Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.
James 1:12 NIV
I've always related this verse to the big things.
The Martin Luther King type trials, the missionary isolated from family and friends, the big spiritual battle...but...the more I've thought about this it's just as appropriate for the person who struggles quietly and daily with loneliness, or pain, or the small daily choices that we make to choose joy, to ignore the negative, the daily choice to look out for someone, to encourage someone even when there's nothing in return.
This is every bit as much of a trial...and a test...a test that leads to life
#thatstherealtest
Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation, for through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can't see - such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through him and for him. Colossians 1:15-16 NLT OK so this is an English translation of a letter Paul wrote to a church 2,000 years ago, but does it feel like Paul is wrestling with words and ideas to try and capture all of who Jesus is, of who God is, of how does it work that the walking around Jesus was also there before the beginning of the beginning of everything we can see and touch and know. Not only that but Jesus was somehow the agent of everything that has been made in the physical, social, and spiritual. Jesus is at the centre of it all. Walking around Jesus. Cooking fish for breakfast Jesus. Heart aching as he ...
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