Food for ThoughtJames 2:17 Action
Food for Thought
An all-creatures.org Guide to Kingdom Living

By Marni Montanez

James 2:17 New International Version

17. In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

Anyone can say anything about who they are or what they believe, but it is in their actions that truth is revealed.   What we do, not only expresses our faith, but it strengthens our walk.

Many times I hear Christians say that they don’t “feel like it”............whatever it is they should be doing and my question to them is……..”Did Jesus feel like dying on the cross?”  

Jesus did what He did because He is love and moves in love.   He walked on the earth and exposed Himself to danger and betrayal…..yet He kept putting Himself out there taking risks because He believed and trusted God.    

His actions were the evidence of His faith and commitment to God.  What are our actions evidence of?   

By now there should be enough Christians in this world to meet the needs God wants to use us to meet;   but the only way we can do this and help people in Christ is by relying on and having faith in God ourselves and believing Him.   Spending time with God is our first connection with building our faith.   When we are seeking God we are believing that He is for us and will take care of us.  We are acknowledging that we need Him first and foremost and that we can’t go on without His grace to give us the ability to take the action of faith for ourselves and for others.

We must be praying and reading the Bible to see what God called us to as the body of Christ and then making ourselves available to hear from God the personal instructions He has for us...   

He will instruct us into the “dos” of life.  We don’t have to force it or try and make something happen.  All we have to “do” is obey His voice and He is more than able to direct us on the path He Himself created for us when He created us.

We need to step out in faith, but before we do this we must step into faith in order to gain the wisdom and power we will need for the tasks at hand. John Wimber once said that faith is spelled R-I-S-K.   This is true. The more we trust God and step out, the more we learn that risks are adventures of a powerful ride filled with expectation.

Challenge:  Make yourself open and available. Get off your cell phone and look for opportunities right around you and ask God to bring to mind things to pray for then continue to pray throughout your day.

God bless,

Marni

Go on to: James 2:17 Christian Action
Return to: Food for Thought
Return to: Christian Living Articles

lamb-rightThe purpose of this series is to encourage people to live as loving, compassionate, and peacemaking children of God: Jesus tells us to pray, "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." (Matthew 6:10) God tells us through Micah (6:8), "He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God." And we know from Revelation 21:4 that there will be no more mourning, or crying, or pain, or death. Thus, Christian living requires us to set the standards of these conditions here on earth for our fellow human beings, and for the other animals, as a witness to the rest of the world. To do otherwise is not Christian.