Bøker av James Thomas Lee

This book has taken three fairly short books that are very similar to each other and combined them into one book. The three books are God Was in Control of Abraham's Circumstances, God Was in Control of Job's Circumstances, and God Was in Control of Joseph's Circumstances. One can learn different lessons from each saint. So it just makes sense to combine the three short books into one still fairly short book. There is one note, however, to be made with respect to the organization of this text before concluding this Introduction. Something that the reader might find useful is boxes throughout that show the different passages that are being referenced at the times and in the places where they are being referenced. That way, he or she will not have to jump all over the place or get into or out of the scriptures to locate a particular reference. Hopefully that inclusion will help the reader in trying to understand the various events and to also quickly put them into their right context. So it is hoped that that addition will make this text easier to read and that the Lord will receive the praise, honor, and glory that He rightfully deserves.

Many people may find this text offensive. But my desire for many years has been to understand why so many people who regularly attend church do not get more involved in the church's ministries. While not everyone will agree with my general conclusion, it is that most of those individuals are probably not really saved. I do not want to be a judge or sound judgmental. But the simple fact is that the Bible teaches throughout that the Christian is a life of ministry and service for the Lord by the true followers of Christ. So as will be discussed in the following pages, one of my conclusions is that the template types of prayer for salvation that many people are usually told to repeat do not work. Because of that, I have tried to explain what does work and how saved people actually got saved. In my opinion, true biblical salvation does not result from repeating the simple words of a simple prayer. It only occurs when sincere people truly seek the Lord with all of their heart, when they commit or give themselves to Him, when they trust in Him, and when they enter into a personal relationship with Him. Anything less than those things is probably not true biblical salvation. This is a very short text that should not take long to read. In writing it, my goal has not been to bring into question anyone's profession of faith in Christ. But it has been to encourage all people to examine themselves to be sure that they are in the Faith. My overall objective, as always, has been to present to the best of my ability the truth of the scriptures and to also tell others how to not die lost. In my opinion, hades is already full enough. There is one note, however, to be made with respect to the organization of this text. Something that the reader of this text might find useful is boxes that show the different passages that are being referenced at the times and in the places where they are being referenced. That way, he or she will not have to jump all over the place or get into or out of the scriptures to locate a particular reference. Hopefully that inclusion will help the reader in trying to understand the various events and to also put them into the right context. So it is hoped that that will make this book easier to read and that the Lord will receive the praise, honor, and glory that He rightfully deserves. Now, in concluding this Introduction, the final thing to be said is that three appendices have been added to this book. Appendix A is a summary about how to be saved. Because it is a summary, there are parts of it that are redundant to the main body of this book. Appendix B provides a snapshot of the night that I got saved for anyone who might want to compare what I have said in this book to my actual salvation experience. Then Appendix C provides a snapshot of the day that the Lord called me to write books for Him. The reason that these appendices have been included is to show that a personal relationship with the Lord is real. So any person, who reads this book and is a Christian, should probably have a few similar tales to share from his or her own life. That having been said, I hope that this text will be helpful to anyone who reads it.

The fourth edition of this book has been written to clean up some of the poorly worded text in the first three editions and to show important Bible verses rather than just refer to them. An effort has also been made to convert previously used first person speech with more formal third person speech. In looking at the second chapter of the epistle of James, this standalone book considers authorship, the date that the whole epistle was written, and the basis for its acceptance into the biblical canon. With a strong focus on the Greek language, the goal has also been to perform good exegesis on the original text. In considering the second chapter of the epistle of James, one should note that it focuses on not being a respecter of persons, on everyone's guilt by the law, on faith without works, and on justification by works. People often struggle with the contrast between Paul's writings of faith and between James' writings of works. So the below discussions will show the relationship between the two and how they work together in a Christian's life. The saints of God have been brought together by a common savior for the common cause of exalting and of glorifying their heavenly Father. There is one note, however, to be made with respect to the organization of this text. Something that the reader of this text might find useful is boxes that show the different passages that are being referenced at the times and in the places where they are being referenced. That way, he or she will not have to jump all over the place or get into or out of the scriptures to locate a particular reference. Hopefully that inclusion will help the reader in trying to understand the various events and to also put them into the right context. So it is hoped that that will make this book easier to read and that the Lord will receive the praise, honor, and glory that He rightfully deserves.

The fourth edition of this book has been written to clean up some of the poorly worded text in the first three editions and to show important Bible verses rather than just refer to them. An effort has also been made to convert previously used first person speech with more formal third person speech. In looking at the first chapter of the epistle of James, this book considers authorship, the date that the epistle was written, and the basis for its acceptance into the biblical canon. With a strong focus on the Greek language, the goal has also been to perform good exegesis on the original text. Among the topics examined are enduring temptation, receiving a crown of life, living one's faith every day, and recognizing pure and undefiled religion. So James wrote the first part of his epistle to saints, who as brethren would face temptations over and over and who would sometimes fail to live up to the hope that was within them. But he had taught in verse five that a person can ask the Lord for wisdom to overcome his or her trials, tribulations, and tempting experiences. He had taught in verse twelve that a crown of life awaits those saints who endure temptation. In verses thirteen through fifteen, he had taught that a person's own lustful nature often gives birth to the very sins that ensnare him or her. He had taught in verse eighteen that every saint of God is born of God and that His Word has been placed in him or her by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. All people will sometimes fail. But if a person has received Christ as savior, then he or she will have the continued help of the Comforter as a personal guide in this life. So as James would say, let each saint of God always practice the wise teachings of the scriptures and hold fast to his or her faith in Christ. In verse twenty-seven, he had concluded chapter one by encouraging the beloved brethren to have a watchful eye towards helping those around them in need and by doing their best to live right. Temptations come. But by the grace of God, each person can live for the Lord through all of them each and every day of his or her life. So to God be the glory for those great things that He has done in the hearts and lives of those who truly love Him. There is one note, however, to be made with respect to the organization of this text. Something that the reader of this text might find useful is boxes that show the different passages that are being referenced at the times and in the places where they are being referenced. That way, he or she will not have to jump all over the place or get into or out of the scriptures to locate a particular reference. Hopefully that inclusion will help the reader in trying to understand the various events and to also put them into the right context. So it is hoped that that will make this book easier to read and that the Lord will receive the praise, honor, and glory that He rightfully deserves.

Over the past forty-plus years, I have served as an Adult Sunday School Teacher at four different Baptist churches during four different periods of time. In addition to that, I also attended Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary from 1995 until 2001 where I completed work on my Master of Arts degree in Religion and Pastoral Counseling. During my time at Liberty University, I studied ten Religion courses and five Pastoral Counseling courses as part of my Graduate Studies Program. After Graduation, I completed six more Religion classes and one more Counseling class. So because of my past educational training and teaching experience, the devotions in this book have been written to be both inspirational and instructional. Each devotion has been based on either a specific lecture that I attended at Liberty University or on a specific Sunday School class that I taught at one of the above four churches. Therefore, if a person will patiently and diligently read each devotion, one day at a time, then he or she will probably learn many important spiritual principles from the Bible that pertain to right, practical living. But he or she will also probably learn many of the technical truths about the Bible and the Christian Faith that one would only rarely hear from a church pulpit. Either way, though, the hope is that this general topic devotion book will be a big blessing to everyone who uses it. Now before concluding this Introduction, there is still one more important thing to share. It is that from a spiritual perspective, one might say that all people can be divided into the three groupings of J-O-Y, Y-O-J, or just Y. That being the case, it is the belief of this author that the most content and most satisfied people in all the world are the J-O-Y's. The least content and least satisfied are the Y-O-J's. The unhappiest and most miserable individuals are the Y's. So who are the J-O-Y's, the Y-O-J's, and the Y's? They are the individuals whom Jesus identified in Matthew 22:37-39. Those verses say, "...Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." So based upon those verses, the letter "J" stands for Jesus. The letter "O" stands for others. The letter "Y" stands for yourself. So putting it all together, the most content, most satisfied people in this world are those who consistently put Jesus first, others second, and themselves last (J-O-Y). For example, the medical report is not so good. J-O-Y. The car breaks down. J-O-Y. This is not a really great day. J-O-Y. I did not want that to happen. J-O-Y. But the unhappiest and most miserable individuals in this world are the Y-O-J's and the Y's because they consistently put themselves before everyone else and everything else. So this devotion book has been written to try to daily encourage everyone to be a J-O-Y. That means that a good response to every situation in life is J-O-Y no matter how unpleasant the circumstance. However, the letter "J" means more than just to put the Lord first in one's heart and life. It is also a reminder that the Lord is in total control of everything. Nothing in this life happens either by accident or outside of His providential Will. When one remembers that, then even the most negative things in this life are less negative. That is not brainwashing or positive thinking. It is simply Bible truth.

In early 2022, I completed a daily devotion book on the book of Proverbs. That book was intentionally meant to be very non-technical. By design, the devotions were meant to be easy to read and understand but without involving the reader with a lot of Hebrew words and scripture references. So that book was completed earlier this year in one very large volume. But now, this book, which is being prepared as six separate parts in six volumes, is meant to be everything that the devotion book was not meant to be. For example, each of the devotions that are in the devotion book are also included in this book and the other five books that will accompany this book. So those devotions actually serve as a commentary on the whole book of Proverbs. However, in addition to those devotions, the Hebrew words that were intentionally omitted from the devotion book are included in this six-part series. That way, the reader of this commentary series on the book of Proverbs can read the same devotion that is in the devotion book and then see the key Hebrew words with their meanings and the key Hebrew verbs with their stem and mood information all together in this book. So this book is intended for those who want to study the book of Proverbs and see all of the Hebrew words right along with them. But for those people who do not want all of that detail, the devotion book might be the better choice. Now before concluding this Introduction, there is still one more important thing to share. It is that from a spiritual perspective, one might say that all people can be divided into the three groupings of J-O-Y, Y-O-J, or just Y. That being the case, it is the belief of this author that the most content and most satisfied people in all the world are the J-O-Y's. The least content and least satisfied are the Y-O-J's. The unhappiest and most miserable individuals are the Y's. So who are the J-O-Y's, the Y-O-J's, and the Y's? They are the individuals whom Jesus identified in Matthew 22:37-39. Those verses say, "...Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." So based upon those verses, the letter "J" stands for Jesus. The letter "O" stands for others. The letter "Y" stands for yourself. So putting it all together, the most content, most satisfied people in this world are those who consistently put Jesus first, others second, and themselves last (J-O-Y). For example, the medical report is not so good. J-O-Y. The car breaks down. J-O-Y. This is not a really great day. J-O-Y. I did not want that to happen. J-O-Y. But the unhappiest and most miserable individuals in this world are the Y-O-J's and the Y's because they consistently put themselves before everyone else and everything else. So this devotion book has been written to try to daily encourage everyone to be a J-O-Y. That means that a good response to every situation in life is J-O-Y no matter how unpleasant the circumstance. However, the letter "J" means more than just to put the Lord first in one's heart and life. It is also a reminder that the Lord is in total control of everything. Nothing in this life happens either by accident or outside of His providential Will. When one remembers that, then even the most negative things in this life are less negative. That is not brainwashing or positive thinking. It is simply Bible truth.

This book begins by examining the two occasions when Satan and the "sons of God" presented themselves in heaven before the Lord. A brief explanation will be offered at that time concerning the use of the term "sons of God" and what it has meant in other places in the Bible, especially in Genesis 6:2 and Genesis 6:4. From there, the discussion will show how people can know that Job actually lived and when he had probably lived. The point will even be made that some theologians believe that Moses might have been the author of the book of Job. Next, the visit to Job by his three friends will be considered. Their comments about him and their suggested reasons for his problems will be presented. During those discussions, one will be able to see a definite shift in Job's attitude to where he began to break out of his discouraged, depressed state. Contrary to what many people might think, it will become clear that his friends may have actually contributed to his overall improvement even if their remarks had not been very favorable. In hindsight, they may have been the perfect way out for Job, as is described by I Corinthians 10:13. One of the keys of this book is to show that it is all right and not sin to question when things go wrong in one's life for no apparent reason. To that end, four questions, which Job had asked and also which shows how he had viewed his situation as hopeless, will be discussed. Following that, three important questions that many people might have about Job's overall testing will be discussed. The first is why the Lord allowed his friends to criticize him. The second is how Job could have ever been satisfied again knowing that his original children had been pawns in Satan's hands. Then the third questions looks at why Job had repented at the end of his time of testing, even though the Bible does not say that he had done anything wrong. The last part of this book will show that God was in complete control of Job's circumstances. It will also talk about the lessons that a person can learn from Job's testing. The conclusion is that studying the book of Job provides many lessons for the person who is living for the Lord. There is one note, however, to be made with respect to the organization of this text before concluding this Introduction. Something that the reader might find useful is boxes throughout that show the different passages that are being referenced at the times and in the places where they are being referenced. That way, he or she will not have to jump all over the place or get into or out of the scriptures to locate a particular reference. Hopefully that inclusion will help the reader in trying to understand the various events and to also quickly put them into their right context. So it is hoped that that addition will make this text easier to read and that the Lord will receive the praise, honor, and glory that He rightfully deserves.

The Bible teaches that there are seven separate judgments. This book was written about the first one, which was the judgment of Satan and sin by the cross of Jesus. It starts with Satan sinning in heaven and being cast to the earth. It carefully analyzes the Garden of Eden environment and the whole theology around what happened when Adam ate fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. It considers several logistical questions about his sin, the consequences of his sin, and the resulting physical and spiritual separations from God. Once those topics have been addressed, some of the prophecies about the First Coming of Jesus will be presented along with His Incarnation and His mission while on earth. The final chapter of this book will analyze some things about the devil. Four important truths about him will be discussed. Some of his efforts to prevent the physical birth of Jesus will be presented. Some of his efforts to have Jesus killed following His Incarnation will be presented. Then, the conclusion will deal will the theology of Jesus on the cross, including its relevance to a key Old Testament passage, what His death on the cross means to each individual, and how a person can be saved. The conclusion is that a person can benefit from learning more of the theology of Jesus on the cross. But a person does not have to know everything about Him to enter into a salvation relationship with God. Jeremiah 29:12-13 says, "Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart." The simple key to salvation is to seek the Lord with all your heart. From a theological perspective, this book touches on topics in Christology, Satanology, Hamartiology, and Soteriology.

In the first part of the fourth chapter of the epistle of James, the author wrote about the unanswered selfish prayers of those who primarily pray for what they want. The obvious conclusion is that truly godly people should always pray for what the Lord wants of them rather than for what they might hope to get for themselves from Him. In the second part of the fourth chapter, he wrote about the importance of putting the Lord first in all things. The reasons for doing that are many. It is important to live a holy life. It is important for the saints of God to hold up each other. It is important for them to not extinguish the work of the Holy Spirit by their own works of unrighteousness. Then in the third part of the fourth chapter of this epistle, James gave his recipe for holy living. It is to simply submit oneself to the Lord and resist the devil. Finally, he wrote in the fourth part of the fourth chapter of this epistle about the importance of the saints of God not speaking inappropriately or harshly about one another or to one another. He then concluded the fourth chapter by telling them that it would be sin for them to not do those things that he had called the good works of those who are in Christ. There is one note, however, to be made with respect to the organization of this text. Something that the reader of this text might find useful is boxes that show the different passages that are being referenced at the times and in the places where they are being referenced. That way, he or she will not have to jump all over the place or get into or out of the scriptures to locate a particular reference. Hopefully that inclusion will help the reader in trying to understand the various events and to also put them into the right context. So it is hoped that that will make this book easier to read and that the Lord will receive the praise, honor, and glory that He rightfully deserves.

In the first part of the third chapter of the epistle of James, the author warned spiritual leaders within the church about being God-called and about being God-prepared for their respective ministries. That warning applies to anyone who is in a position to lead others to Christ and to also show them how to live according to biblical principles and standards. So the clear teaching is that one does not actually choose his or her own ministry. Instead the Holy Spirit places saved men and women into those positions where He would have them work for Him. Once they are in those areas of ministry, though, James next warned about the hazards of the tongue. Even though it is a small member of the human body, it still has the power to proclaim false doctrine and to hurt people in many other ways. False doctrine can cause the hearer of a message to not be the person that the Lord wants him or her to be. Harsh words can destroy relationships and hurt the church. For those reasons, James compared the tongue to a fire that has been set aflame from hades. Therefore, at least part of the problem with people who use their tongue in ungodly ways is that they simply do not know the Lord as their personal savior. So it is important to realize that everything begins and ends with Jesus. In the second part of the third chapter, James wrote about the wisdom that comes from the Lord. He began by asking who among them was wise and had knowledge. His implied answer was that wisdom and knowledge rest with the godly simply because they are indwelled by the Holy Spirit. Such people will show their wisdom and knowledge by living for the Lord. As a result, their life will not be filled with the envy and strife that is so prevalent among the ungodly. Instead, it will be an example of peace with God, of gentleness, of being easy going, and of being without hypocrisy. So obviously, James was saying that coming to the Lord by faith to be saved and living for Him will solve a whole host of problems that begin in the evil heart of human beings and come out through their mouth. That means that the Holy Spirit-controlled heart will tend to think pure thoughts and lead the tongue to speak those pure thoughts. The Holy Spirit-controlled heart will study the scriptures and learn good doctrine. So once again, it is important to realize that everything begins and ends with Jesus. Some early scholars had thought that the writings of Paul and James were contradictory. But they were not and are not. Paul had focused on the process of salvation, while James wrote mostly about the results of salvation. There is one note, however, to be made with respect to the organization of this text. Something that the reader of this text might find useful is boxes that show the different passages that are being referenced at the times and in the places where they are being referenced. That way, he or she will not have to jump all over the place or get into or out of the scriptures to locate a particular reference. Hopefully that inclusion will help the reader in trying to understand the various events and to also put them into the right context. So it is hoped that that will make this book easier to read and that the Lord will receive the praise, honor, and glory that He rightfully deserves.

In chapter five of this epistle, James had concluded his writing to his Jewish, Christian brethren by encouraging them to not be troubled by their poverty or by their mistreatment by others. In particular, they had been hurt and victimized by wealthy landowners who had cheated them out of their wages and who had also had many of them executed. So James had written that they should be patient and trust in the Lord. They should be joyful and full of songs of praise for the Lord. They should live according to biblical standards. They should be soul-winners. They should also encourage one another and correct one another in love, as necessary. He concluded this epistle by saying that the most important thing in this existence is to be saved and to be in a personal eternal relationship with the Lord Jesus. So it is very important for the saints of God to live in such a way that it will promote true biblical salvation among many people. Jesus offered Himself on the cross at Calvary so that not saved sinners can be reconciled to Him. So those individuals who are saved should have a strong desire to see other people get saved, too. There is one note, however, to be made with respect to the organization of this text. Something that the reader of this text might find useful is boxes that show the different passages that are being referenced at the times and in the places where they are being referenced. That way, he or she will not have to jump all over the place or get into or out of the scriptures to locate a particular reference. Hopefully that inclusion will help the reader in trying to understand the various events and to also put them into their right context. So it is hoped that that will make this book easier to read and that the Lord will receive the praise, honor, and glory that He rightfully deserves.

One cannot study any of the opening chapters of the book of Genesis without quickly getting into some very weighty issues. There is, of course, always the first chapter that talks about Creation. But there are other issues as well. For example, who wrote the book of Genesis? Not everyone will agree that it was Moses. Plus, when if he did write it did he actually write it? As will be seen in that part of this text, the higher critics have argued against Moses for a reason that will be shared at that time. However, other critics have also argued against Moses as being the author of the first five books of the Scriptures by speaking about something that has been called the Documentary Hypothesis. Each of those matters will be discussed in identifying the author of the book of Genesis and the date of authorship. Then, after settling the Moses-authorship question, the next topic to be addressed will be Moses-content question. The conclusion from those discussions will be that the opening chapters of the book of Genesis should be interpreted literally. Next after those preliminary issues, the actual study of the third chapter of the book of Genesis will begin. As part of the discussion of verse one, the belief of dualism will be considered. Also the belief that Satan cannot make anyone do the wrong thing will be presented. The three mistakes that Eve had made when talking to the devil will be stated. The extent of her guilt in eating fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil will be discussed. Was she less guilty than Adam, as guilty as he, or guiltier than he? Then, the exact moment when each of them had actually sinned against the Lord will be presented along with the sin nature and the possibility that some sins might be worse than others. In that part of the discussion, though, it will be shown that all sin is sin. So no sins are any worse or any better than any others. From there, the discussion will continue with the immediate results that Adam and Eve had felt right after eating the fruit. At that time, the belief that God might have possibly come to them in a very severe storm cloud will be considered. But whether or not that belief is true, the consequences of sin will be discussed as they applied to the serpent, to the devil, to Eve, and to Adam. Each of the four had suffered for their respective parts in the first human sins. Also as apart of that discussion, the very important verse fifteen about the seed of the devil and the seed of the woman will be examined. That is clearly one of the more important verses in the whole chapter. However, following that, verse sixteen will also be examined because it is equally important. What had the Lord actually meant when He had told Eve that her desire would be to Adam and that he would rule over her? Did Eve condemn all womanhood to be under the thumb of mankind just because of her sin? Those questions and more will be answered in that part of the text. The two final sections of this text will look at what the Scriptures say should be the relationship between men and women and between husbands and wives. They will also look at the three separations that had resulted from the sins of Adam and Eve. Then, the last section will make some final comments. It will show how a person can be eternally saved. It will explain what happens to very young children when they die. It will show that human beings not separated from God will someday again have access to the tree of life. In conclusion, this text as always has been written to honor the Lord, to exalt Christ, and to teach the saints of God.

This short book has been written to share a couple of very important spiritual truths. The first, called the eternality of Bible truth, maintains that every word of the Bible has always been true even before it was spoken or written. The second truth is that the Old Testament saints probably did not hear God's audible, out loud voice. That simple statement is not meant to sound heretical. Those words are also not meant to deny anything that Christians have traditionally believed about God. The real message is that what we have many times just accepted as truth in the Bible may in fact not be the truth at all. Just because most people would immediately think that God spoke out loud to Noah, Abraham, Moses, and the other Old Testament saints, it does not mean that He did. This book is not overly complicated. But the hope is that each reader will carefully and prayerfully consider the truths that are being conveyed. In many ways, people living in these current times have many benefits that they tend to take for granted. Because people today have easy access to the Bible, the natural assumption is that people in all generations have always had easy access to the Bible. But that simply is not true. So rather than trying to push any kind of anti-Christ or anti-God teachings on anyone, the real desire is to cause people today to really think about and try to understand what it was like to live for the Lord hundreds or even thousands of years ago before all of the benefits of today were available. The desire in this work most definitely is to challenge what most Christians have just assumed to be true for many years. This short book is an excerpt from another book that I wrote entitled A Bible-based Argument Against Calvinism. The desires with that book as well as with this book are to help people better understand Bible truth.

Earlier this year in 2022, I completed a daily devotion book on the book of Proverbs. That book was intentionally meant to be very non-technical. By design, the devotions were meant to be easy to read and understand but without involving the reader with a lot of Hebrew words and scripture references. So that book was completed earlier this year in one very large volume. But now, this book, which is being prepared as six separate parts in six volumes, is meant to be everything that the devotion book was not meant to be. For example, each of the devotions that are in the devotion book are also included in this book and the other five books that will accompany this book. So those devotions actually serve as a commentary on the whole book of Proverbs. However, in addition to those devotions, the Hebrew words that were intentionally omitted from the devotion book are included in this six-part series. That way, the reader of this commentary series on the book of Proverbs can read the same devotion that is in the devotion book and then see the key Hebrew words with their meanings and the key Hebrew verbs with their stem and mood information all together in this book. So this book is intended for those who want to study the book of Proverbs and see all of the Hebrew words right along with them. But for those people who do not want all of that detail, the devotion book might be the better choice. Now before concluding this Introduction, there is still one more important thing to share. It is that from a spiritual perspective, one might say that all people can be divided into the three groupings of J-O-Y, Y-O-J, or just Y. That being the case, it is the belief of this author that the most content and most satisfied people in all the world are the J-O-Y's. The least content and least satisfied are the Y-O-J's. The unhappiest and most miserable individuals are the Y's. So who are the J-O-Y's, the Y-O-J's, and the Y's? They are the individuals whom Jesus identified in Matthew 22:37-39. Those verses say, "...Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." So based upon those verses, the letter "J" stands for Jesus. The letter "O" stands for others. The letter "Y" stands for yourself. So putting it all together, the most content, most satisfied people in this world are those who consistently put Jesus first, others second, and themselves last (J-O-Y). For example, the medical report is not so good. J-O-Y. The car breaks down. J-O-Y. This is not a really great day. J-O-Y. I did not want that to happen. J-O-Y. But the unhappiest and most miserable individuals in this world are the Y-O-J's and the Y's because they consistently put themselves before everyone else and everything else. So this devotion book has been written to try to daily encourage everyone to be a J-O-Y. That means that a good response to every situation in life is J-O-Y no matter how unpleasant the circumstance. However, the letter "J" means more than just to put the Lord first in one's heart and life. It is also a reminder that the Lord is in total control of everything. Nothing in this life happens either by accident or outside of His providential Will. When one remembers that, then even the most negative things in this life are less negative. That is not brainwashing or positive thinking. It is simply Bible truth.

This text has been written in response to a question that I was asked at a Wednesday night Bible study at Wallers Baptist Church in Partlow, Virginia. The question which had been asked by the church's pastor had been in regard to the obvious enthusiasm that some of the saints of God seem to have for the Lord's work. The study that evening had been in Acts 13:13 which talks about the Apostle Paul's first Bible-recorded missionary journey. It says, "Now when Paul and his company loosed from Paphos, they came to Perga in Pamphylia: and John departing from them returned to Jerusalem." So when the company had arrived in Perga, the above verse says that John Mark had returned to Jerusalem. Exactly why he might have gone back is not known for certain. He might have been too afraid to continue since there had already been some opposition to the message that Paul and the others had tried to deliver. He might have felt the Lord leading him home at that particular moment. But the real question that had been posed by the pastor had been why the others had continued the journey since their task had obviously been so dangerous. In answering that question, the model about which this text has been written was developed. The quick answer to the pastor's question is that Paul and his company had had a general desire to do what the Lord had wanted them to do. When they had understood exactly what He had wanted them to do, their general desire had become a specific desire. Then when what the Lord had wanted them to do had been an exact match to their spiritual gifts, their desire had been raised to an even higher level. They had no longer just been doing church work. At that point, they had been serving the Lord with confidence and enthusiasm. Thus, this text has been written to explain how that can occur for any saint of God. The conclusion is that it is possible to not just do work for the Lord. But it is actually possible to serve Him with confidence and enthusiasm. The members of the Bible study at that church were Judy Baylor, Collins Beasley, Pete Delosh, Matt Dickey, Michelle Dickey, Barbara Fulkerson, Robbie Fulkerson, Sheila Gist, Dan Haller, Tamara Haller, Alberta Johnson, Linda Jo Johnson, Donelle, Steve Krull, Linda Lee, Catherine Myers, Tammy Petrie, Craig Petrie, David Pritchett, Scott Sale, Clint Scott, Sue Shelton, Bob Stelman, Bill Venable, Millie Venable, Pastor Jojuan White, and Joseph White. The attendance and participation of each person in the class was greatly appreciated. In addition, special thanks is also extended to Pastor White and to Dan Haller. Pastor White had asked the original question that has led to the developing of the serving with confidence and enthusiasm model. Mr. Haller had designed and developed Figure 13 which appears in the last section of this text to show how the congregants at Wallers Baptist Church are already serving the Lord with confidence and with enthusiasm. So in closing, it is hoped that this work will bring those in Christ even closer to Him. May He be uplifted and glorified for all that He has done for those people that truly love Him.