Monday, December 29, 2014

Faith without works is dead

 Faith is a gift to be shared.  If it is hidden away, buried, or masked, it is wasted.  Faith without works is dead.  The action is a direct result of God using the faith that he has given you to bless others.  I found these thoughts rolling through my head as I sketched the dead forest above.  I found myself thinking that faith, if not exercised,  may spoil, rot, or even disappear.   I began to ask myself the hard questions.  What have I done lately to exercise my faith?  When was the last time I stepped out of my comfort zone in my pursuit of Christ?  God's simple answer is "Patrick, open your eyes and I will show you the need that is all around you".  I pray today that I would see others with God's eyes and that my Faith would be exercised.

James 2:14-25

14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? 15 Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. 16 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? 17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
18 But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.”
Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. 19 You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.
20 You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless[d]? 21 Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. 23 And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,”[e] and he was called God’s friend. 24 You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone.
25 In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction?26 As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.

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