Do we KNOW what the "testing" of our faith does?
There are so many Scriptures that we know, we memorize, we quote...but do we actually believe them? Do we "know" them more than merely in a cognitive way?
When someone has been injured and they are going through rehabilitation, they don't really know how they are doing until they have "tested" themselves in some way. For example, putting weight on a leg where there has been a knee injury. Then one walks on the leg. Eventually one attempts to run on the leg.
That is exactly what the Scriptures teach when it comes to faith. How do we KNOW that we have faith? We can guess, we can imagine OR it can be TESTED. And it is IN THE TESTING that we discover what our faith consists of and it is in the successful testing of our faith that we grow.
James 1:3 - "for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness/endurance"
Do we KNOW this? Do we believe this? We should know it because for all those times that have been challenging but where we were able to walk through them, we grew.
Right now, globally, Christians are being tested with this COVID-19 virus. Will we trust the Lord? Will we resist succumbing to fear? Will we believe God's promises of protection and/or for healing?
This is where the rubber hits the road. This is where we get to see what our faith is made of.
Let us be assured that this TESTING will, in fact, produce in our lives one of the greatest things in all of God's Word - ENDURANCE. We know that "those who endure until the end WILL BE saved" (Matt. 24:13). We know that the Apostle in the book of Hebrews praises the man or woman of faith who endures!
We are being tested. I pray the fruit of that testing in my own life is endurance/steadfastness!
When someone has been injured and they are going through rehabilitation, they don't really know how they are doing until they have "tested" themselves in some way. For example, putting weight on a leg where there has been a knee injury. Then one walks on the leg. Eventually one attempts to run on the leg.
That is exactly what the Scriptures teach when it comes to faith. How do we KNOW that we have faith? We can guess, we can imagine OR it can be TESTED. And it is IN THE TESTING that we discover what our faith consists of and it is in the successful testing of our faith that we grow.
James 1:3 - "for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness/endurance"
Do we KNOW this? Do we believe this? We should know it because for all those times that have been challenging but where we were able to walk through them, we grew.
Right now, globally, Christians are being tested with this COVID-19 virus. Will we trust the Lord? Will we resist succumbing to fear? Will we believe God's promises of protection and/or for healing?
This is where the rubber hits the road. This is where we get to see what our faith is made of.
Let us be assured that this TESTING will, in fact, produce in our lives one of the greatest things in all of God's Word - ENDURANCE. We know that "those who endure until the end WILL BE saved" (Matt. 24:13). We know that the Apostle in the book of Hebrews praises the man or woman of faith who endures!
We are being tested. I pray the fruit of that testing in my own life is endurance/steadfastness!
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