Devotion of the Day

James 1:2

“MY Brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.”

Additional Verses

📖 Matthew 4:1-11; Acts 16:16-40; James 1:2-18

It is only when you are able to cultivate the virtue of joy in yourself that you will be able to have the virtue of patience. However, for you to have the virtue of joy, you must also have the other virtues of the fruit of the spirit in Galatians 5:22-23, love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, temperance. Certainly you cannot have joy in you in every situation when you don’t have love, self-control, gentleness or any of the other virtues of the fruit of the Spirit. As long as you are in this world, you must know that the adversary is all around you. The LORD Jesus Christ reminds every child of God in John 16:33 about this when He says, “In the world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” The only way you will be able to be cheerful in the face of adversity is when you are fully aware that Jesus Christ is in full control of your life. Your focus will be on Jesus Christ in you rather than on the trials, tests and temptations which are only pressures from the outside. You must know that there is nothing wrong with birds flying above your head, but it is absolutely wrong when you allow the birds to lend on your head and to build nests on you. In other words, trials and temptations and tests are not from within you. The One within you, and I mean the Holy Spirit who is in you is greater than all the trials, tests and temptations from the outside.1 John 4:4 says, “You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.” The only way you will be able to understand the working of the Holy Spirit in you in all situations is when you yield yourself to the commandments of the LORD Jesus Christ in the Bible which is your mirror. While trials and temptations cannot tell you anything about who you are, the Bible, just like the mirror will never lie to you. It will reveal to you the reality about who you are. It will also guide you on how to respond to every trial, test or temptation from the adversary. Remember how Jesus Christ was able to defeat the devil after fasting forty days and forty nights and later when He was crucified at the Cross. It was through the speaking of the Word of God. He did this to show us the way to respond to all strategies of the enemy. You must therefore know that as a child of God, trials, tests and temptations are stepping stones for you to be raised higher in the Spiritual realm. This is the way in which you are able to assess your level of faith whether you are of weak faith, little faith, strong faith or great faith. So always be of good cheer and always count it all joy when you face diverse trials, tests and temptations as it is always an opportunity to show how intimate you are with the LORD Jesus Christ through your faith in His Word. Alleluia!

Prayer

Dear LORD Jesus Christ, thank You for letting me know that I should count it all joy even when I face difficult situations. I thank You for guiding me in the way that I should go. Thank You LORD Jesus Christ, Amen.