What Do You Have?

Posted on September 7, 2021 by paulwlane

Mark 6:32-44

And He said to them, “Come aside by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.” For there were many coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat. So they departed to a deserted place in the boat by themselves. But the multitudes saw them departing, and many knew Him and ran there on foot from all the cities. They arrived before them and came together to Him. And Jesus, when He came out, saw a great multitude and was moved with compassion for them, because they were like sheep not having a shepherd. So He began to teach them many things. When the day was now far spent, His disciples came to Him and said, “This is a deserted place, and already the hour is late. Send them away, that they may go into the surrounding country and villages and buy themselves bread; for they have nothing to eat.” But He answered and said to them, “You give them something to eat.” And they said to Him, “Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread and give them something to eat?” But He said to them, “How many loaves do you have? Go and see.” And when they found out they said, “Five, and two fish.” Then He commanded them to make them all sit down in groups on the green grass. So they sat down in ranks, in hundreds and in fifties. And when He had taken the five loaves and the two fish, He looked up to heaven, blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to His disciples to set before them; and the two fish He divided among them all. So they all ate and were filled. And they took up twelve baskets full of fragments and of the fish. Now those who had eaten the loaves were about five thousand men.

The disciples had just returned from a time of sharing the gospel as Jesus had sent them out in pairs to tell the good news. They were probably excited about this time, but also tired. Jesus called them to find a deserted place and rest awhile.

Jesus recognized that there is a time to work but also a time to rest. Way back in the beginning, in creation, we need this principle of the need to rest. After six days of creation, Genesis tells us that God rested on the seventh day. We know God did not need to rest, but He was setting an example, a guide to us. Sometimes we can be so busy “doing” that we do not take the time we need to “be.”

The multitudes saw them leaving and hurried to join them. To the disciples, this was probably a cause of stress and they may well have resented them. But Jesus had compassion.

Interesting that when he had compassion his first response was not to feed them, to heal them, but to teach them. For many following Jesus was just to get their physical needs met, but Jesus wanted more for them than that. Today, how much of our prayer time is spent on our physical needs rather than taking time to just draw closer to Jesus?

Although His first priority was for their spiritual needs, He also recognized the physical need and wanted to meet that.

The disciples, despite all the miracles they had seen Jesus do and despite their successful preaching tour they had just returned from, still did not truly recognize what Jesus could do. They questioned how they could feed the multitude.

Jesus told his disciples to give them something to eat. But they just did not “get it.” They felt they had nothing to give. Their response was to send them away empty. How many times does Jesus call on us to minister to someone but our response is that we cannot do anything?

Jesus told them to go and see what food they did have. God always begins with what we do have. I think of something I often told my church when I was a pastor.

Start where you are
Use what you have
Do all you can

They ate until they were filled. Afterwards, there was food left over. If anyone went away hungry, it was their fault for not taking what they needed. The Early Church clearly remember this great miracle and took comfort that Jesus would meet their needs. Much of early Christian art, especially on the walls of the catacombs, show pictures of loaves and fishes.

Jesus is our example of how we should respond to those in need, not the disciples who wanted to send them away. But as Jesus, taking what we have and doing what we can knowing that with Jesus’ help we can much more than we think possible.

James 2:14-17 – 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? Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

Stretch Out Your Hand

Posted on September 5, 2021 by paulwlane

Mark 3:1-6

And He entered the synagogue again, and a man was there who had a withered hand. So they watched Him closely, whether He would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse Him. And He said to the man who had the withered hand, “Step forward.” Then He said to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” But they kept silent. And when He had looked around at them with anger, being grieved by the hardness of their hearts, He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored as whole as the other. Then the Pharisees went out and immediately plotted with the Herodians against Him, how they might destroy Him.

Also in Matthew 12:9-14 and Luke 6:6-11

Jesus knew that He was being watched by the religious leaders trying to find an excuse to harm Him. But His compassion for the man was greater than any concern for Himself.

He gave a command to the man. First, he called him to step forward. Step out from the crowd. This would draw attention to him – perhaps not something he wanted. Then Jesus told him to stretch out his hand.

This was a direct instruction from Jesus. Not “If you want to.” “If you would like to.” Of course the man had the choice of obeying or not. But if he was to gain his healing, he had to do what Jesus said. By stretching out his hand he was acting in:

Obedience – Do what God has told you to do. Do what is right.
Faith – Believe God will do what He said he would do.

Believing and obedience go hand in hand. To truly believe is to obey. The man could have believed that Jesus could heal him, but it was only as he obeyed and stepped forward from the crowd, then stretched out his hand that healing came.

What is it Jesus is calling you to do? Would it require you to “step away from the crowd”, to open yourself to possible ridicule or rejection by others? Would it require you to take belief to the final step of obedience?

John 14:15 – If you love me, obey my commandments.

We can take this idea of stretching out our hand a further step. We do not know what this man did after Jesus healed him, but we hope that we began to share the good news with others.

That is what Jesus has commanded us to do – to stretch out our hand and share the love we have received from Him.

John 15:12-13 – This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.

Stretch out your hand – Rescue and Save –

Jesus told us that we were to be sent just as He was.

John 20:21 – So Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.”

How was Jesus sent?
- In obedience
- In faith
- In love and compassion
- To rescue and save

We can take this idea of stretching out our hand a further step. We do not know what this man did after Jesus healed him, but we hope that we began to share the good news with others

Who do you know that could use a helping hand today?

A word of encouragement
A meal
A card saying “thank you”
An offer to babysit and give parents a date night
Just a smile

Too often we tell others “I’m praying for you” which is good, but let us put legs on those prayers.

1 John 3:16-18 – This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.

James 2:14-17 – What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

What is Your Need?

Posted on July 28, 2021 by paulwlane

James 5:13-18

Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms. Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.

Be specific in your request
- Suffering – persecution, afflictions, torment, harassment, passions and desires. Prayer is the answer. Allow the fruit of the Spirit to work in your life.

Galatians 5:22-26 – But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.

Cheerful – Psalms – sing songs and praise the Lord
Sick – Call for the elders of the church – let them pray
- Those who know how to touch the hem of His garment
- Anoint with oil in the name of the Lord
- The prayer of faith will save the sick
- The Lord will raise him up
- Sins will be forgiven
Confess your trespasses, sins, faults to one another. Praying for one another to be healed. The individual you trust in enough to confess your sins to cannot do anything for you to forgive you, but they can be of help to you when you are bound and/or burdened.
Verse 16 – The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.
- The supplication to God for me by a holy, God-fearing, devil-hating brother/sister in Christ sure does help.
- Elijah was a man like us with the temptations, fears we have. His prayer worked. Ours will too.
  - He knew God
  - He served God
  - He knew how to pray

1 Kings 18:20-30 – So Ahab sent for all the children of Israel, and gathered the prophets together on Mount Carmel. And Elijah came to all the people, and said, “How long will you falter between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.” But the people answered him not a word. Then Elijah said to the people, “I alone am left a prophet of the Lord; but Baal’s prophets are four hundred and fifty men. Therefore let them give us two bulls; and let them choose one bull for themselves, cut it in pieces, and lay it on the wood, but put no fire under it; and I will prepare the other bull, and lay it on the wood, but put no fire under it. Then you call on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the Lord; and the God who answers fire, He is God.” So all the people answered and said, “It is well spoken.” Now Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose one bull for yourselves and prepare it first, for you are many; and call on the name of your god, but put no fire under it.” So they took the bull which was given them, and they prepared it, and called on the name of Baal from morning even till noon, saying, “O Baal, hear us!” But there was no voice; no one answered. Then they leaped about the altar which they had made. And so it was, at noon, that Elijah mocked them and said, “Cry aloud, for he is a god; either he is meditating, or he is busy, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is sleeping and must be awakened.” So they cried aloud, and cut themselves, as was their custom, with knives and lances, until the blood gushed out on them. And when midday was past, they prophesied until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice. But there was no voice; no one answered, no one paid attention. Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come near to me.” So all the people came near to him. And he repaired the altar of the Lord that was broken down.

Example of a man who knew how to pray
There was no voice from Baal
Elijah repaired the altar of God that was broken down
He put God back in charge
He stepped out in faith
God answered by fire

1 Kings 18:31-39 – And Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord had come, saying, “Israel shall be your name.” Then with the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord; and he made a trench around the altar large enough to hold two seahs of seed. And he put the wood in order, cut the bull in pieces, and laid it on the wood, and said, “Fill four water pots with water, and pour it on the burnt sacrifice and on the wood.” Then he said, “Do it a second time,” and they did it a second time; and he said, “Do it a third time,” and they did it a third time. So the water ran all around the altar; and he also filled the trench with water. And it came to pass, at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near and said, “Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that You are God in Israel and I am Your servant, and that I have done all these things at Your word. Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that You are the Lord God, and that You have turned their hearts back to You again.” Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood and the stones and the dust, and it licked up the water that was in the trench. Now when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said, “The Lord, He is God! The Lord, He is God!”

Forgiveness Brings Healing – Healing Brings Forgiveness

Posted on July 26, 2021 by paulwlane

James 5:13-16

Specific needs require specific answers. Only one answer will work in each situation. God’s way! Suffering, sickness can take many forms. Healing is provided if we take the right medicine. When a doctor gives a medicine, he writes a prescription. There are specific ways to take the medication. It is the same way spiritually.

Suffering and sickness is not only a physical need. It can include

Emotional needs
Financial needs
Marital needs
Sinful problems

Healing is provided for all, but we need to follow the “prescription.”

Call for the elders of the church
Anoint with oil
Prayer of faith

Byproduct of following the “prescription” is – sins forgiven.

Verse 16 – Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.

Ephesians 4:32 – Make a clean break with all cutting, backbiting, profane talk. Be gentle with one another, sensitive. Forgive one another as quickly and thoroughly as God in Christ forgave you.

Matthew 6:12-15 – And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

Unity of the brothers/sisters – Let it go or retain it (anger/bitterness or forgiveness

Matthew 18:15-20 – Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother. But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that ‘by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.’ And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector. “Assuredly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. “Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.”

Mark 11:24-26 – Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.

“And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses. But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses.”

Luke 4:18 – The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed.

Jesus speaks to the whole man – spiritual, physical, emotional, your whole being. Forgiveness brings healing.

Rejoice Now – Cry Later or Cry Now – Rejoice Later

Posted on July 23, 2021 by paulwlane

(Seven Rules for Personal Revival)

James 4:7-10

Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.

YOUR PART	GOD’S PART
Submit to God – Proverbs 3:5-6 – Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.	He will direct your paths.
Resist the devil – James 4:7 – Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you	The devil must go in the name of Jesus.
Draw near to God – James 4:8 – Draw near to God and He will draw near to you	He will draw near to you.
Cleanse your hands – James 4:8 – Cleanse your hands	He will bless the work of your hands. Deuteronomy 28:12
Purify your hearts – Psalm 51:10 – Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.	He will cleanse and restore – Psalm 51:17 – The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart—These, O God, You will not despise.
Lament, mourn, weep – James 4:9 – Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom.	For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal. 1 Corinthians 4:17
Humble yourself – 1 Peter 5:6 – Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time,	He will exalt you – in His time.

THEREFORE…

James 1:21-22 – Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.

THEN…

2 Chronicles 7:14 – If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

Do You Want to Be Blessed?

Posted on July 21, 2021 by paulwlane

James 1:12-14

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.

Endure temptation – You will be blessed
Do not give into Satan – You will be blessed
Do not give into temptation – You will be blessed
Live a holy, Godly life – You will be blessed

Ephesians 6:11-13 – Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

Matthew 4:4 – But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’”

Matthew 4:7 – Jesus said to him, “It is written again, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’”

Matthew 4:10 – Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’”

2 Timothy 2:22-26 – Flee also youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. But avoid foolish and ignorant disputes, knowing that they generate strife. And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will.

Temptations are like a Lay’s potato chip bag…you can’t eat just one!
Temptations are like a snowball rolling down a hill…it grows and grows and grows more and more when we let it have its way!
Temptations are like a bag of chocolates when you skipped lunch because you have just gone on a diet!
Temptations are near impossible to resists…but we are able to resist through the strength which God has given us. Yea God!
Four steps to temptation
- Enticement
- Ensnarement
- Entanglement
- Enslavement
- Final aim of Satan – Eternal torment!
Seven steps on your Christian journey
- Encounter – Meet the risen Christ
- Receive the engrafted Word of God
- Let the Word be engraved in your heart
- Be enabled through a relationship with Christ
- Encourage one another
- Endeavor to keep the peace with all men
- Endure to the end
- Eternal joy with the Lord

Remember:

Temptation comes from Satan, your foe, your enemy, your adversary.
Satan’s purpose is to pervert, corrupt, steal, kill and destroy.
Temptations were experienced by Adam and Eve, David, Christ, Paul the Apostle, and you will experience temptation…but if you do not yield to those temptations you will be blessed.

1 John 4:4 – …greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world!

The Tongue

Posted on June 30, 2021 by paulwlane

James 3:1-12

My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment. For we all stumble in many things. If anyone does not stumble in word, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle the whole body. Indeed, we put bits in horses’ mouths that they may obey us, and we turn their whole body. Look also at ships: although they are so large and are driven by fierce winds, they are turned by a very small rudder wherever the pilot desires. Even so the tongue is a little member and boasts great things. See how great a forest a little fire kindles! And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell. For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and creature of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by mankind. But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of God. Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so. Does a spring send forth fresh water and bitter from the same opening? Can a fig tree, my brethren, bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Thus no spring yields both salt water and fresh.

“He that hath an ear, let him hear” is repeated several times in the Bible, especially in chapters two and three of Revelations. Perhaps since we have two ears and only one tongue, we would be better off if we listened more than we speak. When tempted to speak, let us remember that our ears cannot cause anger, disagreement and chaos. A good rule to possibly follow when tempted to speak before thinking is “Shut up.”

Ephesians 4:29 – Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.

James speaks about stumbling in word – we are all guilty of that. If we do not stumble in our words, James says we would be perfect and able to bridle the whole body. He uses the example of how we put bridles in horses’ mouth so that we can control them and how a small rudder can be used by the pilot to direct a large boat. This is clearly an area where many of us do not succeed – controlling our tongue. Perhaps we could use a roll of duct tape. Walmart sells it for about $3.50 a roll. Many of us may need the extra wide and super strength version.

Luke 6:43-45 – For a good tree does not bear bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. For every tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they gather grapes from a bramble bush. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.

How many times have you heard someone say something and then follow it up with “I didn’t mean to say that”? According to the Bible, you did.

A song our children used to sing says “It only takes a spark to get a fire going.” The tongue is unruly, evil and full of deadly poison according to James. How often do we praise and worship God and then turn around gossip, lie, curse, call others names.

While no one tames the tongue on their own, thanks be to God who gives us the Holy Spirit who can empower us to get victory over our words.

If the church will work at cleaning up our tongue – what a difference it could make in our world.

Test of Faith

Posted on May 31, 2021 by paulwlane

James 2:19

You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble.

What is true of biology is also true of faith: If it is not growing, it’s probably dead. If someone tells you, “I believe there is a God in heaven,” you can be sure that person is one of the following:

a Christian
a user of some devotional guide
an individual who attends church, or
none of the above.

Pick an answer, and then let us look at a scripture in chapter 2.

James 2:19 – You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble!

Do you tremble at the awesome power and presence of God when you are out of line according to the Scriptures? Do you fall under conviction at the reading of certain verses of the Bible when you know you don’t measure up?

James speaks out strongly against a “faith of God” that merely professes with the lips without practicing with the life. You might summarize his book this way: “If you believe as you should, why do you behave as you shouldn’t?” We might say, “Your actions speak louder than words”, or “put your money where your mouth is.” True faith is more than words or even profession. It is a vital walk that shows God has truly invaded your life. If you have truly been changed, your life will demonstrate that change and it will show that change as it “breathes” in unmistakable ways. And that raises a timely question….

Since you trusted Christ as your Savior, how has your lifestyle changed in the troublesome areas of some of the following categories? You don’t need to raise your hand or say Amen to any of these areas of questionable actions:

prejudice
profanity
gossip
argumentative
giving to God in time, talent and finances
planning for the future
accepting unpleasant circumstances?

What is that one area that, with God’s help, you will move from being a hearer to a doer of God’s Word?

James 1:22 – But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves

Taking both of these scriptures into account, what is James trying to tell us? I believe that he is trying to say “If you call yourself a Christian or a child of God, then you ought to act like it. You ought to speak like it. You ought to think like it. You ought to dress like it.”

Does the Bible not say?

Romans 12:2 – And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

Question: James 2:19 states that demons tremble in the presence of Jesus. They did when He walked the face of this earth and they do when you invoke His mighty Name in prayer. Did you know that when you are living an overcoming, consistent Christian life, you have the power to use the Name of Jesus in prayer and temptation must go? Most who call themselves Christian, live shallow, inconsistent lives of continually falling into sins they seemingly have no control over. The truth and answer to this dilemma is simply that they fail to obtain victory because they do not know the privilege of using the King of Glory’s Holy Name when they go to prayer. Prayer is answered when you go to the Father in the Name of the Son and the power of the Holy Spirit within you begins to His work.

Just as a human body that fails to breathe is labeled a “dead body,” so too a faith that fails to “breathe” is labeled a “dead faith.” And the breath of faith in the Christian life is good works: demonstrating concern for the poor, controlling the tongue, exhibiting a spirit of humility, building up others. If you think you have faith but there is no living demonstration of that faith in your life, James has news for you: Your faith is worthless. True faith and good works cannot be divorced, for your life is the laboratory in which your faith is shown to be real.

James 4:2-3 – You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.

There may come a time in your life when you wonder why you are not growing in your faith. Or you might wonder why you do not ever have the opportunity to lead others to Christ. When you ask yourself these kinds of questions, you may be able to answer them with another question: “Have I asked God to help me in this area?”

Understand that this passage does not advocate that you “demand” things from God as though He were some “cosmic butler” prepared to answer your every beck and call. Yet it is equally wrong to fail to ask Him to help meet your needs. God wants to bless your life and spiritually strengthen you. God wants to bless you because you are His child. Unfortunately, many of us fail to receive all of what God has for us because we do not pray.

Take a moment to look at your own spiritual progress. Do you want to have a better understanding of the Bible? Are you looking for some Christian friends? Do you want the Lord to show you what your spiritual gifts and talents are? God wants to bless you, but He may be just waiting for your invitation to do so.

While you do not need to change your lifestyle before you come to Christ, once you do come to Christ, your lifestyle should show tangible changes. If it does not, then one could doubt whether Christ has really come into your life. The way you live, act, think, should reflect what you believe.

Luke 3:8 – Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance…

James brings out another important reason for backing up our faith with our actions in the following passage.

James 3:13-17 – Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic. For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.

When people see that we genuinely care about them as individuals, then they will be much more open to hearing about what motivates us. Can people see Jesus in the way you live? If not, it is time to move Jesus into the “driver’s seat” of your life.

Thoughts of a Retired Pastor

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