Count it all Joy - Pastor Roley Thorndike

Welcome to Logan City Christian Church podcast where we bring God's Word to you weekly.

We pray that what you hear will bring clarity to your situation and open doors in your life.

Enjoy the message.

When Chantel was just sharing there before, that was just so good Chantel because that's

what I'm preaching on today.

Count it all joy.

That's the title.

Count it all joy.

Who's here today?

Well, you're all here today of course.

Who of you that are here today have had, you're facing things that are big things in your

life.

Come on, be honest.

Yeah, big things.

Now who's facing some little things?

Yeah.

You see, you can't escape it.

You might say, well, hang on, but God's on my side.

So therefore, no, you can't escape trials and tribulations in the Christian life.

It sort of comes with the territory.

We don't want them, but it sort of comes with the territory, you know, and I've been a Christian

for 60-something years now and I could count it on all my fingers and toes and everything

else that I could think of, trials and tribulations.

They're there.

They're there.

It's what we do with them that makes a difference.

It's how we handle them that makes a difference.

And as Chantel was saying this morning and just so good, you know, just trusting God.

Just trusting God.

He's our deliverer.

He cares.

He cares, he cares, he cares.

I want to read to you some scripture.

Before we get started, I'll just take my text from James chapter one.

It says, James, a bond servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ to the 12th tribes

that are scattered abroad.

Now if you were in those days and you got that letter, you'd be thinking, this is good.

This is going to be good, this letter, because he's greeting us, calling us bond servants

of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.

And you know, there's just, you can get that feeling that it's really good.

Then the bombshell drops.

My brethren count it all joy when you fall into various trials.

You wouldn't have thought that would have been the next thing.

It would have been more greetings and all those sorts of things.

But it wasn't like that.

And so we find that right there and then, you know, James gets into really what he wants

to say.

Yes, the greeting is good and all that, but hey friends, count it all joy.

My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials.

Knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience, but let patience have its perfect

work that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God who gives to all men liberally without

reproach and it will be given to him.

But let him ask in faith with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea

driven and tossed by the wind.

For let not that man receive that, suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord.

There's a double minded man unstable in all his ways.

As I said, there's no escape from trials and tribulations in the Christian life.

Wouldn't it be good if that were not true?

It would be good.

But friend, let me tell you, it wouldn't be good for us.

It would just be good.

And I just want to share some thoughts about this this morning.

Now this is not the only place in the Scripture that this is mentioned.

Psalm 34 verse 19, many of the reflections of the righteous, but the Lord delivers us

Psalms 34:19

out of them all.

1 Peter 4 12, beloved, do not think it's strange concerning the fiery trial, which is to try

you as though some strange thing is happening to you.

Psalm 13 2, how long shall I take counsel in my soul having sorrow in my heart daily?

Psalm 23 4, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.

2 Corinthians 12 9 and 10, the apostle Paul said, therefore I take pleasure in infirmities,

reproaches, needs, persecutions, distresses for Christ's sake.

For when I am weak, then I am strong.

You see they can't be avoided, but if we make better decisions in our life, we most likely

would probably avoid some of the adversity, because sometimes we just get ourselves into

trouble.

Because we make wrong decisions.

We choose to do something and it's a wrong choice.

Friends, I've been in the boat, I know what I'm saying here.

We have prayed, we have asked God about situations and we've gone ahead and done those things

and they went pear shaped like I can't believe.

I thought it was God.

I felt comfortable about some of these decisions and I thought, this is really good.

I've got confirmation from God and yet it didn't happen that way.

Do I understand that?

No, I don't understand that.

Do I stop asking God and seeking God for direction?

No, I don't, because He'll give it to me.

He said, through us wisdom, He'll give us wisdom.

God, should I do this or do that?

But the Bible says, count it all joy.

Count it all joy.

Well, even when it's not joyful, when it's really heavy on me, when my life is falling

apart as it were or the situation is worsening, count it all joy.

Yes.

Why?

Why would God say, count it all joy?

You see, God made you and me.

He knows how we function and we know how we function but that's not how we think that

it should be.

But God knows.

He knows why we should count it all joy when these situations are there in front of us

and we're in the middle of it and things are going wrong.

And it could be a situation with family, it could be finances, it could be relationships,

it could be anything, sickness in your body, whatever it might be.

Why?

If we understand the process and see what God is doing, then we can rejoice.

If we understand the process.

In verse 3 of James 1, the very next verse after he said, count it all joy when you fall

into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.

Something is produced in trials that is not produced when things are going good.

Think about that.

Something is produced when you're facing a situation, when you're facing a trial, when

everything is going wrong, that cannot be produced when everything is going right.

I read that verse again.

It says knowing, understanding that the testing of your faith produces patience, endurance,

perseverance, steadfastness, unswervingness, patient enduringness, if you like.

You see, it's producing something that helps us to stand strong, endurance, a patient endurance

waiting while God is doing, whatever God is doing, that we don't give up but we endure.

If it endures to the end, she'll be saved, God says.

A steadfastness.

What is steadfastness?

Well, steadfastness to me is remaining steadfast, remaining unwavering, remaining stable, remaining

strong, remaining, having it together if you could put it that way.

We grew up in church when we were from little kids, both Claire and I.

There were senior men in the church, they're probably my age now but boy, when I was a little

one they were ancient men.

They were old and some of them were probably only 40 or 50.

But they demonstrated to me, even as a young man growing up in the church, they demonstrated

to me this steadfastness in their faith, their steadfastness in their Christian walk.

It seemed like they didn't fluctuate from one thing to the other or fall in a heap when

things go wrong or whatever like we tended to do as young people when things are not

going right.

Well, what's going wrong?

The world is ending, you know.

But they remain strong.

Now that doesn't mean to say that they weren't facing problems.

But the steadfastness about them showed that they were standing strong in the midst of

that.

What is patience?

It says, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.

Well, I said it was endurance, perseverance, steadfastness, unswervingness, patience, enduring,

etc.

Thayelus Lecticon says, in the New Testament it is the characteristic of a man or a woman

who is not swerved from his deliberate purpose and his loyalty to faith and piety by even

the greatest trials and sufferings.

Am I holding myself up here today and standing in front of you and saying, look at me because

I've got it all together and just follow my example?

No, certainly I am not.

As fellow travelers in the world and on our journey with the Lord, all I'm saying is that

this is what the Bible says and it says that we can count it all joy when this stuff happens

because God's doing a good thing in us and that thing can't be done in us unless we're

facing some trials because when things are going wrong, it just doesn't happen that way.

So don't look at me as an example.

However, I'm working on it.

I'm working on it.

I'm better than I was 30 years ago, you ask Claire.

I'm better than I was probably a couple of years ago.

In Romans chapter five, verse three, it says, verse one, I'll read it there, therefore we

have just been justified by faith.

We have peace through God, with God through the Lord Jesus Christ, whom you have accessed

by faith into this grace in which we stand and rejoice in the hope and the glory of God.

And not only that, I like chapter five of Romans because there's a lot more, there's

a lot of and much more and not only that and weight, there's more.

You read the chapter, it's in there.

And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations.

And see, when we read that, I mean, the mind just says, hang on, that can't be right.

It must be a mistranslation.

God got it wrong.

The translators messed it up or something.

No, it's not wrong.

And not only that, but we glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance,

perseverance character and character hope.

And hope does not disappoint.

That's what it says.

So there's a process there of that when we face these things, these tribulations, when

they come as they do, and we face them with a right attitude and with the help of God

and God does something good in you.

God does something good in me.

And don't we need God to do something good in us?

Because goodness is not in us.

If we're left to our own devices, we take the easy road and we slip down a slippery slope.

May not know it at first, but friend, we veer away from God.

Goodness is in God and He is in us.

But as we allow Him to be God in us, that's when things start to work in a different way

for us that brings a good result.

You see faith, triumphs in times of trouble.

This is when we need faith.

If you only need faith when you've got something to believe God for.

If everything is going good, totally healthy, I've got plenty of money, I've got no problems

financially, I've got great relationships with everybody, I don't need faith.

You're looking at me like stun mullet.

But at that point, I don't need faith.

Because faith is just, can I say, it's just idling in me at that point.

Doesn't mean to say I haven't got faith.

It's just idling there.

It's just there.

And it's like your car, you know, when it's just idling along, you know.

But if you've got a problem, oh God, Lord, I need to believe you.

Lord, I believe you, I trust you, and we start to get it.

And faith starts to rev up in us.

You know what I'm talking about.

I know you know what I'm talking about because we've all done it.

That's the way it works.

Now wonder God said, rejoice then when your tribulations and trials come your way.

Opportunity to use faith.

Opportunity to grow.

Opportunity to do it all.

Run out of words.

You see your faith is tested and proved by passing a test.

How do you know your faith is going to be any good to you unless you put into operation

and see the results of your faith?

It's just there.

Yes, I've got faith.

Like a motor car.

We've all got them.

And what does it cost us every week?

80 bucks or whatever to fill the tank.

But if you don't fill the tank, all you've got is a car that'll do nothing.

It can't do anything.

God, it hasn't got the gas in it.

It hasn't got the fuel.

It hasn't got the get up and go in it.

So then you put the fuel in and then you turn the ignition and away she goes.

She comes to life.

Don't you love it?

I'll rev it here, but you get that throbbing V8 sound.

Yeah, a couple of four cylinders.

Any of them.

But it comes to life and it feels good.

This thing's living, but you've got to put it in gear.

Then you've got to give it a bit of go in it and then it starts to move and the more

you give it the right foot, the faster it goes.

It's the same with faith.

Now that might be a lousy analogy, but friend, I tell you, it's still true.

Our faith is tested and proved by passing the test.

If you've never had a problem, you wouldn't grow and be strong and mature.

But you would remain a weak and useless baby Christian.

We've all seen them.

I don't believe there's any here today.

I don't know you all, but you know what I mean by a Christian that's been a Christian

a long time, but they're still baby Christians.

They still want the milk of the word, not the meat of the word, can't handle the meat.

They're still on the milk.

And so if you take a normal baby, we get the baby and we nurse the baby and we us men,

we give it the bottle and they look so cute and all that, and they're absolutely useless,

aren't they?

Little babies are useless.

They cannot do a thing for themselves.

Yet they know that if they cry and bellow and make a noise, they'll get your attention

and you'll, oh dear, dear, dear, dear, dear, pattern.

Some Christians are like that.

Anyhow.

So we've got this little baby Christian, this little baby there, you know, and we kuchy,

kuchy, koo, and oh, look at you, so cute.

Friends, when you're an adult and you still need to be kuchy, kuchy, kooed and told you're

so cute, that's not a really, that's not a really good look.

If you're an adult and you still want the TD bottle, oh, that is not a good look.

Nobody here has the TD bottle.

You see, we have to grow.

And we grow by facing tribulations and passing the test as it were, so that things start

to make a difference in our lives.

Just remember this.

Smooth seas never made a good sailor.

Smooth seas never made a good sailor.

I'm not a sailing person.

I know a bit about boats and all that, but I'm not a sailor.

They get out there and the whole seas are going up and down and up and down.

They're the sailors.

Not the ones that just putt around in the bay.

They're only pleasure seekers in a boat.

Not disparaging those people.

But smooth seas never made a good sailor.

And neither does no problems in your life make a mature Christian.

James 1.4 says, but let patience have its perfect work that you may be perfect.

Means mature and complete, whole, entire, lacking nothing, meaning having what you need.

Just let patience have its perfect work.

We said what patience is.

Now we're saying the Bible says, let patience have its perfect work in you.

Let patience work in you.

Let it work in you that you may be mature, that you may grow.

If when the problem comes, all we're going to do is belly ache and whinge and say, why

is this happening to me?

Why didn't it happen to her?

She's a worse person than I am.

Why didn't it happen to him?

He's a drunkard.

Why didn't they get it?

And we're battling against this thing and wanting it to go away, we're getting nowhere.

But as we start to face it, deal with it, with God, that's when things happen.

1 Peter 1.7, I read it before.

I think I did.

We're in great rejoice though now for a season if need be, you're in heaviness through manifold

temptations, adversities.

That the trial of your faith, the testing and the proving and the genuineness of your

faith being much more precious than of gold that perishes even though it be tried by fire

might be found under praise and honor and the glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.

The testing of your faith is much more precious than of the testing of gold that perishes.

When they test gold, they heat it up and the heating process, if you've ever seen the heating

process, it's in a forge and it's heated up and all the impurities come to the top and

the goldsmith scoops that off, heats it again, scoops off the impurities, heats it again,

scoops off the impurities until it becomes pure gold.

The fiery trials that we face, maybe that you're facing even today, it's heating you

up so that the impurities can come to the top.

Why is this happening to me?

It's coming to the top, you've got to scoop it off.

Let God scoop it off, let the Holy Spirit scoop that off.

You know the reward for hard work, more hard work.

You know the reward for passing exams at school in grade five?

You go to grade six and it's harder in grade six.

Then when you get up into high school and you pass all the exams in high school and

you go to university, it gets harder and harder and harder and harder and then you come into

the reality of life and you have tests in life which are harder than all those tests,

I reckon.

But you see, they heat us up, they bring the impurities to the surface so that they can

be dealt with, so that not only God can deal with it, but you can deal with it because

you recognize, hey, that's not what I want to be like, not what God says I should be

like.

It's not what the Scripture says I should be like, I get rid of that.

God help me, get rid of those things, change my attitude, renew my mind, all those sorts

of things that we talk about.

Here's the key.

When you truly know and understand that the testing of your faith will produce endurance

and perseverance in your life and that when you work with God in the midst of it all,

you will become mature and whole having what you need.

Isn't that what you want?

That's certainly what I want.

I want to become more mature.

Am I totally perfect?

No, who asked the lady?

Is she totally perfect?

No, asked the man.

Let's be honest here.

None of us are perfect.

But Jesus is our perfect example and here's the one that we follow.

So again, I don't stand here saying I've got it all together.

The friend, I know my God and I know as Chantel said, he is faithful.

He is faithful, always faithful.

He'll never let you down.

But God, I remember that time, this situation, you know, and it didn't work out like that.

He is faithful.

He'll never let you down.

But God, you know, it didn't work out the way he is faithful.

He'll never let you down.

Friends, we've been in situations, personal situations, without going into those things.

We really just did not know which way to turn.

Everything was going wrong.

You know, the financial burden was horrendous, etc., etc.

I still don't know how God got us out of it.

But we're here.

He is faithful, ever faithful, ever faithful.

But I want to tell you, we believe God.

We trusted Him.

We said, God, we might have made a mess.

We might have made the wrong decision, Lord.

And matter of fact, we thought we were doing the right thing.

But God, we trust You to move us through this thing.

Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death or the valley of the shadow of any

problem that I'm facing, I walk through it with God.

Isaiah says, though you walk through the fire, you'll not be burned.

You see, God is interested in you.

He's interested in me.

He loves you and me.

He loves us.

He loves those that follow Him and desire to do His will and desire to obey His word

and do our best though we make mistakes.

He still loves us.

He doesn't cast us aside.

And so what does He do because He loves us?

He gives us some trials and tribulations.

It doesn't sort of make sense.

And we blame in the devil.

Maybe it's not the devil.

I know, I know.

You're going to say, yes, every good and perfect gift comes from the Lord above.

That's true.

But God uses situations.

He uses those situations in a way that only He can for His glory, for my benefit, for your

benefit.

So, though the devil might instigate something against you, God can turn that around and

make it work for you.

Friends, if the situation that you face, the trial, the tribulation you face, if it never

changes, if it never changes, if it never goes away, what then?

If I am doing what I'm sharing that the Scripture says that we should do but count it all joy,

that that impatient endurance is going to work a good thing in me, then I'm a winner.

It really doesn't matter if the situation doesn't change.

We like it too.

Yes.

But friend, if it doesn't, where does that leave you?

But if we follow the process, if we allow God to do what God wants to do, friend, I want

to tell you that it's a better ending to the story, that we become mature in the midst of

it all.

Okay, so we're just going through these verses down to verse 5 and it says then, ask God

for wisdom.

Verse 5, if any of you lack wisdom, right in the middle of this, when he's talking about

these tribulations and let it have its perfect work and everything there, he says, if any

of you lack wisdom, let him ask God who gives to all liberally and without reproach and

it will be given to him.

You see, wisdom, the Bible says in Proverbs, wisdom is the principal thing.

Without wisdom, without that godly wisdom, we tend to make mistakes, flip and flop around,

go nowhere.

So right in the middle of it here, God's saying, if you want wisdom, ask me for wisdom and

how we need his wisdom, friends.

How we need his wisdom.

How we need his wisdom to deal with the wokeness that's foisted upon us today.

How we need that wisdom.

It is so subtle.

It is so infiltrating in such a subtle way into our society.

We need wisdom.

We need that godly wisdom.

How to deal with that.

Wokeness.

I don't know where the word came from and all that, but I think it's a good word in here.

Wokeness.

But it says, let him ask of wisdom from God.

And in verse six it says, but let him ask in faith.

You see, you can't get away from faith.

It all comes, whatever we do and whatever is preached from the pulpits in churches and

in this church, you've got to take it and apply faith to that word that it becomes active

in your life.

So it always comes back to faith.

And right here, he said ask of wisdom, but let him ask in faith, the Bible says, without

doubting.

Because faith in God is essential for every Christian.

Because faith releases the power of God into the situation and it pleases God when we ask

him.

Because Hebrews 116 says without faith it's impossible to please him.

You see, faith changes things.

Faith changes things.

Faith comes by hearing the word of God.

We know that.

Faith is not just knowing God can do it, but knowing that He will do it for you.

There's a big difference there.

I remember years ago hearing the preaching of faith, probably not for the first time,

but some really anointed preaching on faith.

And I would say, yeah, I know that.

I know.

Yeah, I've heard that.

It was my response.

I've heard that.

Yeah, God can do that.

God can do that.

God can do anything.

Well, yes, God can do anything.

But will He do it when I believe Him in my circumstances?

That was the challenge for me.

You see, until you have a revelation that God will do whatever you're asking Him to

do, you only have head knowledge or theological knowledge, if you like, of the word.

You see, you've got to get it in your spirit for that particular need.

It has to take root in your spirit.

It has to be a revelation to you.

It's a knowing that He will do it and He birthed something in you.

I remember when we were in Warwick, we were meeting in an old school hall.

And in winter, it was rather cold.

But anyhow, we had some great meetings there.

We had great miracles, and the church was moving forward.

And one day I was out in the yard, I think it was, and the Lord spoke to me.

Now I had been praying about what we should do.

I had been praying about maybe another building, maybe another place we could meet.

But God spoke to me and said, by this time next year, you'll be in your own building.

And there was not a thing, well, God really, was that you?

It was that clear.

I came inside and I said to Claire, I said, the Lord's spoken to me about next year being

in our own building.

Now we had been praying about this, yes.

But this word that God spoke into my spirit, it activated me, it activated me.

And 12 months later, we were in our own building.

Financially, how was that going to work?

That was the initial thing.

Whoa, how's this going to be?

I didn't know.

But without going into it all, there it is.

The building was there.

You see, I believe actually in that instance, that God gave me a gift of faith.

And I think it's a different thing, but I don't want to confuse the issue, but it was

a gift of faith.

There was nothing in the wide world that would have convinced me that we were not going to

be in that building next year.

And to go through the process and maintain that, and to carry the church through that,

to carry the leaders through that, who were not, they were new in this thing.

They were new in this faith area and all that sort of thing.

And to carry them through, I never doubted.

How it was going to work, I didn't know.

Did I plan too far ahead?

How could I?

But we went ahead and God did it.

You see, when it's birthed in you, and Rob mentioned this the other week about it being

birthed in us, when it's birthed in there, it grows and it's like a pregnant woman.

She's impregnated, but then it grows in there and comes to fruition.

Baby is born.

And you see, that's what faith does.

God births it in us.

And it's not because we just, I know that God says faith comes while hearing the Word

of God, so I read the Word of God and whatever.

But the Word of God to me, I heard that.

You see, as I said, you've got to get it in your spirit.

Look, if you're believing God for healing, if you're believing God for any situation,

whatever it might be, it's not just because the Bible says, by His stripes I am healed,

1 Peter 2, 24.

It's not just because of that.

It's as I meditate on that and let that just germinate in my spirit.

That's when it becomes a faith word to me.

That's when it becomes a faith word to you.

I said before about God being with us in the times of trial and tribulation.

Now, who believes that God abandons us when tribulations come?

Anybody here believe that?

Good, because He doesn't.

He's saying, now we're going to see some results.

Now we're going to see some good things happening.

And He picks us up because we probably dropped our bundle for two seconds.

But He picks us up and He says, come on, you can make it.

You can do it.

Trust me.

Trust me.

Trust me.

Trust me.

Believe me.

Friend, I want to say to you, believe God.

In every situation, believe God.

Trust God.

He will make a way where there is no way.

He can do that.

Will He do that for you?

He wants to, will He allow Him to?

Trust Him.

Trust Him.

You see, God is in the midst.

God is in the midst when God is not in the midst, in the midst.

He's with us.

He's in the midst of us.

You see, God is here, isn't He?

God in all His glory is here this morning.

Friends, we come to church, come in, sing the thing, hear the sermon, go out and God

is in the midst, friend.

We need to realise that He is in the midst.

Zephaniah 3.17.

It's an old song we used to sing actually.

One of the Scripture choruses from years ago.

The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty.

He will save, He'll rejoice over you with joy and gladness and singing.

We will rest in His love and then He had the rest of the song goes on.

But He is in the midst and the Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty.

He is a mighty God.

He's a wonderful God.

He's a powerful God.

Friends He made the heaven and the earth.

He hung the stars in space.

He made the whole thing that we see, the whole universe that our scientists now are only just

discovering, oh, there's a bit more out there.

He's its vast and God made it.

Your God made it.

My God made it.

He's a powerful God.

He's a God who is well able to sort out my problems, to sort out your problems, to help

us to go through the circumstances that we're facing and bring us out in a better condition

than when we first started with it.

Because He's a mighty God.

He's a powerful God.

Do we believe that?

Or do you just give head ascent to that?

Is that just theological knowledge to you?

Oh, yeah, God's a mighty God.

The more you meditate on that, the more you dwell on that, the more you think about that.

As Peter said this morning about, you know, what a wonderful thing to think about our

salvation that Jesus has won for us at Calvary.

Thank you for that communion message, Peter.

It was beautiful.

And the more we think about it, it's a wonderful thing to think about.

And what does it do?

It produces something in me that helps me to love God even more and more and more.

Wonderful.

He's in the midst.

Daniel 3.25.

Because Nebuchadnezzar just said, I see four men loose and walking in the midst of the

fire and they have no hurt.

And the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.

God Jesus was in the midst with Daniel and Shadrach Meshach and Abednego.

He was, they were there.

He was there right in the midst.

God doesn't abandon you when things go wrong.

God comes closer to you if you allow Him to.

But He is there.

He is there.

Hosea 11.

It says the Holy One is in the midst of thee.

Matthew 18.20.

I am in the midst of thee, it says.

Hebrews 13.5.

He said, I will never leave you nor forsake you.

That means He's there.

He's in the midst.

When you lie down in your bed at night, friend, He's there.

When you get up in the morning, He's there.

When you go to work, He's there.

When you come home, He's there.

When you're on your own in the car, He's there.

What an opportunity it is to pray and worship the Lord when you're driving.

No one else knows what's going on.

You just know what's going on if you're on your own.

You see, when God is in the midst, as He is, things can change because He's God, if we

believe Him.

When you know that God has spoken to you about something that He wants you to do or spoken

to you about how to handle the situation or whatever it was, you can confidently do whatever

it is He has spoken to you.

You can confidently do whatever it is He has spoken to you.

Why is it?

No, I'll leave that.

So when trials and troubles come, He's right there.

Trust Him.

Trust Him.

As I said before, faith will make a way where there is no way.

And that's why He births faith in your heart through His Word.

Now, I said before in James 1.6-8, it says, but let Him ask in faith with no doubting,

for He who doubts is like the wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind.

For let that not man, let not that man suppose that he received anything from the Lord.

He's a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

Let Him ask in faith, nothing wavering, no doubting.

It might be that when you first start to pray about a situation and you say, I'm going to

believe God in this, your confession will bring you through to the place where you are

believing.

Might start off with a little bit of doubt around.

But friend, the more you believe, the less the doubt is there until you can have faith

without doubting.

For He that doubts is like a wave driven by the wind and tossed.

You've seen it.

You've seen pictures of it.

You've seen pictures of the ships and what happens in the ship and everything getting

thrown around.

If we're double-minded in our thinking, that's what happens.

Oh, and then there's no stability at all.

I said before, what is it to be double-minded?

It's to be in two minds.

Will He or won't He?

Will He do it for me?

I say He will, but will He get to the place and He will.

God, I'm believing you to do this.

You see, to waver from one to the other, it's like a restaurant menu.

You've ever been out with someone, you go to a restaurant and there's the menu there.

And it takes 20 minutes for them to decide what they're going to eat.

You're starving.

You know what you want.

But the person is saying, oh, that's nice.

I might have some of that.

And oh, the steak is good.

Well, I might have some of this calamat.

No, no, that wouldn't.

And it'll just be one side of the other, one side of the other unstable.

And you go hungry if you don't eat.

God doesn't want us to be like that.

He doesn't want us to be like that.

You've got to decide or you won't get anything to eat.

You've got to decide what you're going to believe God for.

Well, you've got to decide that you're going to believe God.

Come hell or high water, I'm going to believe God.

I'm going to trust God.

I'm going to trust God and I'm going to trust God till I've got something inside of me that

is more than what I've got now.

And as that grows in me, then that becomes that faith that will move mountains for me.

As I said before, you've got to have more than just He will do it.

He can do it or He could do it, but will He do it?

You see, faith is an inner knowing and this inner knowing comes about when your spirit

and your mind are in agreement with God.

You see, the spirit man, your spirit man, the real you on the inside, the real you believes

God.

Your mind just says, hang on, hang on a minute, wait, hold everything.

And the disagreement comes or the wavering comes with what your spirit is believing and what

your mind is believing.

And because you are the spirit, you are a spirit, you have a mind, so you control your mind

as the spirit man on the inside and you say, mind, shut up, mind, take a back seat.

I'm believing God.

And you tell your mind that you believe in God.

I tell you, well, that settles the waters quite quickly.

It's an inner knowing, as I said, and it comes when your mind and your spirit are in agreement.

In other words, there's no battle on the inside of you.

Now, mind you, that's not a pun, but anyhow, mind you.

There have been times when I have said and I announced to the church actually in the

beginning about the God spoke to me and, you know, we're going to build this church next

year, by next year and whatever, and you can just see mouths dropping and whatever.

But when you're anointed, it's easy and when you go home and you're just laying around

in your shorts and whatever, you only think, did I say that?

Oh, Lord, did I say that?

Yes, well, that's what you spoke to me.

And then you had to go through the process again, but you know, because we're normal

people, pastors are normal people, you know, whether you think he's normal or not, he's

normal.

Shantel is normal.

That's why she could stand up here this morning and say what she said, she's normal.

No shame in that.

Good on you.

Good on you.

But it's this inner knowing.

When you're anointed, the inner knowing is there when the anointing sort of lifts a bit,

you know.

Did I say that?

Oh my goodness.

I just said it a different way that when the anointing is on a preacher and you do things

that you don't normally do anyhow.

Sometimes you've just got to quiet your mind, haven't you, so that you can hear God speaking

to your spirit.

And when he speaks to you about it, then you can do it.

And that's when you start to pass the test.

So I'm closing.

In verse 12, it says of James 1, blessed is the man who endures temptation.

Blessed is the man who endures temptation for when he has been tried, when he's been

tried and approved, he shall receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to them

that love him.

You see, there's a promise here that the trials and temptations that there's a blessing that

comes that's attached to this.

Blessed is the man who endures the temptation.

Could I say blessed is the man who is enduring the temptation.

The blessing comes at the end in a special way but you're still blessed as you go through

it.

And what is the word blessed means?

It means happy.

So happy is the person when you've been endured the trial because there's a maturity that

has come.

And I tell you what friend, victory is what we really crave.

Victory is what you want.

You don't run out on the football field to lose.

You don't face up at the cricket wicket to lose.

You don't go on the basketball court to lose.

You go there to win.

And when you have a win, next week we'll do it next week.

We'll kill them next week.

We'll well and truly beat them next week again.

You see it's victory produces something.

It produces victory.

We go from glory to glory.

We go from victory to victory.

In James 5, 10 and 11, it just says here that we have an example that we can follow.

That it says take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord as an example of suffering

and patience.

Our forefathers, our Christian forefathers, we can take them as an example, as an example

of how to face sufferings and trials.

I'm very mindful of the martyrs.

They were martyred.

In the end they asked God to relieve them of the situation, take them out of it.

I'm sure that they would have.

But in the end they asked God to give them courage and faith to face it.

And they were killed, ripped apart by lions, thrown in ditches, crucified, whatever it

may have been.

You say, well God let them down.

No, God didn't let them down.

God doesn't let anybody down.

So it says that they're an example for us of suffering and patience and how to, I'll

read it, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord as an example of suffering

and patience.

Indeed we count them blessed who endure.

We count them blessed who endure.

1 Peter 1.7, I read it before, that the genuineness of your faith being much more precious than

gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire may be found to the praise and honor

and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

Friends, we can count it all joy.

Count it all joy.

Don't think you're an odd bod because the world would think that you are if you counted

all joy.

Just in your heart you counted all joy.

You don't have to say put an ad in the paper, I'm facing problems and so I'm counting it

all joy.

That'll only get letters to the editor.

It will do no good.

You're not odd.

You're being obedient to what God says in this example that He has given us here in James

chapter one.

Knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.

Let patience have its perfect work that you may be perfect and complete lacking nothing

and if you need wisdom you ask God but ask in faith without any doubting.

Because if you're double minded you're unstable in all your ways.

Let's not be double minded Christians.

Let's trust God.

Do what He says though we don't understand it.

Let me just close by saying this.

I have proved that even when I don't understand but when I obey God and obey His word even

though I don't understand God comes through, God is faithful, God loves you, God cares for

you, He's still faithful, irrespective, He's still faithful, He's still faithful.

Count it all joy.

Count it all joy.

And that's a decision isn't it?

That's a decision that you make at that point in time.

Count it all joy.

I will rejoice.

I will rejoice in the Lord.

He says rejoice in the Lord always and again I say rejoice.

There's no condition on that.

He just says rejoice in the Lord.

I will rejoice.

I will believe God.

I will trust God.

And I will trust Him to see me through.

To lift me up, to carry me if necessary but to bring me to the other side.

Father I thank You this morning for every person that is here.

Those that are listening online.

I pray God that You would touch each and every heart in a very special way Lord for those

that are struggling in circumstances that are difficult as most of us would seem to

be.

Lord we just lift our hearts to You afresh and say yes God I believe You.

I don't understand but Lord I understand that I don't understand but I believe You.

I trust You.

God I haven't got an answer and Lord You haven't spoken an answer to me and I don't know what

to do Lord but my eyes are upon You like Jehoshaphat said my eyes are on You Lord and You will

do what You will do.

I trust You.

So Lord I pray that You would bless every person here under the sound of my voice this

morning.

Strengthen, undergird, mature, encourage, carry us Lord.

Help us to count at all joy when we fall into diver's temptations.

Thank You Father.

Thank You Father.

Now for those of you that are if you would like I could pray for you if you'd like to

come to the front.

Those of you that are you really feel that you just need some a little bit more just to

touch from God as far as helping you in the situations that you're facing.

If you'd like to come make a line in the front I'd love to pray for you.

If you don't that's fine but if you just feel that you need something like that you can't

and we'll pray for you.

Thank You for joining us.

We pray God's richest blessing on your life.

If you haven't already make sure to join us on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.

You can also find us at LoganCityChristianChurch.com.

See you next week.