Namesake Is My Favorite

One of my favorite books of the Bible is James, especially the first five verses: “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we[a] have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we[b] boast in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we[c] also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.” This verse and frankly, the entire Holy Bible, affirms the fact that the certainty of life’s uncertainty is not a reason to give up on living in general and living for Jesus Christ specifically. No, no, no though the helper, the Holy Spirit, that Jesus Christ left behind when He ascended into Heaven (Read John 14:15-17; 16:7-11) we CAN persevere through the hardships we experience in life as we wait expectantly for Jesus Christ to return. Many of us are experiencing or know others experiencing the three difficult Ts: trials, tribulations, and temptations. Know that despite Satan’s lies of discouragement and despair that we are tempted to listen to, our Heavenly Father HAS NOT given up on us; nor should we give up on ourselves, our loved ones, or our friends. First Thessalonians 5:16-18, encourages us to “16 Rejoice always, 17 pray continually, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” This is not some pie-in-the-sky, feel-good psycho-babble advice, this is real truth from a real God, who is our great and mighty Lord and Savior. Rather than taking life’s beat downs, we must humble ourselves before almighty God and he can and will take us from beat down to up beat and turn our defeat into victory. Our hope in Jesus Christ is never in vain. First Corinthians 15:58 reminds us, “Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.“ Amen!

#children #prayer