And says unto Him (Jesus), all these things will I give You, if You will fall down and worship me. Then Jesus said unto him, "Get behind me Satan, for it is written, You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only shall you serve." 

The devil's wicked proposition obviously did not work with Jesus. The Lord used the greatest weapon at His disposal, the Sword of the Spirit (Ephesians 6:17), the Word of Truth to extinguish Satan's fiery darts (again Ephesians 6:16,17). 

In truth, all those who are not in Christ already belong to the devil - body, soul, and spirit. 1 John 5:19 says the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. Jesus told the religious leaders of His day that they were of their father the devil (John 8:44). So the devil does not have to purchase what already belongs to him. The idea of selling one's soul to the devil is a lie from the devil himself! Remember Jesus also said the devil is a liar. Here is the entire text of John 8:44, "You are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father you will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks of his own. For he is a liar and the father of it."

To think that you can bargain with the devil is insane. Only a fool would want to do that. Those that are into the worship of the devil as if he is some type of benevolent being are deceived. The devil could never provide true happiness of any kind; not physical, financial or spiritual. He is a doomed, damned soul headed for the eternal lake of fire. He has very little time and he only wants to kill, steal, and destroy; not give anyone the "good life" (John 10:10). Anyone that rejects Jesus Christ serves the devil by default whether they know it or not, or like it or not! Bottom line is that your soul belongs to him unless you genuinely repent of your sins, and place your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then your soul will be snatched from the devil's grip and eternally placed into the loving arms of your Lord, Savior, and Creator.

What if the Bible is not true?

There are many people in this world that deny the truth of God's word. There are many that believe none of it is true. There are others that choose that some accounts are true and that other accounts are not true.  So what does one believe? Just because many people believe the Bible is not true does not invalidate its truth. And just because someone believes something is true when it is not will never make it objectively true.

We have many people today making the declaration that, "Truth is relative. There is no absolute truth!" Those that make that bold unwise claim have not taken the time to consider that that is a self-refuting statement - a strawman. Let me prove what I mean. For one to say that there is no absolute truth is to deny their own statement is absolutely true. Let me explain further: To say there is no absolute truth means that one cannot say there is no absolute truth. To do so is to contradict oneself. 

Wait a minute! What? 

Alright, let me hit it again okay? To say there is no such thing as absolute truth is an absolutely true statement in the sense that the statement was uttered even though the statement itself is not true. 

Uhhh....come again?!

Still confused? I'm still not making sense? Let me break it down.

Its absolutely true the statement there is no absolute truth was made, but the statement, in essence, is a lie. Why? Because two plus two equals four right? That is an absolutely true statement without a doubt.  No one will deny that equation. Let me provide another example of the reality of a statement being true and false at the same time. In Matthew 11:19 we read, "The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, behold a man glutton and a winebibber, a friend of tax collectors and sinners...

Now it is absolutely true that these accusations were hurled at Jesus, but the part about Him being a glutton and a drunk is not true at all. So truth can never be relative or subjective. Because if they can, then each person can manufacture and concoct any story they want and it would be accepted as truth. Fake news would not be fake news anymore in a truth-is-relative universe. Why? The truth would subjectively be in the eyes of the beholder.

What would be the ramifications of our world and existence if the Bible, God's Word is not true? Absolutely nothing in this world would matter. Absolutely nothing would make sense. We might as well be living in a dream world, a virtual reality like the Matrix. We would not know the difference between reality and fantasy. It would not matter anyway because nothing we experience would be true except in each individual's mind. Oh...wait a minute - If one does not exist you can never have a mind to even think! You wouldn't know if you really existed or not. Your parents would not be your parents. There wouldn't be any such things as parents. There would be no falling in love, sharing a kiss, no sunshine, no moonlight, no holding of hands, walking along the beach. No sweet music, no laughter. No awareness of right and wrong. 

You get the idea. Life, as we know it now, could never exist. 

Yet all these things do exist and so much more because the Bible is a reality and it is true! God's Word explains the meaning of our existence: Genesis 1:1, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." Verse 26 of the same chapter tells us God made man in His own image. It is astounding to me how haters of God and His Word continue to attack that central truth. They rather us believe that a force called evolution caused this vast universe to come into being. Nonsense! Evil men would rather believe an impersonal force created all things instead of a personal being named God so that they do not have to answer to Him. 

An attack on the Bible is a personal attack on Almighty God Himself. He is synonymous with His written word (Psalm 138:2). So if you who are reading this article, or someone you know makes the foolish statement that the Bible is not true should read the aforementioned argument in this brief diatribe. If one believes the Bible is not absolute truth, you have proven that you are utterly deceived. The fact you are reading this article proves the Bible is true. How do I know? Simple, you exist. 

To subscribe to the "truth is relative" lie is a reasoning of deconstruction. Its a house of cards on sinking sand with the wind blowing through them. The result, it is absolutely true that sorry foundation will fall and will be blown away.

Can we lose the assurance of our salvation?

This is a very important question. It is also important the reader understand the entire question. If one is truly saved, they cannot lose their salvation. God is the one that grants salvation to all those who believe, and He is the one that secures salvation forever. The scripture says, "He that began a good work in you will complete until the day of Jesus Christ" (Philippians 1:6). God is and will always be faithful to His word and to us. From the divine side, God assures and insures our salvation.

But, can we lose the assurance of our salvation? Yes. What does that mean? It means what it says. We lose confidence in the reality that we are saved. What causes this lack of assurance? I would say mainly two things: 1) doubt and 2) sin.

Doubt arises as a result of our lack of knowledge on what the Bible teaches about salvation. When a person's ignorance of the truth of salvation is high, then doubt will also be at a high level. This lack of assurance also produces fear in one's mind and heart. Salvation is still there, but for the one going through the aforementioned trauma, there is no real joy for them.

Sin also will produce a lack of assurance. If one is living in habitual sin, then it is an open door for Satan to interfere and create doubt. That is the time to run to God humbly and repent so you can be restored (1 John 1:9). The Bible commands us to make our calling and election sure (2 Peter 1:10).
That is divine wisdom because we are frail so God provides us with clear instruction on how to have individual assurance. This is what the apostle Peter instructs us to do: "Make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue knowledge, and knowledge with self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins (2 Peter 1:5-9).

That is why we are to make our calling and election sure. This is the beauty of the Word of God, it instructs on how we are to obey its commands specifically and then gives us the marching orders to do it - totally and perfectly unambiguous. God's word is totally opposite of the often inept communication we deal with every day. I believe we are in the poorest communication era of all time despite all our fancy overpriced communication technology.

Getting back to the subject at hand, Christians lose the assurance of their salvation every day. So much so that many believe losing their assurance is equal to losing actual salvation and going to hell.
See why it is important to lean on the immutable Word of God and not our own understanding?

Our feelings often betray us. Child of God you cannot allow that to happen. Here is another command of God we must employ: "Do not be conformed to this world (i.e. the world's evil system), but be transformed by the renewing of your mind (emphasis added) that you may prove what is good, acceptable and perfect will of God" (Romans 12:2).

Practical assurance is something we must do. God will not do that for us for He has already provided eternal positional assurance. If one desires a victorious Christian life then you must throw off the distractions that are holding you down - mainly our sin and lack of the knowledge of God's Word. When we have gotten rid of every encumbrance, we can live bold, confident, assured lives in Christ.  Our light will shine before God and men so that they can be drawn by God's power and we can give glory to Him.

Goal Planning or Presumption?

Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit - yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we will live and do this and that."

                                                                                                                                       -James 4:13-15

I believe it is a fair supposition that most people in the world do not heed the above admonition. Why? Because they presume on their lives - that they are going to be around to fulfill all their dreams and desires. Please do not get me wrong, I realize everyone is not arrogant when it comes to planning their lives for the future and how they desire for it to go, but I am talking about those that believe that just because they "spoke positivity into the universe" that the universe will return that "positivity" back to them. There is no such thing. Others refer to this as good and bad karma; a brainchild of Hindus and Buddhists. 

Anything anybody does whether they realize it or not is 1) a gift from God or 2) an allowance by God. Anything that is good is a gift from above (James 1:17). God provides good gifts to all despite our sinfulness.

So, back to the idea of goals. Goals are good because it allows us to challenge ourselves so we can work hard to meet certain benchmarks we have set for ourselves. It is wise to plan for the future even though we do not know what the future holds. For me personally, the best type of goals are short term goals not long term. The writer James is warning all against arrogance and presumption on our lives because we do not know what the day will bring. That is why he said we should say, "If the Lord wills we will do this or that."  The opposite of that is arrogance which is evil.

Where do you see yourself in five years?

That question irritates me. Why? Because I do not know what is going to happen an hour from now let alone five years! To me, this is boasting even if it is not with malicious intent. God says this type of boasting is evil. So, how would one answer it? I would answer it this way, "Lord willing If I am fortunate to still be around, hopefully, I will be doing..."

For me, that would be the best reply - it submits our wills to the will of the Father. To ignore God in what we do is once again is presumptuous and evil.

For those of you that believe you can of your own corrupt will plan your life are in for a divine reckoning from God. While it is never wrong to plan ahead, it is indeed evil to do so ignoring the Lord in the process. We are not the ones that cause the night and day to come, so who are we to determine how long we are going to be here? If the Lord will we will do this or that.