9-26-99
As I went through this week, I thought occasionally about what I would do this weeks devotion over. I thought I knew what I was going to talk about, but just a minute ago while reading my bible, I ran across a passage in James and I felt led to talk about this instead. I hope it touches you like it has me, there is definitely some cool stuff here and its stuff that we all deal with and need work on. Im not sure where this is going to go, but we’ll see. Hang on and enjoy! I know most of you reading this are Christians, but I also believe that there is more to it than just being a Christian. Being a Christian and not showing it by your actions is not what you have been called to do! In fact, God hates it with a passion! When you became a Christian, you basically made a deal with God. You made a choice to follow God and conform to his will, and look not to the worlds desires and standards. You made a choice to live a lifestyle pleasing to Him. You also made the choice to show others the love of Christ by your actions and lifestyle. There are lots of things that you decided to do when making that decision to follow Jesus, but it doesn’t come close to comparing to God’s end of the deal. He made the choice to give you eternal life! That alone is very well worth it, but there is more, He made the choice to watch after you, and help you. He made the choice to give you the opportunity to come to Him for help. He made the choice to love you unconditionally. He made the choice to give you an abundant life here on earth as well! So is this deal fair??? Not one bit!!!!
Praise God that he isn’t fair! If he was a fair God, we would be in lots of trouble wouldn’t we? Praise God for his mercy, that even though we don’t keep our end of the deal at times, he still chooses to keep his! He is going to keep loving us when we turn from him, he is going to keep guiding us, even when we don’t choose to follow, and he is going to keep being there when we don’t acknowledge him, and he is going to keep forgiving us when we sin. Lets check out how we can keep our end of this deal now, by doing the things we said way back when, when we decided to trust in Him.
James talks a little bit about this. Let me give you a little background on James real quick. James was Jesus’ brother ( the son of Joseph and Mary), so I would say that he had a pretty good chance of knowing what he was talking about! By the way, how cool would it be to have Jesus as your brother?? Im sure sometime James was asked the question “so do you have any brothers or sisters?” James just casually replies “yeah I got a brother, you might know him…his name is Jesus” actually I doubt too many people had to ask james about his bro…he probably told everyone anyway. When meeting someone he was probably more like “hey my names James, Jesus is my brother, do you have any brothers or sisters?” just a thought. OK He wrote this book to remind us of the difference of saying that you are a Christian, and actually being a Christian. He tells us in this book how to overcome the evils of the world, and how we should live as Christians.
James 2:14 === “What good is it, my brothers, (hes talking to us!) if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? (2:17 now) Faith by itself, if it is not acompanied by action, is dead. Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. You believe that there is one God. Good!! Even the demons believe that” (24) “you see that a person is justified by what he does, and not by faith alone”. (26) As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead”
Let me give you the Coby translation now ok? That is pretty self explanitory, but ill try to explain a little better. (24) what good is it to say you are a Christian if you are not? Do you think you can trick God and because you say you are a Christian, you will be saved?? No of course you cant, that is retarded. (19) So you believe that there is a God, you believe that Jesus is real and he loves you..that’s great! Woo hoo big deal, even the demons believe that, but that doesn’t make them Christians! There is a difference in knowing whats right and living by what is right!
Also, even if you are a Christian, and yet you do not act like it, then you are not keeping your end of the deal! Remember you made the decision to live a different life right? People should know you are a Christian by your actions! You shouldn’t have to tell anyone that you are a Christian, they should see it in you! Like James says, Faith without Action is dead. Make a fool of yourself for God if that is what it takes. Im tired of people trying to impress others more than God. Why do we fear people so much, and yet do not fear God, the creator of all, the giver of life, the one who made the deal with us, to save us?!?!?!? It doesn’t make sense. Be a Christian when you are outside of your room or your church, God called you to be a Christian everywhere, especially around other people! How do you expect to fullfill your end of the deal without actions? Part of the deal was showing others what you have right?? Don’t be a secret Christian! Are you ashamed of God, the one that has given you everything? Show me some action with that faith!
Well no matter what we do, we can never make the deal ‘fair’, because we can never repay God for sending his son to die for us, giving us eternal life, but we should try our hardest and make it our #1 desire to provide some action to back up what we are. This week I hope that this passage in James comes to mind sometime and you stop to think about your actions. Are your actions pleasing to God, or are they pleasing to the world and everyone in it? Just something to think about. Focus this week on making that extra effort to show people that you live for God, and not just say it.
Prayer: God, thanks for giving me life today. I know I am so undeserving of the life you have given me, but thanks for not being a fair God. Thank you for blessing me and staying with me, even when I try to push you away. Lord, show me ways that I can serve you this week. Give me opportunities to show others what you are all about. God just live through me, and guide me in all that I do. You are the God of gods, the Lord of lords, the most awesome thing that has ever happened to me! Let me desire your desires, and learn to push the temptations to be like the world away. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to do this, and thank you for choosing to be there with me every step of the way. I love you, and give all glory to you God. Amen
Coby <><
