Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds. James 1:2 (Life Application Study Bible)
Jesus Tells Us… Consider problems as pure joy. That’s not the way the world usually looks at problems, is it? The world says to do everything you can to avoid problems. But there is simply no way to avoid every problem, no matter how hard you try. The best way to get through a difficult day is to hold my hand tightly and keep talking to Me. As we talk, be sure to tell Me you trust Me -and thank Me for My help. Ask Me to guide you through your problems and show you the blessings hidden in them. The blessing of self -control can be learned from dealing with a difficult teacher. The blessing of patience can be learned from an illness. I teach you many things through your problems. I also use them to draw you closer to me.
Jesus Concludes… So yes, consider problems as pure joy, knowing that with Me by your side, they can become things worth celebrating.
James 1:2; Philippians 4:13; Isaiah 26:3 Study Notes
Footnotes James 1:2-3; James doesn’t say if you face trials, but whenever you face them. He assumes that we will have trials and that we can profit from them. We should not pretend to be happy when we face pain, but we can have a positive outlook (“consider it pure joy”) because trials can strengthen and develop our character. James tells us to regard our hardships as times of learning and growth. They build our perseverance.
Passage Philippians 4:13; I can do all this through him who gives me strength.
Footnotes Philippians 4:13; Can we really do all things? We receive all the power we need in union with Christ when we do his will and face the challenges that arise from our doing it. He does not grant us superhuman ability to accomplish anything we can imagine without regard to his interests. As we contend for the faith, we will face troubles, pressures, and trials. What does God want you to do? Step out in faith and do it, trusting him for the strength you will need.
Passage Isaiah 26:3; You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you.
Footnotes Isaiah 26:3; We can never avoid strife in the world around us, but when we fix our thoughts on God, we can experience perfect peace even in turmoil. As we focus our minds on God and hold on to his word, we become steady and stable. Supported, by God’s unchanging love and mighty power, we are not shaken by the surrounding chaos. Do you long for peace? Keep your thoughts on God and your trust in him.
Jesus Tells Us is from the Jesus Calling 365 devotions for kids.
THE WORLD…we see history
John Witherspoon
Surely the wrath of man shall praise you;
With the remainder of wrath, you shall gird
Yourself
Psalm 76:10
When politics got into the pulpit.
In 1768, the small Presbyterian College of New Jersey (later Princeton), needed a president. They hired a hardheaded, strong-hearted clergyman from Scotland, John Witherspoon, who brought his family to America to assume the task. Arriving on campus, Witherspoon was shocked at the fledgling state of the school. He immediately loaned his books to the library, and began raising funds. He was successful. From his students, came twelve members of the Continental Congress, five delegates to the Constitutional Convention, twenty-eight senators, forty-nine congressmen, three Supreme Court justices, once secretary of state, and several other cabinet members, a vice president, and one president: James Madison, the Father of the Constitution. Yet we remember Witherspoon more as a Founding Father, than as an educator. Soon after arriving in America, he began advocating liberty. On May 17th, 1776, following the news from Boston, he preached one of the most important sermons in the lead-up to the Declaration of Independence. Delivered at Princeton and printed for distribution on both sides of the Atlantic, Witherspoon’s message, “The Domination of Providence over the Passions of Men,” was based on Psalm 76:10, and it stoked the colonies for independence.
He began:
There is not a greater-evidence either of the reality or the power of religion, than a firm belief in God’s universal presence, and the influence and operation of His providence. It is by this means, that the Christian may be said, in the emphatical Scripture language, to walk with God, and to endure as seeing Him who is invisible.
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Witherspoon then moved to his text in Psalm 76, giving the context and explaining that verse 10 tells us God can bring good out of the ravings of one’s opponents. The lord knows how to work everything for the good of His cause. Witherspoon continued:
To apply it more particularly to the present state of the American colonies and the plague of war, the ambition of mistaken princes, the cunning and cruelty of oppressive and corrupt ministers, and even the inhumanity of brutal soldiers, however dreadful, shall finally promote the glory of God, and in the meantime, while the storm continues, His mercy and kindness shall appear in prescribing bounds to their rage and fury.
In his closing application, Witherspoon urged his listeners to commit themselves to Jesus Christ for the salvation of their souls, and then he said:
You are all my witnesses, that this is the first time of my introducing any political subject into the pulpit. At this season, however, it is not only lawful, but necessary, and I willingly embrace the opportunity of declaring my opinion without any hesitation, that the cause in which America is now in arms, is the cause of justice, of liberty, and of human nature. Be of good courage and let us behave ourselves valiantly for our people, and let the Lord do that which is good in His sight.
Witherspoon closed with words designed to arouse the nation:
I beseech you to make a wise improvement of the present threatening aspect of public affairs, and to remember that your duty to God, to your country, to your families, and to yourselves is the same. True religion is nothing else but an inward temper and outward conduct suited to your state and circumstances in providence at any time. In times of difficulty and trial, it is in the man of piety and inward principles that we may expect to find the uncorrupted patriot, the useful citizen, and the invincible soldier. God grant that in America, true religion and civil liberty may be inseparable, and that the unjust attempts to destroy the one may in the [end] tend to the support and establishing of both.
Witherspoon was elected to the Continental Congress and appointed Congressional Chaplain by John Hancock. During his tenure in congress, he signed the Declaration of Independence (the only clergyman or college president to do so), served on countless committees, helped draft the Articles of Confederation, advocated the adoption of the Constitution, rebuilt Princeton after the war, and lost a son during the Battle of Dutchtown in 1777.
Source: https://www.robertjmorgan.com/shop/100-bible-verses-that-made-america/ Page 83