CONSIDER TRIALS, PURE JOY

Consider it wholly Joyful, my brethren,

Whenever you are enveloped in or encounter Trials of any sort,

Or fall into various Temptations.

Be assured and understand that the Trial and Proving of your Faith

Bring out Endurance and Steadfastness and Patience.

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.

If any of you is deficient in Wisdom let him ask of the giving God

[Who gives] to everyone liberally and ungrudgingly,

Without reproach or faultfinding, and it will be given him.

Only it must be in Faith that he asks,

With no wavering—no hesitation, 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.

For truly, let not such a person imagine that he will receive anything

[He asks for] from the Lord,

[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).

Let the brother in humble circumstances Glory in his Elevation

[As a Christian, called to the True Riches and to be an Heir of God];

And the Rich [person ought to glory] in being humbled

[By being shown his human frailty]'

Because like the flower of the grass he will pass away.

For the sun comes up with a scorching heat and parches the grass;

Its flower falls off and its beauty fads away.

Even so will the rich man wither and die in the midst of his pursuits.

[Isa. 40:6,7.]

Blessed, happy, to be envied is the man who is patient under Trial

And Stands Up under Temptation,

For when he has Stood The Test and been approved

He will receive [the Victor's] Crown of LIFE

Which God has Promised to those who love Him.

Let no one say when he is Tempted,

I am Tempted from God;

For God is incapable of being Tempted by [what is] Evil

And He Himself Tempts NO ONE.

But every person is Tempted when he is drawn away, enticed and baited

BY HIS OWN EVIL DESIRE (LUST, PASSIONS).

Then Evil Desire when it has conceived gives Birth to Sin,

And Sin when it is fully matured brings forth DEATH.

Every Good Gift and every Perfect (free, large, full) Gift is from Above;

It comes down from the Father of all [that gives] light,

In [the shining of] Whom there can be no variation

[Rising or setting] or shadow cast by His turning [as in an eclipse].

And it was of His own [free] will that He gave Birth (as sons)

By His Word of Truth,

So that we should be a kind of First Fruits of His creatures--

[A sample] of what He created to be consecrated to Himself.

Understand [this], my beloved brethren.

Let every man be quick to hear, (a ready listener,)

Slow to speak, slow to take offense and to get angry.

For man's anger does not promote the Righteousness

God [wishes and requires].

So get rid of all uncleanness

And the Rampant Outgrowth of Wickedness,

And in a humble (gentle, modest) spirit

Receive and welcome the Word

Which implanted and rooted [in your hearts]

Contains the Power to Save your Souls.

But Obey the Message; be Doers of the Word,

And not merely listeners to it,

Betraying yourselves [into deception by reasoning contrary to the Truth].

For if any one only listens to the Word without Obeying it

And being a Doer of it,

He is like a man who looks carefully at his [own] natural face in a mirror;

For he thoughtfully observes himself,

Then goes off and promptly forgets what he was like.

But he who looks carefully into the Faultless Law, the [Law] of Liberty,

And is Faithful to it and perseveres in looking into it,

Being not a heedless listener who forgets,

But an active Doer [who Obeys],

He shall be Blessed in his Doing—in his life of Obedience.

If any one thinks himself to be Religious—Piously observant

Of the external duties of his Faith--

And does not bridle his tongue, but deludes his own heart,

This person's Religious Service is Worthless (futile, barren).

External Religious Worship (Religion as it is expressed in outward acts)

That is Pure and Unblemished in the sight of God the Father is this:

To visit and help and care for the Orphans and Widows

In their affliction and need,

AND TO KEEP ONESELF UNSPOTTED

AND UNCONTAMINATED FROM THE WORLD. (James 1:2-27, AMP)

Christ Jesus warned us all:

Be always on the Watch,

And pray that you will be able to Escape All that is about to happen,

And that you may be able TO STAND before the Son of Man.

(Luke 21:36)

Today, the World is raging against God, rushing toward Oblivion. (Psalm 2)

This World in it's present form is passing away. (1 Corinthians 7:31)

America is being ground to powder because of her SIN against God.

Save yourself from this Corrupt Generation! (Acts 2:40)

As God has written, so shall it be! Hallelujah! Maranatha!

Father, Your Kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as in Heaven!