Faith in Action
For the rest of my days may my trust in You, Father, be as it is the first of every morning. I plead that this will always be the case. No matter what day it is or what time You wake me, my first thoughts are of You, “My Father is calling me to join Him.” There is no better way to begin my day.
James 2:14-17 (<<click to read the passage)
No matter how many times I read this passage, Lord, it makes me stop and think. As we follow You, truly faith and acting on that faith go hand in hand – one is incomplete without the other.
We can have faith – believing in You as our Savior – but if it doesn’t affect the way we live, if it doesn’t cause us to do certain things and to stop us from doing other things, is it real? Faith must be more than an “intellectual assent” as my study Bible* notes. It has to be more than “agreement with a set of Christian teachings.” Faith must impact how we think about things. Faith kindles a fire in us that causes us to move and do. It is not a stationary thing. We must be about our “Father’s business.” Luke 2:49
We have a problem, too, working solely from the other end. Following You, Lord, is way more than good works, even if they are “spiritual” in nature. If there is no faith in the equation it is just going through the motions. Church attendance, teaching Sunday school, volunteering at a soup kitchen, working at an orphanage, even preaching from a pulpit – these things have minimal impact if not driven by faith.
Help me, Lord, to be faithful to the utmost in all I do for You and the kingdom. Fill my life, fill my actions. Amen.
Aug 27th, 2016, Sat, 5:27 am
*Life Application Study Bible New Living Translation
We’ve Made Our Bed
(My apologies for yesterday’s post. There were technical difficulties and I was unable to fix them in a timely manner, having to be at work at 6:00 am. If you would like to check it out, click on this link: Stop the Nibbling. )
As I am up and about this morning, Father, I am grateful for all of Your many blessings. May I live out my life this day as an expression of that gratitude. May my actions towards others be a reflection of Your love and care for me. Amen.
Matthew 2:16-23 (<<click to read the passage)
What a horrific act on the part of King Herod, to feel so threatened by the possibility of a new “king” that he would call for the annihilation of all the boys two years old and younger in and around the area of Bethlehem! If there was ever a man that could be labeled as wicked it was Herod.
We live in difficult times for there are many “wicked” people throughout our world doing (or contemplating) many horrific things. We may need to run but we need not be immobilized by despair. The evil of sin has run rampant since the beginning of time but God will not be thwarted.
Lord, I surely don’t begin to understand why bad things happen to good people or good things happen to bad people for that matter. You said that the Father “sends rain on the just and the unjust alike.” (Matthew 5:45)
The old adage is true that we’ve made our bed, now we must lie in it. We have made the world what it is and we must live in it. We have been given free will to do as we please and on many fronts, we have made a mess of things but Your will will not be undone or held back.
Lord, I realize that this life will be full of hurt and pain but I also realize that I can be a catalyst for love and comfort. You can use me to accomplish Your will. I can be an instrument to thwart evil in the world around me.
The Apostle Peter shares these words of encouragement:
6So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while. 7These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.
8You love him even though you have never seen him. Though you do not see him now, you trust him; and you rejoice with a glorious, inexpressible joy. 9The reward for trusting him will be the salvation of your souls. 1 Peter 1:6-9
Amen, so be it.
Sept 18th, 2017, Mon, 6:29 am
Stop the Nibbling!
Father, there are not enough words to express how grateful I am for Your love. And as I have said many, many times, Your love is longsuffering. The word longsuffering says so much more than patient in my heart and mind. You have suffered long but You are ever faithful, ever loving. Thank You for never giving up on me, for always believing in me.
Matthew 5:4-6 (<<click to read the passage)
I tell you, it is just as easy for me as an adult as it was as a kid…to spoil my appetite with things I probably shouldn’t have before I eat a good solid meal. I get the munchies and snack on a little of this and a little of that and then it’s time to meet Karen for lunch. It’s not good for me, but I still do it.
Lord, You proclaim in verse 6,
“God blesses those who hunger and thirst for justice, [righteousness] for they will be satisfied.”
That’s from the New Living Translation. Now from the Amplified Bible,
“Blessed [joyful, nourished by God’s goodness] are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness [those who actively seek right standing with God], for they will be [completely] satisfied.” (emphasis mine)
My nibbling doesn’t satisfy my hunger – neither does filling my life with tidbits from the world satisfy my “hunger and thirst for righteousness”. Honestly, it only brings me trouble.
Lord, I think we all have that hunger and thirst. Before we know You, we try satisfying those desires with all kinds of things. But everything lacks the ability to completely satisfy our appetites. Even after we enter into a relationship with You, we still have cravings for the things of which we used to partake. Even though we know they aren’t good for us, even though we know they will leave us empty and spiritually malnourished.
It brings to mind a portion of Hebrews 12:1,
“…let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.”
In writing, my mind keyed on the word weight in this passage. What happens when we eat too much of the things we shouldn’t? We put on weight, right? Sin does the same thing, it weighs us down.
So, Lord, as You have been speaking to me over the last several days, help me to continue to cut out the nibbling…and I’m not talking food. Enable me to keep my focus on You.
Paul gives a good conclusion,
“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” Philippians 4:8
Amen to that!
Oct 10th, 2017, Tues, 7:58 pm
Consequences
Thank You, Father, for a wonderfully fulfilling day with Karen yesterday! Thank You for Your watch care over us and thank You for the blessing of bringing us together, oh, so many years ago!
Hebrews 12:16-17 (<<click here)
Lord, in reading these verses my Study Bible* makes me think about the long-term impact of sin. Examining our lives we can see how even decisions from a lifetime ago, can continue to impact us. Esau’s careless disregard for his birthright – trading it for a bowl of soup! – came back to bite him when his father issued blessings sometime later. And this wasn’t just a simple “bless you” but in this culture was a driving force in where your life would go. And no matter how much he wept, it could not be changed. (Genesis 25:29-34; Genesis 27)
Our sins can surely be forgiven and our loving Savior remembers them no more – he has removed them “as far from us as the east is from the west.” Psalm 103:12 but regardless we cannot forget and many times the repercussions of our sin haunt us for the rest of our lives.
Lord, first of all, help me to learn from the errors of my ways. Help me to not repeat them. But may they be a reminder of where You have brought me from and that I do not want to go back.
Secondly, help me to move on. Help my past not hinder my moving forward into what You would have me do today.
And lastly, may I remember when tempted today that decisions I make today will have lifelong consequences. May my decisions be guided by You. Amen!
June 15th, 2016, Wed, 6:43 am
*Life Application Study Bible New Living Translation
Hide It Under a Bushel…NO!
As I come to write this morning, Father, it is pitch-black dark outside. The only light, beyond the occasional passing vehicle, is the lights in the room where I sit.
This is the world in which I find myself.
Even after the sun comes up, from a spiritual perspective much of the world around me will be pitch-black dark. There are many others glowing with Your love but so, so many are not. They are lost. They are searching. They are stumbling around trying to find their way, many not even knowing for what they are looking. May I steadily and brightly shine, glowing with Your love within me, that they may be drawn to You. Amen.
14 “You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. 15 No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father. Matthew 5:14-16
Lord, You said that I am the “light of the world.” You shining forth through me is a powerful force. That, in and of itself, can have great impact…but is there more required of me? Your love glowing in me will attract others to its light but I do believe that You call me to “let [my] good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.”
I am not called to just be a passive light shining in the darkness. You have given me a clear call to action! What all that means specifically I am going to have to think on some.
Lord, may I shine brightly, with Your love and presence in my life radiating for all the world to see. And once You have the world’s attention may my “good deeds” impact them, as well, so much so that they want to know more and most importantly, that they want to know You! Amen.
Sept 20th, 2017, Wed, 6:28 am