Chip Ingram's Talk (Jan 29, 2023)

Why difficult things happen:

1. Fallen world - Luke 13

2. Human mistakes

3. Spiritual opposition

4. SIN - we know the right thing to do but we don't do it (Galatians 6), sowing and reaping

5. Discipline of God - Hebrews 12

6. God is preparing us for greater things

7. For God's glory - John 9

Meditation : Ask the Lord what's the source of this and what do you want me to do? What do you want me to learn from this?

3 Observations about life in a fallen world

1. Trials are inevitable

    1 Peter 4:12

2. Trials either tend to "make us" or "break us"

3. Victims fail to move beyond asking "why" and remain stuck in pain

    Don't ask why, ask what 
    James 1: 1-4

What to do?

1. What can I control when my world falls apart?

    Answer : MY ATTITUDE v.2

    "consider"- evaluate, calculate = choice
    "all joy" = an attitude = literally "unmixed, or pure joy"
    "trials" - surrounded by (crf Luke 10:30)

     “Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way." 
- Victor Frankl

2. What must I do to make it through today?

    Answer : ENDURE/PERSEVERE v.3

    "knowing"- by experience = perspective
    "testing" - to approve, to purify, to demonstrate as genuine
    "endurance" - hupo-meno = staying power

3. What hope do I have for tomorrow?

    Answer : God will take the WORST and use it for my BEST (v.4)

    "let perseverance" - allow, cooperate with God's work so that you will become ...
    "perfect" = mature, ripe, full-grown
    "complete" - full, all party being well-rounded and developed, lacking nothing

"Sometimes God miraculously delivers us out of things, more often He delivers us through things, and sometimes like in covid He delivers us unto Himself cause precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His godly ones" - Chip Ingram

"The thing that you want God to take away may be His greatest gift to you you'll ever get because He's trying to make you strong" - Chip Ingram

Memorize James 1: 1-4

Greetings from James

1This letter is from James, a slave of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.

I am writing to the “twelve tribes”—Jewish believers scattered abroad.

Greetings!

Faith and Endurance

2Dear brothers and sisters,

1:2 Greek brothers; also in 1:16, 19.

 when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. 3For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. 4So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.