Trials of Faith

Satan is the enemy of our souls. He loves destruction, division, discord. He will use anything he can to discourage us and he often uses our relationships. :broken_heart: All it might take for him to get a foothold is for us to take our eyes off the Lord and to look around at others who seem to have it easier. Believe me, appearances are deceiving. God is bigger tham our problems! :raising_hands:

We really don’t know what others are going through… Psalm 84:11 tells us God is a sun and shield. He bestows favor and honor, but we need to hold onto the last part of the verse with both hands. God said he will not withhold any good thing from those who walk uprightly.

We need to trust he really is a Father who knows best. Yes, in this world, we will have trials. But God is with us in those trials. And take heart, he has overcome the world. :latin_cross:

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Paul’s Sufferings as an Apostle
2Co 11:16 Let me say again that no one must think that I am a fool, but if you do, please treat me like a fool and let me do a little boasting too, as other fools do.
2Co 11:17 But when I talk in this boastful confidence, I am not talking in accordance with the way the Lord talked, but just as a fool talks.
2Co 11:18 Since many boast in accordance with their human nature, I will do it too.
2Co 11:19 For you who are so wise yourselves are glad to listen to fools!
2Co 11:20 For you listen to a man, if he makes you his slave, or spends your money for his living, or cheats you, or puts on airs, or slaps you in the face.
2Co 11:21 I am ashamed to say that I was, as it were, so weak in the matter. And yet in whatever respect anyone else is daring to boast – I am talking like a fool – I too will dare to boast.
2Co 11:22 Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they descendants of Abraham? So am I.
2Co 11:23 Are they ministers of Christ? So am I. I am talking like a man that has gone crazy – as such I am superior! – serving Him with labors greater by far, with far more imprisonments, with floggings vastly worse, and often at the point of death.
2Co 11:24 Five times I have taken thirty-nine lashes from the Jews,
2Co 11:25 three times I have been beaten by the Romans, once I was pelted with stones; three times I have been shipwrecked, and once I have spent a day and a night adrift at sea.
2Co 11:26 I have served Him on frequent journeys, in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my own people, dangers from the heathen, dangers in the city, dangers in the desert, dangers at sea, dangers from false brothers,
2Co 11:27 through toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, through hunger and thirst, through many a fasting season, poorly clad and exposed to cold.
2Co 11:28 Besides all other things, there is my concern for all the churches.
2Co 11:29 Who is weak without my being weak too? Who is caused to fall without my being fired with indignation?
2Co 11:30 If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness!
2Co 11:31 The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, who is blessed forever, knows that I am telling the truth.
2Co 11:32 At Damascus the governor under King Aretas kept guards watching the city gates to capture me,
2Co 11:33 but through a hole in the wall I was lowered in a basket, and so escaped from his clutches.

Act 16:22 The crowd also joined in the attack upon them, and the chiefs of the police court had them stripped and flogged.
Act 16:23 After flogging them severely, they put them into jail, and gave the jailer orders to keep close watch on them.
Act 16:24 Because he had such strict orders, he put them into the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.

Act 14:19 But some Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and won the crowds by persuasion, and they stoned Paul, and dragged him outside the town, supposing he was dead.

2Ti 3:12 Yes, indeed, everyone who wants to live a godly life as a follower of Christ Jesus will be persecuted.
2Ti 3:13 But bad men and imposters will go on from bad to worse,
misleading others and misled themselves.
2Ti 3:14 But you, on your part, must continue to abide by what you have learned and been led to rely upon, because you know from whom you learned it
2Ti 3:15 and that from childhood you have known the sacred Scriptures which can give you wisdom that leads to salvation through the faith that leans on Christ Jesus.
2Ti 3:16 All Scripture is inspired by God, and useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in doing what is right,
2Ti 3:17 so that the man of God may be perfectly fit, thoroughly equipped for every good enterprise.

Php 1:29 For it has been graciously granted to you for Christ’s sake, not only to trust in Him but also to suffer for Him,
Php 1:30 since you are having the same struggle that you once saw me have and which you hear that I am still having.

Jas 1:2 You must consider it the purest joy, my brothers, when you are involved in various trials,
Jas 1:3 for you surely know that what is genuine in your faith produces the patient mind that endures;
Jas 1:4 but you must let your endurance come to its perfect product, so that you may be fully developed and perfectly equipped, without any defects.

J.

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Trials and Tribulations will come. Bad things DO happen to good People. Your walk as a Child of God will NOT be all Roses and Ice Cream. Why? Perhaps one of the most obvious reasons is this.

“But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.” Luke 22:32

Now you are in God’s Family, there is no longer anything to worry about. Yet, this does not mean you will coast through life without a care in the world. This is simply not the case. Since God came and plucked you out of the devil’s hand, Satan will be angry and will attempt to attack you and keep you down, and to keep you from leading anyone else away from him.

“Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you. Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? It is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.” Matthew 5:10-13

I can hear someone now saying, "Wait a second. I don’t get it. I understand the whole concept of Salvation. I get that. I get that Jesus died for my sins. That I allowed His blood to be mine, Him suffering all Sin that was, is, and ever will be for my Sin, and His death so that I may live. I understand that the Holy Spirit, the same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead, is now in me. I don’t understand.

This world is dominated by the devil. The world hates God. Therefore, the world may very well hate you for His sake. It really isn’t more complicated than that. When you are of the world, and you are doing the things of the world, the world loves you. But now you are no longer “of” the world, but you are still in it. So the world HATES anything that has anything to do with God.

Look at Job, Peter, Paul, or any of the Saints. Job received much more than he lost. Peter made the statement that became the rock on which Jesus said He would build His Church, and Paul wrote a lot of the New Testament. However, none of these things is worthy to be compared to that which awaits us in Heaven. Here is something that you may have been taught incorrectly. God does not tempt you.

“Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. Do not err, my beloved brethren.”

Doing the Will of God. Being a Sower of the Seed. A Shower of The Way. A Teller of Truth. Once you become a Child of God, it is up to you to follow Jesus or not. It is up to you to allow the Spirit to guide you or not. Do not think for a second that God doesn’t know who you are. Do not think for a second that you can not accomplish whatever it is that God instructs you to do. Do not think for a second that you can not overcome the Trials and Tribulations that may come into your life. Make no mistake about it, they WILL come. But He has already overcome the world.
Peter

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Actually @PeterC …

“Let no one say” This is a PRESENT ACTIVE IMPERATIVE with the NEGATIVE PARTICLE which usually means “stop saying.” The implication is that some believers were saying this or, more probably, that this reflects the literary technique called diatribe (i.e., a supposed objector is addressed; note Malachi) used often by James.

“when he is tempted”

The context implies that one saying that he is tempted by God is attempting to make his sin God’s fault. The word tempted (peirasmois) is used in James 1:2 in the sense of outward trials, but here the verbal form is used of temptation. God provides, or allows, testing (cf. Matt. 4:1), but Satan does it (i.e., Job 1-2).

“Tempted” (peirazō) is a present passive participle (i.e., “he is being tempted”), which often has the connotation of “testing with a view toward destruction.” It is the opposite connotation of the word “test” (dokimazō) used in James 1:3,12.

SPECIAL TOPIC: GREEK TERMS FOR TESTING AND THEIR CONNOTATIONS

“I am being tempted by God” God is not the source of evil (cf. Ecclesiasticus 15:11,15,20).

“for God cannot be tempted by evil” This means either

not temptable
“untrained in evil,” which means that God has no connection or experience with evil.

“He Himself does not tempt anyone”

However, the Bible records several of God’s tests: Abraham, Gen. 22:1; Israel, Deut, 8:2; Jesus, Matt. 4:1; and believers, Matt. 6:13.

This statement seems to be caught up in the differing connotations between the terms “tempt” (peirazō, cf. James 1:13), and “test” (dokimazō, cf. James 1:3,12).

God does not tempt so as to destroy, but He does test so as to strengthen.

SPECIAL TOPIC: GOD TESTS HIS PEOPLE (OT)

1:14 “when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust”

These two VERBS were used of trapping and luring animals into captivity. We tend to blame others for our sin. We may blame God, the devil, parents, society, education, etc. We are our own worst enemy (cf. 1 Pet. 1:14; 2 Pet. 2:18). The Bible speaks of three enemies of humanity: the world, the flesh, and the devil (cf. James 4:1-7; Eph. 2:1-3). In this context, “the flesh,” or our Adamic nature, is the culprit (cf. Ecclesiasticus 15:14-15).

Notice that Satan is not even mentioned in this section on human sinfulness. Neither is he mentioned in Paul’s section in Romans on human sin (cf. chapters 1-3). Satan is a real tempter, but he cannot force humans to sin and is, therefore, no excuse for their moral failures.

Hence…

The Bible teaches us that God does indeed test believers, and these tests are often for our growth and to reveal His faithfulness.

One well-known passage is found in James. It says, “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” (James 1:2-4 ESV). This shows that trials are not meant to crush us, but to refine our faith and make us more mature.

Another scripture that speaks to God’s testing is in 1 Corinthians. The Apostle Paul writes, “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.” (1 Corinthians 10:13 ESV). This verse assures us that God’s tests are manageable and that He always provides a way through them.

In Hebrews, we read about God’s discipline. It states, “For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens every son whom he receives.” (Hebrews 12:6 ESV).

This discipline, or testing, is a sign of God’s love and His desire for us to live righteously.

The book of Deuteronomy also touches on this, reminding the Israelites, “You shall remember all the way that the LORD your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not.” (Deuteronomy 8:2 ESV).

Here, the testing was to reveal their hearts and their obedience.

Finally, 1 Peter encourages believers facing hardship. He writes, “In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found leading to praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 1:6-7 ESV).

This highlights that the purpose of these tests is to prove the true, enduring quality of our faith.
These scriptures reveal that God’s tests are purposeful, aimed at strengthening our faith, revealing His faithfulness, and ultimately bringing Him glory.

J.

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“Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finshed, bringeth forth death.”

Can we go deeper? @PeterC

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