Persevere In Your Service Unto God
James 1: 2-4 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
We are all called to a great work for God. We were not plucked out of the darkness the world walks in to sit in a pew and wait until Jesus comes. Why? Because there are other people still walking in that same darkness and it is not the will of God that any should perish (2Peter 3: 9). Sometimes we can overlook this in our walk and service to God. It is not about us. We are already saved. It is about the remaining humanity facing eternal separation from God and the role God has called us to in His kingdom. God has provided us with gifts to accomplish that which He has called us to do. We can run from the calling like Jonah or become discouraged but remember:
for God's gifts and his call are irrevocable. Romans 11: 29
Discouragement is often an enemy we must face in our service
to God. Remember, Satan has already lost the battle for your soul so now his
goal is to make you ineffectual for the service God has called you to. By doing
so, he prevents more from coming to the foot of the cross. The attacks we come
under can be from multiple sources. From the world certainly but more often
than not, we can be attacked from within the church itself. Remember, not
everyone who says "Lord Lord" will enter the kingdom of heaven. As Paul was
saying farewell to the leaders at
I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears. Acts 20: 29-31
Even from within our own number. Still we must stand under the expected attacks. We must persevere. Our key verses today actually stress that we should consider it "pure joy" when we face the expected trials because such testing of our faith results in perseverance. The dictionary defines perseverance as:
