Believe & Know - James 1:1-18 // Nick Serban IV

Message Transcript:

But if you have your Bibles, turn with me.We're starting a new series in the Book of James.Everybody say James.James.We're gonna be in this, uh, for the next 8 to 9 weeks.And, uh, I'm, I'm fired up about it.I hope you are.Um, this is all about what it means to stand firm in our faith.And especially with where we're going as a church, and, and where the world is going, we need to stand firm now more than ever.And, and, and for many of us, there, there, I, I, I sense that there's oftentimes a fear of stepping out in faith.And maybe it's fear of stepping out in our giftings, or maybe we're lacking confidence in, in who we are a- as believers, but I, I, I wanna point to this, this passage especially when it comes to facing trials.When it comes to facing difficulty.And so, we're gonna be in James, uh, chapter one.And there are my notes.That's so great.Thank you soI love it.But it starts in verse one.It says, "James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the 12 tribes in the dispersion: greetings."This isUh, uh, um, I'm wanna take this actually kind of verse by verse.We, we might skip a couple verses here and there, but I, I really want us to, to be expository and really exegete the scriptures here.But I love how J- uh, James starts this off by saying that he's a servant of God and the Lord Jesus Christ.If you didn't know this, James is actually Jesus' half-brother.TheyMary is, is both of their, their moms.And so, he's, he's showing his humility here by sharing that he's simply a servant.Uh, theAnd the way that we know that he's, that he's humble, uh, is he doesn't bring up the fact that he's related to Jesus.Like, I'm not, I'm not gonna lie.If, if, if Jesus was my brother, I would name-drop that all day long.Be like, "Yeah, what's up?I'm Nick.I'm Jesus' brother."You know?Like, like, thatI feel that way with Garrett right now, 'cause he's, you know, doing stuff with Bethel.Like, "Yeah, I'm Garrett's brother," you know?"I'm the, I'm the cooler brother."But, you know, like, we'reHe, he's cool too, but, likeYou know what I mean?Like, I, I feel like that's, that's something that James would do.But he doesn't do that.He says that he's a servant of Jesus.He's saying, "I am under Jesus."And this is, this is powerful for us to see.And again, he's very influential in the Church as well.James is actually the, the pastor or the leader of the Church of the Jewish people in Jerusalem at this time.And he's speaking to them in a time when the, the people have actually been scattered.The, the, the, the Church in Jerusalem cannot meet together.And so, he's writing this letter to the Church and they're passing it around to all these different people, and he's speaking to people that have been scattered.They can no longer gather.And I love this too.Um, obviously, yeah, I would, I would name-drop this so fast, but it, it, it's also kinda interesting.There's so much evidence that Jesus is the Messiah, but the fact that James claims that Jesus is the Messiah is massive, right?Because IIf, if, if Lucas, my brother, if he said, "I am the second coming of Christ," I'd be like, "Bro, I've got receipts that you are not the second coming of Christ."Like, James grew up with Jesus.He, he, he was with him constantly.And scripture even tells us that James did not fully believe that Jesus was the Messiah until the resurrection- Wow.when he saw Jesus come back to life.He is risen.Easter's coming.We need to warm up on that, practice on that.But again, there's so much evidence, but every single day being able to see Jesus go through life, ministry, death, burial, and the resurrection, he begins all of this by saying, "I am a servant of Christ."And I love this too.The entire book, as we get into it here, and we'll, we'll kind of go into some of the histories of it in, in future messages.Um, but the entire book is geared towards helping people know how to live out their faith outside of just being gathered together on Sunday morning.And so, I think this is really important for us.Like, it's, it's easy to be a Christian on Sunday when you come to church, but it's hard to live it out every single day.And we're called to do that.Like, we, we, we, we can't always gather together, but this is really a roadmap for us on how we should live in a manner worthy of the Gospel.It's that, it's that scripture that I love talking about.It's how, how do we live axios?How do we live worthy of the call?How do we live worthy of the Gospel?How do we live worthy of repentance?And this is a roadmap for us.James is also, uh, very practical.Like, a- as you, as you read this, there's actually a lot of, uh, scholars and even historical, uh, Christian figures who have tried to get the Book of James thrown out of the Bible, because it almost seems too practical, if that makes sense.Or you shouldn't make faith so easy.Uh, but we're gonna get into this and we're gonna see that, no, this is really hard.Um, but it'sMany times it's called the Proverbs of the New Testament, because there's so much wisdom here for us to, to glean from.Wisdom for daily life.Uh, living.Because all of us are living in the reality of trials and temptations.Amen?And James wants to help his people in all of that.And James is really telling his people as we get into this, um, fr- really just from the start, and I may share this every single week, but if you don't quit in the faith, you win.If you don't stop, if you make it to the finish line, you win.And that is the call for all of us as sons and daughters.So, let's get into this.In James 1:2, it says this.It says, "Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds.Because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance."Trials are situations that happen to us.Yeah.It, it could be anything that happens to, to us.It could be something that, that maybe it's a consequence of your action, or it could just be a, a diagnosis or something that comes up out of the blue.It could be a job that you've lost or your business is on the rocks, or whatever it looks like.Things going on in your marriage.Like, there are trials, there are difficulties that we all face.Can I get an amen?Amen.We can empathize with this, but, but it's, it's wild to me.Like, again, we're minding our own business, and we have all these things that are, that are happening, but God is in the trials.God is in it.Yes.And he uses these trials in order to create strength and perseverance within us.And, and, and for, for many of us, we don't like that God does it this way.We don't, we don't like that everything is a lesson, right?Like, "God, why can't I just come into your presence and, and, and cry, and be all happy and joyful, and all the things?"Like, "No, but I gotta grow you.""I'm tryn- I'm trying to make you become more like Christ, and that's gonna require growth.And sometimes that requires stretching."Again, there's many different kinds of, of trials.Friendships, families, dating, marriage, parenting, all these different things.And, and they can be things that come out of nowhere.And maybe it's, again, it's something that you didn't cause, but it's a trial that we, we face.And, and, and it is important to note this too, because I, I see a lot of Christians doing this, and a lot of non-Christians doing this.It is not on you to compare your trial to somebody else's.Like, I'm not saying, "Oh, this is my truth."No, I'm saying, "This is my trial.Your trial may be different than mine.Your difficulty may be different than my difficulty."And it's important for us to recognize that God is doing a unique work in you, and it's not on you to compare and worry about the trials happening in other people.You can be there for them.You can, you can help them in the process and be a brother and be a sister in Christ, but at the end of the day, it's not on you to say, "My trial is so much greater than yours, and therefore I'm justified in acting a certain way."And I, and I see this happen too often.We wanna compare things like racism to rape and trauma.We wanna compare, you know, a, a, a parent who maybe didn't love us in our life to, you know, PTSD from war.There are trials and there are difficulties that we face, and why compare them?Why, why, why not just lean on the Lord and allow us to grow in the process?on.Because when we start comparing our trials to one another, what we're doing is saying, "I'm the greater victim," right?Or, "I'm more deserving of empathy or understanding," or whatever it might be.And rather than moving through and growing in the trial, we s- get stuck in the trial.We get stuck in the, the difficulty.And we play 0 on this victim mentality, and we see it so much in the world today.Who's the greater victim, right?And, and we start playing games about, about your, your skin color, or your background, or what gender you are, or, or this trauma and that.And that is not what Jesus calls us to do.He says, "Whatever trial that you're facing, would you consider it joy?Because it's in that trial that you are gonna become more like Christ."Amen.It's so good.And, and, and, and I'm not trying to be in your face today with this, but it's important that we act like Christ and, and, and stand firm on Scripture rather than on what the world says.'Cause we're not of this world.Amen.Again, a bad day is a trial.Just as much as your past trauma.You can have a bad day and that's your trial for your day.And that's okay.Again, you can have trials like parenting a child in a culture that wants to shape them differently than the Word of God.Again, there's trials like racism and political infighting, even division among this Christian denomination and that Christian denomination.And here's what's, what's beautiful, and we'll, we'll get into this more, but God does not cause these things to happen.This verse tells us that God wants to use them for our good.He wants to use these trials to mature us.And if we're going to grow from it, we're going to have to fight for it.Amen?Amen.So, a couple of really practical things.I want you to write this down if you're taking notes.It's, it's, it's always fun, umIf you don't take notes today, you're only gonna remember about 8 to 9% of what's being shared.If you take notes today, you get 40 to 50%.Let's go.And if you shout back at me and say Amen, you're up in the 90s, okay?So, start, start getting Pentecostal on me.Start talking to me.Let's do this, okay?Come on, somebody.Write this down.Get God's perspective.If we're going to make it through a trial and experience, experience what God wants for us, it's gotta start with the right attitude.It's gotta start with the right perspective.We gotta, we gotta focus in on what God is trying to do, and maybe it looks like backing up and getting the, the big picture, but it's how James starts this, this entire book.He says this.He says, "Consider it pure joy."How?How, how can I see the loss of my job or the loss of a loved one or the loss of a friendship or, or the, the past trauma and the difficulty that I have faced, the hurt that I've experienced, how can I see it as joy?It's all about our perspective.When we begin to, to back away from the trial and begin to see God's thread and hand working through it, that's when we begin to go, "I can have joy because God is in this."Right, church?God is in this today, and therefore I can have joy.James is, is asking me to consider something joyful that is not joyful.Uh, there's some, there's some guys here in the church, I'm not gonna call 'em out, but I go to the gym with them sometimes, and, uh, they're, they're trying to make me the most jacked pastor in, in, in Tennessee.And I'm, I'm work- I'm working on it, right?I'm working on it.Come on, somebody.Um, but here's the thing.Some of these guys, it would seem to me that they enjoy pain.I'm sure there's a, there's a word for that there.I'm not gonna use the word, but, like, they enjoy pain.They, they, you know, they're like, "Dude, you're being soft.You need to put some more weights on that."Like, that's, like, that's constant with these guys, and they're just, you know, they're super jacked.They love the Lord.It's great.And, uh, it's just a cool way that we can grow together.But in order for you to get the, the, the gains, you know, you gotta turn the weight up, right?You gotta experience a little bit more pain, a little bit more stretching, because it's in that pain that you get the gains.Somebody say amen.Woo!That's it, right?And, and, and it's, and it's so fun because I'm hanging out with these guys and, and their whole perspective is completely different in my- than mine, 'cause I'm going, "This is painful," and they're going, "Imagine how jacked you're gonna be."Different mindsets, right?Completely different, a different mindset and heartset in this.It's like, "Look at, look at all this weight.Look at this pain.Yes, there's pain, but I'm gonna gain so much.I'm gonna grow so much from this.I'm gonna get greater.I'm gonna get stronger."And this is the perspective that James is calling us to right now, that you would consider it joy when you're facing a difficult trial.Consider it joy when, when that loved one passes away.Consider it joy when you lose that job.Consider it joy when that child rebels in your home.Consider it joy when your finances are, are, are all over the place and the bill collectors are calling.Consider it joy.It's a, it's so counterintuitive, right?It's, it's, it goes against everything that we feel in our flesh.And I know this is heavy today because I know many of your stories, but would you take a moment and try to consider joy in your trial?I remember this, uh, playing soccer growing up.We would always have winter training kind of around this time of year when, when there's a little bit of snow on the ground and it's, and it's freezing temperatures, and we would run in the freezing cold.And our coach at the time was a younger guy who would run with us, and we're, we're, we're heaving, trying to get oxygen into our, our lungs after running several miles.And, and it's freezing, and you feel like your lungs are about to burst.It just, it just kills you.And I can remember the words of my coach, and I know, I think the Navy Seals actually say this too, but he said, "Pain is weakness leaving the body."And he would scream it and smile-while running next to us.And I'm like, "Dude, why are you enjoying this torture?""Because it's a mindset shift.It's pain.Pain is weakness leaving the body."Truth-is in this reality.James is not invalidating your trials.They're difficult, they're real.He's not saying, "Your trial is going to be fine.Suck it up."He's saying, "Would you consider joy in this moment?"He's saying, "You didn't have a choice about your trial, but you do have a choice about the attitude you're going to have in facing it."In fact, the word that, when it says, "Consider, consider it joy," it's a Greek word that actually means suppose.Suppose.I'm in this trial, so I suppose I could be upset and miserable, or I suppose I could let God give me joy.I can complain and compare, or I can choose joy.And, and here's the thing, if joy is available, I want it.Yeah.If joy is available in my trial, I want it, and it's gonna shape how I approach that trial.Again, I, I kind of talked about this already, but when we compare our trials to others, it's really the thief of joy.Comparison is the thief of joy.I, I see it too often where we compare one trial to another, but many times we're, we're comparing and we're looking for validation, but the invitation here is would you consider it joy, the unique trial that you're facing?And, and no one else maybe has experienced it exactly the way that you have, but God is with you in it.Come on.Aren't you grateful for that today?Yes.Come on.Write this down.Number 2, trust God's process.God is at work in your trial.God is at work in this difficulty, and we have to trust that.And James hits that immediately here.It says in verse 3, "For you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.And lets steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing."Trust God's plan and process.Come on.Like, marriage is hard, but being single is also hard.Experiencing racism is hard, but navigating politics as a believer is also hard.Yeah.Dealing with people who don't agree with you is really hard.And discipling people, raising our, our children, it's also hard.Yeah.And too many people wanna compare these trials with another instead of growing.And, and again, we're, we're asking our kids to grow, and w- when we put them through trials and, and try to teach them through difficult scenarios, as a father, I'm, I'm trying to get my kids to trust me in this.Right?I've got 4 kids.I've got 2 girls and 2 boys.They're amazing.But I gotta tell them, when I, when I put them through difficult situations, I, I always try to turn it into a learning lesson somehow, some way.Like, uh, I heard this, this great example, uh, from a friend who also has 4 kids, which is awesome.Um, they've been in diapers, we've beenOr we've been in diapers for like 9 years now, 8 or 9 years, which is crazy.Um, my oldest is 9.And he did the tally, he said it's 114 months, over 6,000 diapers and over $9,000 that we've spent on diapers in the last, last 9 years.Y- you can maybe do the math with your kids right now.It's a lot.I, I see a couple of you trying to add it up.It's a lot.It, it's a trial.And, uh-it's kind of interesting.If we never forced our children to potty train-Just think about it for a second, okay?Like, my wife was really the amazing one.She put out the newspapers and allNo, I'm just kidding.Uh, "You go in this corner."No, no, no.And some kids learn faster than others, right?Like, some kids are just, "I got it.I don't wanna go in my pants anymore.Like, I'm good, right?Like, I, I, I wanna go on the toilet."But also, it was frustrating, right?We won't name names on who was the worst, um, but, a- again, if we as parents chose not to teach our kids to learn this hard lesson, they'd still be crapping their pants at eight and nine years old.It's funny, but I'm going somewhere with this.When we're in a trial, when we're in a difficulty, I think some of us are yelling at God and we're yelling at the world, demanding empathy and justification.And we're sitting in our mess.And we're still in diapers.It's not fun to, to admit that, that might be you today.It might be me today.But there's many believers that are just sitting in their mess, rather than learning the lesson and growing from it.Right?Come on, we're, we're called to solid food, not, not drinking milk anymore.We're called to be mature in faith.We're called to continue to grow.And, and it's these trials and it's these lessons that we learn in the trials that allow us to grow, so you're not sitting in your dirty diaper anymore.Even Paul, he talks about this, in second Corinthians.This isI, I, I don't think I've ever really seen it in this perspective until I looked at James.It says in verse, uh, chapter 12, verse 7, it says, "Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh.A messenger of Satan to torment me.3 times, I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me, but He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me."This is what considering joy looks like.That there's a thorn in my side, there's a, there's a trial that I'm facing.There's a, there's a sickness or there's a disease, or there's a rebellious child, or there's this, this guy at my work that's driving me crazy.Like, theAnd, and there's no end in sight.It's a trial.That we need to consider joyfully and begin to boast in the Lord, because it's in that trial that we become more like Christ.Amen?Amen.Again, we don't know what the, what the thorn was for Paul, but it served at this, as this intense trial of faith in his life.And, and again, he remembers that His grace, God's grace is sufficient.Church, God's grace is sufficient for you today.He is more than enough.We have to let God be God.Rather than doing things in our own strength, we need to allow God to perfect us in our weaknesses.He's a good God, He's a good Father.And what I love about Jesus is, He was a God in flesh.He came to Earth and He put on flesh.He chose to get into our mess.That's, that's the Jesus that we serve.That's the King that we serve.He's not just this high in the Heavens observer of your life, saying, "That sucks for you."He comes down, He came to Earth, and He sat in the mess with us.And He's willing to do the same for us today.No matter what mess you may find yourself in, no matter what trial or difficulty, Jesus wants to come near to you and close to you in that moment.So would you draw near to Him?We may not realize how God is using our trials to grow us, but we trust Him to perfect us in our weaknesses.I'm gonna trust God in the process, and I'm gonna get to the other side.And it may be a trial that I struggle with for the rest of my life.It's kind of morbid.It's hard to wrestle with.But I have to say, there's, there's moments in my life where I look at the difficulty that I was facing, and if Christ had just come in and saved the day immediately, I wouldn't have grown closer to Him.'Cause it was in the waiting for the trial to end, and facing the trial, that I drew closer and closer to the Lord.And now my faith is stronger than ever.Again, we realize that it makes us stronger in our faith, the trials that we're facing.We realize our need for God more than ever when we're in a trial.When we're facing difficulty.C.S.Lewis says this, he says, "God whispers to us in our pleasures.He speaks to us in our conscious, but shouts to us in our pain."He says, "Return to me.Trust me."And I can tell you, you know, I, I, I love, I love C.S.Lewis.I love this statement, but I don't necessarily agree with him, because I've found in many moments that when I'm facing a trial, it feels like God is silent.Has anyone else felt that way before?It feels like, God, you were speaking to me so much in these, in these beautiful moments and encounters with you, but now that I really need you, I can't hear your voice anymore.There's, there's a silence.But really, He's waiting for us to come to Him.He's waiting for us to draw close to Him.It's kind of like taking a, a test or a quiz in, in school.Instead of the teacher teaching during the quiz, they're, they're silent.Right?But when I don't understand a question, the teacher's always available for me to come and ask, at least at my school.I don't know what school you went to.They might have just said, "Go back to your seat."But that was the case for us.Trials hold the mirror up to our face to show us where we need Jesus the most.on, man.Where I need to learn the most, where I need to grow the most.It's- it's a megaphone to wake up a deaf world.Yes.To confront our biases, to confront our comfort, and confront our desire to control.When we're uncomfortable in our trials, God is saying, "Don't miss the chance to get close to me."So practically speaking, when you're facing a trial, ask God for help.Just ask.You can- you can sit and ruminate about all of the- the things and- and how you can fix it and strive, but that's not gonna get you anywhere, but further down into a pit.Just ask.Bible says when you- when you ask, when you seek, you will knock.He opens the door.And I think it's a challenge to me even- even just saying this, but I think as- as- as followers of Christ, we leave too much on the table of the blessing that God has for us because we never asked.Let me say that again.We leave too much of God's blessing on the table, never receiving it because we haven't asked.God has- has so many things to- to show us and reveal to us in your difficulty, in your trial, to expedite the speed in which you even move through that trial if you would just draw near to him.There's a lot more that God wants to offer, so we need to ask.And James even touches on this in James 1:5.It says, "If you lack wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you."It will be given to you.If you ask it, he will give it.And so when- when- when you're facing a trial and you say, "God, I need some wisdom.I- I need to understand why this is happening, can you begin to point to the area where I need to grow?"Like, we have that self-awareness moment and we ask him and he speaks.Yeah.We ask him and he begins to pour out wisdom.He begins to back us away from the tapestry of our lives, the- the beautiful mosaic and painting of who he's creating us to be, and we can see what he's doing.And we can go, "Wow."Yeah."I trust you."Wisdom is powerful, but wisdom doesn't change our trials and circumstances.Again, it just gives us a bigger picture.It gives us greater understanding.We can ask God for anything.What- what- whatever help we need in our trial, he's waiting for us to come to him and say, "I need you.I need your help."When I was in- I was in Israel this last week, and- and I'll- I'll tell you what, IW- there's a pastor friend of mine that- that said he's gonna, like, do a night where he shares all of his stories from Israel.I'm not gonna do that.I'm just gonna share something about Israel, like, in every message from now until the end of the year.Is that okay?Can I do that?So I was in the upper room, okay?Um, where- where- where fire came down and- and people were filled with the Holy Spirit and- and speaking in tongues and all the things.It wasn't the actual room.Um, our- our guide said, "This is aThis is an A site," or, "This is a B site," or, "This is a C site."A site means it definitely happened here, B was it might have happened here, C was it definitely didn't happen here.Um, we didn't go to a lot of C sites in Israel, I'll just say.Um, but this was kind of a B site, and, uh, it was actually above the tomb of King David, where he's actually buried.A site, he's there.And, uh, we're in the upper room, and I'll be honest, I had 0 expectation for any kind of encounter with God.I just thought we were gonna walk through very quickly and, you know, hear a little message from one of the pastors, we pray, and go to dinner.I was hungry.And, uh, I just, I just began to pray and enter in.And I, and I, I started praying and, and, and I was praying in, in, in tongues and, you know, I wasn't trying to cause a scene or anything like that in the room and I just felt my, my heart get so close to the Lord and I just remember myself saying, almost like an out of body experience in the moment of just like, "God, I surrender my life to you.Can I, can I just, can I just lay here at your feet?"And I just remember I, I, I dropped to my knees and the Holy Spirit came in that moment and Iand, and, and I don't know about you but, like, there's so many moments where we see, we say to God, "God, I need your help."Like, as a father, I need you.I, I, I surrender and, and not to be, like, too funny here but I think many times we're afraid to ask God, the Father, for anything because it was so difficult to ask our earthly father for anything.You know, I, I, I don't know about you, like, my, my dad's awesome and he's sitting right over there so I'm not throwing any shade at him, but there's been many times where I would ask my dad something and he would just say, "Google it."And that's okay 'cause he didn't know the answer.And many times we, we approach our father on Earth and we start to view our Heavenly Father in the same way.Let me just tell you, he's a good father, and when you come to him, like, God's not saying Google it or figure it out.He's saying, "I've been waiting for you."And that's exactly what the Lord spoke to me as I, as I entered in.I just began to weep and I could hear his voice so clearly, even as, even clearer than I can hear my own voice now.He said, "I've been waiting for you."Church, he's waiting for you.He's waiting for you to draw near to him in your trial.He has so much wisdom, he has so much revelation, he has so many things that he wants to share with you and speak to you.He's not saying, "Figure it out."He's saying, "Let me show you what I'm doing."That's the God that we serve.Can somebody say amen?When we ask God, he gives generously.In your situation, you don't have to handle it on your own.You can ask God and you don't have to be shy about it.You don't have to be shy about it.You know that song << Come on, my soul, don't you get shy on me.Lift up your song 'cause you've got a lion inside of those lungs.Get up and praise the Lord >> Don't be shy.Let the lion out.Let the lion out.Scripture tells us that we come boldly t- into his throne room as sons and daughters.Again, there's a, there's a maturity and there's muscling even through the, the trials and persevering, but I love even what, what Jonathan said last week if you were here.I loved having Jonathan Miller here.What, what a baller.He was just, it, it's such an incredible word.But he said this, he said, "Intimacy with Jesus is the better thing."You can try to do all of the works and all of the, the things and j- just, just like Martha, and what she was doing was not bad.It's not bad to work on yourself.It's not bad to, to, to focus in and do the self-help stuff, but if you're not spending time with the Lord and being intimate with Jesus, then you're just striving on your own.Consider it joy.Trade the sorrow and the difficulty for joy in your heart.Intimacy with Jesus is the better thing, drawing near to him and saying, "God, I need your help," and hearing him say, "I've been waiting for you.I wanna help you.Let me lift you up.Let me trade that sorrow for joy.Let me change your perspective."Write this down, number 3.Stand firm in faith.We have to stand firm as God works all of these things out.James 1:6, it says, "But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed about by the wind.That person should not expect to receive anything from God."This speaks to how we approach the Lord when we're asking.It's not asking God for help as a backup plan for all the other things that we're gonna be doing.It's, it's coming to him and saying, "We believe.God, I believe that you're gonna come through for me.God, I believe and know."And, and here's what's, here's what's so funny.I'm, I'm not gonna do the accent but I remember when we were in Israel we met with this, uh, this, this Jewish guy, uh, from New Jersey, and, uh, thick, thick New Jersey accent.It was awesome.Uh, it was like hanging out with my, my great aunts from back in the day and, uh, he started sharing.He's li- he's like, "I don't believe in God, I know God."And I just, I started crying in that moment.He's like, "I don't have to believe.I don't have to have faith because I've seen God work.I've seen God move.There's, there's no, there's no struggle in believing because I can see the stones."of where the synagogues used to be.I can see the power of God moving in this land here in Israel and that's, that's why He moved there.It's like, i- it doesn't take any faith for me to believe God.I don't believe, I know.Amen.And it was just a complete shift in my heart because I, I, I was talking to Nate about this before service.I'm looking back on all the points on my life where I go, "Have I been believing in Jesus like I believe in Santa Claus?"Or do I know, and do I stand firm on the fact that He's come through for me again and again and again?Yeah.And it no longer takes faith.I just know that God is gonna show up.I know that if I stand firm in this moment, He's gonna come through.Yeah.This is the God that we serve.That's right.That we don't just need this, this faith.And again, I'm not knocking faith.Don't, don't, don't get on to me about that.Don't send me the emails.Send them to, to kim@fullifeag.com.We need faith.That's right.We need faith.But sometimes, I don't need faith.I just know.Sometimes I could just stand on the Word of God and know that He's gonna come through, and this is what James is talking about in this moment.Like, you have to believe and not doubt.And sometimes that believing without doubt is a hard thing, but when I know it- Yeah.when I, when I hear the testimonies of, of God moving in other people's lives, I stand on those things and I know it.When I read scripture and I see Jesus calming the storm, I c- a- and, and even being able to go and, and be on the Sea of Galilee.I was on the Sea of Galilee in Israel, it was awesome.I want you all to come so badly.It was so amazing.But to sit there and, and know that Jesus did these great things and that He's willing to do it again and again and again.I don't just believe Jesus will come through, I know He will.I'm not just wishing for Jesus or doubtfully saying, "Maybe God will."I know He will.I'm, I'm reading His word.I'm consistently growing in relationship with Him.I'm growing in understanding.And the more closely I am to Him, the more my faith cannot be shaken.Because I know Him.Yeah.I know His character.I know who He is.And we have to stand on that or we'll miss out on what God has for us, because scripture says such a person is double-minded and unstable.I believe, but I doubt.You know, I, I, I think about the father who came to Jesus when his daughter was dying, and he said, "I believe, but help me with my unbelief."God can help you with your unbelief.Church, God can help you with your unbelief.right.Just draw near to Him-and He will show Himself true.Honestly, I, I, I know I just got all hot and bothered about knowing, knowing Him, but there are areas in my life where I have been double-minded.There are areas in my life where I struggle to trust God, where I've got one foot in and I've got one foot out, and I'm like, "Maybe God will come through.But if He doesn't, let me just plan accordingly," right?Anybody else?Sorry, I'm not, I'm not this crazy, you know, megachurch preacher that, that just knows everything, okay?But there's been seasons in my life, and, uh, and, uh, just a great example of this is, like, I love wrestling with my sons, Nicky and Levi.Um, Nicky used to be all about it, like loved wrestling with daddy.Like, he would come to me all the time just, "I wanna wrestle.I wanna fight."Uh, I know, I know Josh and the boys are like that too.Like, "Let's wrestle.Let's, let's go.Let's be men.Rah!"You know?And I'd, I'd, you know, he'd punch at me and grab me.He's like this tall.He's not hurting me, you know?It's fine.And then I throw him in the air and he lands on the couch, and, you know, it's awesome.Um, I'm 4 times bigger than this kid, so, like, I'm gonna, I'm gonna crush him if I really try.Um, but here's what's interesting is after a while, he would get really, really intense.And he'd hurt himself or, um, I would accidentally hurt him.Um, which happens, you know?It happens.And the problem is that when he would cry, I would not act like a very good father in those moments.This is a safe space, right?We're good?Yeah?I wouldn't always act like a good dad.He's my first son.I've got 2 girls, you know, I'm a softie with them.They can get away with murder and they're good, okay?But with Nicky, like, I'm trying to make this boy a man.And so, I, I had, had been really hard on him, probably more than Levi.And, uh, when he would cry, I just, I wouldn't handle it right.I'd tell him to suck it up, you know?You know, breathe, like chill out, like stop.You know?And I just didn't have a lot of patience with him.And over time, it really broke his spirit, and he doesn't really wanna wrestle with me anymore.Just, I'm just being very transparent this morning.Um, really because he doesn't wanna get hurt.Like, he's afraid of me.He should be.He's afraid and, but he doesn't fully trust me because he's been hurt before, right?And this is so difficult for many of us in trusting God.Yeah.Because there's trials that we faced and we've gotten hurt.There's trials that we face and it, and it, and it took more life from us than we ever desired.Levi, who's, who's younger, he has not learned this yet.He hasn't learned that he's never gonna win fighting me.go.Yeah.Go, Levi, go.He's never gonna win.It's not gonna happen.I'm not gonna let him.Um- years.Yeah, 15 years.But I am a little, I am a little more patient with him.I am a little softerI just cha- I've changed myWell, I would say I'm not really softer, I've just changed my approach.With Levi, I've been intentional about telling him, "This will make you stronger.Like, give it your all, son.Like, punch me as hard as you can.Fight me with everything you got.Go until you cry.It's gonna make you stronger."And so every morning, I, when I pick him up and I'm like, "Mm, you're looking strong today."And he's like, "Yeah.I'm ready to wrestle today."He said that this morning, so this is, this is, this is very, very awesome.Levi's fearless when he wrestles me.He gets hurt, but I pull him close and I encourage him in those moments.I'm not telling him to suck it up.I'm telling him, "This is gonna make you stronger."And Nicky, he's learning, okay?He's learning to trust me again.We're gonna get there.Uh, I'll share a, a part 2 of the story at some point soon.And his, his spirit is building back stronger watching his little brother wrestle.And maybe, again, you're in that place where a trial has, has broken you, and, and it's difficult to trust God again in the trial that you're facing.I've, I've been there.I, I am there in, in many of the trials that I'm facing right now where I'm like, "God, I don't, I don't know.I can't fully see how you're working all these things together for your good."Right?And it makes it so difficult to trust Him when we don't have all of the information.I'm there.I got it.But we have to trust Him in it- Yeah.and know that He's using this to strengthen us.That's why we consider it joy when we're facing a trial, that you would trust that God is going to be there because He is.And God is saying, "This is a massive opportunity for you.Would you take your eyes off whatever the trial is and just lock in with Him?"It's like Peter walking on the water.The moment that he took his eyes off of Jesus, what happened?He sank.Don't take your eyes off Jesus in the trial.Again, there's countless stories from here in this church and other friends of faith that I've been walking with, people who went through some of the hardest battles, but in the middle of those battles, they got so much closer to Jesus than they ever have at any other season of their life.And they're able to stand firm in the faith in that moment.God wants us to experience the strength of that.Whatever trial you're going through, you need to know this.In first Peter 1:7 it says, "The trials we're walking through, they will show that our faith is genuine.It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold, though your faith is far more precious than mere gold."The, the testing and the trial that you're going through, it's going to produce this perfect, pure vessel.That is the desire of Christ in all of this.And I, I, I, I gotta move through here 'cause I, I'm, I'm only on trials and I haven't even gotten to temptations yet, but this is so powerful.Trials will prove that faith is rooted deeply in God.It takes fire to purify gold through your faith, and faith is precious.And, and, and the second half of, of first Peter 1:7 says, "So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world."Hallelujah.We bring glory to God when we face these trials.So here we go.Trials are one thing.But temptations are another.And I, and I'm gonna mess with your theology today.So you ready?This is gonna be so great.The trial, if the trial is on a coin, it's on one side of the coin, and the temptation is really on the other side of the coin.Temptations have the ability to show us the trial that we're facing.I think sometimes we wanna play this game of like, "Oh, this is a temptation, and this is a trial."No.We need to see them as connected in our faith.God's using trials to mature us, but Satan uses temptation to destroy us.Every time we're in a trial, we're also hit with a temptation.It says this in James 1:12."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.When tempted, no one should say, 'God is tempting me,' for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He tempt anyone."We face a trial, and the temptation comes to give us a way out of having to face that trial.The temptation is, is, is dressed in a way that looks like comfort from the trial.good.When you're facing temptations in your life, it should be a moment of self-awareness where we go, "If I'm being tempted in this way, God must be trying to grow me in another way that's connected to this temptation."Right?That, temptations sh- when, when, when they begin to rear their heads, it should be a, a red flag for us to know, "I'm in a trial, and God is doing something in my life."Many times we think, "Oh, I'm being tempted all the time.I must not be living for the Lord."No.If you're being tempted, it's because the enemy wants to destroy your life.Because who you are becoming in that moment, the enemy fears it.Right.And that's why he brings the temptation onto your life.He fears you.He fears you becoming who Jesus created you to be.Come on, somebody.If you're struggling with loneliness, and the temptation to lust and act out presents itself to comfort you in that moment, if you're struggling with great loss, pain, or stress, getting drunk or, or dealing with substance abuse because it's really our, it's our way out in that moment to numb the pain that we're facing, when you're dealing with difficult people, and the opportunity to vent and gossip presents itself so that you can findcommunity and, and find empathy and, and be justified in the feelings that you have, it's a temptation.We can't control the world around us.We feel attacked, and so we allow our anger and our hate to rise, and we play victim.God says, "Step in and be obedient," and we make excuses and walk in disobedience.Come on.It's the way out.Temptation comes from the enemy to comfort us and then lead us into sin, avoiding and facing the trial before us.And we feel, uh, for many people, it can feel like you're just in this cycle of, of, of temptation, and the, and the enemy would love for you to just spin your wheels around in temptation and never actually face the trial that he's called you to face.Right.It's a ploy of the enemy.And we always have a choice of what we do when we're tempted.It's not an obstacle, it's a different pathway.There's the, the trial, we can take this pathway, or we can fall into temptation and follow that pathway.It's not this obstacle in the road for us.God is not tempting us.And, uh, and, and if that's your theology today, if you think God is tempting you, I'm just gonna tell you right now, it's not true.The Bible is clear on this.He's not tempting you.But there may be a trial in your life that you're avoiding- Yeah.and so it feels like God is tempting you.Again, this language is so strong.It says, "God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He tempt anyone."There's not many things that God can't do, and this is one of them.true.<|agent|><|en|> Isn't that good?It's good.He can't tempt anyone.That's right.Temptation is not from God.It's from the corruption of our hearts, and it's from the enemy, that sin nature that's inside of us.And we need to be wise and see this big picture, this, this big picture, and recognize when we're being tempted, recognize that temptation should point us directly to the trial, that if I'm dealing with this temptation, then I must have an area in my life where I need to grow.James 1, it's very practical.In James 1:14 it says, "But each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed.Then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin.And sin, when it is full grown, gives birth to death."There's deception.There's the bait in the trap.It's- it's even going back to the garden in, in Genesis when the enemy, when Satan said, "Did God really say this?"It's a deception that gets you to question what you're facing in the trial.And I'm gonna talk a, a whole lot more about this next week.But we can get to a place where we're, we're questioning God.And let me just tell you today, church, questioning God is not a sin.Questioning God is not a sin, but it can lead to a place where sin can take root.So, we need to be mindful of this and, and, and, and check ourselves on this.We can, we can ask, "Why, God?Why are you doing this?Why"Or, "Why is this happening?"And then we hear the Lord say, "Consider it joy.Trade that, trade that sorrow for joy.Let me help you face this trial."And, and, and here's what's so diabolical.The enemy has a, has a, a beautiful manila folder on all of the things that would most tempt you in your life.He's got files.He's got receipts.He's, he's seen your life and he, and he, and he knows the areas that will tempt you the greatest.And what temptsWhat may tempt one brother may not tempt a sister over here,Yeah.But it's all in an effort to keep you from becoming who Christ created you to be.Temptation looks and feels a whole lot better than facing the trial, but temptation does not satisfy.Obedience in Christ is what satisfies the heart.The Holy Spirit may convict you when you do wrong.But when you do wrong, the enemy comes in with condemnation and says, "No, you are wrong."Yeah.Let me, let meHear, hear this today, church.If, if, if you feel like you are wrong because of the, the sin or the temptation that you're facing, I'm telling you right now, that is a lie from the pit of hell.Because he wants to completely break you and break your spirit so that you'll never trust God again.To, he wants to draw you into that place where you go, "I am wrong.I am disgusting.I am sinful.And I'm never gonna be anything else."That's condemnation.But the Holy Spirit comes with conviction, and he says, "What you did was wrong, but you are a son.""You are a daughter.""Lay it at the feet of Jesus.My grace is sufficient for you."This is the God that we serve.So, if you're hearing that lie today, church, invite the Holy Spirit to come and bring truth.That you are a son, that you are a daughter.You don't have to be hopeless.God is a god that resurrects the dead.The scripture tells us that it- itSin, when it's fully formed, it creates death.And we think death, end game, 6 feet under.But what it's really saying here when we, especially when we look at the Greek, it's pointing to a death of the spirit and of the soul, where we walk around like zombies in our faith, where we walk around completely dead to our sin.But here's what's so great, church.Our God resurrects the dead.He can resurrect you.Even in the death that you may be experiencing in sin and temptation, He can resurrect you and give you new life in Christ.Amen?This is the God that we serve.I'm gonna jump ahead here.We'll come back to it later.We s- we hear the scripture in 1 Corinthians 10:13."No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind.And God is faithful.He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear.But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can endure it."When you're facing temptation, it points to the trial that you really need to face.And so, when we, when we see it as a, as the other side of this coin and we just flip things around, we change our perspective and go, "I'm being tempted.I, I feel lonely.I"All these different things, allow it to draw you to a place where now, "I'm close to the Lord."Yes."I'm, I'm, I'm feeling tempted to, to act out in this way," or, "I'm feeling tempted to lie," or, "I'm feeling tempted to try to, to get ahead and be dishonest.It's 'cause God's working on my integrity, and I need to get closer to Him."It's a sign for us.It's a signal for us where we can avoid the situation and actually counter with the Word of God.When you guys came in this morning, you might have received a, a little card, uh, with scripture verses from, from James on it.And I want you to carry this with you.If you're, if you're gonna be here for the next few weeks, I'd love for you to put it in your Bible because it's so important.Because James hits this really hard.I'm gonna jump back up to James 1:17.It says, "Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of heavenly light, who does not change like the shifting shadows."And then in 1:18, it says, "Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth that we should be a kind of first fruits of His creatures."We'll get more into it next week.But when we're struggling through trials and temptations as followers of Christ, being double-minded is, is so real.And we can think that we're out here on our own, and we can say things like, "We're exhausted," or, "We're worn out," or, "This trial is beating me down."And while those things may be our reality, we need to remember in this moment, even in reading these scriptures as followers of God, that that is our not, that is not our new reality.We are new creations in Christ.That is our reality.We stand firm in our faith.We stand firm on the Word of God.We've been reborn into a new truth.The old has passed away, and the new has come in our lives today.You're a son and you're a daughter.And the enemy can only fight the old creation.Hear me today.The enemy can only fight the old creation.