OUR DAILY BREAD : WALL-BANGERS ANONYMOUS

[cimi]

August 1
Wednesday


WALL-BANGERS
ANONYMOUS

READ:
James 1:1-8
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My brethren, count it
all joy when you fall
into various trials,
__James 1:1-8
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I'll never forget the time during college when, after I had finished writing a big paper that was due the next day, I heard a loud commotion in the room across the hall. My neighbor was in a state of panick throwing stuff around his room looking for his paper. Frustrated, he banged his fist against the closet and shouted, "Thanks a lot, God, You make life one big laugh!"

I might have given him an A+ for theology__at least he knew that God was ultimately in charge__but an F for his response to the problem.

For those of us who get mad at God when life takes a wrong turn, we need a good dose of biblical therapy. So, welcome to "Wall-Bangers Anonymous" __a two-step program toward a positive, God-honoring response to pain.
Step One: Think straight about trouble. It's not only inevitable, it's indiscriminate. Trouble comes in all shapes and sizes. "Various trials" (James 1:2) affect our health, our careers, our relationships. Once we understand the facts, we can begin appreciating their significant value in our lives.

Step Two: Trade resistance and resentment for receptivity and rejoicing. "Count it all joy" (v.2). The joy is not in the presence of pain but in the knowledge that God is using our pain to refine us and make us better, not bitter. __Joe Stowell
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~If we embrace adversity,~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Accepting every pain,~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~Then we will learn what we should know;~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Our grief will turn to gain. __Sper~~~~~~~~~~~
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God chooses what we go through;
we choose how we go through it.

****************Today'b Bible Reading __ James 1:1-8*************

1 James, a bondservant of
God and of the Lord Jesus
Christ,
To the twelve tribes which
are scattered abroad:
Greetings.
2 My brethren, count it all
joy when you fall into
various trials, 3 knowing
that the testing of your faith
produces patience. 4 But
let patience have its perfect
work, that you may be
perfect and complete,
lacking nothing. 5 If any of
you lacks wisdom, let him
ask of God, who gives to all
liberally and without
reproach, and it will be
given to him. 6 but let him
ask in faith, with no
doubting, for he who doubts
is like a wave of teh sea
driven and tossed by the
wind. 7 For let not that man
suppose that he will receive
anything from the Lord;
8 he is a double-minded
man, unstable in all his
ways.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>INSIGHT<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

In James' letter in the Scriptures, we are given the practicality
of wisdom for daily living. Even in this opening passage, the apostle
wastes no time in addressing real-life issues of concern to his
readers. Though theologians have wrestled for centuries with the
problem of suffering, James moves to a practical response. And,
though far too often episodes of suffering are allowed to pull us
away from God, James counsels us instead to allow those hard times
to drive us to God. It is solid, wise, practical counsel for people
living in the real world. __WEC