John K. Jenkins Sr - Count It all Joy

Open your Bibles very quickly to James chapter 1. James chapter 1. Say "I got it" when you get there. I'm going to read the same passage that was already read today by Minister Tate. It is James chapter 1, verses 2, 3, and 4. "My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing." Look at your neighbor and say, "Count it all joy." Now look on the other side and tell them, "Count it all joy." Alright, you can be seated. You can be seated. "Count it all joy." Is there anybody who has ever had drama in their life? I see one, two, three, four... okay, that's most of you. If you haven't had drama, keep living. I promise you it's going to come into your life. You don't have to invite it; you don't have to ask it to come. All you're doing is keeping on living, and drama will show up-circumstances beyond your control. As a matter of fact, drama has a key to your house! Drama comes uninvited, without an invitation, and stays as long as it wants. James wants to address this; he wants to tell these Christians and believers about it . I want to spend a few moments talking to you about it because I promise , if you haven't had drama , you're going to have some trouble . He gives us instructions about it . This is why this passage is significant to me: I look back over my life , and I've had circumstances and situations occur-problems, pain, anxiety, and challenges -especially within my family . Does anyone here know anything about family drama? Life would be great if you didn't have to deal with people! Look at your neighbor and say, "Life would be great!" You'd get to avoid dealing with people-people, people, people! If it were just me and my dog, life would be wonderful , but it's not quite like that.

One day , my oldest daughter , Sarah, called me up about two years ago . Some of you have heard this before, but hear me out. Sarah called me, crying , devastated because she applied for a college coaching job that she didn't get . In fact, she thought she was going to get the job! She felt that she had interviewed well and was one of the last two candidates . She believed she was going to get it , but she didn't. She received the call that they selected someone else. She was devastated , crying like a baby, and couldn't go to work for three days. She called me , "Daddy, I need to talk to you about it." Now, here's the drama: I didn't know what to tell her! Here I am, the man of God, telling others how to deal with circumstances , but when my own family calls me, I'm at a loss for words. The reason I was at a loss is that she 's heard just about every sermon I 've ever preached . She grew up being taught and trained by us, and I thought she would understand how to handle life's problems and challenges by now. But yet, she was devastated by it. And then I thought about James. James says she ought to count it all joy.

It took a long time for the fifteen of you to clap; some people even picked their hands up just to clap but thought about it. Because that's strange advice ! It's strange to tell somebody going through hell to count it all joy . But that's what James says. He starts off right at the top of the letter-right at the beginning of the epistle- within the first two verses, he starts off hitting them straight in the face, telling them to count it all joy. Now, here's what that means: follow me, can you hang with me for a few moments? I know you' re tired; I've been jumping, waving , and singing, but just hang with me for a few moments. I promise I'll be done, and it'll be worth your while. He tells them to count it all joy.

Here 's what that means: when you are looking back over the affairs of your life and writing your biography - testifying about your life - James says, "Don 't skip the difficult times." He says, "Count it all joy." Just count it. That word "count" means to consider it, to look at it, and to take it into consideration. Don 't skip it ; don't go past it, but consider it. Here 's what the text says. I'm right here in the text-verse 2: "My brethren, count it all joy." Count it all joy! Joy means delight ; be glad , shout, and rejoice about it. The text uses a little word that I wanted to know the meaning of: "counted all." He says to count it all joy. So number one, he tells us what to do. Somebody say, "What?" Say it again: "What?" He tells us what to do. What he tells us to do is count it all joy.