The gospel is not an easy thing to accept. If you think about it, to some extent, the gospel is an offensive message to those blinded by the god of this world. Nobody wants to hear that they are sinful, depraved beings. Nobody wants to hear that they have to change from being the person they are to the person God wants them to be.

I talked to such a person last night.

At first, he bought the gospel. He wanted eternal life. But I started to explain its not becoming a better person,  it’s trusting in God to the point that you transfer all that you are and have to all that He is. Your life won’t be your life anymore, it will be God’s life. Your time won’t be your time anymore, it will be God’s time. It’s not going to be what you want to do, it’s going to be about what God wants you to do.

He was shocked, “Wait, you mean if I want to be a Christian, there has to be a radical turn in my life?”

Exactly. I told him about the radical change in my life, the moment where I went from death to life. I used to be dead in my sins, but God, rich in mercy, saved me for his glory. I no longer live in my previosu sins – dishonoring my parents, stealing, running away. The turning point was abandoning my sinful nature and clinging to the new life God has given me. This is the transformation of becoming a new creation. This is the radical turning where salvation is found.

To him, salvation didn’t seem as great anymore. He didn’t want to lose the temporary to gain the eternal, “It’s tough. I don’t think I can do it. I would rather live my life now and face the consequences.”

And he’s right. Becoming a Christian is tough. Jesus once described the work of salvation as impossible, “With man, this is impossible, but with God, all things are possible.” Salvation cost Jesus his life, and it will cost you yours too. Laying down your life is no easy thing.

“So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all he has cannot be my disciple.” – Luke 14:33

You can’t deviate to become a better person or do more good works to get to heaven. You must completely surrender your life to Christ; you must renounce all you have. That is the cost of Christianity. The paradox here is salvation is a free gift, purchased with the precious blood of Christ, but at the same time, it will cost you your life. You are only free from sin by becoming a slave to Christ.

The cost is high, but the gain is infinite. I hope you will count it.

All it takes is a bucket of worldly water or a passion in your heart that burns more greatly for your fleshly desires than the things of God, and before you know it, Revival will be doused out, leaving you stranded with a feeble, flickering flame, or worse, revealing the false fire you possessed.

I hate to say it, but it happens every year – the revival in people’s hearts fade, the excitement dies down. People who profess the faith at camp leave Havasu, and a couple months later, the question on everyone’s mind is, “Where’d they go?”

Revival can come to an end. But it doesn’t have to.

God has sparked a light and changed lives. He has given people a fire to fearlessly live for his name and a passion to persistently pursue holiness. At Revival 11, He has kindled fire and passion to a roaring flame, a blistering wildfire through convicting preaching, honest small groups, heartfelt worship and Christian fellowship.

As it is God’s responsibility to spark a light, it is your responsibility to keep the light strongly burning. Fire doesn’t grow on its own – it needs wood, it needs fuel. A fervor left unattended is a fervor left to die. Once God has given you a fire, it is your job to nurture it into a roaring flame, a consuming wildfire.

Consider the words of E.M. Bounds, “It is not in our power, perhaps, to create fervency of spirit at will, but we can pray God to implant it. It is ours, then, to nourish and cherish it, to guard it against extinction, to prevent its abatement or decline.”

There is no better way to augment a fire than by adding fuel. Yes, that’s right; add fuel to your fire. To grow your spiritual fire you must use spiritual fuel. The fuel is delving in Scripture and meditating upon God’s truth. The fuel is persistently and passionately pouring your heart to God in prayer. The fuel is living a life of worship to God, whether through thought, word or deed.

And upon adding fuel to the fire God has so graciously sparked, a flame will ignite, a furnace erupt; a fire so bright and hot, the world cannot help but notice the glowing passion in your heart for the Lord Almighty, and they will back away from the sweltering heat or catch fire and live for their Lord Jesus Christ.

And those who catch fire and start living for the glory of the one, true God will only make the fire bigger and stronger. The heat will intensify, the brightness magnify. It will become evident that there is only one person who could be behind such a fire– his name is Jesus Christ, the greatest light who has and will ever live.

What fuel are you adding to your fire?

Maybe you have forgotten. Maybe you don’t care. Whatever your reason is, if you don’t have a gift, look no further. Although I am no mother, I speak for most, if not all, mothers when I say that a radical change in honoring your parents may arguably be the best gift you could give.

One precept in the Ten Commandments looked like this, “Honor your father and your mother” (Exodus 20:12). Honor is more than obedience. Obedience is part of honor, but honor is not composed fully of obedience. While obedience speaks of action, honor speaks of attitude. It is possible, and likely, to conform outwardly to a parent’s command while the heart is grumbling in complaint, which is by no means obeying the command to honor. To honor your parents to have the attitude affect the action, the inward conformation of the law flowing out into the external.

 Philippians 2:14 Do all everything without complaining or arguing (NIV).

With the wrong attitude, obedience is worthless. God calls us to do everything, including obedience, without complaining or arguing. Obedience is good; and complaining and arguing are sins. The sins of complaining and arguing will mar the good work of obedience, making a good thing futile. Also, obedience to parents should lead to obedience to Philippians 2:14 (for they probably do tell you do to this, I hope). Therefore, if you obey with complaining or arguing, chances are you are disobeying your parent’s command to obey Philippians 2:14.  If you obey God’s command to obey your parents, make it an extra effort to obey his command to not complain or argue.

Honor sounds like a word you would say to a king, “Your Honor, may I have permission to speak?” To honor your parents is to treat them as you would treat a great king or queen – the greatest king being the King of kings. No, this is not a call to worship them or put them on par with God, but to treat them with respect, to obey them with a joyful attitude, as the God instructs us to.

[Author's definition]  Honor = Obedience + With the Right Attitude + Respect

I grew up in a Christian family. I declared that Jesus is Lord with my lips, but rejected the very thing I claimed with my lifestyle. I was a hypocrite.

Sin was my nature. It was my lifestyle, my master. I was a slave to sin; obeying it, falling into its temptation. And it dictated and defined my life to the extent that I committed sins that I am too ashamed to write about on this blog. When grace called my name, I hid. When sin tempted me, I stumbled. And my sin grew worse and worse. Toilet papering people’s houses turned into destroying people’s property. Sneaking out for the night to play video games turned into full days and nights of running away.

My mom would come to pick me up Friday afternoons, but I was never there. I’d disappear off to one of my friend’s house to spend the night there. I would sleep there and eat there and lie to my friend’s parents there and arrive at my house a few days later.

One instance, I came home from running away. I knocked on the front door and it opened. Tears filled my mom’s eyes. Disapproval stared me in the face. And Disapproval led me to the kitchen. I could fill the atmosphere turn tense. Then, my dad posed the question that was soon to change my life, “Wesley,” he asked; his eyes fierce, his voice firm, “Are you a Christian?”

Instinct took over. Without thinking, I answered, “Yes.”

The second question was just as powerful, “How do you know?”

Raised up in the church, my tongue itched to speak before the question was asked, “Because I believe. I believe the Christ paid it for my sin on the cross in full! I believe and thus am saved!”

Anger then overwhelmed me. Who was he to question my salvation? And that very anger welled up inside me, controlling my mind and blocking out the thirty-minute lecture my dad proceeded to give.

I went to my room, angry. I put earphones in my ears and blasted Lecrae. And it seemed as if all my problems faded out of sight. That is, until Lecrae rapped that one line that was bound to changed my life, “and 1 John 2:6 is the way we should go.”

The lights flickered. The pages of my Bible flipped to 1 John 2:6. I read, “Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.”

But then the lights flickered off. I shut the Bible closed. I fell asleep thinking I walked as Jesus did; I fell asleep thinking I walked by faith.

Every time my parents pointed out that I was in sin, I ignored them. My pride elevated to the extent that no imperfect being could criticize me. They have fallen short of the glory of God as well as I, I reasoned. What right did the sinner to say to me that I was in sin?

And if people failed to draw me to God, God himself would have to do it himself. He would have have to do it through his perfect word. And God stopped at nothing to draw me to him.

I soon found myself in the car heading to True North small groups. No longer would I attend Red Door, my previous youth group for they met in San Clemente and David’s house was local. That night, I was challenged to read 1 John. And as I went home, my mind read familiar words, “Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.”

Questions began to bombard my mind. God was convicting me to answer these crucial questions in complete honesty. Could I claim to live in him while living a life of hypocrisy? I flipped back to the beginning of the book of 1 John. And if no imperfect person could convict me in my pride, God could. And He would. And He did. I read; and my reading lead to conviction; and conviction led to repentance. God was firing piercing arrows,  penetrating my heart, arrows such as 1 John 1:6.

If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth.

And that arrow penetrated my heart, putting to death the old self. But God didn’t just leave me dead; he did the impossible. He gave me life in Christ. He sparked radical change in my life.

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” (2 Corinthians 5:17)

Behold, the new has come! I am no longer a slave to sin for I have been adopted by the great grace of God. The beauty of God’s work is he didn’t just take away my sin, God has given me gifts that only He can give: the strength to represent Christ at my campus,  a desire for his word,  a passion for preaching, and eagerness to evangelize.

God changed me dynamically; I had people that I don’t know well come up to me and say, “What happened to you? You changed so much!”

And I answer their question with a question of my own, “Do you want to hear my story?”

Let me give you a hint. It starts with, “H” and ends with “oly.”
If you guessed holy, you are correct! Give yourself a pat on the back for answering that question correctly.

God is a holy God. Here at True North, we like to say “God is good” and “God is great.” I challenge you to find a better word to describe God other than holy. Yes, God is love; but the love he shows is a holy love. God is just; but he displays his justness in complete holiness.

Holy possesses two biblical meanings. Mainly, it means “set apart.” To say God is holy is to say he is set apart from his creation. His greatness substantially surpasses his creation due to his marvelous majesty.

When the Bible describes an object as holy, it is set apart, but only through God who works through that object. For instance, God makes the seventh day holy. It does not mean that the seventh day is holy in the sense that God is holy, but rather it has been set apart through God’s holiness.

Holiness is also used to describe God’s nature and actions. All his attributes are holy.  All God’s actions are holy. God always performs what is good and right simply because he is holy. His holy actions derive from his holy nature.

I have only given you a brief definition of the biblical word holy for I invite you to dive into a study of God’s holiness with me. The Revived Readers, a book club, is starting to read a book called The Holiness of God by RC Sproul. (See my comment below for more information.)

“God is good.”
“For he is holy.”

The law of the LORD is perfect,
Reviving the soul
Psalms 19:7

How can we expect a revival if we aren’t revived ourselves? To ask God for a revival without a passion for his word is utterly pointless and ludicrous. Jesus says, “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you” (John 15:7). The word abide means to dwell or reside. God’s word, the Bible, must dwell richly inside you for God to answer your prayers. For the Bible to dwell abundantly doesn’t mean that you are an expert at Bible trivia, rather that it is living within you, bursting for with life that shows the world how much you love God. That is the revival of the heart.

But how can the word of God abide in you if you are not even reading the Bible? It can’t. We must be reading the Bible daily to revive our souls. We have to constantly and consistently be renewed by the word of God. After a day at school, our minds are polluted from the world: the profanity and disrespect emerging from the lives of many highschoolers. It is natural for us to blend in with society, go with the flow and let the Bible collect dust on a bookshelf. But we must fight the temptation. We must choose the route that will lead to the revival of the soul. A practical way to do this is scripture of the day at churchforhighschoolers.com. As the days are coming nearer to Revival Winter Edition, we must emerge ourselves in the richly in the Bible; and only then, expect revival.

But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him. – 2 Corinthians 2:14

A triumphal procession is a moment of pure splendor. There’s no doubt that Paul had in mind a Roman triumphal procession, in which a general would boast of the glory of his victory. He would proudly march in the streets with his army, displaying his marvelous spoils of war. The crowd would cheer in admiration, praising the general’s nobleness and courage. All the while, the general (like Spencer Revely back in the day) would pleasantly think, “Ah, the sweet taste of victory.”

What a marvelous day it will be when sin is completely crushed, when every tear is wiped away from our eyes, when death, mourning and pain are no more. What a delight it would be to hear, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.” This could be one of the greatest triumphal processions that will ever occur.

Thankfully, we do not have to eagerly wait for Christ’s second coming or death in order to be in victory. God promises that he will always lead us in a triumphal procession. No matter what time of the day it is, sin is utterly defeated and conquered. We must have confidence in God that he will lead us in a victorious triumphal procession in Christ. In a Roman triumphal procession, the people celebrated the victory of war. When God leads us in a triumphal procession, we celebrate the conquest of sin through the crucifixion of Christ.

This is news! Good news! And good news deserves thanks: In Paul’s words, “But thanks be to God.” To not be thanking God when one hears this news of always being lead in a triumphal procession is equivalent to one sitting on a couch and adding fat cells to one’s body by munching on potatoes chips when the gospel should be spread. The knowledge of knowing victory is yours forever and realizing that God himself is leading you in an eternal triumphal procession should spur gratitude towards the one who gives you the victory. Unlike my victory in San Casoro cup that lasts for a season, the triumph we have in Christ lasts for eternity.

Now that we have tasted victory in Christ, God calls us to spread the fragrance of the knowledge of him. I remember ever so clearly when my hands were raised in joy at the sight of the cup being in the hands of my San Casorians. When I close my eyes, I can almost taste the silky flow of Martinelli’s sparkling apple cider flow through my mouth. I indulged myself in the fabulous feeling of victory and hoarded it all to my teammates and myself. Not with this triumphal procession! It’s so sweet and mind-blowing, it is impossible to keep it to myself. This news should spark a desire in me to spread with all this astonishing reality of always being in triumph in Christ and the “fragrance of the knowledge of him.”

It would be absurd for one to describe a public bathroom as a “fragrance.” In society, fragrance is reserved for aromas which bring pleasure to the nose.  In the same sense, the knowledge of God is fragrant. In the Bible, the word “know” usually signifies an intimate relationship. To have to knowledge of God is to know God in a personal, intimate relationship; a master-slave relationship. Slavery doesn’t sound that bad when you have a good master: one that will look after you, provide for you, care about you, and love you more than you love yourself. In fact, that sounds marvelous, that sounds fragrant. And so does a triumphal procession.

I should have beat Spencer Reveley with this glorious Christmas attire.

My heart has been broken several times last week. For instance, during the last small groups of 2010, the Christmas party, Spencer Revely somehow beat me in the Christmas costume contest. I wouldn’t be disappointed if Spencer wore some sort of splendid outfit to beat me, but it was simply an ugly sweater that was too short for him; unfashionable, green basketball shorts and his sister’s green shoes. I, however, wore marvelous Christmas apparel. To show you how great I looked, I included a picture. There I am, with a festive red shirt over my dazzling green shirt. I carefully cut holes in the red shirt to expose the brilliant green underneath. I hung ornaments on my shirt, each with a crucial part of Christmas from the Star of David to the nativity scene to the cross. The holes in the shirt represented God’s holiness which is why I plastered red and green air heads all over it. The air head motto is, “Out of control,” and thinking about how a holy God would leave his heavenly home to die for sinners blew my mind away, forcing it to go out of control.

And when all the girls cheered for Spencer’s one inch heels, my heart was crushed. And when Dustin told me I was to first one to be disqualified, a heavy burden was placed on my shoulders. The fact that we were competing for a 25 dollar iTunes card made the burden seem even heavier. I collapsed on the couch, my spirits crushed, my dreams shattered.

Now this is a ludicrous example of me becoming burdened, but there are moments when one falls to his or her knees, in pure agony, carrying a burden too large for then to handle. Maybe the pressures of school are too much for them to handle. Maybe they have sinned, and now feel dreadful. Maybe they feel the weight of the world is crushing down on them.

If you feel weary, if you feel burdened, Christ will take them away. All one has to do is come to Jesus. Look at what Jesus says in Matthew 11:28:

Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

Jesus will give us rest if one comes to him. But what does it mean to come to Jesus?

It simply means to run to Jesus with all your problems. That may sound self-explanatory, but if it’s so explainable, why do so many people turn to the things of this world to deal with their problems. So many people turn to drugs or sex or the sinful lifestyle that God abhors. Many people point their finger at God in blame, cursing God for all their problems. It only gets worse from that point on. Instead of finding rest, people who turn to worldly things will only become find themselves more burdened and more weary.

Jesus claims that he is the bread of life in John 6:35. To come to Jesus, the first step is to eat the bread of life, to be assured of your salvation. At that point, it seems like all will become better, the clouds will part and sun rays will shine on your face and one will skip away into Happy land. But that is not what Jesus declares, “In this world you will have trouble, but take heart, I have overcome the world.”

So what is the goal of this “rest,” if it is only going to cause trouble?

As a born again Christian, God commands you to take joy in persecution (see Matt. 5:10-12). This is the trouble God is talking about, which will only produce joy in a Christian’s life. God promises rewards to those who are persecuted for his name.

This “rest” that Jesus talks about is referring to the ultimate rest a Christian receives at death or when Christ comes to rapture his church. One’s rest is in heaven, rejoicing with the angels, falling facedown in the splendor of our Lord and King. Imagine a world where there is no more death, mourning, crying or pain. Imagine a world where there is nothing to worry about, where burdens and weariness cease to exist. Imagine a world that is greater than anything your mind can fathom. This is the rest that Jesus promises his people.

What about rest in this world?

Isaiah covers this well when we writes, “Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not grow faint”(40:31). Jesus, our Savior, wasn’t born at the time Isaiah wrote this book. To hope in the LORD was to trust and be that God would be faithful in his promises in sending a Savior to redeem his people. The same applies today. Christians hope in the LORD by trusting and being patient that God will be faithful in keeping his promises. His promises include the ultimate rest that we will receive when one comes to Jesus. Theses verses also imply that God will give us strength in this world. This strength will spur us on to live life for God’s glory, and as a result, produce joy and satisfaction in Christ. Joy and satisfaction is Christ is rest, but is no where as magnificent as the heavenly home Christ has prepared for his people.

I’m eager to come to Jesus with all my burdens and weariness for the rest he promises, how about you? Maranatha!

My ever so gallant and living stallion, Fred

Good-bye friends. I, Sir Wesley, am leaving you today in search for wisdom. I hear her call in the streets. I hear her voice raising in the public squares. I will be leaving at sunrise, with my ever so gallant, white stallion, Fred. And when I return, expect wisdom to be mine.

Oh, wait. I shall not leave yet. My father is calling. I shall return to my village and hear his last words. As I step into my family’s wooden cabin, my father approached me. His last words before I set off on this noble quest were, “Good luck son. You will need this.” He handed me a scroll. I opened it. It reads, “Proverbs.”

I thought to myself, “Who needs this?” I was going to throw it away, but curiosity got the best of me. I opened the scroll. I scanned down. This got my attention.

Proverbs 1:7 …But fools despise wisdom and discipline.

This is ridiculous I thought. This is why I am going on the quest in the first place! I am a fool and that is why I need wisdom. Dumb Proverbs. I tossed it in the fire, and delighted in its burning.

*********************************************************************

It’s been thirty days now. I have not heard from wisdom since. No longer have I heard her calls on the streets. I am running low on money. What shall I do? Oh, I see ten horsemen coming! Maybe I can ask them for some money.

“Hello good sir.”
“Hello horsemen.”
“We are thieves known as the electrifying eleven, but one of our members died while we were robbing one of the villages. One man skilled in swordsmanship took him down, and it took three men to finally put an end to his life. We have an offer. Join us, and we will make you wealthy.”
“Well….um.”
He pulled out his sword. All of them did. “What do you say?”
I was filled with fear at the sight of the sword and the ten, intimidating men. I gulped, “Sure.”
“Excellent! Your first test, see that man yonder. Beat him up. Rob him of his money.”

I had to comply. Otherwise, it would be the end of my life. I snuck up behind him and struck him with the hilt of my sword. He crumbled to the ground. The electrifying eleven stole all his belongings and stripped him naked of all his clothes. “Good work. Here is your loot.” They handed me a few gold coins. Yes! Money! Maybe being a thief isn’t so bad after all. “We’re heading out to a village known for their women. Hurry, we must be there before night fall.”

We rode half a day on horseback until we approached this village. Beautiful women were dancing, their skin glowed in firelight. The electrifying eleven got off their horses and strode towards the women, making dirty jokes and laughing. In a few minutes, they were off to some sort of lonely house. I stood in silence and confusion. Suddenly, I felt soft hands wrapped around my waist, and the tender feeling of a women’s lips against my neck. I freaked out and turned around.

“Don’t worry, honey. Everything is going to be all right. Oh, are you handsome.” Her beautiful voice seduced me. She led me into her house. And it was there I slept.

I woke up with a cry. No, how could I! How could I rob that poor man of his belongings? How could I sleep with a prostitute? I glanced around the room. A wave of relief washed over my body. I’m not Sir Wesley. I’m just Wesley. I don’t have Fred, my gallant stallion. I ride my mom’s white van.

My Bible was on my nightstand, opened to Proverbs 2. I read it silently as tears flowed down my face. If I only had wisdom, I would have been able to avoid “the ways of the wicked men” and be saved from the “adulteress.” And I just felt like a total fool for trying to go on a quest to find wisdom, only God can give wisdom.

Proverbs 2:6 For the LORD gives wisdom…

I woke up again. This time it was no dream. It was not a dream within a dream. It was real. I was lying next to her. The sun has not risen yet. I quietly gathered my belongings and slipped away on my stallion back to my home. I knew where to find wisdom: from the LORD.

As I approached my village, my mother stood there. “Where is father?” I asked.
Her reply was a steady flow of tears trickling down her face. I knew he was dead.
I cried in anguish, “I have failed!”
All she did was nod, and extend her arm to hand me another scroll of Proverbs. I opened it. The same verse I read in the beginning of my quest caught my attention.

Proverbs 1:7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge.
My quest starts here: to fear the LORD.

I recently had my wisdom teeth removed. It’s not an event to be looking forward to.

The surgery isn’t that bad. I’m asleep. I don’t feel a thing. And when I wake up from the surgery, I feel great. It seems as if the numbing potion the doctors brewed up and injected into me was still in effect.

An hour later, I was wincing in pain. The cuts in my mouth used to extract my wisdom teeth were the doors for blood to flow freely into my mouth. Every 20 minutes, I had to take a blood-drenched gauze out of my mouth and replace it with a clean gauze that would only be soaked in blood minutes later. The blood that trickled from my wounds to my tongue and down my throat tasted nasty. And even after the blood clotted, pain still roamed in my mouth. My lips became a trigger for pain, opening them a fraction of an inch would release an excruciating pain that would jut up my mouth.

Do I regret having my wisdom teeth taken out? By no means! I actually feel sorry for the people who can’t have their wisdom teeth taken out, like the apostle Paul, who probably don’t know what wisdom teeth surgery is. I consider myself lucky to have my wisdom teeth removed, despite all the pain it has caused me. I know that my wisdom teeth will cause me great pain by penetrating my gums when they grow out, nor disturb my other beautiful, straight teeth.

To sum it up in four words: It was worth it.

Let’s face it, trials are worth it. In the words of one of the most profound theologians, Kanye West, “Now that that don’t kill me can only make me stronger.”

James appears to be mathematical in the introduction to his book as he writes about trials:

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.  -James 1:2-4

Trials=Testing of your faith.
Testing of your faith=Perseverance.
Perseverance=Maturity and Completion.

If you want to end up being mature and complete, you need to start at the very beginning of the equation, and work your way down. It all starts with trials. And every single trial you go through in this life will test your faith.

Look at Job. He was a man who faced “trials of many kinds.” God allowed Satan to bring trial after trial, disaster after disaster, upon Job. Yet, in the midst of these trials, right after God allows Satan to destroy virtually everything Job possesses and kill his sons and daughters, Job praises God.

The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised.  -Job 1:21

Taking joy in trials doesn’t mean taking pleasure in pain. I appreciate my wisdom teeth removal because I wouldn’t have to worry about them growing in, not because I like groaning in pain when a burst of pain juts into my mouth. In the same way, being joyous in the midst of trials doesn’t imply that you love the parts of your life when you are in misery; it means that your joy derives from your confidence in Christ. Your joy comes from knowing that he is in complete control of everything; good and bad, blessing and trial. You take joy in knowing that even though trials are painful, they will only make you stronger.

During a trial, keeping your eyes on the prize will spur you on in difficult times. Just as God blessed Job with even more than what he started with, you too, have a prize, and an end result. If you start out with trials, James writes you will end up with maturity and completion.

Thus, every time you face a trial, be assured than you will come out stronger, more mature and complete then you previously were. Now that is definitely something I should invest my joy in.