PROVE YOU BELIEVE

How would you answer the question, "You're a Christian, prove it?"  

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. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder. You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called God’s friend. You see that  a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone. 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? As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.

James 2:18-26 (NIV) 

Now add to the mix the works verses faith debate.  For a sincere Christian this can be a bit of a conundrum. I think it is hard to divide the inward and outward aspects of faith and this is one reason why many people struggle with the assurance of their faith.

Inwardly I know that God is in my life because the Bible says that no one can say Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit (I Corinthians 12:3). Any recognition of God within myself is actually proof of the Holy Spirit in my life, because in my dwells no good thing. 

Outwardly is where I often struggle because "what do I do because I am a Christian"? I think if I look at these verses I see two valuable examples of faith. One in Abraham and one in Rahab. Abraham knew God and his obedience was the mark of his faith. Rahab did not know God but her actions, hiding the spies was considered an action of faith.

Abraham trusted God with his son. Rahab trusted God with her future. There are many lessons to be learned from these two hall of faith members. Abraham was asked to sacrifice and Rahab was willing to leave her culture and trust in the God of the Jews. 

Sometimes our faith calls us to sacrifice and sometimes we are called to leave some things behind. We act not to earn salvation but because of our salvation. At some point we should be able to point to things we have done, not as actions that merit our faith, but, actions that demonstrate or "prove" out faith. 

Father, thank you that you have prepared good work for us to do. Praise be to you in us today!

JUST KEEPING IT REAL

What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. 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? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

James 2:14-17 (NIV)

As far as our real daily life as a Christian is concerned, this is either a very thin line or where the rubber meets the road. It is a thin line if you want to argue that faith is highly personal and you can't judge someone else because you don't know what is in their hearts. It is where the rubber meets the road if you want to seriously check your faith. I am sure there are other ways to consider this but, for me today, this is how I am approaching the text. 

Francis Schaeffer (a favorite and influential author of mine) wrote a book entitled True Spirituality. He wrote it after struggling with the reality of his faith. I think we all go through times where we struggle with the reality of our faith. That is not a bad thing. If being a Christian doesn't make some sort of difference in your life, what good is it being a Christian? By difference I don't mean just having warm fuzzy's all day long. I mean that if being a Christian isn't different in how I approach the good and the bad, the joyous and the mournful, circumstances in my life, then what so what? 

The telling aspect of these verses, for me, is that they are focused on others, not ourselves. Do you get that? Our world is an incredibly self-centered black hole of self-consciousness. Everything is about how it makes "me" feel. I once had a pastor friend of mine ask me what I thought of his teaching. I told him it was a bit hard to follow because he didn't follow an outline and his introductions were often longer than the actual "teaching". His response was, "Wow, that really hurts my feelings! Especially coming from you." Thanks, pastor, so it's not about how you feed me, one of the sheep, it's about how I make you feel?" 

James, rather bluntly describes a situation where someone is in need. If you do nothing more than basically give a little "spiritual" verbal response, so what? "In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead." 

The good news is that God has prepared good works for us (Ephesians 2:10) and he makes us alive and new in Christ! It is not  necessarily about big things, it's about daily interactions, daily opportunities to act in love by faith. 

What will be your faith moments today? 

Father, help us to act in love by faith today. Praise be to you in us today!

BE NEW

Just a little reminder for the new year!

So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

2 Corinthians 5:16-21 (NIV)

Do You Have a Right to Not Be Merciful?

"Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, because judgement without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgement!" James 2:12-13

I am a very imperfect person. That is not offered up as an excuse. When I sin, I sin. No one made me sin. I sinned. I do not want to sin. I try to seek God on a daily basis through prayer and Bible study. But, sometimes I still sin. And I don't think I am really any different that anyone who might read this. 

We all sin. That means that I need mercy, and you need mercy. My wife needs mercy. Anyone I deal with needs mercy.

These verses are not about legalism they are about forgiveness and freedom because of the mercy of God shown to us in Christ Jesus. What they are about is a serious self-check about understanding the mercy of God. Matthew 6:14-15 stresses, 

"For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins." 

I boils down to this: we are merciful to others because God is merciful to us. We don't have a right to NOT be merciful. 

"But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions - it is by grace you have been saved." 

Ephesians 2:4-5

Question of the day? Who do I need to be merciful to today? How is God showing me mercy today?

Father, thank you for your mercy to me! Help me to be merciful to others! Praise be to you in us today!

WHERE TO FIND REFUGE

"Let the righteous rejoice in the Lord
     and take refuge in him;
     let all the upright in heart praise him!"
 Psalm 64:10

Sometimes it seems like the whole world is against you. You run around trying to make things right and you just can't keep up with it all. Then you realize you are acting like everyone else in the world. Maybe you are looking to things, acquisitions, to make you happy. Maybe you are looking to people hoping to feel complete. 

Stop, take refuge in Christ. Look to him for comfort. Seek him for wholeness. Trust in him for guidance. Remember, he will never leave you or forsake you and will work all things out for your good. 

Father, help us to look to you and wait upon you, to take refuge in you, not the world. Praise be to you in us today!

ARE YOU PLAYING FAVORITES?

     "My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don't show favoritism.

     Listen, my dear brothers: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of this world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him?" James 2:1, 5

I think the bottom line on this is that to God our outward circumstances do not make us more or less worthy of his mercy, grace and forgiveness. Romans 3:10-12 reminds us "As it is written, "There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no who does good, not even one."" In God's eyes everyone, regardless of your social standing is unworthy. 

Yet, Christ died for us all, rich or poor. Paul says in Colossians 3:11, "Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all." The love of God, the forgiveness offered in Christ, is for anyone who will accept it, regardless of their position or circumstances. 

Favoritism can come in many different ways. But, what James was dealing with was the intentional favoritism (what I might crudely call "butt-kissing") toward people of wealth and status. The pathetic thing was that these people were exploiting them! I think the crux of the matter involves faith, as in who or what are you trusting. If you look to the world and its' system of dominance built to make you trust in anything but God, you will always be in bondage. But, if you trust in Christ and view the world from his perspective, you will inherit the kingdom of God. 

James was concerned that this very worldly manner of living was creeping into the church and people were making choices in an ungodly way. In this respect I think James' message is timeless and therefore relevant to you and me, even today. Trust God, not people and treat everyone, regardless of their outward appearance and social status the same, God does. 

Father, help us to see each other through your eyes. Praise be to you in us today!

DID YOU HEAR, DID YOU SEE?

"The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they and heard and seen, which were just as they had been told." Luke 2:20

So Christmas day is over. Let me ask you a question: What did you hear and see? Did you hear and see Christ this Christmas? My question to myself as a husband, father and friend is: Did I show and speak Christ to my wife, my children and my friends? 

I don't want to be self-righteous or condemning because I think that I, like most Christians, want to be Christlike, especially at Christmas. It's just that while I was preparing to read the Christmas story for a family gathering, trying to think of a way to read it creatively, the word "seen" stuck out to me. 

What did the shepherds see? They saw the Messiah in an unlikely place, revealed to them, unlikely witnesses of the incarnation. They the Messiah's earthly entrance which except for the angels announcement to them might of gone unnoticed. But, they didn't just see a baby, they saw the Messiah. They saw the hope of the deliverance that Messiah was to bring. 

I was reminded  to look and see the work of Christ in my life. I was reminded of Christ's forgiveness, mercy and grace to me. I am thankful that he's not finished and that he is faithful to complete what he has started in my life. 

Just take a moment and remember what Christ has done in your life and what he wants to do...