2 My friends, consider yourselves fortunate when all kinds of trials come your way, 3 for you know that when your faith succeeds in facing such trials, the result is the ability to endure. 4 Make sure that your endurance carries you all the way without failing, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. 5 But if any of you lack wisdom, you should pray to God, who will give it to you; because God gives generously and graciously to all. 6 But when you pray, you must believe and not doubt at all. Whoever doubts is like a wave in the sea that is driven and blown about by the wind. 7-8 If you are like that, unable to make up your mind and undecided in all you do, you must not think that you will receive anything from the Lord. 9 Those Christians who are poor must be glad when God lifts them up, 10 and the rich Christians must be glad when God brings them down. For the rich will pass away like the flower of a wild plant. 11 The sun rises with its blazing heat and burns the plant; its flower falls off, and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way the rich will be destroyed while they go about their business.12 Happy are those who remain faithful under trials, because when they succeed in passing such a test, they will receive as their reward the life which God has promised to those who love him. 13 If we are tempted by such trials, we must not say, “This temptation comes from God.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, and he himself tempts no one. 14 But we are tempted when we are drawn away and trapped by our own evil desires. 15 Then our evil desires conceive and give birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death. 16 Do not be deceived, my dear friends! 17 Every good gift and every perfect present comes from heaven; it comes down from God, the Creator of the heavenly lights, who does not change or cause darkness by turning. 18 By his own will he brought us into being through the word of truth, so that we should have first place among all his creatures.
James 1:2-18 (GNT).
In this life, there will be trials and temptations. If you follow Jesus, the devil will likely put trials and suffering in your life to mask the abundant blessings you get from following God. The devil does not often attack those not following Jesus, but he may use them to his devices. Avoiding following Jesus out of cowardice of what the devil may do is not an option either. If you do not follow Jesus and do not resist evil, you will grow more and more corrupt until you do not even like who you are or what you are doing. The devil doesn’t often waste his time with those already destroying themselves without his help.
Job was under testing by the devil. Jesus was tempted basically his whole life to sin, but did no evil. If we do evil in a moment of weakness, do not worry, just ask Jesus for forgiveness. Even if we went a decade after conquering a sin then slip up, do not get down on yourself! The devil’s most vicious attacks are guilt trips that say,”You’ve done it now! You’re a gonner! Might as well sin heavy until you die! You no longer have any hope!” Remember though Jesus forgives all sins. You should have no guilt if you rest in the forgiving arms of Jesus. So yes, we will be tempted, but God has a way out.
9 And so the Lord knows how to rescue godly people from their trials and how to keep the wicked under punishment for the Day of Judgment,
2 Peter 2:9
6 Be glad about this, even though it may now be necessary for you to be sad for a while because of the many kinds of trials you suffer. 7 Their purpose is to prove that your faith is genuine. Even gold, which can be destroyed, is tested by fire; and so your faith, which is much more precious than gold, must also be tested, so that it may endure. Then you will receive praise and glory and honor on the Day when Jesus Christ is revealed. 8 You love him, although you have not seen him, and you believe in him, although you do not now see him. So you rejoice with a great and glorious joy which words cannot express, 9 because you are receiving the salvation of your souls, which is the purpose of your faith in him.
1 Peter 1:6-9 (GNT).
Foolish accusers of God today go,”If Jesus is the only way to Heaven, does that mean everyone who came before, or never heard of him are damned?”
Not at all!
12 The Gentiles do not have the Law of Moses; they sin and are lost apart from the Law. The Jews have the Law; they sin and are judged by the Law. 13 For it is not by hearing the Law that people are put right with God, but by doing what the Law commands. 14 The Gentiles do not have the Law; but whenever they do by instinct what the Law commands, they are their own law, even though they do not have the Law. 15 Their conduct shows that what the Law commands is written in their hearts. Their consciences also show that this is true, since their thoughts sometimes accuse them and sometimes defend them. 16 And so, according to the Good News I preach, this is how it will be on that Day when God through Jesus Christ will judge the secret thoughts of all.
Romans 2:12-16 (GNT).
Those without the Law of Moses still will be judged by their hearts. Do you do everything in the way of love, goodness, and helping your fellow man? Or were you selfish to the point of hurting and harming those around you? God knows us better than we know ourselves. God is a fit judge. The same standard is used for all, and that standard is through Jesus Christ who is love. Since we know Jesus Christ teaches that we should all be good and loving to each other, we should be good and loving to each other. What other way is there to get along with those around you than to love them? Not loving those around you leads to exploitation and harming them. Hate and selfishness are not the way. Love is the way. Jesus is Life. Jesus is the way.
7 So Jesus said again, “I am telling you the truth: I am the gate for the sheep. 8 All others who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. 9 I am the gate. Those who come in by me will be saved; they will come in and go out and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only in order to steal, kill, and destroy. I have come in order that you might have life—life in all its fullness.
John 10:7-10 (GNT).
True followers of the way of love don’t buy into idolatry. We know love is the way for a functional society. We have human desires, but we know a proper religion is built on love and fake gods we know can’t be real because they don’t even make sense. We know love is what matters most for beings to get along. When it comes to idols of power, sex, control, money, death, hate, weather, animals, stars, luck, fate, etc, we should not be easily fooled by them. We know love is what matters. The Creator (Father of Jesus) is to be worshiped, not the creation. God made everything. This means if you want anything you shouldn’t go to a false god in an attempt to fufill that need. Go to God. Academia alone has disproven a grand majority of the polytheistic man-made religions because their warring god battles should have been over very shortly and not dragged out over forever. So even as dumb as sheep are, they aren’t as easily fooled as one might think. Love is the way. Don’t accept any substitutes. Jesus is the ONLY way to Heaven. Jesus is LORD!
Jesus answered him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one goes to the Father except by me.
John 14:6 (GNT).
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