Good morning! We have made it to another Saturday and I am thankful to be through this week. It has been a rough one just with trying to catch up at work from being gone and of course, starting the week with a holiday, those "Monday on Tuesday" things are always a bit much but there has been a lot accomplished this week, so I am good with having a day to switch gears. We have a big community block party up where I was raised tonight, and Robert and I have a Plasma donation planned this morning, so it is still a busy day, but still different focuses and that is a good thing.
Today we are going to finish up talking about the relationship between faith and works. I wanted to single out these last two verses because there are two very big lessons here so here we go.
James 2:25-26
25 In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? 26 As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.
Again, using our HEAR method.
Verse 25
Highlight = the prostitute. Explain= no way around it, Rahab was a prostitute. She slept with men who wasn't her husband and she did it to get paid. Let's think about the ten commandments and "Thou shalt not commit adulatory". Rahab was a sinner, (gasp) Sorry to burst your bubble, but so are we. The only difference is Rahab's sin was intentional, and hopefully ours is by accident but the point here is God used her. Let's also talk about the fact that Rahab was very intelligent, she knew what was going on when the spies came, she knew they were there because God promised them the land and she knew protecting them was a bargaining chip to take care of her family. Here is my point. God never discounts ANYONE and neither should we. Rahab had a son, his name was Boaz. Boaz married Ruth, Boaz and Ruth were the great grandparents of King David, so Rahab was David's great great grandmother and of course, you know that means Jesus was a descendent of Rahab as well. Apply= In my line of work, I see a lot of people who are in a bad situation in their lives. They have done things that they may have been told they have ruined their lives, and they may believe it. When people are in our offices, it is our jobs to instill some hope. An hour is normally not enough time to change someone's thinking but it can plant a seed and that is what we try to do. We have been talking about faith without works. If you see someone that is down and out, and your thought is, "I will walk on the other side of the street", are you living your faith? It just dawned on me, that is why I am not afraid to go running by myself early of a morning. First off, most of the homeless I see are still asleep, but second, God is sending me out as a little ray of sunshine because I have no problem smiling, visiting, and acknowledging they exist. It is a little heartbreaking to me when someone says, "thank you for acknowledging me". You see in the news every once in a while about some rich person, or business owner running into the right homeless person at the right time, taking them under their wing and changing their lives. Unfortunately, there are a few hundred out there still trying to get a foothold as people walk by and wonder what they did to "ruin their lives". I have heard stories and they are very believable, and even though most of the time when I am in other cities, I don't have a lot of abilities to change things, I have the ability to get them some food and let them know God still cares. Respond= Lord, help us always treat those in situations we don't understand with compassion and not judgement. Let us be Jesus for them, and show them someone does care. It doesn't take money, it takes a few little minutes of time to smile and have a kind word.
And then, on to the last verse of Chapter 2
Verse 26
Highlight= faith without deeds is dead. Explain= Hopefully after three weeks of talking about this, we get it, but this is the bottom line. Can't be any more blunt than this. If nobody knows you are saved, are you really? If nobody can tell you are a Christian, are you really? Yes, the answer can totally be yes, but if there is no evidence of change, WHY are you a Christian? Apply= I think I have said this before, but I find the more time I spend with God, the easier it is to talk about Him to others. Let's think about this. What people in your life do you spend the most time with? Your spouse, your besties? Your coworkers? How often do you hear yourself telling someone else about that person? I come home from work each evening and tell Andrew, "Carol said this, or Sheila did this" because that is who my day is filled with. When I am talking to acquaintances and they share a story of something that happened and I can relate it to a person in my life, it is only natural to say, "Yes, I have this friend, __________ who that happened to as well. So, when I spend time with God, it is easier to say, "I was reading my Bible today and God mentioned that very thing." The people you spend time with truly do rub off on you, Jesus included. Let Him rub off on you. Respond= Dear Lord, thank you for the time we spend together. Thank you for your love, not just for me, but for all your children, regardless of their current station in life. Help me love them just like you.
And we are through Chapter 2, 3 more chapters in James to go!!
I have really liked this visit through faith and works, and hope you have too. I hope it has helped you move one step closer in your walk with God.
I am leaving you with a new version of Scars, by I Am They, I am so excited for one of our hometown Newton girls, Cheyenne (Goss) Mitchell. She is singing with I Am They now and this song features Drew Baldridge and her on the lead vocals. I have always loved this song, but I really love this.
Hope you have a wonderful weekend! We are taking a rare Sunday off and heading to St. Louis to the NASCAR race, life is an adventure!
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