The Road to Perfect and Complete

The Road to Perfect and Complete

Bayless Conley

I want us to focus our attention today on James 1:2-4,


My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.  But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.


What I want to look at today is how God seeks to bring us to maturity by building patience into our lives.  If there is one thing I have learned in my Christian walk, it is that God is not in as much of a hurry as I am!
Now, what is patience?  Patience is the long-lasting quality of your faith.  If you let go of your patience, your faith falls to the floor.


The end result God is looking for is that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.  The word perfect here means mature.  God is developing maturity in us by working on our patience.
I have a dear friend who has a great church.  They endeavored to build another building on their property and it ended up being a major undertaking.  In fact, it turned out to be the most difficult thing he had ever done.  I mean, it took a strip out of his hide.


Eventually it got built, but you know what my friend says about it?  He says, "You see that building?  I didn't build that building.  It built me."


Going through those trials, facing those difficulties, having his faith tested, having to trust God when it seemed like there was a lack of finances, having to hold onto God's Word when he was a laughing stock with some people, all of that built character in him as he stood the test.


I have a question for you:  Has anything been building you lately?  If so, rejoice, because God is working maturity in you! 

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No More Nagging

Sharon Jaynes

Girlfriends In God

Today’s Truth

“The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective,” (James 5:16 TNIV).

Friend to Friend

There are some verses in the Bible that I wish God had just left out.  Here are a few of them:

• A quarrelsome wife is like a constant dripping. (Proverbs 19:13)
• A quarrelsome wife is like a constant dripping on a rainy day; restraining her is like restraining the wind or grasping oil with the hand. (Proverbs 27:15,16)
• Better to live in a desert than with a quarrelsome and ill-tempered wife. (Proverbs  21:19)
• Better to live on a corner of the roof than share a house with a quarrelsome wife. (Proverbs 25:24) 

OK, that’s about all I can take right now.  When I wrote the book, Becoming the Woman of His Dreams, I surveyed and interviewed men about what they longed for in a wife.  One thing that men repeatedly mentioned was their aversion to nagging. Drip, drip, drip. Webster defines nagging as to scold or find fault with repeatedly, to cause annoyance by scolding or repetition. Interestingly, a nag is also an inferior or aged horse. The best remedy to cure ourselves from being a nagging wife, or a nagging mother, or a nagging friend, is to become a praying woman. Jesus invites us to stop nagging our husbands (and others) and begin nagging God!          

Here’s what Jesus had to say:

"Suppose one of you has a friend, and he goes to him at midnight and says, `Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, because a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have nothing to set before him.'

"Then the one inside answers, `Don't bother me. The door is already locked, and my children are with me in bed. I can't get up and give you anything.' I tell you, though he will not get up and give him the bread because he is his friend, yet because of the man's boldness he will get up and give him as much as he needs.

"So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. (Luke 11:5-9).

In the Greek, the words ask, seek, and knock are present participle verbs. The more correct translation would read, ask and keep on asking, seek and keep on seeking, knock and keep on knocking. God invites us to be persistent in our prayers. We can give our worries and cares to God and leave it up to Him to do the rest. “Cast all your cares on the LORD and He will sustain you,” (Psalms 55:22).  “Cast all your anxiety on Him for He cares for you,” (1 Peter 5:7). If you are married, remember, you don’t want to be your husband’s mother…you want to be the woman of his dreams. 

Let’s Pray

Dear Lord, I confess that sometimes I nag my husband…alright, maybe more than sometimes. But Lord, I am determining in my heart to stop nagging my husband and start being consistent and persistent in prayer. My husband is Your workmanship, not mine. Forgive me when I try to yank the paint brush from Your hand and create brushstrokes of my own. I pray that I can be the woman that he needs in order to become the man that You desire.

 In Jesus’ Name,

Amen.

Now It’s Your Turn

What do you think a nag sounds like?

Do you ever nag your husband or other significant people in your life?

If there are things that you tend to nag your husband about, try this - write them down on a piece of paper, turn the list over to God, and then turn off the leaky faucet. Give it a try.  You might be surprised!

More from the Girlfriends
Nagging just seems to come natural for most of us girls. But God calls us to live super-naturally.  If your marriage could use a bit of freshening up, take a look at Sharon’s book, Becoming the Woman of His Dreams. And if it that little but powerful muscle called the tongue that needs an overhaul, see her book, The Power of a Woman’s Words. It is up to us to turn off that leaky faucet for good!

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