Storms of correction (Jonah) and storms of perfection (disciples) Matthew 14:22-33

Enjoying BSF and Wiersbe Be Loyal (Matthew) 

not smooth sailing, but tribulation (John 16:33)

"He is praying for me" (Rom 8:34, Heb 4:14-16)

Wiersbe: If you knew that Jesus Christ was in the next room, praying for you, would it not give you new courage to endure the storm and do His will? 

"He will come to me" - life is difficult and despairing (2 cor 1:8) but God comes to us in the storm (Isa 43:2). Faith, not fear

"He will help me grow" - cry out when your "beginning to sink" not when your drowning. 

perhaps Peter remembered, "For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers" 1 Peter 3:12

"He will see me through" (Heb 12:2)

Faith remembers.

Feed five thousand and enter a storm, later win five thousand (Acts 4:4), the storm of persecution began. 

Jesus endured the storm for us that we might never face condemnation from God (Ps 42:7)

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In love to Christ when trails come: count, know, let, and ask (James 1:2-12)

Reading Be Mature,
Trails are what God uses to mature us and this is shown in patience and endurance (Rom 5:3-4). Patience is not passive, it is a courageous perseverance in the face of suffering and difficulty. Immature people are always impatient. "Be... followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises (Heb 6:12 also Heb 10:36)." God wants us to be patient because that is the key to every other blessing. When the believer learns to wait on the Lord, then God can do great things for him. Abraham ran ahead of the Lord, married Hagar and brought great sorrow on his home (Gen 16), Moses ran ahead of God, killed a man and spent 40 years learning patience (Ex 2:11), Peter almost killed a man in his impatience (John 18:10-11). Maturity comes when we:
1. Count - A Joyful Attitude (James 1:2): Outlook determines the outcome, and attitude determines action. God tells us to expect trials (John 16:33, Acts 14:22, 1 Peter 4:12) and to endure as Jesus did - with a joyful attitude (Heb 12:2). With the right outlook on trials we are made better, not bitter - like Job (Job 23:10).
2. Know - An Understanding Mind (James 1:3): Satan can defeat the ignorant believer, but he cannot overcome the Christian who knows his Bible and understands the purposes of God.
3. Let - A surrendered Will (James 1:4,9-12): God can't build our character without our cooperation. If we submit to Him, then He can accomplish His work, not a halfway job but perfect, mature, complete.
4. Ask - A Believing Heart (James 1:5-8): People James wrote to had problems with their praying (James 4:1-3;5:13-18). What should we pray about? Ask God for wisdom (James 1:5;3:13-18). Knowledge is the ability to take things apart, while wisdom is the ability to put them together. We need wisdom rather than strength, grace or deliverance for this reason: We need wisdom so we will not waste the opportunities God is giving us to mature. Ask in faith, it was doubt that made Peter sink (Matt 14:22-23).

All of these help us resist the temptation to doubt God and be blessed (James 1:12). This blessing is a great encouragement because it promises a crown to those who patiently endure trials. We do all these things from LOVE. We count with a joyful attitude because we love God. We know with an understanding mind because He loves us and has shared His truth with us, and we love him in return. We let our will surrender to Him because we love Him. Where there is love, there is surrender and faithful obedience. We ask with a believing heart because love and faith go together. When you love someone, you trust him, and you don't hesitate to ask him for help.

Love is the spiritual force behind the imperative James gave us. If we love God, we will have no problem counting, knowing, letting, and asking. Love keeps us faithful to the Lord.

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James affirms Jesus words on who we should live to become

Reading Be Mature by Wiersbe he shows how James was influenced by Jesus, Sermon on the Mount. Having read through this makes me clear on what life leads us to.

AIM: learn about blessing in opportunity, growth, simple relationship with God, listen then do, a mirror of your soul is desire, bonus: we can impact our own desires.
 - Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. (Psalm 37:4)

Blessing in Trials, as an opportunity for righteousness James 1:2—Matthew 5:10–12 
Trials coming from outside are a joy, we are blessed by God when persecuted for righteousness in Jesus' Name.

Grow up, live your identity in Christ - BE PERFECT James 1:4—Matthew 5:48 
"Grow up. You’re kingdom subjects. Now live like it. Live out your God-created identity. Live generously and graciously toward others, the way God lives toward you." MSG
 - perfect as your father in heaven is perfect, lacking nothing

Simply ask God for wisdom, help James 1:5—Matthew 7:7–12 
Don't know what to do? Ask God who gives generous wisdom when we ask. “Don’t bargain with God. Be direct. Ask for what you need...Here is a simple, rule-of-thumb guide for behavior: Ask yourself what you want people to do for you, then grab the initiative and do it for them. Add up God’s Law and Prophets and this is what you get."

Listen to God's word and do what is says James 1:22—Matthew 7:21–27
 24-25 “These words I speak to you are not incidental additions to your life, homeowner improvements to your standard of living. They are foundational words, words to build a life on. If you work these words into your life, you are like a smart carpenter who built his house on solid rock. Rain poured down, the river flooded, a tornado hit—but nothing moved that house. It was fixed to the rock.

26-27 “But if you just use my words in Bible studies and don’t work them into your life, you are like a stupid carpenter who built his house on the sandy beach. When a storm rolled in and the waves came up, it collapsed like a house of cards.”

See yourself in truthfully, live rightly and faithfully - not against others James 4:11–12—Matthew 7:1–5
Don’t speak evil against each other...your job is to obey the law, not to judge whether it applies to you. God alone, who gave the law, is the Judge. He alone has the power to save or to destroy.

Don’t pick on people, jump on their failures, criticize their faults— unless, of course, you want the same treatment. That critical spirit has a way of boomeranging. It’s easy to see a smudge on your neighbor’s face and be oblivious to the ugly sneer on your own. Do you have the nerve to say, ‘Let me wash your face for you,’ when your own face is distorted by contempt? It’s this whole traveling road-show mentality all over again, playing a holier-than-thou part instead of just living your part. Wipe that ugly sneer off your own face, and you might be fit to offer a washcloth to your neighbor.

What you put your life into, is where your desire is James 5:1–3—Matthew 6:19–21
...greedy luxuries are a cancer in your gut, destroying your life from within. You thought you were piling up wealth. What you’ve piled up is judgment.
Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.

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Tailor-made trails culminates in perfect faith (James 1:2-4)

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. - James 1:2-4 ESV

My Friend Daniel has a saying "Tailor-made grace for everything you face" but in this lesson we see tailor made trials, trails of various kinds - not a one size fits all. Pastor Dobbs said the words "count it" is a term to look forward. Looking towards the end like net present value in finance. Joy is a state of mind, a decision. Cool how God changes our perceptions with these truths. The Christian life is not a life free of trials, it's a life of understanding what the trials are for. What a gift to know that trails are perfectly prescribed work-out plan from God. Just what I needed to go through rather than avoid.

my original title: Taylor made trails test our faith producing perseverance to maturity

https://grace.church/sermon/make-room-for-trials/

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Trials will show that your faith is genuine, as fire purifies gold (1 Peter 1:6-7)

In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 1:6-7 ESV

So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while. These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world. 1 Peter 1:6-7 NLT

A recurring theme in scripture
Test yourself to see if you're in the faith - take corrective action, be true and mature.  2 Cor 13:5-14
From Biblehub

• Lamentations 3:40 tells us to examine and probe our ways (paths, roads) and return to the Lord. Jesus asked questions of his disciples for them to examine their ways and reveal his power (John 6:5-6, Jesus feeds 5,000, promises we will do more). 
• Paul disciplined his body, making it his slave so that after preaching to others he wouldn't be disqualified (1 Cor 9:27) and he examined himself regularly in communion with God (1 Cor 11:28)

Pray that from God's glory, He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being so that Christ may dwell in your heart through faith. Pray that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have power together with the Church to comprehend the vastness of His love, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to Him who is able to do infinitely more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen
(Eph 3:15-21)

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