James 2:14-16

What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit?

Personal Challenge

My salvation in Christ is dynamic and living. If there are no actions, no “good works”, associated with my faith, then how is it any different than the seed that fell on the rocky soil that dried up and died (Luke 8:4-8)? I have always read this passage as a commandment to do good deeds toward those who are destitute and in need of the basics of life, which it does apply to this. However, goes much farther than that. I am commanded to do good deeds to everyone, at all times. I am to speak to and think nice of, that person who just drives me crazy. I am to love that person that takes advantage of me and abuses that very love that I am giving to them. I am to love and care for my neighbor and put their needs before mine. Oh, how much help I need from the Holy Spirit toe even come close to starting this in my life. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

Luke 7: 31-35

And the Lord said, “To what then shall I liken the men of this generation, and what are they like? They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to one another, saying:

‘We played the flute for you,And you did not dance;We mourned to you,And you did not weep.’

For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look, a glutton and a winebibber, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ But wisdom is justified by all her children.”

Personal Challenge

So, why is it that we modern Christians think that we can behave the same way that the Pharisees and Sadducees did, and not be judged by Christ accordingly? The children in the day of Jesus used to play a game of opposites. One would call out an emotion or sing a song, and all the rest would act out the opposite behavior. Jesus accused the religious elite, the saved of that day, for doing the same thing by telling everyone to do one thing, but doing something entirely different themselves. He condemned them for doing this. So, how is it that we do this today? So many Christians, even priests and pastors, claim to be followers of Christ and expound on His gospel about loving our neighbor and then rail on those who need Jesus the most: the homosexual, the mother who has aborted a child, the immigrant, someone with a tattoo, someone who is of a different faith practice, etc., or worst of all someone who brings the love of Christ to these people. Heaven forbid that on Sundays we proclaim the love of God for all of mankind, and the rest of the week we use Facebook, or our blogs, or whatever other means we have at our disposal, to demean our neighbors…especially those who are already outcasts. Jesus hung out with prostitutes, tax collectors, lepers, the outcast of society, those who were lost, and commanded us to do the same. As for me, I do not want to stand before my Lord someday and be held accountable for not loving my neighbor as He loved me and commanded me to do likewise. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner!

Psalm 61:1-4 (60:2-5 LXX)

Hear my supplication, O God;
Attend to my prayer.
From the end of the earth I cried out to You
When my heart was discouraged;
You lifted me high on a rock.
You guided me, for You became my hope,
A tower of strength from the face of the enemy.
I will dwell in Your tabernacle unto the ages;
I will be covered with the shelter of Your wings.

Encouraging Words

I can come into the presence of my Lord and ask Him to hear my prayer and He does. He hears me calling even from the ends of the earth or the depths of my sin. When I am discouraged or alienated from Him He responds. He lifts me up, He guides me, He gives me hope, He surrounds me with a tower of strength, He brings me into the tabernacle so that I can dwell with Him, He covers me with His shelter. Glory be to God!

Psalm 57:1-3 (56:2-4 LXX)

Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me,
For my soul trusts in You;
And in the shadow of Your wings I will hope,
Until lawlessness shall pass away.
I will cry out to God most High;
My God who is my benefactor.
He sent from heaven and saved me;
He gave over to disgrace those who trample me down. (Pause)
God sent out His mercy and His truth,

Encouraging Words

Oh, what a blessing it is to fall under the merciful wings of our Lord. As my soul thirsts for Him, He responds exceedingly beyond my greatest dreams. Through the sacrificial works of His Son, He poured out His love, mercy, and truth upon me, all of humanity, and all of creation. We now live in grace and truth as the doors of heaven have been opened and the gates of hell destroyed. Glory be to God!

James 1:12-15

Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full- grown, brings forth death.

Personal Challenge

I love how the New Testament writings almost always give me a warning that the sledgehammer is about to fall by inserting “therefore” or “but” into the middle of a passage. It is so easy to blame my sin on a temptation, and then blame God, the devil, or someone/something else for bringing the temptation into my life. Yes, temptations are out there in the world, and sometimes the enemy tries to trip me up with them. However, it is usually my own desires and thoughts that create the temptation. Then if I am not living a life constantly on the guard of this the temptation which I introduced into my life gives birth to enticement and then to sin. It is so much easier to say, “No!” at the beginning of this progression than it is to wait until the sin is in the process of being committed. I cannot blame this on anyone or anything for it is my own doing. Lord, help me to say, “No!” sooner and to stick to it more strongly.

Hebrews 13:17

Obey those who rule over you, and be submissive, for they watch out for your souls, as those who must give account. Let them do so with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you.

Personal Challenge

It amazes me how some people in one moment proclaim how much they love Christ and desire to be like Him, and then in the next moment rail against the leadership and authority of their church, whose authority they have been placed under. We are called to be submissive to those in authority, to be humble servants of our Lord living lives that magnify Him and not our personal preferences. It is not really possible to be both of these ways at the same time. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

Hebrews 11:17-19

By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was said, “In Isaac your seed shall be called,” concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense.

Personal Challenge

God works so far outside of our meager way of thinking and by doing this He continually tests and stretches our faith in Him. When we decide to constrain Him, and put Him in a box defined by doctrine and dogma, then we also constrain our faith and therefore begin to miss out on His mysteries and miracles. One way He does this is by answering our prayers and petitions, giving us what we have been asking for, just to take it away. We see this with Abraham, Job, and many other patriarchs. However, He so often restores what He has taken away commensurate with our faith and trust in Him. Through all of this I find that there is no such thing as a static Christian life. The currents of the stream that we are taking our journey in is full of eddies and currents, storms and calms, joys and sorrows. So my growth leads me to learning how to be at peace in the presence of my Lord…no matter what He asks. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

Isaiah 6:8-10

I also heard the voice of the Lord, saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go to this people?” Then I said, “Behold, here am I, send me.” So He said, “Go, and tell this people, ‘You shall hear indeed, but not understand; and you shall see indeed, but not perceive.’ For the heart of this people has become insensitive, and their ears hear with difficulty. They have closed their eyes, lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and return, and I should heal them.”

Personal Challenge

I usually go to the first part of this passage and ask if I would be willing to go do God’s work as willingly as Isaiah was. But maybe the real question to be pondering is where I fit in with the people that Isaiah was being sent to. Do I close my eyes, ears, and heart to the true message of God because I want to do things my way? Do I hold my beliefs, my understandings, my knowledge and earthly wisdom in higher regard than God’s? If the answers to any of these questions come anywhere close to a yes, or even a maybe, then it is time to repent and flee into the arms of my Lord. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.

Hebrews 11:8

By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.

Personal Challenge