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Spiritual MOT: Warning lights & road-readiness
How am I responding to trials and spiritual testing?
James 1:2-12
2-3My dear brothers and sisters, react with real joy when you have to face many kinds of opposition and difficulty, for you know that we only learn to persevere when our faith is tested.4This perseverance is essential if we are to become mature, being the people God wants us to be, lacking nothing.5You should ask God to supply the wisdom you need, for He gives generously and unreservedly to all who ask.6However, you must believe when you ask and not doubt His willingness to give, for anyone who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.7-8Such a person is double minded and unreliable in everything he does and should not expect to receive anything from the Lord.9The believer who comes from a humble background ought to be thankful for the noble status God has given him.10The wealthy one should be thankful that God has humbled him, for despite his possessions he will suffer the same fate as the wild flower.11For when the sun shines with scorching heat, the plant withers, its bloom fades and its beauty is destroyed. In like manner, the wealthy one will fade even though he prospers in his worldly affairs.12The man who perseveres in his faith, when tested, is blessed. Having passed the test, he will be rewarded with the crown of life that God has promised to those who love Him.
Hebrews 12:4-13
He disciplines those He loves4You struggle against sin. Yet you have not had to resist the temptation to deny Christ by dying for Him! Do not forget the encouraging words that God spoke when addressing you as His sons: "My son, do not think lightly about the way the Lord disciplines you.5Do not be discouraged when He corrects you.6For He disciplines those He loves and punishes when necessary everyone who He has accepted as His son."7So you can regard the various hardships you have to face in a positive way, as discipline. God is dealing with you as His true sons! After all, every good father disciplines his children.8If God did not discipline you, then you would not be His true son or daughter; you would be spiritually illegitimate instead.9We all know what it is like to have human fathers who disciplined us, and we respected them as a result. How much more important it must be that we should gladly submit to whatever discipline we need to receive from our spiritual Father, and so live to please Him!10Our human fathers disciplined us in our early years in ways they thought were right. But God knows how to discipline us for our eternal good, so that we might share in His holy life.11None of us likes to be disciplined; it can sometimes be painful. Later we are grateful, though, because it has had positive results, enabling us to live righteous lives that please God and to be at peace with Him. In fact, without discipline we could not become trained disciples!12So be encouraged when you feel weak and feeble, even if sometimes you feel like giving up because the way before you seems so difficult.13God wants to make level paths for you to walk on, so that instead of limping through life you walk steadily with Him, as those healed and set free from whatever would hinder their walk.
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