A message from Girls With Swords Study by Lisa Bevere

I’m going to talk to you out of my

collection of least favorite scriptures

my husband has already told me I

shouldn’t have scriptures that I don’t

like but there are some scriptures that

are fun to read and awful to live and

I’m going to be reading that to you

today out of the message but it is

pretty much bad news in every single

translations the book of James chapter 1

verses 2 through 8 consider a sheer gift

Friends when tests and challenges come

at you from all sides you know that

under pressure your faith life is forced

into the open and shows its true colors

so don’t try to get out of anything

prematurely let it do its work so you

can become mature and well developed not

deficient anyway if you don’t know what

you’re doing pray to the Father he loves

to help you’ll get his help and won’t be

condescended to when you ask for it

ask boldly believing leave without a

second thought people who worry their

prayers are like wind whipped waves

don’t think your you get anything from

the master that way adrift at sea

keeping all your options open

okay that is a lot of information it

opens up with considerate a shear gift

friends when tests and challenges come

at you from all sides like it’s like a

ballet move another version has the

audacity to say count it pure joy not

mixed with any sorrow I don’t I don’t

like that I’m flying home to Denver

today let’s say I get home and I turn on

my phone and I find out my world is

blown up I found out you like my

basement is flooded the walls are caving

in

John has a midlife crisis I don’t know a

bunch of different stuff it’s not gonna

happen about a bunch of different stuff

it’s the whole mess going on and

I am so upset in the last time I

remember being happy with at the

love-life conference and so I called

Joyce Joyce I left and she’s like I’m

gonna get Dave let me get Dave and so

Joyce and Dave put me on speaker

I unpacked the whole story and she says

Dave what was the song that we sang at

the conference Lee supposed to sing this

right now this is such a gift I am so

happy for you that this is happening I’m

gonna hang up on Joyce on Dave and I’m

gonna call Christine because Christine

will get mad for me if she somebody’s

mean to her I get mad for her if

somebody’s mean to me she gets mad for

me because she’s Greek and I’m Sicilian

so we we get mad for each other it’s

like a gift we give each other but

apparently Christine and I are not

seeing this right

Joyce’s because our God considers

ambushes without any means of escape to

be an opportunity to show himself strong

it goes on to say you know that under

pressure your faith life is forced into

the open it’s not force of the open here

there’s an environment here where seeds

are being planted things are being

watered we give you breathing room your

resourcing yourself but you know that

under pressure your faith life will be

forced into the open when you go home

your faith life is going to be forced

into the open

I don’t like Who I am under pressure I

like Who I am at the spa I like it what

I have a fluffy robe on and I have

slippers and they let me smell the

different aroma therapy essential oils

and they say what kind of pressure would

you like today what do you think I would

pick I know you don’t know me well but

what do you think I would bit

deep-tissue absolutely that is the only

way to get your money’s worth is deep

tissue

not my husband has him do it lighting he

takes naps during it I’m like how do you

know that people even stay in the room

he’s like I woke myself up snoring she

was still there no I want to I want to

feel it I want to be bruised

I want knees in my back I want I want

I’ve had them time on the table I’m

happy with them walking on top of me but

if I start flinching too much they say

things like would you like us to back

off that pressure that is not what the

scripture is talking about it’s not

talking about where you get to pick the

pressure it is talking about when life

comes crashing down on you so hard that

you begin to cry out too or cry out for

things and it locates what you have

trusted in it says so don’t try to get

out of anything prematurely that

actually is telling you that you can get

out of it prematurely you can quit your

church you can quit your job you can

quit your husband I really would prefer

you not to quit your children but you

can try to get out of certain things you

can quit you can run away but I’m just

gonna take a little grandma truth here

you will have to take the retest and the

retest is always more difficult stay the

course