You Are Blessed for Enduring Suffering

The Sovereignty of God
The Sovereignty of Jesus

Pioneer and Perfecter of Our Faith

James 1:12-18  The Message

¹² Anyone who meets a testing challenge head-on and manages to stick it out is mighty fortunate. For such persons loyally in love with God, the reward is life and more life.
^13-15 Don’t let anyone under pressure to give in to evil say, “God is trying to trip me up.” God is impervious to evil, and puts evil in no one’s way. The temptation to give in to evil comes from us and only us. We have no one to blame but the leering, seducing flare-up of our own lust. Lust gets pregnant, and has a baby: sin! Sin grows up to adulthood, and becomes a real killer.
^16-18 So, my very dear friends, don’t get thrown off course. Every desirable and beneficial gift comes out of heaven. The gifts are rivers of light cascading down from the Father of Light. There is nothing deceitful in God, nothing two-faced, nothing fickle. He brought us to life using the true Word, showing us off as the crown of all his creatures.

For Reflection

Some see God as the original born loser!  To them, God is the cause of all their problems.  God is to blame.

It is some times hard to blame ourselves.  Instead, we seek scapegoats.  Like a child we exclaim, "Its his fault. He made me do it."  We blame other people, other things, circumstance, the time of day, or anything but the real culprit -- our own folly.

God is not the Holy Gotcha!  God is the God of love; unconditional, abiding, forgiving, compassionate love.

Pray

that you look in the mirror for the answers to the problems you face.  Pray that you will trust in God to show you the truth in you and to lead you toward the truth God intends for your life.  Pray that you will trust God unconditionally.