JAMES DAY 15 PRAYER
Pray that your faith will be shown by your actions and your deeds. Pray that as you understand more clearly that you cannot be saved by your deeds you will also understand your faith without action is dead. (James 2:14-26)
James 2:14-26 (New International Version)
14What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? 15Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. 16If one of you says to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? 17In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
18But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.”
Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.
19You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.
20You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? 21Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. 23And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called God’s friend. 24You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.
25In 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? 26As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.
JAMES DAY 15 CHALLENGE
Today’s scripture verse pretty much lays out all we need to read to be challenged! James, as usual, does not play around. I think we all have seen this in action, someone who claims to be a Christian, but their deeds and life actions speak otherwise.
Well, what about us? I mean, let’s REALLY think about this. We can all talk a good talk, but what are our actions really saying? I can find myself judging others, gossiping, complaining, being sarcastic, being selfish and doing other “lack of faith” acts than I am ashamed to admit. We all have them. As James points out, there is a direct correlation between our faith and our deeds.
When our faith is strong, when we are in the “zone” as it has been called, when we are strongly connected to the Lord and in His Word, it almost comes naturally to show our faith by what we do.
Today’s challenge is to take a good hard look into our walk with the Lord vs. our actions and deeds. I do not want to mislead you that your deeds can give you salvation or guarantee your faith, they can’t. So, with that said, I challenge you today to do a daily gut check on your “deeds.” How are we doing in helping others, putting others first, or showing our faith with our deeds? When we find ourselves slipping in our good deeds to others we must get back on track with our faith walk.
SPECIAL PRAYER/CHALLENGE TO WIVES FOR THEIR HUSBANDS:
JAMES DAY 15 PRAYER
Pray that your husband’s faith will be accompanied by action, that his faith will not be without deeds, but one that is outwardly apparent to all he comes in contact with. (James 2:14-26)
JAMES DAY 15 CHALLENGE
We all know what it’s like to be around someone who talks a good talk but doesn’t walk the walk. Hearing someone say I love you is one thing, but having him or her play those actions out in their life is a confirmation of those words.
So, today I challenge you to do some digging. I challenge you to go back to your wedding vows and find the words that you spoke to your husband in front of family, friends, each other and your God and do a little evaluation on how you are doing in your daily walk in your marriage in regards to those vows…..
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