James 2:14-17
14 What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone? 15 Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, 16 and you say, “Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well”—but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do?
17 So you see, faith by itself isn't enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless.
Faith can never be static for a christian because it requires action. Our belief in God can diminish if we stand still. Our belief needs to be underpinned by faith and our faith requires action because it is dynamic.
So often we are waiting a response, and if we do not receive it our belief starts to dwindle. We begin to question God, asking why He has not answered our prayers.
In these times we often ask the question, 'What is God doing?' But surely the question needs to be 'What am I doing?'
Faith requires action.
When we attend our churches/meetings/prayergroups/house groups/services, our faith requires action. Do we stand and mouth the responses bored of the repetition because it is so familiar? Do we stand and watch others as they raise their hands thinking that their response is a bit over the top? Do we shy away from sharing our testimony because we feel it is not as amazing as someone else's, or we feel it isn't that important? Do we sit and watch the other people and wonder why their life is better than ours when we know they have sinned big time?
It is easy to loose our belief. It is easy to judge and become disgruntled by apparent misjudgments, if our faith lacks action.
When our belief is dwindling our faith needs to take a front row position. We need to remember Faith is dynamic it requires action.
When our brother's or sister's are struggling we need to act because that action will fuel our belief. God can and will act alongside our actions. His Holy Spirit will light up our actions. That first thought of help for someone else, that deciding to embrace a holier response to the mundane in church, that brave lifting of your hand in praise, that decision to say a few words that might encourage someone else to testify when they see you take the first step, that forgiveness for thinking others have life better than us even though you know they have sinned, are all responses to action driven by Faith. All will fuel your belief. All will bring about answers.
Stepping out in faith, is exactly that. It is the first action of a conscious decision to believe in a Greater answer. It is not selfish, it is giving, and in that giving someone else will decide to be brave and take action.
Faith is contagious when it is selfless. When it is driven by Light. Faith does not grow in darkness, in the selfish world of our wants and needs.
Faith is connected directly with the Resurrection. If Jesus has just died our belief would have died with Him. But Jesus continued on to the Resurrection, to the Light. His actions saved us through His Mercy.
Faith is Light and Mercy, action and compassion. Actions are faith in motion through a compassionate heart.
Each day our 'Yes' to Faith needs to be backed up by action. Each small act is a victory for God and a thorn to the fallen world and its rulers. Each small act is a personal victory for our faith and an encouragement to our belief which we can witness next time at our church/meeting/prayergroups/house groups/service. When we next ask 'What is God doing?' we can answer this question with examples of our faith in action, as God is in the center of them through His Light opening our eyes to the needs of others. Our actions when coupled with faith have a domino effect, because God is in them.
Faith requires action. What will be your response today?
