Power UP | Persevere
Persevere
Think of the last time you baked something, did it turn out as you hoped, or was it more like something you would find on the Netflix show “Nailed It”? More often than not, a poor result in attempting to bake something can be traced back to a miscalculation or poor measurement, and sometimes an ingredient is missed altogether. Regardless of the outcome, when baking you can tell if something was off, or if everything was in order by simply seeing and tasting the baked good. What about you though? How can you tell if something is off with you? We have the ability to ask our loving father to help correct us and shape us into the product he is looking for along the way, we don’t have to wait until the end, we can change now. While this is exciting, it’s also challenging. Change isn’t always simple, and sometimes can be very difficult. Yet, when facing change that comes from God we should count it as joy! He isn’t willing to give up and throw you away. He can fix whatever is needed to get that perfect end result.
Further reading | James 1:2-18
Faith and Endurance
2 Dear brothers and sisters,[a] when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. 3 For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. 4 So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.
5 If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. 6 But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. 7 Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. 8 Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do.
9 Believers who are[b] poor have something to boast about, for God has honored them. 10 And those who are rich should boast that God has humbled them. They will fade away like a little flower in the field. 11 The hot sun rises and the grass withers; the little flower droops and falls, and its beauty fades away. In the same way, the rich will fade away with all of their achievements.
12 God blesses those who patiently endure testing and temptation. Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him. 13 And remember, when you are being tempted, do not say, “God is tempting me.” God is never tempted to do wrong,[c] and he never tempts anyone else. 14 Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away. 15 These desires give birth to sinful actions. And when sin is allowed to grow, it gives birth to death.
16 So don’t be misled, my dear brothers and sisters. 17 Whatever is good and perfect is a gift coming down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens.[d] He never changes or casts a shifting shadow.[e] 18 He chose to give birth to us by giving us his true word. And we, out of all creation, became his prized possession.[f]