Am I willing?

Re:Verse reading–James 2:14-26 (day seven)

“But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless?”–v 20

Hard question.  Important.  Requires some soul-searching.  Am I willing to learn/know God’s truth?  Willing to change the way I see things?  Or, just looking for an opportunity to argue, determined to convince God to “see it my way”?

Sometimes, if I am honest, it’s the latter.  Not really open to change, not really listening for a new perspective, not really considering a new position or direction, I want what I want. End of sentence.

Deep in the human heart is a stubborn switch that has significant power–power to allow spiritual progress, power to resist it.  It is called “the will”.

“If anyone is willing (same word that James used) to do His will, he will know whether the teaching is from God.”–Jesus (John 7:17)

Stubborn pride is a locked door. Ask yourself.  Am I willing?

All Talk and No Action

Re:Verse reading–James 2:14-26 (day six)

“Faith working through love.” (Galatians 5:6) That is how Paul describes a faith that works, much like his pastor friend James does in James 2. They were very much on the same page; both tackling the same issue-dead faith.

Dead faith is all talk and no action. It is all sitting, thinking, speaking, but no going and doing. If we are not careful we will describe ourselves mostly as a people who gather together and sit; we gather for worship, we gather for Bible study, we gather for meetings, etc. That’s not faith, and it is not what it means to be the church. The church is not a place or only a gathering; it is a people who are working out their faith through love in a particular place. By faith the church is sent, it doesn’t just sit.

Faith Without Works

Re:Verse reading–James 2:14-26 (day four)

Can we claim a valid, saving faith if it does not result in works of mercy and ministry?  James says “no.”  James would not disagree with Paul or Jesus that we are saved by grace through faith alone.  James is going one step further and saying that if our faith has any usefulness, it will result in works of service.

Here at First Baptist, San Antonio, we put action to our faith.  Christmas Care, Disaster Relief, ESL training, serving military, working at Lamar and Briscoe elementary schools, backpack ministry, Mission: Dignity, SA Christian Dental Clinic, community garden—all of these ministries and more are doing what James tells us to do.  How about you?  Are you involved in serving and ministering to others…giving your faith the opportunity to exercise and grow?  Find out more about these ministry areas in our church and get to work.  Faith without works is useless!

Living

Re:Verse reading–James 2:14-26 (day three)

“Can such faith save them?”  We throw words around all the time like we know what we’re doing.  One such word is “believe”.  What do we mean when we use that word?  Consider two people who are hard workers and true to their word with their families and in their dealings with others day by day.  One, we learn, “believes in” God, while the other, we discover, is unconvinced of God’s existence.  What does belief really mean in this instance?  Does belief mean anything more than choosing the “right answer”, all other things being equal?  Is each person’s eternal destiny the only difference between these two?  James reveals that to believe is to arrange your life in such a way that you live as if what you say you believe is true.  In other words, belief is a life, not a resumé.

 

 

I Love My Wife

Re:Verse reading–James 2:14-26 (day two) “And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness,” and he was called the friend of God. vs. 23b

I love my wife. Over 17 years ago I stood in front of the church and declared to her and to God that I loved my wife. Now everyone knows that I love her, and that is the end of that.

…that’s not how it works. We both know that. My love for my wife is ever-growing. I express it to her in a thousand ways, and I still fail to sufficiently acknowledge how much she means to me. I tell her I love her, I send her a text at work. I will buy flowers, or gifts, or make the bed in the morning. Large gestures or small, they each speak to my love for my beloved.

Why then do we bristle when we read this passage from James. My love and commitment to Jesus is the greatest call on my life, so shouldn’t my life be marked by evidence of that love? Just as I want April to know that I cherish her, so, too, do I want Jesus to know that I am fully his. I long to be like Abraham and be considered a friend of God.

What’s the use?

Re:Verse reading–James 2:14-26 (day one)

“If a brother or sister is without clothing. . .and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace, be warmed and filled,’ and yet you do not give them what is necessary . . .what use is that?”–v 16

A question that a pragmatist would love.  A solid standard by which religion must always be evaluated.  What’s the use?

Ophelos is the Greek word.  It mean’t “advantage or profit or progress”.  Same word that Jesus used in Mark 8:36.  “What does it profit (opheleo) a man if he gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?”

So. . .(is your honest hat on?) If we bottom-lined your faith, would the world show a profit?  “I care not much for a man’s religion whose dog and cat are not the better for it.”–Abraham Lincoln.  OK, but what about your neighbor, your city, your church?   What useful thing will come to the world this week because you believe?

Free at last!

Re:Verse reading–2 Corinthians 8:1-15 (day seven)

“in great ordeal of affliction their abundance of joy and their deep poverty overflowed in the wealth of their liberality.”–v 2

It was a supernatural outcome.  No question.  A grace (gift) from God.  An unthinkable equation unless the Spirit of God is present.  Affliction+joy+poverty=generosity?  Yes!

The Macedonians were in a difficult chapter.  But with every new hardship, they seemed freer from anxiety, more ready to serve Christ.  They wanted to help.  Begged for the privilege to do so.  It was amazing!

Paul had seen this miracle before.  Until a person knows the Spirit of God, he/she is captive to the world and its threats and dangers.  Ruled by fear. Obsessed with self.  Once a person is filled with the Spirit, he/she is set free from these earth-bound priority-prisons. Freedom comes!  And generosity!

“He who believes in Me, as the Scripture says, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’ “–Jesus (John 7:38)

 

Rich

Re:Verse reading–2 Corinthians 8:1-15 (day six)

2 Corinthians 8 teaches us very important lessons on giving. Have you ever given any thought as to why we don’t give? What keeps us from giving of our time, energy, and resources? It’s a worthwhile question. The Macedonians gave, not out of their abundance, but out of their poverty. In other words, they gave of what little they had not knowing where their next meal would come from. I don’t give like that. One, God has tremendously blessed my family; we are not poor. Two, we give regularly, but it is always out of excess; it never hurts to give.

Paul didn’t make that a requirement of course. He wasn’t expecting the Corinthians to unwisely put themselves in a financial bind, nor us, but I do think he wants us to see that whenever we give, we are always giving out of abundance. The Macedonians gave because they knew that although they were poor financially, they had been made rich in grace through Jesus, and therefore were eager to give of what they had to meet the needs of others.

You are rich! So give.

First, Then

Re:Verse reading–2 Corinthians 8:1-15 (day five)

A new chapter is coming to our home next week. We take our daughter to college. A flood of memories and emotions fill my heart and mind. She is ready!! She/We are nervous/excited (a healthy ratio). I’ve thought about advice I will give her.  Seems like a good moment for it.  As a minister’s kid, she has received more than her fair share already. I want her to see how the believers in Macedonia approached life and decisions. I want her to see the results. 2 Corinthians 8:5, “they gave themselves first to the Lord and then by the will of God to us.”

MB, give yourself to the Lord FIRST (daily/regularly), you will hear Him, know Him, and love Him. You will discover His will and THEN the path of decisions and choices becomes clearer. First Surrender, Then Service. You will do miraculous and amazing things for God’s Glory and the good of others!! Go Get’em!

Gift of Life

Re:Verse reading–2 Corinthians 8:1-15 (day four)

As I write this blog, it is Tuesday, August 8, 2017.  It is our 36th anniversary…also, our second granddaughter was born today.  Jordyn Nicole made her arrival just before noon.  It is amazing!  The gift of life is absolutely amazing.  Just to sit and look at her in your arms causes an overflow of joy and gratitude!  I cannot imagine after receiving this amazing gift of life, of offering it to save someone else’s life.  Yet, that is what God did for us.  Out of His great love for us and by His limitless generosity, He gave His only Son to die in our place.  What an amazing gift!  How could He have that much love for us?

Love causes us to want to give.  Paul is encouraging the church at Corinth to think of others and give out of their supply.  Generosity grows out of a loving heart…service to others grows out of a loving heart.  From God’s richest possession, He gave to our need.  How can we do any less?