Faith and Works

For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead. 
– James 2:26

If you know your NT scriptures, you probably could have guessed the scripture reference just by the title. On the surface, James essentially contradicts Paul's teachings that works cannot earn you salvation. If you want a better understanding of this "contradiction", click here for an article that might help. Regardless of who thinks either teaching is right or wrong, they are both right. This is the word of God and he does not contradict himself. In short, Paul is saying that the Mosaic Law (10 Commandments and OT traditions) can no longer earn you a spot in heaven. Rather, we have been offered the grace of God through Jesus' death and resurrection. That being stated, James is not disagreeing with Paul that God's grace cannot save us, rather he is continuing Paul's instruction. James teaches the reader that with the grace we have received, we cannot be on the sidelines of our faith. In order to show our faith, we must get in the action and perform faithful works as Christ did on earth. Hopefully by now you get it, because I would rather not make this post into a sermon (I almost did anyway, keep reading). Instead, I will give you some of my own thoughts on this.

Mainly, I am at a point in my life, or my faith, where I know I can do more but I seem to be settling in to my circumstances. I have been investing more time into prayer, and though I am an easily distracted person, the Lord is teaching me a lot during my time with Him. I think that James is a fitting book for me right now because I am looking at the facts that I am not really doing a lot of "work" for Christ. I work a full-time job and mostly put my service to the church second. After praying and opening the Bible to this chapter, perhaps God is really telling me to trust him, and move closer to serving him before myself.

Though that is the point of this chapter, I am struggling with the conflict of serving myself in this comfortable job, or trusting him to lead me into the unknown... Typically I end with encouragement, I would like to stick with that, though before I end today's entry I would ask if you would pray for me to be led by the Holy Spirit and to commit fully to God's will for my life over my own will.

Being on the bench, or the bleachers, during a sporting event never allows us to be involved in changing the end result of the game. If we live our lives simply waiting for God to do his work in the world while we watch, then we cannot truly experience the blessings he has for us when the final point is scored. James 2:22 supports that saying "you see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works." So go on and trust that God has a better plan for you... Get out there and work for His glory!

Deny and Follow

Then Jesus told his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. – Matthew 16:24

One thing I will note, my titles usually relate to different experiences or two different verses, but today, I will only focus on this verse. I have not been writing as much as I would like, yet I still find encouragement in these entries, as I hope you do.

The depth of this verse is not as deep as some may consider, though the value is great when it is lived out... ultimately leading to our earthly death. To better understand scripture, I use and recommend the David Guzik commentary because he has put a lot of time into developing that. Anyway, I have held this verse with me a while now, and find it to be something that I keep looking to in everyday life. Essentially when we deny ourselves, it is not self-denial where we are giving up things we want, like certain foods or activities, for a greater purpose (though that is valuable on its own). Denying yourself simply means to deny what you want in this life. Denying your will and following the Lord's will.

This is exactly what Jesus did when he went to the cross. At one point, Jesus even asks God to take away the responsibility of the crucifixion (Luke 22:42). Yet he knows that is what God needs from him to grant mercy on us, so he carries out his calling anyway. Personally, I doubt any of us would make it the whole way to the cross, whether we run away, or give up prior to the event. However, this is what Jesus is calling us to, and I have constantly had this verse on my mind whenever I am making a choice for myself. I actually bought a cross necklace to remind myself of the verse and though it is fashionable, I keep it as my own cross to carry. The necklace holds me closer to the Lord when I am reminded of what Christ has done for us.

More than anything, I hope to deny myself and follow Christ more, each day, until I am brought up to Heaven to be with Him. Christ denied himself and followed God's calling to death on the cross so that we had the freedom to choose our life. If one wants to serve Christ, they must expect the same result, giving up the glory of this world, for the glory of God.

May the Lord guide you and uphold you on this journey, so you choose to follow him.

Beware and Be Led

Then they understood that he did not tell them to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees. – Matthew 16:12

Tomorrow will be a month since I have started getting up early to pray and read the Bible. I finished the book of John and I have been reading from Matthew. I start with a passage, not a whole chapter, then I read the Enduring Word commentary on the verses so that I better understand the lesson of that passage. Today, I read Matthew 16:5-12 where Jesus warns his disciples to avoid dangerous teaching of the religious leaders.

I cannot say that I have been following other religious practices outside of the Christian faith, yet I have been hearing God tell me to beware of the influence of non-believers. The most recent advice a Christian friend of mine gave me was to not associate with non-believers. I have not heard from him in some time, as he went to Hawaii for a while after his career transferred him there. Yet, I hold those word with me as a reminder. For a while I thought it strictly meant that I could not be friends with anyone who did not believe in Christ as our savior. though I am now beginning to understand the true meaning. Instead, do not associate with the characteristics of non-believers, or do not let them influence your choices. You can be friends with anyone, but always keep Christ first.

I have to think this is the same lesson Jesus was teaching his disciples here because he knew that man's religious law made sense to most people in that time. The scriptures show that he wanted to warn his disciples that the habits they had were menial and took your focus away from the Father. He wanted them to be led, not by their own desire to look holy and close to God, but instead trust God to provide the sanctification they needed.

Today, I pray that God helps me avoid being influenced by the world, and renews my mind so that all my focus is on him. To not associate with non-believers may very well mean that you can no longer have non-Christian friends, but if you do, God calls us to beware of the things we allow ourselves to be influenced by. Jesus warned his disciples and the warning still stands.

May the Holy Spirit guide you to see the things that are influencing you in any direction beside toward Christ. Beware of these things and be led by the only one we know is right; Christ.

First and Early

Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb – John 20:1

Last Sunday, the pastor at my home church spoke on that verse as part of the sermon. He said "come to me early", and I knew God was speaking to me with that. I may not have mentioned that I have tried to wake up at 5 A.M. in the past, to spend time with the Lord, and it has not worked out too well. However, after hearing that sermon, I felt called to do it again. After all, Mary Magdalene (and probably other women who followed Jesus) woke up well before sunrise to go to the Lord.

Following the sermon, I made that commitment... again. Monday morning at 5:00 my alarm went off, and of course, I shut it off and fell back asleep. Tuesday morning came, I turned my alarm off, and told God I would stay in bed and pray right here. As I started to pray, (I think I prayed for about 10 minutes) I drifted back to sleep. Tuesday night, I decided I needed to do something to change that, so I prepared my coffee, so I only had to turn the coffee maker on (mine is not automatic) for it to start brewing in the morning. Wednesday morning came and before falling asleep again, I remembered that I had coffee at the push of a button. I got up and walked to the kitchen, turned the coffee maker on, and began to pray at the table. It worked. Today is Thursday and here I am, successfully having stayed awake to put God first for the second day in a row.

Lately, I have been feeling called to put God before everything I do. I suppose this is one way to do that. I am beginning to understand that he has plans for me, and in order to see what he wants for my life, I have to submit to him first thing. Yes, 5 A.M. is early, and I do like to sleep. However when the Lord calls us to serve him, it will not be from our warm bed. If you have been called to do something for the Lord, even simply to wake up early, what are you waiting for? Do what you need to to get yourself motivated and put Him first. It may not always be what we want, but it is certain that God has wonderful plans for us all, we just have to make the commitment to follow them.

May they Lord guide you and bring you the strength and motivation to honor Him in what you do.

Peace be with you.

Past and Present

As a deer longs for water, so I long for you, O God. – Psalm 42:1

I would like to update you on my situation with work and teaching the youth at my church. That verse is from the lesson I am currently preparing and it reminds me of the times I felt unsure as how to handle certain situations... Currently, I am still maintaining both my supervisor position and a role in the church, however staff elections are being held this coming Sunday, so things are about to change.

There are many times in our lives that we will feel distant from God, as if he has left us to our own decisions and expects us to make our way back to him so he can begin working with us again. Psalm 42 shows us how one might feel in this situation. I am learning to reflect on the times that I felt overwhelmed and asked God to help me through very minor situations. During those times, I was stressed for almost no reason and trusting Him with something I could not control is all I had to do.

Thinking back specifically to a time I over ordered product for the store I work at, though it was avoidable, I learned to not worry about the situation, but to trust God to give me the wisdom to make it right. If I haven't mentioned it in the past, I encourage you to write down situations that you feel troubled in, and reflect on what God is teaching you through them. If nothing else, they can show you how far you have come in your faith, or if you are not trusting God enough in the present.

Peace be with you.

Conduct and the Gospel

Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation. – 1 Peter 2:12

If you ever need inspiration, or a reason to be a "good Christian", look to the first book of Peter. The book begins by giving us a reason for our faith; "a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead" (1:3), and ends with instruction, for those following the Lord, to avoid losing faith. I read this chapter about a month ago, and now God has reminded me of the subject.

Conduct is contextual. If you read the definition, it is essentially someone's behavior in a certain situation. However, as Christians, we are to love the Lord in everything that we do, all the time. Therefore if we look at the term "Christian conduct", one's behavior should always reflect Christ. Now, I cannot say that I have always been the most "Christian" that I could have been, but as we often said on the bike trip, "hindsight is 20-20", meaning we could have done something different if only we knew what was ahead. Where my life is today would be completely different if I chose that "20-20" option, as there is always something we could have done better. However Peter is not telling us to avoid making wrong choices in the future, rather to look ahead at the glory that God will be given when we honor Him with our actions. Even those that speak against us will glorify God.

I cannot yet speak for the ministry that my conduct has brought, but what I can speak for is the damage that my misconduct as a Christian has done to the opportunity for ministry. I do have regrets, and I am praying about them, however I want this entry to encourage you to trust that God's commands are for the greater good of the Gospel, as much as they are for your own good.
Be sober-minded; be watchful (5:8). The good that you do in Christ's name will be glorified by God and by those that know you upon the Christ's return.

***

In regards to the conflict I have been wrestling with in my previous posts, I am trusting that God will work out the situation for his glory. January is the election at my church for a new Youth Pastor, so I will keep you posted on that. Until then, peace to all of you who are in Christ (5:14).

Desire and Content

Finally, my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord! To write this again is no trouble to me, and it is a safeguard for you. – Philippians 3:1

Originally, I wanted to discuss what I found to be beneficial to my situation with my job, as well as the aspects of the youth group that I felt were not leading me toward that choice. However, after reading an explanation of Philippians 3:1-11, I felt affirmed with what I was understanding to be the God-honoring choice here.

Yes, keeping my job would make it more difficult to fully commit to being a youth leader, however certain circumstances have led me to understand that I also have a place at the company I work for. I have a responsibility to where God has placed me. At this point in my life, I have a desire to find my "next step" and somehow that step seems to keep moving further each time I approach it. Or so I think. Though this desire is to move forward in my life, I feel as though I am taking laps. What this breakdown of Phil. 3 has began to affirm is that I need to allow God to work through me in both areas of my life. Paul's example shows that we must be content in our situation, in order to further the Gospel. We must show humility toward others in order to allow God to work through us.

The Bible is full of descriptive examples of discipline so that we, as Christians, can live a life for the Lord, and not for ourselves. What I have learned is that we should not let our own desires prevent us from following God's will. We cannot let our own impatience limit what God needs to do. Being content in everything, and being humble in moving toward the things you want the most is the only way to allow yourself to be in the presence of the Lord.