Pursuit Of His Presence

James 1:1-8 

1 JAMES, A servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes scattered abroad [among the Gentiles in the dispersion]: Greetings (rejoice)!

2 Consider it wholly joyful, my brethren, whenever you are enveloped in or encounter trials of any sort or fall into various temptations.

3 Be assured and understand that the trial and proving of your faith bring out endurance and steadfastness and patience.

4 But let endurance and steadfastness and patience have full play and do a thorough work, so that you may be [people] perfectly and fully developed [with no defects], lacking in nothing.

5 If any of you is deficient in wisdom, let him ask of the giving God [Who gives] to everyone liberally and ungrudgingly, without reproaching or faultfinding, and it will be given him.

6 Only it must be in faith that he asks with no wavering (no hesitating, no doubting). For the one who wavers (hesitates, doubts) is like the billowing surge out at sea that is blown hither and thither and tossed by the wind.

7 For truly, let not such a person imagine that he will receive anything [he asks for] from the Lord,

8 [For being as he is] a man of two minds (hesitating, dubious, irresolute), [he is] unstable and unreliable and uncertain about everything [he thinks, feels, decides].

 

Devotional

Risky Business

by Gloria Copeland

“Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us.” Hebrews 12:1
Several years ago, this ministry fell behind financially—nearly $6 million of television bills behind! It looked to us like the answer to that problem was very complicated. We thought about selling all our ministry property and buildings so we could use the money to pay off the deficit. But then, we wouldn’t have had any place to house the ministry operations.
Things looked dark. But do you know what got us through that situation? It wasn’t some new revelation from God. It wasn’t some flash from heaven bringing us an instant solution.
What overcame that deficit was the same thing that put food on our table more than 40 years ago when we first began to live by faith: a patient application of the Word of God.
I had our old reel-to-reel tapes of Kenneth Hagin’s messages transferred to cassettes and listened to them again. We made fresh application of the simple principles of confession he’d taught us so many years ago. We corrected ourselves in the things we had let slip. We increased our deposits of God’s Word in our hearts and said the Word with our mouths.
In other words, we just did like James 1:4 says. We let that trial work patience in us, and when it was done, we lacked nothing. Not only was the deficit paid, but we haven’t been behind financially since that time.
What’s more, the testimony of that particular victory has encouraged others in similar situations.
That’s the risk the devil always takes when he puts you through a trial. He takes the chance you’ll come through in victory and end up stronger than you were before, instead of weaker. He takes the chance of giving you another testimony of the miracle-working power of God.
If you’re facing a challenging situation, and the devil is up to risky business, just apply the foundational truths you’ve already learned. Do what you know to do, as you expect the Holy Spirit to teach you more, and God will take care of the rest. The devil will suffer another defeat to the glory of God!
Speak the Word
“I lay aside every weight and sin which so easily besets me. I run with patience the race that is set before me.” —Hebrews 12:1
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