Happy Saturday!
I said we would spend a couple of weeks in James 2:14-24 and here is our second week. Thanks for being patient with the week off, Last Saturday morning started with leaving the RV a little before 5 and of course, ended with a balloon ride of a lifetime. 💓
I am going to stick a little better to our HEAR method this week. So, without further ado; James 2:14-24
14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? 15 Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. 16 If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? 17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
18 But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.”
Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. 19 You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.
20 You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless[d]? 21 Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. 23 And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,”[e] and he was called God’s friend. 24 You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone.
James 14-17
Highlight= but does nothing for their physical needs, what good is it? Explain= If you aren't showing your faith, what good is it? Do you remember the song, "This Little Light of Mine"? That is supposed to be us, not just at 6 and 7 but at 90 and 100, and everywhere in between. If you are saved but don't tell anyone, and don't let your actions show it, are you really saved? That is between you and God, but I would ask myself, "Why don't I want people to know it?" What am I afraid of? And some of that could be very truthfully, being afraid of being judged. Let me share a cold, hard truth with you. If you hang around with friends that you are ashamed to tell that you are a Christian, you need to do 1 of 2 things. The first one is the easy way out, find new friends. The problem with that is you have found out what knowing Christ can do for your life, and you have the assurance of Heaven but you have these people that you have cared about for a long time and are unwilling to even try to help them find that same peace? What is wrong with this picture? Which leads to the 2nd thing, SHOW them how your life has changed. You can talk until you are blue in the face, and they may just get mad, but when you show them the peace you have, even in times of trouble, that is what evangelizing truly is. Apply= Years ago, I had a very close friend who I worked with every day. I believe she was saved but I don't believe she was concentrating on being a light for Christ. She developed cancer, and not far into that journey, she felt she received a very reassuring sign from God, she could feel and hear Him telling her not to be afraid. I had a blast of guilt because I didn't feel I had done anything to help her get there. Thank the Lord, she got there, but it wasn't because of me and that gave me a wakeup call. She past away a few years ago but not before doing a truly amazing amount of good works for Christ. Respond= Lord, help me shine my light, help me remember actions speak louder than words and that is why works and faith go hand in hand.
James 2:18-19
Highlight= Even the demons believe that. Explain= Think about the fact that the Devil and demons are fallen angels and you realize just how much they must know about God. Knowledge is not faith and I feel some people believe in God but don't put any faith in him. I think this gets to the real root. You can know Christ died on the cross and you can know He rose again in three days and He is now in Heaven and you can even know He did that so you wouldn't have to. Do you really realize that unless Christ came down and did this for us, we would all be in Hell? Romans 6:23 reminds us that the wages of sin is death. That means the wages of sin is being in an eternal place of punishment. And for those of you who believe a loving God wouldn't do that, He didn't. He gave us free will to make the choices on our own. If you go to Hell, that is your choice, not God's. He made you, He loves you and He sent His only son to die for you. If you don't accept that, it isn't because He hasn't done more than enough. Apply= Examine yourself, do you truly have faith in God, or do you just know He exists. I started being tried and purified at what I consider a young age. When I was 12, my dad had a heart attack, when I was 13, he died and when I was 14, my mom almost died. I accepted Christ as my Savior in August before my dad died in November. I wanted to play the victim so badly, thinking, Why would Christ do this to me? But the truth is, Christ took my dad to Heaven, and then, even though it hasn't been easy for her, he spared my mom and let us keep her here with us. And the fact is, even though those things affected me, they didn't happen to me. I can't imagine really thinking that God taking my dad to Heaven would ruin my life. These events did give me a big chance to turn my back on God, thankfully, I was his child and He surrounded me with a church family here on earth that always reminded me how much He loves us, and that we don't understand why God does what He does, but we do know He is always right and that He will always take care of us. That has gotten me through some very rough times. Respond= Dear Lord, please help us always remember trials purify us and make us better disciples for you, and get us a little closer to being fit for the Kingdom of Heaven.
James 2:20-24
Highlight= a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone. Explain= here is is, the "you can't have one without the other" statement. The more you let God lead your life, the more doing good for others will want to flow out of you. Hopefully you understand you don't have to do grand things like fly to Africa and minister to 3rd world camps, the smallest acts of kindness can show God's love in immeasurable ways. 1 Corinthian 14-20 reminds us that we are all part of the Kingdom, but we do not all have the same jobs. Now, we DO have one job that we all share; to tell others about Christ but we can do that in so many different ways. Living so that others say, "I want what they have" in the context of peace and contentment is a huge testimony. I see a lot of people in my line of work that don't have a lot, but they are very content. I hear the same message from them, the Lord will provide. I appreciate that the Lord has provided me to them as part of that. Apply= Are you one of those people who really does believe Christ is your Savior but you find it hard to minister to others? Start by just showing Jesus' love. Smile at everyone you meet, be kind. Have a friend struggling? Send them a card, or stop by and visit, or just send a text, "I know you are struggling, I'm here" Have you seen any of the posts lately on the 8 minutes? Basically, the one I saw was this man listening to his friend tell the bad time that she had been going through and he was listening but upset that she hadn't told him when it was happening and she said she tried, she had asked him to come over but he didn't know that was a cry for help. The article itself basically says 8 minutes can pull someone going through a crisis back up to stability. It can't change their world, but it can really make the person realize they are far from alone in the world. So, when you sense a friend is struggling, maybe your job, your ministry for that time is to give them 8 minutes. Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 says "Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up. Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken. See how important being a friend is? Yes, we always have the Holy Spirit with us, but we are also supposed to be Jesus for our friends. You see that a cord of THREE strands yet we had only been talking about two people? Jesus is the third strand. Just some thoughts on how to start your own ministry for the Lord, because seriously, that is what each of us needs to consider. We are all missionaries in some form. What is your place? Respond: Dear Heavenly Father, help me each day to find where I fit into your grand plan. Help me not miss the opportunities to share Jesus with others, especially when I know it was You who put me in their path.
August has quite seriously been a blur and as much as I have loved all my travels and adventures, I am so ready to have a quieter few weeks. I have one overnight trip planned a week from Tuesday, I have been asked to do some training for another agency up north, and then I am home until the 29th when we head to Seattle for a NEUAC board meeting and conference planning session. I will have my own fall training for our LIHEAP staff thrown in there, so it is another busy month but I am also looking to getting back to the gym- I haven't been for 3 weeks, just lots of running, walking and rebounding, and I want to getting back to a calmer meal plan.
Hope you all have a wonderful Labor Day weekend.
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