BY GREG CRUM

“My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.” James 1:2-4

“Perfect and entire, wanting nothing.” These words express the desire of God for all His children. Contrary to the theology of some whose relationship with God is built on other people’s ideas instead of their own fellowship with the Lord, our good Father desires that we all live fully satisfied lives. There is no good thing that He wants us to go without (Psalm 84:11), and He’s gone to great lengths to provide for us all that we would need to live well in this life (2 Peter 1:3-4).

Yet we see so many modern Christians living below the means God has provided. Why? Sometimes it’s simply because they have not developed the patience necessary to receive some of the promises of God.

The last several weeks we have written of our “higher calling” in Christ Jesus — the calling believers have to be “Christ-like” progressively as we conform to the image of God’s Son. We’ve said that when we are “born again,” the Holy Spirit comes to abide in our spirits and He brings with Him the character of God. This character, or perhaps better said, these characteristics, are what enable us to think, speak, and act more and more as Jesus would as we grow in Him.

We also noted that this process isn’t automatic. It takes a purposeful effort on our part to allow God to grow His fruit in us. Our call, or challenge, is to develop these characteristics in our lives and demonstrate them consistently. How? By feeding these attributes our thoughts and exercising them in our daily lives.