 “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” James 1:2-4 (ESV).
All of us desire authenticity. The choice between fake and authentic is easy. Trials answer the question of whether what your faith is authentic and whether it is based in reality. Difficult circumstances test the authenticity of your faith. The Greek word for “testing” means to find out if something is genuine. In this case, you are a new creation in Christ who is experiencing the truth of God’s Word in real time. Is what you believe in real and reliable? Am I really on the right path? A trial will show you if your spirit is born of Christ or born of the world. Soak up the truths and apply them to this new time of testing. Level up your perspective and respond in trust. When your faith is proven genuine, your soul and spirit share in this experience and you know deep inside of you that God’s Word is true and you are trusting in Him. Your faith has been proven to be true and this produces maturity and confidence in your inner being. There are positive effects of experiencing the genuineness of your faith and the reliability of God, where your faith is placed. As you realize how dependable God is, you will gain stability. As you experience God’s sustaining grace, you will become better able to traverse times of trials. When your faith is tested, your ability to persevere through trials increases. You become more stable and increase in stamina. “For you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” James 1:3-4 (ESV). The word for “steadfastness” in Greek means “to remain under” the trial that God has ordained for your growth. As an act of continued faith, you trust God’s provision, protection, and purpose for you in this trial. Notice that as you see your faith being proven to be genuine, you simultaneously are able to remain under the difficult challenge. Sometimes, God delivers you from the difficulty and many times He delivers you through the time of testing. His deliverance is experienced as your faith is proven to be genuine and your spirit has the power to remain under the difficult situation. In every trial, God is with you in the fire. Will you recognize Him and hold His hand? There is always the other Person in the fire with you. “So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while. 7 These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold — though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.” 1 Peter 1:6-7 (NLT). Faith that is tested and proven to be genuine is more valuable than gold. Have this perspective as you traverse trials. You must endure many trials for a little while, but you can emerge rich in something very valuable: proven, authentic faith. Prayer: “Dear Heavenly Father, Please give me Your perspective on the trials that I am going through. Show me that my faith is genuine. Help me to experience the validity of Your truth for every situation. Give me the grace to hold up under the pressure of difficult circumstances. Let me see Your goodness and experience Your faithfulness. Please sustain me and mature me. In Jesus’s name, amen.”
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 “No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and be enslaved to money.” Matthew 6:24 (NLT).
Living in grace means living in freedom to serve God instead of the world. As you think about your personal life, how much time do you invest into being successful? Are you looking for the praise of people and respect for your position? Or, are you seeking God’s approval and provision instead? By His work of salvation in your spirit, the Holy Spirit has given you an inborn desire to love God and be devoted to Him. It is because of His grace that you can read Matthew 6:33 and desire that lifestyle: “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things (physical needs) shall be added to you.” (NKJV). To live in grace means to desire God’s righteousness and His kingship in your life. As you submit to His Kingdom priorities, you will live under His provision. God’s grace puts you on this quest, guides you step-by-step, and His grace provides for your needs. This is the reason why you can’t live both in grace and in slavery to money. If you are serving money and worldliness, you must be strong to get the provisions. If you are serving God, you can trust Him to provide. “Even strong young lions sometimes go hungry, but those who trust in the Lord will lack no good thing.” Psalm 34:10 (NLT). There are two obstacles to seeking God for your happiness and provisions. First, you must decide that God is worth more to you than what the world is offering. As long as you value the world’s possessions or praise more than you value God, you will default to serving money. The other obstacle to trust in God’s control and power rather than in your own control and power. As long as you trust in your own ability to be secure, you will not release control to God. This is the reason why you have to decide that He is good and has the ability to handle every one of your needs. Do either of these obstacles exist in your thinking? Jesus met a man who was rich and wanted to also have eternal life. The man was a moral person who lived a religious lifestyle. But, he was unable to give up the security and pleasure that he found in his possessions. When Jesus recognized that the rich man was a moral person, He asked him to crucify his love for the world by giving away all of his many possessions. The man could not love God more than he loved his riches. He wanted to serve money and serve God, but couldn’t do both, so he chose his own wealth and security. How about you? Are you living a spiritual life of submission to God and pursuit of His righteousness? Or, are you trying to be religious and worldly at the same time, like the rich man? The choice is always yours: Will you let God control you and your future or will you control you and your future? Most people know the famous verse that says, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” This verse is speaking about Paul’s ability to depend on Christ in times of riches and in times of poverty. “Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength. Even so, you have done well to share with me in my present difficulty… And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:11-13, 19 (NLT). If you choose to obey Jesus Christ’s command to “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness,” then you will be strengthened in every situation to trust God’s provisions. When you live in grace, you learn how to be content and at peace with His provisions. Prayer: “Dear Heavenly Father, Teach my heart to trust You, my mind to value You and my will to obey You. Please give me the faith to give my future into Your hands. Take away my fears and my love for the world. Please give me love for you and help me to prioritize Your Kingdom. I release control to You and will be content with Your provisions. In Jesus’s name, amen.”  “Be angry, and do not sin: do not let the sun go down on your wrath, 27 nor give place to the devil.” Ephesians 4:26-27 (NKJV)
Paul is writing about a common emotion in the human experience. Anger is called a secondary emotion because it usually sparks into a blazing fire from the kindling of unmet expectations, injustice, disrespect, or frustration. Anger, in itself, is not always a sin. There are two factors in anger that can qualify it as a sin. First, the cause of the anger may already be a sin or not. Second, the way that you react to that cause may be a sin or not. There are legitimate reasons to be angry and these are demonstrated in the Bible. However, most of the reasons why you are angry are probably not Biblical reasons for anger. James says, “Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.” James 1:19-20 (ESV). Often people justify their anger by looking for positive results. However, using anger to control people or an outcome is manipulation and is not godly. If you’re prone to anger, think carefully about why you’re angry and how you’re acting out in anger. If either of those are sinful, you must stop yourself and use self-control. In Ephesians 4:26-27, Paul says to deal with your anger immediately because anger is an emotion that creates space inside of you for the devil. The Greek word for “place” in verse 27 means a physical space like a room or a home. When you are angry for the wrong reason or in the wrong way, you create a space inside of your soul where demonic spirits can attack you. This is why Paul says that you should consider your anger and make sure that you are not sinning, especially by being angry for a long period of time. What is the root cause of your anger? Is it bitterness because of unforgiveness of a trauma in your past? Is it unmet expectations that require you to either give grace or change your expectations? Is it a feeling of inadequacy or rejection? When you feel angry, look inside of your soul to see why you’re angry. Anger creates a space and inside of that space you will find a soil full of roots. Where did those roots come from? Why are they there? To have a soul that is not infected by sinful emotions, you must work at identifying why you’re angry. Are you trying to control others? Do you have a spirit of control living inside of that space in your soul? Are you angry because you’re being disrespected? Do you have a spirit of rejection hiding inside of that small space in your soul? Are you bitter because of injustice? Are you agreeing with a spirit of bitterness or injustice? In spiritual warfare, there can be two attackers that try to gain access to you through your anger: a spirit of anger and a spirit of the root cause. This is why the writer to the Hebrews says, “Work at living in peace with everyone, and work at living a holy life, for those who are not holy will not see the Lord. Look after each other so that none of you fails to receive the grace of God. Watch out that no poisonous root of bitterness grows up to trouble you, corrupting many. Hebrews 12:14-15 (NKJV). Anger and bitterness spread quickly because they are spiritual in nature, providing a spiritual space for demonic oppression inside of those who agree with them. Instead of being angry and bitter, fill your soul with holiness. Work at living a holy life. Garden your emotions and dig out the sinful roots. God’s grace has already given you the good soil in your soul and your Gardener is waiting to partner with you in producing fruits of righteousness. Fill your soul with godly emotions and holiness. Work to make your soul a reflection of Christ’s thoughts, will and emotions. As you fill up your soul with worship, joy, forgiveness, trust, hope and love, you will find that living in grace leaves very little room for the devil. Prayer: “Dear Heavenly Father, Search inside of my soul to find if I have any hidden places where sin is hiding. Show me is there are any evil spirits that need to be cleaned out. I want my soul to be filled with Your presence, Your emotions, and Your holiness. In Jesus’s name, amen.”  “I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming, and he has nothing in Me.” John 14:30 (NKJV).
Jesus had resisted every temptation known to mankind and recognized every deceiving spirit that attacked Him. “This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin.” Hebrews 4:15 (NLT). After His baptism, Jesus was tested for forty days by Satan and throughout His ministry, He was attacked, even through Peter’s mouth. As Jesus celebrated the Passover with His disciples, He gave them many words of teaching. Then, as Jesus was ready to go to the Mount of Olives, He told His disciples that Satan was coming against Him but Satan had no place in Him. Satan had no anchor in Jesus’s soul that he could use against Jesus. Jesus had filled His soul with righteousness, purpose, and trust. There were no empty spaces where bitterness, injustice, lust or temptation could pollute Him. “David said about him (Jesus): ‘I saw the Lord always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest in hope, because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, you will not let your holy one see decay. You have made known to me the paths of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence.’” Acts 2:25-28 (NIV). When Jesus said that Satan had no control over Him or place in Him, He was already filled with unshakable trust, hope for a victorious outcome, and joy from the presence of God. Not only was Jesus filled up inside of His soul, but Jesus was also wearing His armor. “He put on righteousness as a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation on his head; he put on garments of vengeance for clothing, and wrapped himself in zeal as a cloak.” Isaiah 59:17 (ESV). His righteousness was complete, leaving no chinks in the armor. He was ready to become your salvation and wear the vengeance that was due to you. His zeal and purpose were like a cloak, as His face was set like stone. Nothing could stop Him because His will was set on obedience, His soul was filled with godliness, and His mind and emotions were focused on His Passion and the cross. Think about Jesus’s motivations. He loved you so much that He willingly endured incredible spiritual attacks and a horrific, Hellish death. He did it for love and to save your life. “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16 (NLT). Jesus also hated the ungodliness that you were born into and He hated the slavery that you were locked into. Jesus “gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.” Titus 2:14 (NKJV). Jesus wanted to redeem you from every lawless deed and He wanted to purify you, making you zealous for good works. He was motivated by a heart to serve you by ransoming you from Satan’s kingdom. “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Matthew 20:28 (NLT). Jesus was motivated by the joy of you being in His family. He looked ahead at the joy that He would feel when you were at the family table in Heaven with Him. He looked ahead and saw you redeemed, justified, holy and a citizen of the Heavenly family. Jesus was also motivated to become friends with you. “But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation. For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son. So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God.” Romans 5:8-11 (NLT). Prayer: “Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you so much for sending Your Son Jesus to be my Savior, my Hero, and My Rescuer. Please fill me with a sense of Your presence and fill my soul with love, hope, and obedience. In Jesus’s name, amen.”  “For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 6:20-23 (NKJV).
You were made to produce life! But, you also have the potential to produce death by sinning. In fact, sin produces death. You were born into sin and were a slave to sin, producing shame and death. Sin creates toxicity in relationships, bitterness and lust in your heart, anger and stress in your body, and has a damaging effect on your spirit, soul and body. Your own sin breeds death and the sins of others create death, as well. God hates sin, disease and death. He hates the toxic relationships that sin produces. This is why Jesus Christ entered history as a human and conquered sin and death. Jesus came to free you from the activities that create death, as well as purchase your forgiveness. The results of sin is death but the gift of God is life through Jesus. “For the law was given through Moses, but God’s unfailing love and faithfulness came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God. But the unique One, who is himself God, is near to the Father’s heart. He has revealed God to us.” John 1:17-18 (NLT). Before you were saved, the law of God set boundaries for you but couldn’t keep you from sinning. In fact, the more you broke the laws of God, the more sin and death you created. But, God’s unfailing love and faithfulness came to you through Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ fulfilled the laws of God perfectly and then paid for your sin and death with His own body and soul. In this way, you are released from being a slave to sin and you are created anew to be a servant of righteousness. “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” John 14:6 (NKJV). The first Adam bequeathed you sin and death. The second Adam paid the penalty for your sin and death and, from Him, you’ve inherited righteousness and life. “Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have God’s Son does not have life.” 1 John 5:12 (NLT). Here is the application: When you receive life from Jesus Christ, it is the very essence of your spiritual DNA. You are truly alive inside. The life of Jesus is the ingredients that your spirit has been made from and you are designed produce righteousness. God through grace has given you life. Live out that life and be righteous. “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.” Romans 8:1-2 (NKJV). For a believer, there are three options. First, you can sin and produce death and condemnation. Second, you can become legalistic and try to obey the law perfectly. Third, you can live in grace by walking in the Spirit and responding to His guidance. To walk according to the Spirit means to be molded by Him into the image of Jesus Christ. The law of the Spirit of life is the law of grace: You have been set free from sin and perfection. You now have the liberty and privilege to be authentic to who you are: a saint. The law of the Spirit of Life says, “to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.” Ephesians 2:22-24 (ESV). Prayer: “Dear Heavenly Father, I want to be holy and righteous! I hate my sin and I hate the toxicity that it produces. Please forgive me for trying to be perfect in my own strength and ability. You have already made me perfect in Christ. Please help me be that person. Please help me live according to the law of the Spirit and put on the clothes of thinking and godly actions. In Jesus’s name, amen.”  “Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul?” Matthew 16:24-26 (NLT).
If you are living in grace, why do you have to carry a cross? Isn’t carrying a cross the opposite of receiving God’s undeserved favor? To be honest, taking up your cross produces freedom in your life. Despite the pain of carrying your cross, you enjoy peace, purpose and friendship. It is because you’re living in grace that you are able to take up your cross and follow Jesus. Let’s start by defining what taking up your cross means. The key is in verse twenty-four, which is to give up your own way. You are born into this world preprogrammed to demand your own way. It is wired into the fallen human nature to follow your own ideas. This lifestyle produces sin, selfishness, and death. You might not die immediately but stubbornly insisting on your own way produces toxicity. When the Holy Spirit baptized you into Jesus Christ, He crucified your old spirit with Jesus and He resurrected your new spirit with Jesus. Your old nature has been crucified with Christ and now it is your opportunity to obey God and follow Jesus. The cross is an instrument of death. Jesus was given a cross to bear by the Roman soldiers. He died on that cross to buy you life. For you, taking up your cross means that you are going to crucify your old sinful self and live as a new creation in Christ. Technically, this has already happened, so now you need to live in that reality. “We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin. And since we died with Christ, we know we will also live with him.” Romans 6:6-8 (NLT). Because of the cross, you have been set free to live with Jesus. Now, you can follow Him. To take up your cross means to submit to God’s Word and His will. This requires you to crucify your selfish ambitions and starve your flesh. Instead of feeding your flesh by giving it everything that it wants, you deny your flesh and choose to obey Christ. Like carrying a cross, this can be painful because you have to deny yourself and actively choose to follow Jesus Christ’s wisdom and will. Ask the Holy Spirit to show you where you’re being stubborn. What does He want you to do instead? Deny yourself and submit to Him. Grace has set you free to make choices that align with God’s will. Usually, it is not difficult to decide what the right course of action is. What is difficult is to deny yourself and do it God’s way. The good news is that you have been given the desire and ability to submit to God. “My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” Galatians 2:20 (NLT). The fact is that your old self is dead and gone. Your new self is alive and dedicated to Jesus. Not only are you made in the image of Jesus, you are also inhabited by Jesus. You live in your earthly body by trusting and obeying. “So you also should consider yourselves to be dead to the power of sin and alive to God through Christ Jesus.” Romans 6:11 (NLT). This is a mindset. Consider yourself alive to God and obey Him intentionally. The life of grace means to live for Christ, while dying to self. When you choose that lifestyle, you will experience a life worth living. Prayer: “Dear Heavenly Father, I am so happy to choose to obey You! Help me to see where I’m stubbornly asserting my own will and not submitting to yours. I want to crucify my flesh and live free from the power of sin. Please forgive me for choosing my own way and give me the will power to deny myself and follow Jesus. In Jesus’s name, amen.”  “You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross. Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Philippians 2:5-11 (NLT).
As a believer, you already have the mind of Christ, which is the ability to have His perspective in your daily life. You also have the ability and mandate to have the attitude of Christ. As the 2nd Person of the Trinity, Jesus Christ is Yahweh, the only one and true God. Before Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem, He was infinitely higher in position than any created being. This is why it is so amazing that Jesus Christ had a humble attitude of service to mankind. He was God and did not hold onto His divine privileges. Instead, He took a humble position of a slave and was born into the human family. He humbled Himself and obeyed the Father in every way, perfectly fulfilling the law of God on our behalf. But, Jesus didn’t stop there. He further humbled Himself to be falsely and unjustly accused, beaten, shamed, rejected, mocked, and crucified. It is because of His humility all of the way to death that you have been given eternal life. Part of living in grace is emulating the attitude of Jesus Christ and giving up privilege to serve others. “Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did.” 1 John 2:6 (NLT). Humility doesn’t require others to wash your feet, but rather seeks to serve others in meaningful ways. “Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves.” Philippians 2:3 (NLT). Ambition and selfishness are usually rooted in personal pride. Humility is the opposite of pride, so it produces an attitude that seeks what’s best for other people. Think about your expectations for yourself and others. Are you motivated by pride? Are you dependent on the respect of others to feel valued? Surrender pride and position to Jesus and follow His example of leadership by serving others. True leadership is equipping and serving others. “Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” Ephesians 5:1-2 (NIV). When you were given grace to become a believer, you were given every spiritual blessing in Jesus Christ. One of those blessings is the ability and desire to follow God’s example and live in the paths of love, just like Jesus did. Who in your life is a challenge to love? What sacrifice can you make to be kind to someone who is generally unkind to you? "Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you." Ephesians 4:32 (NIV). “Give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. And further, submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.” Ephesians 5:20-21 (NLT). To submit to others means to humbly accept them as worth your attention and to listen to them. Mutual submission requires a combination of respect, humility and trust. To live like this, you must have the attitude of Jesus Christ, which is to consider others worthy of your love and service. “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” Mark 10:45 (NKJV). Are you willing to set aside your pride and serve others? “All of you, dress yourselves in humility as you relate to one another, for ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.’ So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honor.” 1 Peter 5:5b-6 (NLT). If you choose humility, God will honor you. Prayer: “Heavenly Father, It is very difficult for me to trust You enough to let go of my pride. Help me to be like Jesus and trust You to raise me up and fulfill my need for significance. Help me to be humble and lift others up, even when it means that I am seen as a servant. In Jesus’s name, amen.”  “Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.’ So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” Genesis 1:26-28 (NKJV).
All of humanity's worth flows from God. He made us in His image and gave us authority and stewardship over all of the things that God has put into our spheres of influence. You are God's steward, given authority to take dominion and steward the creation that God has placed around you. You are created to steward yourself, your gifts, your talents, your family and your job, to name just a few things. Notice that your worth is not dependent on how you steward. This is because your worth is dependent on God’s creative purpose. God decided to make you worth more than any other created thing because He decided to make you in His image. David wrote Psalm eight from the perspective of how worthless he felt. “What is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. You have given him dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet,” Psalm 8:4-6 (ESV). Often, we can judge our worth by how small we feel in the universe or by how little influence we feel we have. We can look at our social status or at our bank account and feel like we’re not worth very much. What you need to remember is that your circumstances, your mistakes, and your achievements do not define your worth. As a human being, you have significant worth in the universe. You are created in God’s image, a little lower than powerful spiritual rulers. You are crowned with glory and honor. God created you with worth because you’re a human being, made to steward His creation. You carry innate authority, purpose and worth. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” 2 Corinthians 5:17 (NKJV). As a new creation in Christ, you have been remade in the image of God’s Son. As a believer, not only were you born in the image of God, you were reborn into the image of Jesus. Find your worth in this identity. You are a new person made to be like Jesus Christ. God loves you so much that “He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” John 3:16b (NKJV). Your worth is woven into His love. God is the source of your worth and He thinks you’re worth dying for. So stop trying to find your worth in the acceptance and respect of others. Stop looking for your worth from your accomplishments or social status. Instead, find your worth in who your Heavenly Father says that you are: “But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light.” 1 Peter 2:9 (NLT). Your worth comes from God and includes His calling on your life. He has made you in His Son’s image so that you can reflect the Son. Your identity and worth include a specific calling. You respond to this calling by becoming more Christlike. “Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God. Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love.” Ephesians 4:1-2 (NLT). Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, You have made me in your image and called me your child. You have cleansed me of all of my sin and nailed all of my worthlessness to the cross. Thank you for making me a new person in the image of Jesus. Help me to stop chasing after worth and to realize that I’m already worthy. Please give me the strength, health, and guidance to live my life worthy of Your calling. In Jesus’s name, amen.  “While Jesus was here on earth, he offered prayers and pleadings, with a loud cry and tears, to the one who could rescue him from death. And God heard his prayers because of his deep reverence for God. Even though Jesus was God’s Son, he learned obedience from the things he suffered. In this way, God qualified him as a perfect High Priest, and he became the source of eternal salvation for all those who obey him.” Hebrews 5:8-9 (NLT).
In Heaven, Jesus already knew everything. However, He had not experienced physical pain, physical suffering or rejection and conflict from the human perspective. To be our Representative, Jesus Christ had to enter into the human experience and become a person. His firsthand understanding of pain, exhaustion, frustration, and temptation qualified Him to be our High Priest. Experiential learning of God’s faithfulness through desperate prayers qualified Jesus to be your Friend who knows your sorrows. “This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin.” Hebrews 4:15 (NLT). Jesus understands your weaknesses because He experienced the same trials that you are experiencing. Jesus learned through experience how to see purpose in His trials, how to plead, pray, and trust. Because of His experiences, Jesus knows exactly what you are feeling. He already navigated the same type of trial that you’re in and He knows from experience the way out. In fact, Jesus can show you a way out, so you can endure the trial. “The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.” 1 Corinthians 10:13 (NLT). Jesus will show you the way to endure each trial or temptation. This may be showing you how to trust and obey without feeling God’s presence. It also may be giving you insight into how to persevere, while trusting in God for daily strength. Or, it may be helping you focus on godly pursuits instead of giving in to the temptations. Experiential learning gives you the context for the truths that you already know from the Bible. You already know that God loves you and cares for you. Look back at the many times that you have experienced His love and care. “We understand these things, for we have the mind of Christ.” 1 Corinthians 2:16b (NLT). Jesus Christ both knows and has experienced the sovereignty, justice and mercy of God. You already have the Word to tell you His perspective. It is through daily life that you experience the perspective of Jesus. As you navigate times of testing, you learn through experience how Jesus felt and thought when He lived on Earth. “All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort. He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us.” 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 (NLT). One of the beautiful aspects of sharing in the nature of Jesus Christ and being His special creation is that you get to be like Him. He suffered so He could identify with your suffering. He learned through experience how to trust when God seemed distant. He knew from experience how necessary it is to trust and obey and also how rewarding it is, as you experience the joy in God’s presence. He can comfort you because He was comforted. In the same way, you can comfort others with the same comfort that you’ve experientially learned from God’s faithfulness. Prayer: “Heavenly Father, Please be with me through each time of testing. Please give me a sense of your presence and help me to trust in your promises. Comfort me, so that I can comfort others! In Jesus’s name amen.”  “But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” 2 Peter 1:5-8 (NKJV)
As a saint, there is always the hope that a trial will produce Christ’s character. In your spirit, you will be strengthened and grown. In your soul, you will bear the fruit of the Spirit, resulting in righteous lifestyle choices. God’s grace has lifted you from the meaningless estate of being a Hell-bound sinner. His grace has given you the eternal purpose of being a citizen of Heaven. Since you have escaped the futility of the world’s lifestyle, you are now living proof that God’s character has been implanted into your spirit and you are His child. For this very reason, pay attention to your spiritual growth. Paul says that you’ve been made into a new person in Christ and he also says that the Holy Spirit is changing you by gradual stages into a more accurate reflection of Jesus Christ. “And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.” 2 Corinthians 3:18b (NLT). What are the truths that you believe strongly? Think about the love that God has shown you by giving you eternal life and a righteous nature. Since He has made you righteous already, use your trials to practice being a person who exudes good Christlike qualities. Truth is what stabilizes you and sets you free from false identities, sins, and demonic attackers. Read your Bible and increase in knowledge. The more you know, the more you can grow! Read the gospels and see how Jesus used self-control in adversity. Emulate Him and take control of your will. View each of your health challenges and trials as an opportunity to learn perseverance. Perseverance is a muscle that requires you to flex and strain, resulting in incredible resiliency. If you look back at 2 Peter 1:5-8, you’ll see that the pinnacle of spiritual growth is kindness and love. Kindness and love are tested when your health, finances, or relationships are tested. View each trial as an opportunity to become more patient, more kind, more godly and more loving. Don’t give up! Embrace the trial as an opportunity to become more consistently Christlike. There is tremendous grace available when you must learn through experience the goodness and faithfulness of God. Trials are the context for developing your character to be more like Christ, reflecting His characteristics more accurately. Jesus became qualified to be our High Priest because He learned experientially how to go through trials and temptations. He became the perfect Captain because He was tested Himself and found the faith and perseverance. In the book of James, you are urged to view your trials as experiential-learning opportunities to become perfect like Jesus. “Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.” James 1:2-4 (NLT). What is the purpose of the trial? It is for you to grow your roots down into Jesus and produce His perfect fruits. Prayer: “Dear Heavenly Father, Teach me to trust you, even when I can’t see your rescue. Show me the ways that you are working in me and in the situations in my life. Give me a thankful heart to recognize and thank you for your provision, your blessings, and your love, despite my difficult circumstances. Fill me with your grace, so that I can grow to be a better reflection of Jesus. In Jesus’s name amen.” |
