#198 Joy Under Pressure

Pressure can feel like life is stealing your footing, but what if it’s actually building your foundation? We’re stepping into a new month with a new theme, Pressure With Purpose, and we’re focusing on identity formation through James 1:2–4. If you’ve been asking why the same kinds of trials keep showing up, this message offers a different lens: God is not just watching what you go through, He’s working on what’s being formed in you. 

We break down what it really means to “count it all joy” when you fall into diverse temptations, and why the word “when” matters. The goal isn’t to pretend pain feels good; the goal is to keep perspective so pressure doesn’t rewrite your beliefs about God, yourself, or your calling. We talk about faith being tried, patience being produced, and how stable joy grows when it’s anchored in your identity in Christ instead of your circumstances. 

You’ll also hear practical prompts to journal through: Is your joy based on circumstances or anchored identity? Is pressure producing frustration or endurance? We close with a declaration worth putting where you can see it every day: “My joy is not fragile, it is being formed.” If this encouraged you, subscribe, share it with someone under pressure, and leave a review. What is pressure producing in you right now?

A journey through spiritual refinement, identity, healing, and growth, learning how pressure produces purpose and reveals the diamond within.

An invitation to come and be a part of what God is building here at God's Diamond Network.  We don't have to go at it alone; this is where we will grow together.

A Christ-centered journey of reset, refinement, and realignment, helping you confront darkness, heal deeply, and walk boldly in your God-given identity and purpose.

A gentle reminder to financially support us with a $3.99 monthly seed that helps us continue to share Kingdom conversations that transform lives. 

Thank you for listening, and we hope you will return every week.

Transcript

Refinement And The Growth Year

James 1 Anchor Scripture

Joy Under Pressure Defined

Trials Build Patience And Perspective

Stable Joy Not Based On Circumstance

Anchored Identity And Solid Foundations

Journal Questions And Final Declaration

SPEAKER_00 0:44

Hello, hello, and welcome back, guys Diamonds in the Rock. We are so glad to be before you one more time. I hope all is well where you are. I want to thank you so much for joining me one more time. Yes, another week. I hope your week has been a good week. Amen. So we're not gonna waste any any of your time. Today we are going to be entering into a brand new month, which means a new theme of the month. And this month's theme for the month of May is pressure with purpose, and the focus is going to be identity formation. And it's going to be anchored in James chapter 1, verse 2 through 4. So before we even dive into it, we are going to pray. So go with me, Father. We thank you so much for your grace and your mercy. Thank you, God, for allowing us to be able to come together again another week to be able to glean from what you have to say. Father, I pray in the name of Jesus you will use me to your glory that you would just have your way. Pour out what you poured in. I pray in the name of Jesus. For each and every heart that is here, that it be blessed, and they are able to be able to glean from what they hear and receive. God, we thank you so much. And we turn it over to you in Jesus Christ's name. We do pray. Amen. Hallelujah. Now I am actually at the community center where this is my work. Yeah. And so I am here. And so I just want to say if you hear some noise in the background, simply because I'm not in my usual place where I'm typically recording this. That's okay. You know what I mean? It is okay at the end of the day. The will of the Lord is all that matters. Hallelujah. So let's get into it. So we have been in refinement. And if you didn't know, we are spending the year of 2026 in this phase of our personal development. Personal development development. It really is. It's all about you and what you need to do for you. Hallelujah. Refinement is all about filtering. You know, those he loves, he chastens, Lord. He get he gets rid of the stuff that ain't doing us no good, right? And so I hope that you have your journals and your pens, most of all, your mindset that's gonna allow you to continue on your personal growth journey. Yeah. So let's read, let's go a little bit further. I promise you, I'm gonna keep it within the realm of those 30 minutes. And those of you that are here for the very first time, again, I welcome you. Thank you so much for choosing to get on this journey with me. I hope that you will remain. Hallelujah. I hope that you will come on back week after week after week in what you haven't heard before. Hallelujah. I hope that you will go back because I got 188 more episodes that you can take a listen to that I pray will bless your spirit, hallelujah, and help you see the diamond that God sees in you. Hallelujah. So we have been down the road of awareness and surrender, being we stood strong with endurance and trust, understanding the power of letting go. Now we are going to take a pause for the month of May and look at how we come into our identity and how pressure and purpose come together to bring us in alignment with the plan of God for our lives. Hallelujah. So that is our journey, and that's where we are now. So let's read our anchor scripture to put the episode into perspective. Hallelujah. And it is what first John chapter 2. No, first, no, John, no, not even John. Lord have mercy. It's James, James, James, chapter 1, verse 2 through 4. And I'm gonna read it. It says my brethren, count it all joy. So when ye fall into diverse temptation, he says, 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. Hallelujah. Powerful, powerful scripture, amen. And for this week, we're going to gird that alongside of joy under pressure, amen. Joy under pressure. That is the name of this week's episode. Joy under pressure. Hallelujah. Amen. So when we look at it, that is what is under attack. That is what is under attack. So what really is this is the spirit on unveiling? What really is the spirit unveiling? I want you to just take a second and think about it. What is he really unveiling in this process of your growth? At the end of the day, he's unveiling perspective. It's all in how we look at whatever we are going through and the circumstances. It is about your perspective. Hallelujah. I'm gonna read that verse. I'm gonna read that the uh the first verse again. He says, My brethren, so James, the brother of Jesus, says, Look, we family here. I want you to hear what I'm saying. He says, I want you to count it all joy. Count it all joy. So those first couple of words it says, Look, in spite of, amen, in spite of whatever you're going through, you count it as joy. Hallelujah. Now, I'm big on breaking down the words because to me, I just feel like it brings things into alignment together so that it just makes sense. The first, the next couple of words is when, so that says, not if, not maybe. It says, When it happens, he said, Ye fall into diverse temptations. What does that mean? Fall is about uh it's about it's a it it is technically it's a drop from a higher place, so you know we can be at the top of our game, feel like it anyway. And all of a sudden, excuse me, y'all, and all of a sudden you feel like the bottom falls out of our gut. Amen. This is the way he said we we've where we were up here, now we've come down a couple of notches, and we're trying to figure it out, like and most of us in our flesh, we're thinking this isn't fair, you know. We're thinking, Oh, why did this happen to happen to have why did this have to happen to me? And you hear people say, I take two, two, three steps forward, and look like I get knocked back three. You know what I mean? And and and and and here's the thing: he says, the fact that you are fallen, you've come down from where you were. Look, you have some level of joy about it because he is working on some things from within. The scripture goes on to verse two, and he talks about that it tries our faith and our patience. Hallelujah. I feel like I'm getting I'm getting ahead of myself, but I don't know if you know what the word divers means. But divers is about different, different and various temptations, different things that we experience, hallelujah. So we don't have one episode of things that happen to us, a series, like one after the other, as life progresses and time goes by, we run into different types of temptations that we're all tried with. Hallelujah. Some of us are tried a little more often than others, but we all tried in different ways, and what we have to know and hold to the to the to what the scripture says that he is working on your faith, he's working on your faith, and what comes out of it more patience, more patience, hallelujah! Amen. You got to keep keep things in perspective, hallelujah! Like we hear people say it all the time: don't take it personal, amen. Look, don't take it personal because us getting to him is way more important to God than how comfortable we are, how you know, how seen we are, how this and how that, the things we get angry at God about because you know, I want to satisfy my flesh, but the Bible teaches us we cannot satisfy uh we cannot satisfy our flesh and our spirit at the same time. Hallelujah. If we're gonna serve the spirit and spirit, and if we're gonna serve the spirit in spirit and in truth, then you gotta know that you gotta you're gonna end up living less for your flesh and more for the spirit. It doesn't work the other way around, like it's nice to be comfortable, it's it's nice to have the things that we want, and and on and on and on, but is that gonna get us closer to the spirit of God? Is that gonna get us to heaven? Hallelujah. So the chastisement, the poning, all of those things are on purpose for purpose. Hallelujah. Your joy is going to be put up under pressure, hallelujah. Because when we have eight and everlasting joy, it's not based on circumstance, it's not conditional, hallelujah. So you got to get to the place where no matter what is happening in your life, like I'm going to maintain hallelujah. I'm gonna keep on pressing forward, hallelujah. You gotta make it up in your mind. Come hell or high water, I'm gonna serve the Lord to the best of my ability, hallelujah. Understanding that he says, knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh, it's working patience, amen. That that that you all of these temptations and stuff that we face, that our faith is being tried, and God is working out our patience, hallelujah! And that lets us know that if we can receive the pressure, then the joy is strengthened, hallelujah. Your joy is going to be strengthened. You're gonna look back and say thank you for the storm. I don't know if you've ever done that. I know I've done it plenty of times after I've come through it and turned around, thank you, God, hallelujah. Because not only do we gain patience, but we learn some things, amen. We learn some valuable lessons because lessons don't come without a cost, amen. It comes with a cost, and we gotta pay it, you know. When we gotta learn the hard, especially when we gotta learn the hard way, amen. Come on, somebody, we gotta learn the lesson the hard way. You appreciate it when God brings you out of it. Hallelujah. You you tend to think twice about what you did or the temptation you fell into or whatever that you tend to think twice, right? Hallelujah, about doing it again. I don't know about anybody else, but it's a beautiful thing. It is a beautiful thing when your joy is stabilized. Hallelujah. What does that mean? That is that when you're when your joy is stabilized, stabilized, it's like being in neutral, like it ain't it it's it's it's not going forward, it's not going backward, but it's in a place where again, no matter how difficult, how exciting, no matter how what that my joy is in place within me. Amen. Like I experience the joy that I and I have because of the goodness of God, not because He gave me this, not because He go gave me gave me that. Amen. This type of joy, it's again, it's not based on it's not circumstantial, it's not based on situations, it's not based on what the Lord gives me. Hallelujah. Because in this, we have highs and lows all the time, amen. In our walk, we have highs and lows. If we were, if we govern our govern our life based on the highs and lows, then we probably would have a terrible perspective about everything. But if we know the one who's in control, and we know what he desires us to become, it changes things. It really does. So, you know, my hope is that you will find that as the process works, it's working on you. Who God is and who we are becoming. Amen. Who God is, this is what we find out during the process is that who God really is and who he wants us to become. Like at the end of the day, when things are stabilized in our lives and we are rooted, grounded, and settled in the Lord, hallelujah. It almost is though us inwardly stand still, stand still, like it's not even really stand still, but we are on a solid foundation, it cannot be shaken by whatever comes. Hallelujah. This is where the Bible talks about you know, your house being built on a solid foundation, whether it be on what is solid or on sand, hallelujah. You don't want to build your house on sand because sand gives way to whatever comes at it. Hallelujah. When that ocean, when the water and the tide comes in and comes up, and when it comes back, when it pushes back into the into the into the into its source of water, when it comes up out of from the sea and comes up to the shore and goes back, it don't go back by itself, it pulls the sand with it. That's why you don't put a house on sand, because it has no stability. See, when we get rooted and grounded in the word of God, we got stability that no matter what comes at it, it cannot be moved or shaken. Hallelujah! Because why? Because the roots are at the bottom and not on the top. The roots are down at the bottom of the ground, the roots is what you can't see. Hallelujah. Come on, somebody. Amen. Come on, somebody, look. So, who are you becoming? Amen. Do you understand the mission? Do you understand the call that is upon your life? Amen. One of the things he wants us to do is see to see that like our joy can remain. Hallelujah. So now instead of being a sea tossed back and forth, you become anchored in all that truth brings. Anchored. Ain't being anchored is about being attached to what is solid. Hallelujah. We look at a ship when it's at dock, it's always anchored to something. Because if not, it'll float away with the waves, it'll flake, it'll float away with the current. No, not Grand Turks. When I was in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, you could see up from the ship, it was multiple anchors all through the waters, and it was a whole bunch of little small boats. If the anchors were not there, those boats would give way to the water. You drop something on the floor. Hallelujah. It would give way to it would give way to the waves. Hallelujah. Going on. So now let's give you. I want to give you a thought. Well a question. A thought, you know, a thought-provoking question. So you can write in your journal because we've heard all of everything. Okay, we're coming down to the last bit of our show today. And so I want to just kind of leave you with a couple of questions to think about. Put it in your journal. Something again that you can come back and look at later. But is your joy based on circumstances? Or is it anchored in your identity in Christ? Hallelujah. Is your joy based on circumstances? And look, be honest with yourself. This is a part of the process. Hallelujah. Be honest with yourself. Amen. If you be honest with yourself, I promise you, you'll get a whole lot further. And so when you answer that question, the first question, honestly, then you'll be able to answer the next question, honestly. So again, it is is your joy based on your circumstances, or is it anchored in your identity in Christ? So when you write it down in your notebook, you say, My joy is either it's based on circumstances or it's based upon your identity in Christ. Okay, so you're gonna make so this question, you're gonna write a statement behind it. Well, you answer it however you need to answer, but as long as you answer the question honestly, and then the next question is what has your pressure been producing in you? What has pressure been producing in you? Frustration or endurance? So when you write it down, you're gonna write pressure is producing either frustration or endurance, one or the other. Write that down, hallelujah, because it's important, important that you are in alignment and in tune with yourself because what we are honest about, God can from there transform because it's important for us to acknowledge what might be out of order. Does that make sense? I hope that that makes sense. So let's read the scripture one more time. It says, My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into diverse temptations. He says, 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. I'ma tell you what, when we are in alignment with God, he fixes it so we are again rooted, grounded, and subtle. And you know, if we get more, we're grateful for it, but if we don't get nothing else, we're still grateful for what we have. Hallelujah. When we have more than enough, not enough, at the end of the day, we're grateful for what we have. Hallelujah. Don't you want to get to that point? Hallelujah. I want to get to that point. I am to that point. To God be the glory. And and and you know, sometimes when I get overwhelmed, I get I get to overthinking, I gotta kind of check myself, do a mirror check. Like, wait a minute, slow down. Like, don't allow life to work on you in such a way where you doubt the goodness of God. Hallelujah. He is for you, he's not against you. Amen. The joy is no, I'm sorry. The pressure is meant, hallelujah, to bring more. Hallelujah. Because that just means that you are growing. Hallelujah. To God be God glory. Now, let us declare something today. Let us all declare, and I'm gonna say it twice so you get it kind of in your thoughts and in your head and your heart. So my joy is not fragile, it is being formed. I want you to say it with me. My joy is not fragile, it is being formed. One more time. My joy is not fragile, it is being formed. Hallelujah. Amen. Say it, write it down. Write it down. Hallelujah. Put it wherever you need to put it so that it can be a constant reminder that I am being formed. My joy is being formed. So you gotta allow the process to be the process. Amen. So let's go ahead and pray. Father, we thank you so much for your grace and your mercy. Thank you, God, for allowing us another opportunity, God, to be able to be present for what you have poured out today. I pray, just giving you the thanks and all the honor because you allow me to not just be the teacher, but you allow me to be the student more than anything, God. I pray, God, you'll continue to shapen us for this walk that we are on, continue to refine us, get rid of the things that need to go. I pray in the name of Jesus that we keep our eye on you no matter what is going on. I pray, God, that we count it all joy when we do fall into those diverse temptations, temptations, that we would see and realize that you are producing something that without them it cannot manifest, God. So I pray that we just keep our mind and heart steadfast on you and that you would have your way. Father, we love you and we thank you. We pray it, we ask it in Jesus Christ's name. We do pray. Amen. Amen and amen. Hallelujah. I hope that you all have were able to receive what it was that God wanted to give you. Hallelujah, hallelujah. I'm a firm believer that you know we don't always get everything that we hear, but we are there for something to get something, amen, hallelujah. So next week we're gonna be talking about patience being the product of pressure, patience being the product of pressure. Where did I get that from? Boop the Bible, it's in this same passage of scripture that we are talking about. So I hope that you will make your way here on next week, and so many blessings from me to you. Hallelujah. You have a great day, and I hope you'll come on back with me next week. Hallelujah! And remember, you are a diamond in the road, amen. Blessings and love from me to you. Y'all have a great day.