Somebody Loves You

Raul Ries: Are you completely satisfied in what God is doing in your life through the trials of life or are you discontent? I would pray that you're content in the Lord and you're saying Lord, my faith and trust is in you and whatever comes into my life I'm going to trust you and you'll be with me in the fire so I trust you fully and completely.

Guest (Male): Welcome to Somebody Loves You Radio, the Bible teaching ministry of Raul Ries in Diamond Bar, California. Today’s message returns to the book of James with encouragement to help you cope with life’s trials and temptation.

Raul will assure you that whenever you’re feeling enticed by sin or beaten up by adversity, you can look to God for strength, wisdom, and peace. As he enables you to overcome, he’ll also equip you to use your experiences to invest in others' lives. In James chapter one, here’s Raul Ries.

Raul Ries: As he gets from the introduction now, he's now going to actually get into the letter and the first thing that he does in chapter one verses two to four is he's going to ask us that it is a blessing when you're going through trials. I hate trials. So this is something new for me here.

How do you deal with trials? Because there are many people when they have a trial they think God doesn't love me, that's not it. Every child of God that comes to be born again of the Holy Spirit has to go through the fire to be purified so that God can use your life. And let me say this right out front, if you don't pass the test you gotta retake the test. You can't escape it. You can't escape it.

We just came out of the book of Job. Remember what happened to Job? Job was a beautiful perfect man in the eyes of God. He loved his family. Every morning he would get up before the sun would come up, he went out to the altar and he prayed and he sacrificed to God for his boys, for his girls, for his wife, for himself. He worshipped before the Lord and interceded for his family.

And then one day Satan presenting himself before the Lord, he was coming through and God said, "Hey Satan, where are you coming from?" He says, "I've been cruising up and down." I'm just kidding you. I've been cruising up and down the earth. And then God said, "You have?" He says, "Have you ever considered my servant Job? There's nobody like him in the whole world."

The word consider in the Hebrew I told you before is a very interesting word in Hebrew. It's of a general standing on top of a mountain looking down on its enemy camp and strategizing how he's going to take that camp and defeat the enemy. God said to Satan, "Have you ever strategized against my servant Job on how to get to him?"

And Satan said, "No way, you've never allowed me to do that." And God says, "I'm allowing you now." And Satan left immediately. Chapter one, he was gone and what did he do? The first thing he did is he came in and he wiped out everything in his flocks, took them all.

And then remember, he took away all his money. And as a servant would come every minute, one came in and said this is what happened, another one come in this is what happened, then the third one and then the fourth one came in. Remember he said, "Your children were eating in the brothers' eldest brother's house and a tornado came and it actually knocked down the house and it killed all your children and I'm the only one that has escaped to come and tell you."

And Job got up, he tore his clothes and got sackcloth and ashes and put it all over his head and he said, "Naked I came into this world naked I leave, the Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away, blessed be the name of the Lord." And in all this Job never ever charged God wrongfully.

And yet here James is exhorting us and he's going to tell us in verse two, "My brethren, count it with all joy when you fall into various trials." How can I do that? How can I rejoice? Sounds stupid, right? But it's not. It's not. If you know that God is allowing it then we must pass through it.

Remember the three children of Israel in the book of Daniel, Meshach, Abednego, and their brother. They went into the fire and what happened? They were all three of them in the fire, Daniel was somewhere else and all of a sudden the king looks into the fire and he says, "There were three people, why are there four now? We threw three in and why are there four? One looks like the son of God."

And they were in there and they were chatting with each other. They were sitting there talking to each other. And the king went in and said, "Hey, Meshach, Abednego, Shadrach, come out here I want to talk to you." And they come out of the fire and said, "Yeah king, what's up?"

And the Bible says that they didn't even smell like fire or smoke or anything because the king said the fourth one looks like the son of God. Jesus was in the fire with them and listen, anytime you go into the fire Jesus will be with you just like them. You just got to accept that. God will never tempt you more than you can handle.

He'll never do that because he loves you. He loves you, he knows how much you can take. And yet here James deals with us he says that we are constantly forced with temptation. It's part of life. It's part of life, trials and temptations. We can't escape it in this world which is in an imperfect world we are living in a place where every day you get up you don't know what's going to happen.

But as a child of God I put my trust in the Lord every day and trust him for everything and anything that he wants to do in my life. Why do I say that? Because when you go back into the Bible how many people were tempted? Job was tempted, David was tempted, Joshua was tempted, the priest, Jesus was tempted, Ananias and Sapphira were tempted.

And Ananias and Sapphira failed the test in Acts chapter five. It's really important that we understand that we have to pass the test, especially when temptation comes in our lives. Jesus was tempted by the devil in Luke chapter four. Remember, he came and tempted him three times physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

And what did Jesus say? Every time the devil came to him he quoted the word of God. "It is written, it is written, it is written." How did he defend himself? With the word of God. So you got to know God's word. You got to know the Bible, you got to know the books of the Old Testament and the books of the New Testament so that you can use God's word as your defense against Satan and all his lies.

That's why this book is so important to each one of us individually here. And yet we see here, "My brethren, count it or consider it all joy when you fall into various or different trials in life," notice that. And the word trials here is temptation or troubles. And these have a purpose.

These are designed by God. God's in charge. He knows what you need in your life, he knows how you can handle it and what pressure you will have and how long they'll last. God knows that. I am so happy he put that there that he's in charge. Because I've been sometimes in some trials I go, "Lord, how long? How much more?"

I went through a great trial my life physically. I thought I wasn't coming out of it. But again, God allowed it to make me stronger and to really depend on him. My prayer is now, "Lord, crush me. Crush me, Lord." You know why? I want to know him. I want to know him as my Lord and Savior.

Because I know that he's not going to kill me. I know that he's not going to leave me desolate. I know that in every place where I have to go in my trials and temptations he's going to be there to sustain me and to help me. Why? Because he loves me as he loves you.

So if tonight you're going through something in your life, know one thing, Jesus loves you. And he'll be in the fire with you. He's not going to abandon you. If he's brought you this far you think he's going to abandon you? Never ever think about that. Not so, he will never do that because he loves you too much the Bible says.

And yet when we study the Bible in the Old Testament too. Remember when Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden, Eve was tempted by Satan. And Eve gave in to temptation. God gave a way out but what did she do? She gave in and gave to her husband and they were both kicked out of the garden of Eden.

So it's really important to understand. Yes, we are to count it with all joy when we fall into different kinds of trials or troubles. And we have to discern is this from the Lord or is Satan trying to defeat me and really wipe me out? What's going on here?

Not only Adam and Eve, but Potiphar's wife when Joseph in the book of Genesis 39. Remember? Joseph, his brothers hate him so they fake a kill and take it back to their dad and they sell him to Egypt and he ends up in Egypt in the house of Potiphar, an Egyptian.

And his wife is a wife that is always picking up on men. And he trusts Joseph with everything in his house and in Genesis 39 while he is on a journey, she knows that her husband's gone from home. So what does she do? She calls all the servants to go and take some free time and she every day is bugging Joseph to lay with her.

And he says no. No I can't and I will not. And he's in the prime of his life, he's only 18 years old. And finally one day she came in and she ran everybody out of the house and she got herself on top of the bed and she's actually sitting on the bed there waiting for Joseph to come in, clean the house.

As he's cleaning the house she comes in and says, "Joseph, come lie with me" and she becomes aggressive jumps up, jumps on him to grab him to actually bring him down to the bed and he forces her off and she rips his clothes off and he ran naked out of the house. Think of how many young men today, young women are not running but they're staying.

And God's allowing this testing to see if you're going to stay pure to God. And what happens when you're being tempted if you're all alone and you know that it's not good to be alone in a house with someone because you're going to be tempted. It's better to be with other people and not to go to places where you're going to fall but where you're going to have victory.

That's what God wants to see. He's building character, he's actually saying if you pass the test I can entrust you with more of my kingdom. How much can God trust you with? I hope he can trust you with a lot. That's why it's really important for young people and older people if you're married to stay pure to your marriage.

If you're being tempted at work by some woman or some guy, man, you need to go to God and say, "God, give me the strength" and you need to stop it don't be flirting. Say, "I'm married and I have children I love my wife I love my husband don't come to me anymore."

You need to do what's right. Because if you don't the devil will get you good. You'll end up losing your family. And you might even lose your soul. Real important that we understand how God works through this scripture, how God works through his word.

Then there was another person, Jezebel when she was actually after Elijah the prophet, a whorish woman trying to kill the prophet. And the prophet was having a hard time where the prophet actually was afraid and he said, "I'm the only one left in Israel and they want to kill me" and he ran 180 miles to the desert and when he got there he said, "God, kill me and take me home. I'm done."

And God said, "No you're not done. I have 7,000 in Israel that have not bowed their knees to Baal. I'm going to use you. Get some rest and then I'm going to send you out again." God allows us to be strong. Think of all the people in this world that have been tempted.

And right now you here tonight are being tempted in somehow, I don't know how. But God knows and you know. Are you going to pass the test or are you going to flunk the test? Because if you flunk the test you got to retake the test. Do you pass it? Or you can't grow.

You can't take the position and the work that God wants to do in your life and the way God wants to use you as a vessel of honor until you pass the test where he can trust you. But you need to trust him first. That's really important. So that God can do a tremendous work in our lives.

That's why we study the word of God so that we can learn how to do that and here James is trying to teach us how to do that. Because we know what the joy, count it with all joy, that's what fruit of the spirit? Galatians 5:22. Love, joy, peace, longsuffering, patience, all these things are the works of the Holy Spirit.

It's a work of the Holy Spirit so he says, "My brethren, count it with all joy when you fall into different trials." And what does it do? Temptation builds character, character in my life. I love that. It builds character in my life as I stand before the Lord.

And I surely want God to use my life as he's building my character personally through the things that I'm facing in my own personal life. Look now at verse three. He says, "Knowing this," knowing that the testing, the trial, the proof of your faith produces patience or literally endurance.

Mark that. As you're going through a trial it's building up your faith and your faith is producing endurance, not failure. Endurance, think about that. The staying power of God to sustain you in your trials and your temptations I love that. In first Corinthians chapter 10, let me read it to you.

Listen what he says, Paul the Apostle. First Corinthians chapter 10. He's talking here about Israel and being tempted he says this in chapter 10 verse 13. He says, "No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man but God is faithful who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you're able but with every temptation will also make the way of escape that you may be able to bear it."

Isn't that beautiful? God makes the way of escape, there's always an open door for you to run. You don't have to say I failed, no you could have run. You didn't want to run. We've all been there. And that's why we have to be so careful because here James again is saying, "Knowing that the testing or the trial or the proof of your faith produces patience."

So what does this testing do? It comes as character building that we might be able to say, "Why me?" Why not you? Or me? If you want to be used in the kingdom of God then know one thing, God is going to mold you and shape you and he's going to put you in the fire because he loves you.

Because he loves you so much. But he will make the way of escape for you if you're willing to run and to do what's right. And then what he says here the patience, that staying power that we need in our lives. We need to have it. Listen to Psalm 40 verses one to three.

Psalm 40 says, "I waited patiently for the Lord and he inclined to me and he heard my cry when I was crying for him. He also brought me up out of the horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock and established my steps. He has put a new song in my mouth, praise to our God, many will see it and fear and will trust in the Lord."

Isn't that neat? As we're going through the fire the Lord will sustain you and keep you because he loves you so much. Sustaining power, Jesus Christ is my rock. I keep my eyes on Jesus Christ in everything that I do and say. And then verse four, he says, "But let patience, let endurance have its perfect work." That's the problem, we're so impatient.

We don't allow God to really work. We lose hope, we lose heart. He says, "Let patience have its perfect work." What do you mean perfect work? To be perfect myself? No listen, what he's saying here is this, "But let patience have its perfect work" which means it will bring you to maturity.

It will make you mature. You won't be a little child anymore, you'll be mature in the things of God because you're actually passing the test. That's what it's all about. To make you a soldier in the kingdom of God and check this out he says, "That you may be perfect or complete and complete in lacking nothing."

If you're obedient to God and you're actually staying the course and you're doing what God says, imagine what God says here, you will lack nothing in your life. Because the word to lack in nothing here it speaks of contentment in my life when I am content in the Lord I don't want nothing.

I'm satisfied I can kick back in the Lord. I don't need anything else in my life. He's all I got and all I want. But at the same time that's the work of the Holy Spirit in each one of our lives here. When he uses that word perfect here completeness, it literally means that he will finish the job.

He will finish the job. Look what it says, "But let patience have its perfect work or let it finish its work. Or let it finish the job. That you as a child of God may be complete and complete or mature through the trial. You'll become a spiritual person.

You will lack nothing in your life, nothing in your life. Why? Because the Lord is with me. And if God is for me then who can be against me? I love it. Nobody. Because my eyes are on the Lord. My eyes are on Jesus Christ, the one that leads me, the one that guides me, the one that provides for me and the one that is going to take me to heaven one day.

Why? Because I'm keeping my eyes on him fully and completely. What do we do by faith? We live by faith according to Romans 1:17, "The just shall live by faith." Secondly, we walk by faith, Romans 4:12. Thirdly, we pray by faith, not expecting anything to receive of God, Matthew 21:22.

And fourthly, we resist the devil and evil by faith, Ephesians chapter six verse 16. And then overcome the world by faith. Everything is by faith in Jesus Christ what we're doing tonight as God's people completely and fully.

But let patience have its perfect work that you may be perfect and complete lacking nothing ever ever ever. The question is this, are you completely satisfied in what God is doing in your life through the trials of life or are you discontent? I would pray that you're content in the Lord and you're saying, "Lord, my faith and trust is in you and whatever comes into my life I'm going to trust you and you'll be with me in the fire so I trust you fully and completely."

Guest (Male): Well we hope today’s message has been an encouragement for you, that the Lord will never leave you on your own in times of trial or temptation. You’re listening to Somebody Loves You Radio with Raul Ries. If you’d like to hear today’s lesson in its complete form, we’ll be happy to send an unedited copy to you for a donation of five dollars or more.

Simply call us at 800-634-9165 and ask for Raul’s teaching from James chapter one verses one through four. As you think about the promise of God’s faithful presence in your life, we’d like to offer you Raul’s eight message series titled Traits of a Christian.

It’s available on both CD and flash drive with every lesson underscoring the rewards of a close personal relationship with the Lord. You’ll find that when you prioritize daily time with God and submit to his perfect sovereignty, he’ll patiently shape you into his image and fill your life with fruitful purpose.

To order Raul’s eight part series titled Traits of a Christian, visit somebodylovesyou.com or call 800-634-9165. We’ll send you the CD set for 20 dollars or the thumb drive for just 12 dollars. Once again that’s 800-634-9165. Our mailing address is Somebody Loves You Radio, PO Box 4440 Diamond Bar, California 91765.

Somebody Loves You Radio with Raul Ries is fully listener supported. Thank you for your generous partnership. You are a great blessing to us and every contribution is tax-deductible. Next time on Somebody Loves You Radio, you’ll get a reminder that while seasons of hardship and suffering are inevitable in this life, God’s mercy and power are even greater. No matter what you’re facing, you can always be confident of his loving care.

This program is sponsored by Somebody Loves You Radio in Diamond Bar, California.