SCRIPTURE
Studied: James 1
OBSERVATION
James 1:12-15 ~ God will bless you, if you don’t give up when your faith is being tested. He will reward you with a glorious life, just as he rewards everyone who loves him. Don’t blame God when you are tempted! God cannot be tempted by evil, and he doesn’t use evil to tempt others. We are tempted by our own desires that drag us off and trap us. Our desires make us sin, and when sin is finished with us, it leaves us dead.
APPLICATION
It is so easy to give up, especially when you feel like God is not even there for you. However, these verses remind me that there are times when our faith is tested, and God is patiently watching us to see the level of spiritual maturity that we have attained, and whether we would withstand the pressures of the testing. Is God there to help us? I believe that God is always there to help us, but think about it, even for us to ask for help from God requires a lot of faith on our behalf. If our faith is already being tested, will we truly have faith to ask God for help? There are several nuggets in these verses that could serve to help us in times of weakness and despair in our faith:
- God will bless us, if we stay strong and keep the faith and not give up;
- He will reward us with glorious life, or a crown of life, or life everlasting;
- God cannot be tempted by evil, and He doesn’t use evil to tempt His children, so let’s be careful to not blame God when we are tempted;
- Evil comes from the evil one, so let us stay far away from him. Let’s quote scripture to him and stay so strong in the Lord that Satan will have no power over us;
- Our own sinful desires cause us to be tempted and ultimately sin. Remember from other scriptures that sin separates us from God. It is no wonder that we feel like He is not there to help us when we are tempted! Stay close to God and He will stay close to us. Let nothing come between us and our Savior.
Let us remember that: Whatever we feed, will lead.
PRAYER
Father, it is so awful to feel like we have separated ourselves from You. Please give us grace daily to stay close to You, and in turn, far away from sin, through prayer; Bible study; the friends that we keep, the TV shows that we watch; the company that we keep and the places that we go. Most of all Jesus, may we use this grace that You give us to be a blessing to others. Thank You for the patience that You have with us! Thank You for the gift of eternal life promised to us that have accepted You as Lord and Savior of our lives! Thank You for being God, and the freedom that I have to come before You and petition Your help so many times when things are just impossible in my own power! You are an awesome God, and I value the relationship that I have in You! Thank You for accepting me into Your Kingdom as Your child!
Nuggets From God's Word 
Ed,
This is such an excellent message for those going through trials. One thing I always had was my faith. I was taught to Love God, to Pray, and to Have Strong Faith in God, by my Catholic Grandmother who was a prayer warrior and went to church everyday. When I was 5, I remember we moved to the suburbs (before that we lived in south boston with my Grandparents) and I would sit alone on my front porch and sing made up songs to God. I loved God So Much. And I always loved the Palm Sunday Service because they told the story of Jesus. But it wasn’t until I was 23 and at a 1st assemly of God christian singles group at someone’s home, that someone told me just how much God loved me back. That is when I accepted my salvation, June 8, 1984. Six years later on June 8, 1990, I delivered my daughter Jessica.
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