IS YOUR FAITH “WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE?”

BIBLE PASSAGE:
As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.
(James 2:26)

MEDITATION:
The basic message from James is,
    “Faith that does nothing is dead!”

Faith is not the belief that God will do what we want; faith is the belief
that God will do what is right. He loves to see our faith in action, and
He is always near and available. When we’re unsure of how to exercise
our faith, He is there coaching us. He gave us the Holy Spirit to guide
us in obeying Him, and at least one spiritual gift to use in serving Him.

We need to let Him see our faith by showing our devotion to Him. We
need to also do things that will demonstrate our faith is real. Any faith
without effort is no faith at all. God responds when we display our faith.
He doesn’t reject genuine gestures of faith.

So…..
    Write a letter or send a text to encourage someone.
    Ask the Lord for forgiveness.
    Pray daily.
    Read God’s Word every day.
    Share your testimony with someone.
    Check up on someone who is sick or hurting (physically or emotionally).
    Send a card of encouragement or appreciation to someone.
    And above all, worship Him at all times.

Jesus inconvenienced Himself by going to the cross for us, but some
fail to inconvenience themselves in return, by going to His house to
worship Him. This causes us to miss out on the fellowship with other
believers and more importantly, we miss out on many of God’s blessings.

When we faithfully worship Him, we are saying
    “Thank You for giving Your all for me!”
Worship should always be at the top of our priority list.
Expressing our faith through actions should be close behind.

ACTION:
Questions to ask ourselves:
    – How am showing the Lord my faith?
    – Am I doing ‘anything’ as a child of His?
    – Can I name the last time I did something for the Lord?

Think about your faith from His viewpoint. If you died an agonizing
death for someone and they failed to show their appreciation, how
would you feel about them? How would you feel if they wouldn’t even
read a book written about you?

If they wouldn’t set aside time to worship and praise you, how would
it make you feel? Have you noticed that some who claim they have
fully committed their lives to the Lord, will get offended if anyone
reminds them that the Lord commanded us to meet together.

Thankfully, He doesn’t treat us the same as we might treat others who
fail to show us any love and appreciation. However, we can miss out on
many of His blessings when we fail to obey His commands, and aren’t
doing anything for His kingdom.

Pray,
“Heavenly Father, Thank You for saving me! Thank You for the
gift of the Holy Spirit to help me show my appreciation for what
You did for me, and for guiding me in expressing my faith through
action. Forgive me for being disobedient to Your commands. Teach
me how to use the spiritual gifts You have given me to express my
faith You for all to see.”

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