Steps of Faith

Our Daily Bread Podcast | Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread Ministries

Religion & Spirituality, Christianity

4.6 • 955 Ratings

🗓️ 25 April 2025

⏱️ 4 minutes

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Summary

Four of us hiked through the beautiful Watkins Glen Gorge in New York. At times we stood together in awe as we gazed in wonder at waterfalls and 200-foot cliffs. Other times, we had to stop to catch our breath and rest our hurting legs as we climbed wet rocks and endless steps. When we neared the top, a hiker heading back down said, “You’ve got only 10 steps to go of your 832.” Maybe it was best we hadn’t known how difficult the journey would be because we might have stayed back and missed the beauty of it all.

The journey of life has difficult steps too. Jesus and Paul warned believers about trouble and persecution (John 16:33; 2 Timothy 3:12), and this requires some perspective. James said, “Consider it pure joy . . . whenever you face trials of many kinds” (James 1:2). Why pure joy instead of pure agony? God knows and “we know that the testing of [our] faith produces perseverance” (v. 3). But to what end? So that we may be “mature and complete, not lacking anything” (v. 4).

If we’ll stop and look, despite the pain, we may see the beautiful strength of character God is producing in us and those around us. And we’ll learn to appreciate the truth that one day we’ll “receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him” (v. 12). Let’s keep climbing together.

Transcript

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0:00.0	You know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance, James 1.3.
0:08.0	Welcome to today's encouragement from Our Daily Bread. Our reading, Steps of Faith, was written by Anne Cetus, and read by Rochelle Traub.
0:19.7	James, Chapter 1, verse 1 through 12.
0:23.9	Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds,
0:30.1	because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.
0:35.1	Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete,
0:40.3	not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously
0:47.2	to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one
0:57.0	who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not
1:03.7	expect to receive anything from the Lord. Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they
1:09.8	do.
1:12.4	Believers in humble circumstances ought to take pride in their high position, but the
1:16.9	rich should take pride in their humiliation since they will pass away like a wildflower.
1:23.2	For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant, its blossom falls, and its beauty is destroyed.
1:31.2	In the same way, the rich will fade away even while they go about their business.
1:37.4	Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial, because, having stood the test,
1:43.0	that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.
1:51.0	Steps of Faith, written by Anne Cetus.
1:55.6	Four of us hiked through the beautiful Watkins Glen Gorge in New York.
2:00.2	At times, we stood together in awe as we
2:03.0	gazed in wonder at waterfalls and 200-foot cliffs. Other times, we had to stop to catch our
2:10.5	breath and rest our hurting legs as we climbed wet rocks and endless steps. When we neared the top, a hiker heading back down said,
	...

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