Today’s Podcast
Today’s Scriptures
Today’s Bible reading plans include:
Ready – James 2:14-26
Set – Isaiah 32; James 2
Go! – Isaiah 32-35; James 2
James 2:14-26
14 Brothers and sisters, it doesn’t make any sense to say you have faith and act in a way that denies that faith. Mere talk never gets you very far, and a commitment to Jesus only in words will not save you. 15 It would be like seeing a brother or sister without any clothes out in the cold and begging for food, and 16 saying, “Shalom, friend, you should get inside where it’s warm and eat something,” but doing nothing about his needs—leaving him cold and alone on the street. What good would your words alone do? 17 The same is true with faith. Without actions, faith is useless. By itself, it’s as good as dead. 18 I know what you’re thinking: “OK, you have faith. And I have actions. Now let’s see your faith without works, and I’ll show you a faith that works.”
19 Do you think that just believing there’s one God is going to get you anywhere? The demons believe that, too, and it terrifies them! 20 The fact is, faith has to show itself through works performed in faith. If you don’t recognize that, then you’re an empty soul. 21 Wasn’t our father Abraham made right with God by laying his son Isaac on the altar? 22 The faith in his heart was made known in his behavior. In fact, his commitment was perfected by his obedience. 23 That’s what Scripture means when it says, “Abraham entrusted himself to God, and God credited him with righteousness.” And living a faithful life earned Abraham the title of “God’s friend.” 24 Just like our father in the faith, we are made right with God through good works, not simply by what we believe or think. 25 Even Rahab the prostitute was made right with God by hiding the spies and aiding in their escape. 26 Removing action from faith is like removing breath from a body. All you have left is a corpse.
Today’s Devotional
From today’s background scripture God might say:
Listen carefully to what James says here. Faith always comes first. He doesn’t say faith is not necessary, it is. Faith is paramount in walking with Me. But understand that faith without works really isn’t faith. Faith demonstrates itself through the works you do. Faith without works only amounts to a bunch of words that does no one any good. And I placed you on earth to do good for others on My behalf.
Let Me use a simple metaphor. Suppose you tell Me you have faith in the electric company in your town. You believe they will supply power to your house and if you turn the light switch on your table lamp, light will flood your room. But you never turn the switch because in the back of your mind you’re afraid it might not work. Or you’re afraid if you use too much of the power coming through the lines it will use up the power and it will run out. Or if you turn on the switch someone else might see the light, come into your room and use it for their own benefit along with you.
Instead of turning the switch, you just sit in darkness and no one around you recognizes the light available because of the power that surges through the wires in your room. Do you really have faith in the power company? Aren’t you saying that you don’t have faith? You don’t believe the power will light the lamp or the power will be enough or if you share it, the power will run out? Aren’t you limiting and belittling the power of the dynamos the power company put at your disposal?
So it is with faith in Me. When you don’t act on your faith, you belittle My power in you. You tell the world around you that I’m limited in what I can do, that I’m not who you have proclaimed Me to be. You tell those around you that I’m not real. Otherwise, you would step out on your faith in Me and act. You would know I deal in the impossible and you wouldn’t hesitate to take the first step in acting on the things I want you to do. You wouldn’t walk past the naked and hungry and just pray for them, but would take them in, feed them and clothe them.
Faith is more than words. Like My servant James says, “Without actions, faith is useless.” Like the switch on the lamp, if you never turn the switch, you never light the room. How can you exercise your faith if you never act on it.
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