Test Drive
In what areas of your life do you struggle to ask God for wisdom? In today's episode, we'll explore a passage from James 1:2-5 and discuss …
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Sept. 18, 2024
Test Drive
In what areas of your life do you struggle to ask God for wisdom?
In today's episode, we'll explore a passage from James 1:2-5 and discuss how life's trials can be seen as valuable opportunities for growth and perseverance. We share a personal story about an unexpected burden that turned into a blessing, and we’ll reflect on how God uses our hardships to strengthen our faith. Whether you're commuting, having your morning coffee, or taking a quick break.
We hope this five-minute devotional brings a dose of heaven to your day and empowers you to face whatever comes your way.
Let's get started!
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Transcript
WEBVTT
00:00:00.280 --> 00:00:04.102
You're listening to the my Morning Devotional podcast, episode 1098.
00:00:04.206 --> 00:00:06.809
Today's Devo is called Test Drive.
00:00:07.790 --> 00:00:25.942
Hey there. We're the Alessis, a ministry family working together in our church in Miami, Florida. And if you're like us, when days get busy and to do lists get longer, it can be hard to find devotional time. That's why we've partnered with our friend Allison to produce a five minute daily dose of heaven.
00:00:26.085 --> 00:00:37.526
This is the my morning Devotional podcast. Good morning, everybody, and happy Wednesday, Hump day. We are halfway through the week, and my name is Stephanie Muena. Thanks so much for tuning in today.
00:00:37.677 --> 00:03:13.301
I pray that these podcasts have blessed you and that these devotionals have just pushed you to go further and deeper into your word and into your prayer time. So let's dive into it today. I'm reading from James one, two through five in the NIV version, and it says, consider it pure joy. My brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance, but let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. So I absolutely love this verse. It's one of my favorite verses. And just a little story time. My husband, he just bought us. He didn't just buy it a couple years ago, he bought a sports car, a convertible sports car. I don't know why. I don't know why our husbands do these things, but they do them, and we eventually enjoy these fun toys that they buy for our house. And I thought he was crazy, but he bought this sports car, and we had so much fun with it, and we would take it out on a day every once in a while and just drive around the city with it, go to brunch with it, go to the keys with it, and it was a blast. Well, we didn't realize that we had two kids, two babies, and we can't drive in the sports car with two babies. So we're now we're trying to sell it, and we cannot seem to sell this cardinal. No one wants this sports car. It's a beautiful sports car, but we can't get rid of it. And now what was once an amazing gift has turned into a burden in our households because our garage does not have any more room for a car. We are paying for it, so we need to get rid of it. It's taken up space in our house. And we are just trying so hard to get rid of this amazing toy that has now turned into an issue. And we can barely use it. It's expensive. But the other day, when we failed our second auction and we could not lose the car, I told my husband, Chris, let's just enjoy this car while we have it. Even though it seems to be a burden, there's a reason it's still in our life. Well, just like this car, there are circumstances that we can't get out of. There are people that are testing us that we cannot get rid of in our life.
00:03:13.485 --> 00:04:27.069
So maybe there's a reason to these circumstances. Maybe there's a reason to this person in our life. And the Bible says to consider it pure joy. Now I totally get it. There are some circumstances where something's in our life that we cannot control, but the other half of us, we kind of put ourselves in that position. I bought the sports car, so now I have to deal with it. It's just life. At the end of the day, every season of our life is going to have a little bit of a thorn in our side. But the Bible says that it's good for us. And the Bible says to actually consider it pure joy and to be thankful for these thorns in our side. If we let that perseverance finish its work so that we may be mature and complete. You see, what we have to accept is that these little things, they make us better, and they make us stronger, and they make us more gracious, and they make us more mature if we let it. And I don't understand the depth of your circumstance today. It could be really hard. That workplace that you're in, that is really testing your patience.
00:04:27.529 --> 00:04:38.050
That family that you are in, it's probably got to be really, really tough. You may be in a family that does not know Jesus at all. You may be in a family that doesn't want anything to do with Jesus or church.
00:04:38.209 --> 00:04:52.375
I don't know what that's like, and that's got to be really, really hard. But let me just challenge you. Consider it pure joy, because that's going to produce perseverance. It's going to produce faith in you.
00:04:52.528 --> 00:05:03.459
You're going to really like the version of yourself that learns how to persevere, that learns how to be faithful, because you're going to be stronger than you've ever been before.
00:05:03.879 --> 00:05:07.264
You just have to ask God, where do I need more grace?
00:05:07.432 --> 00:05:57.781
Where do I need more perseverance? Where do I need more patience? Where do I need more faith. And I promise you God's going to answer that. He's going to give you the grace when you need it. He's going to give you the faith when you need it. He's going to give you the patience when you need it. You just need to ask him for it. And remember, consider it pure joy. Have joy in the middle of those circumstances. If those circumstances aren't changing, ask God for joy. If that person isn't leaving your life, ask God for joy. Come on, let's pray, guys. God, even though the circumstances are hard, even though the people in our life are hard, we thank you anyway, and we consider it pure joy, Father, knowing you have them in our life for a reason. You have us in this workplace for a reason.
00:05:57.925 --> 00:06:19.639
You have us in this family for a reason. You have us in these circumstances for a reason. So, God, we trust you, and we allow you to let these circumstances produce in us a perseverance and a faithfulness so that we may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. And God, we ask you for wisdom.
00:06:19.980 --> 00:06:27.108
And knowing that you give generously, so give us that wisdom generously. Give us that patience and grace generously.
00:06:27.244 --> 00:06:58.800
And God, we thank you because we know you just want to make us stronger. You want to make us the best version of ourselves that we could be. And in Jesus name we pray. Amen. So there you have it. Your five minute daily dose of heaven. Thank you so much for tuning in today. We pray these devotionals empower you to take on your day. If you found value in this devotional, share it with a friend, leave a comment or review for us on the app you're using right now. Until tomorrow, we pray that your latte is strong, but your love for Jesus is stronger.
00:00:00.280 --> 00:00:04.102
You're listening to the my Morning Devotional podcast, episode 1098.
00:00:04.206 --> 00:00:06.809
Today's Devo is called Test Drive.
00:00:07.790 --> 00:00:25.942
Hey there. We're the Alessis, a ministry family working together in our church in Miami, Florida. And if you're like us, when days get busy and to do lists get longer, it can be hard to find devotional time. That's why we've partnered with our friend Allison to produce a five minute daily dose of heaven.
00:00:26.085 --> 00:00:37.526
This is the my morning Devotional podcast. Good morning, everybody, and happy Wednesday, Hump day. We are halfway through the week, and my name is Stephanie Muena. Thanks so much for tuning in today.
00:00:37.677 --> 00:03:13.301
I pray that these podcasts have blessed you and that these devotionals have just pushed you to go further and deeper into your word and into your prayer time. So let's dive into it today. I'm reading from James one, two through five in the NIV version, and it says, consider it pure joy. My brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance, but let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. So I absolutely love this verse. It's one of my favorite verses. And just a little story time. My husband, he just bought us. He didn't just buy it a couple years ago, he bought a sports car, a convertible sports car. I don't know why. I don't know why our husbands do these things, but they do them, and we eventually enjoy these fun toys that they buy for our house. And I thought he was crazy, but he bought this sports car, and we had so much fun with it, and we would take it out on a day every once in a while and just drive around the city with it, go to brunch with it, go to the keys with it, and it was a blast. Well, we didn't realize that we had two kids, two babies, and we can't drive in the sports car with two babies. So we're now we're trying to sell it, and we cannot seem to sell this cardinal. No one wants this sports car. It's a beautiful sports car, but we can't get rid of it. And now what was once an amazing gift has turned into a burden in our households because our garage does not have any more room for a car. We are paying for it, so we need to get rid of it. It's taken up space in our house. And we are just trying so hard to get rid of this amazing toy that has now turned into an issue. And we can barely use it. It's expensive. But the other day, when we failed our second auction and we could not lose the car, I told my husband, Chris, let's just enjoy this car while we have it. Even though it seems to be a burden, there's a reason it's still in our life. Well, just like this car, there are circumstances that we can't get out of. There are people that are testing us that we cannot get rid of in our life.
00:03:13.485 --> 00:04:27.069
So maybe there's a reason to these circumstances. Maybe there's a reason to this person in our life. And the Bible says to consider it pure joy. Now I totally get it. There are some circumstances where something's in our life that we cannot control, but the other half of us, we kind of put ourselves in that position. I bought the sports car, so now I have to deal with it. It's just life. At the end of the day, every season of our life is going to have a little bit of a thorn in our side. But the Bible says that it's good for us. And the Bible says to actually consider it pure joy and to be thankful for these thorns in our side. If we let that perseverance finish its work so that we may be mature and complete. You see, what we have to accept is that these little things, they make us better, and they make us stronger, and they make us more gracious, and they make us more mature if we let it. And I don't understand the depth of your circumstance today. It could be really hard. That workplace that you're in, that is really testing your patience.
00:04:27.529 --> 00:04:38.050
That family that you are in, it's probably got to be really, really tough. You may be in a family that does not know Jesus at all. You may be in a family that doesn't want anything to do with Jesus or church.
00:04:38.209 --> 00:04:52.375
I don't know what that's like, and that's got to be really, really hard. But let me just challenge you. Consider it pure joy, because that's going to produce perseverance. It's going to produce faith in you.
00:04:52.528 --> 00:05:03.459
You're going to really like the version of yourself that learns how to persevere, that learns how to be faithful, because you're going to be stronger than you've ever been before.
00:05:03.879 --> 00:05:07.264
You just have to ask God, where do I need more grace?
00:05:07.432 --> 00:05:57.781
Where do I need more perseverance? Where do I need more patience? Where do I need more faith. And I promise you God's going to answer that. He's going to give you the grace when you need it. He's going to give you the faith when you need it. He's going to give you the patience when you need it. You just need to ask him for it. And remember, consider it pure joy. Have joy in the middle of those circumstances. If those circumstances aren't changing, ask God for joy. If that person isn't leaving your life, ask God for joy. Come on, let's pray, guys. God, even though the circumstances are hard, even though the people in our life are hard, we thank you anyway, and we consider it pure joy, Father, knowing you have them in our life for a reason. You have us in this workplace for a reason.
00:05:57.925 --> 00:06:19.639
You have us in this family for a reason. You have us in these circumstances for a reason. So, God, we trust you, and we allow you to let these circumstances produce in us a perseverance and a faithfulness so that we may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. And God, we ask you for wisdom.
00:06:19.980 --> 00:06:27.108
And knowing that you give generously, so give us that wisdom generously. Give us that patience and grace generously.
00:06:27.244 --> 00:06:58.800
And God, we thank you because we know you just want to make us stronger. You want to make us the best version of ourselves that we could be. And in Jesus name we pray. Amen. So there you have it. Your five minute daily dose of heaven. Thank you so much for tuning in today. We pray these devotionals empower you to take on your day. If you found value in this devotional, share it with a friend, leave a comment or review for us on the app you're using right now. Until tomorrow, we pray that your latte is strong, but your love for Jesus is stronger.