How to Prove Your Faith

"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...As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead." James 2:14-17, 26

Faith is both a noun and a verb. It's by faith that we believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and his sacrificial death which restored us to right relationship with God, the Father. (noun) It's also that same faith that should lead to action. Faith does. (verb)

When we come to Jesus and accept him a our Lord and Savior, things change. We change because his Spirit now lives in us. We begin to think and act like Jesus. He had compassion on the needy and hurting and he reached out to help them. We should be doing the same. We should show the love of God by the way we touch others, the way we make a difference in our community. Our behavior should reflect our faith.

Good works will not save us, but good works will be a proof that Jesus is working in us and that he loves those around.

Deeper:

Ephesians 2:8-10    Matthew 5:14-16    Matthew 25:44-45    1 John 3:17

Questions:

In what ways do you put your faith into action?

How do you reflect the character of Jesus?

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Sometimes I don't know which way is up!

 "I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you." Psalm 32:8 (NIV)

Sometimes I'm faced with a decision or circumstances that has me totally baffled. I know I need to do something, but can't figure out what. I wonder what God's will is in the matter. Fortunately, over the years, I've figured out that the best way to know what to do, is to ask Him. I've also learned that God seldom gives me unsolicited advice, but He will always give me the answer if I ask Him and wait for His answer.

Much to my dismay, He doesn't always give me an answer immediately and it's the waiting part that's the hardest.  How about you? Don't you hate waiting?

We live in a hurry-up, instant, microwave  society. We want what we want and we want it now, so when God doesn't answer right away, we get antsy. We wrestle with ways to fix it ourselves. We wonder if He even heard us ask the question or if He's going to answer at all. And that's where the danger lies.

If we take matters into our own hands, we risk missing out on God's best for us or we might even make things worse.  So, what do we do when faced with a decision that must be made quickly, but we haven't heard back from God yet?

The answer to that question is to move forward, trusting that God will lead you. How? Check out Isaiah 30:21 - "Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.” 

God's promise is to instruct and teach us in the way we should go and to counsel us with His loving eye upon us. We can trust Him to lead us in the right direction if we keep our hearts tuned to His.

Deeper:

Psalm 37:23-24    Proverbs 20:24    Psalm 119:105    Isaiah 48:17

All Scriptures from the New Living Translation except when noted.

Questions:

Are you facing something that you just don't have an answer for?

Do you trust God to lead you?

Let's place our needs and questions before Him in prayer and wait patiently for His answer, trusting Him to direct our decisions and path.

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What Does God Think of You?

 "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart." Jeremiah 29:11-13

Have you ever wondered what God thinks about you? Wonder no more. He has clearly spelled it out for you in these verses. When He thinks of you, He thinks of His plan to give you peace. He doesn't thing poorly of you no matter with evil (sin) you might have committed. (He already knows it all anyway.) He isn't mad at you for not doing things right - not living a holy enough life. Instead His intention is to give you peace, a great future and hope.

Next, He tells us to call on Him, to go and pray to Him and promises that when we do, he will listen. He promises that when we seek Him with all our heart, we will find Him.

What great promises!

Now, pay attention to what He's not saying. He's not saying you must come to polished and spotless. He's not saying you need to have it all together before you can approach Him. So, my friends, let's not hesitate to call on Him, to pray to Him (pour out your heart completely. He can handle it.) And let's seek Him with all our hearts, for His promise is that we will find Him, for He will reveal Himself to us.

Deeper:

Psalm 139:1-6    Matthew 11:28-30    Proverbs 18:17    Psalm 105:3-4

Questions:

What promises did we find in this study?

What is our part in receiving these promises?

Let's come to Him just as we are. Seek Him and see how He keeps His promise. Ask God to show you something about Himself that you didn't know.

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God, I trust you, but...

 The trust factor - we know that it's vital in our relationship with God, but trust is not always easy, even when it comes to trusting Him. 

So, what is trust anyway? 

Trust is - the firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of someone or something.

It's hard to admit that sometimes we don't trust God. Why is that?

FEAR

Nearly all of us have experienced broken trust in our lives. Someone that we trusted let us down. didn't keep their promise, hurt us deeply. That kind of experience can make us fearful of trusting others. But God's not like that. He's never made a promise that He didn't keep...and He never will.

Psalm 145:13 assures us that "...The Lord is trustworthy in all he promises and faithful in all he does."

Over the next few posts we will take a look at some of God's promises and talk about how we can let go of fear and increase our faith and trust in God.

Deeper:
Romans 8:28    Psalm 28:7    Jeremiah 17:7-8    2 Timothy 1:7

Questions:
In what area(s) do you find it difficult to trust God?
How has God come through for you in this area in the past?
How does fear play a part in your struggle to trust God?

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Before We Kick 2022 to the Curb

 "I will praise you, Lord, with all my heart. I will tell all the miracles you have done. I will be happy because of you; God Most High, I will sing praises to your name." Psalm 9:1-2 (NCV)

If you're like me, there are some things about 2022 that you'd just as soon forget. Hard things happened last year. Some were life-altering and the hurt is raw. Some were downright embarrassing. But there were good things, too. Happy times, joyous times. Times when God came through and provided just what you needed in the moment. There were births to celebrate, accomplishments, personal growth, changes for the better.

So, before we kick 2022 to the curb, let's take some time to recall God's blessings last year. Let's name them...maybe write them down so we don't forget. Let's give Him thanks and praise Him for His loving care, for even in the hardest places in life, He is with us. He will comfort and strengthen. He will make all things work together for our God if we love him.

Let's take a look back.

Deeper:

Psalm 95:1-2    Isaiah 41:10    Romans 8:28    Psalm 118:1

Questions:

What were some of the hard things that you went through in 2022?

How did God help you through them?

In what ways did God bless you last year?

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New Year - New You

 "If anyone belongs to Christ, there is a new creation. The old things have gone; everything is made new! All this is from God. Through Christ, God made peace between us and himself, and God gave us the work of telling everyone about the peace we can have with him." 2 Corinthians 5:17-18

There's something about the beginning of a new year that's invigorating. A fresh start. A time for leaving the past behind and looking forward to brand new possibilities.  We get the same fresh start when we become followers of Christ. The old us is gone. He has made us new. Our past with all it's failures is gone. Our spirit has changed from one of carnal man to a Holy Spirit filled child of God.

Just as we start the new year with the opportunity to make changes in our lives, God begins our new life in Him by making changes is us that begin to transform us into the image of Jesus Christ. Our thought processes, our habits, our desire to love and serve others grows as we surrender ourselves to His loving care.

Dig Deeper: 

Romans 12:2    2 Corinthians 3:18    Galatians 5:22-23    1 John 3:2

Questions:

What are you hoping for in 2023?

What are you leaving behind?

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Are You Kicking at the Goads?

We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice saying to me in Aramaic, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ Acts 26:14

What's a Goad? 

It's a spiked stick used to prod an animal in the right direction. Shepherds used it to lead their flock to safe and plentiful pastures or to prod them away from danger. Farmers used it to prod their horses or mules forward to plow the fields.

If an animal took the hint of a gentle prod from the goad, they would be trained to do what is best for them. If, instead, an animal kicked against the goad, they would injure themselves on the sharp end of the stick.

Saul was a devout Jew. He zealously followed Jewish law. He was so zealous, in fact, that he persecuted those who dared teach or follow any other beliefs. When Jesus came on the scene, preaching forgiveness and salvation, Saul took it upon himself to wipe out early Christianity. 

I'm sure that God had been nudging, then prodding Saul toward faith in Jesus, but Saul had his own ideas about how to best serve God. Finally, God had to put a stop to Saul's killing spree and hatred, so as Saul was on his way to destroy more believers, God revealed himself to Saul in a blinding light.

Saul explained what happened to him like this when he stood before King Agrippa...

I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, blazing around me and my companions. We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice saying to me in Aramaic, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads."

Than I asked, "Who are you, Lord?"

"I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting," the Lord replied. Now, get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen and will see of me. " Acts 26:13-16*

 Saul's kicking against the goads resulted in a three day blindness, but brought about a complete life change. Transforming a viscous Saul the Apostle Paul, who spent the rest of his life as a devoted follower of Jesus and taught other the truth about salvation through Jesus. It's too bad he had to go through so much tragedy before he would listen to God. 

I think God uses prods to keep us moving in the right direction, to lead us to the blessings he has for us and to steer us away from danger. Not for punishment, or abuse, but in love so that we live the best life possible. However, just like a stubborn or rebellious animal, we often resent that nudges from God to go a certain way. If he gets more forceful in his prodding, we might get angry and kick against his will, preferring our own way instead. But just like the animal who is injured by kicking at the goad, we injure ourselves if we kick against God's leading. We invite trouble into our lives, we make poor choices which lead to dire consequences, Then when we find ourselves smack dab in the middle of a mess, we might blame God for causing or allowing the trouble we find ourselves in, when all the time, if we had just moved with his nudging, we would have been far better off.

How about you? Have you felt God nudging you in a certain direction or urging you not to go in another? Have you listened and cooperated or have you been kicking at the goads.

 *You can read the whole account of Saul's conversion HERE.

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