3.3 KiB
Testing Your Faith
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James, a slave of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes who are in the Dispersion: Greetings.
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Consider it all joy, my brothers, when you encounter various trials,
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knowing that the testing of your faith brings about perseverance.
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And let perseverance have its perfect work, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
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But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.
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But he must ask in faith, doubting nothing, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind.
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For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord,
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being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
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But the brother of humble circumstances is to boast in his high position;
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and the rich man is to boast in his humiliation, because like flowering grass he will pass away.
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For the sun rises with a scorching heat and withers the grass; and its flower falls off and the beauty of its appearance is destroyed; so too the rich man in the midst of his pursuits will fade away.
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Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.
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Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am being tempted by God"; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone.
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But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust.
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Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and when sin is fully matured, it brings forth death.
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Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers.
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Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.
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In the exercise of His will He brought us forth by the word of truth, so that we would be a kind of first fruits among His creatures.Doers of the Word
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Know this, my beloved brothers. But everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger;
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for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God.
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Therefore, laying aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in gentleness receive the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.
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But become doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.
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For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror;
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for once he looked at himself and has gone away, he immediately forgot what kind of person he was.
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But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of freedom, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this man will be blessed in what he does.
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If anyone thinks himself to be religious while not bridling his tongue but deceiving his own heart, this man's religion is worthless.
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Pure and undefiled religion before our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.