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December 12 - Evening
"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.
But someone will say, ‘You have faith; I have deeds.’ Show me your faith without deeds,
and I will show you my faith by my deeds."
- James 2:15-18
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| Faith is Not Talk, but Action |
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Faith is not talk, but action. It is easy to talk about faith, just like it is easy to say, “I love you.”
But, living and acting in life by doing feats of love and faith is on a completely different level. Saying and doing cannot even be compared as equals. The man who is treating people in love does not
need to continuously be telling them he loves them (though, it is nice to hear once in a while!),
just like a man who is living by faith and trust in God’s word does not need to tell people how
much faith he has (though, it is important to testify and identify your source of motivation.)
Pastor James is telling his congregation faith is seen not heard. He uses the example of the person who is willing to pronounce a blessing, or to pray for someone in need, but is not willing to do something to help bring the blessing or to answer the pray request. Surely, James is not discouraging blessing people or praying for people, but he is pointing out it is easy to speak empty blessing and meaningless prayers. It is hard to say that the food given to a person who is hungry is pointless if it satisfies hunger. Just like a coat given to a cold person is far from meaningless if it produces warmth.
Faithless blessings and meaningless prayers are easy to toss around, but handing out food
and clothing (or, the manifestation of faith in any physical form) has a good chance to be genuine. |
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"I tremble for my country when I reflect that
God is just."
- Thomas Jefferson |
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| In the unevangelized world, there are 20,500 full-time Christian workers and 10,200 foreign missionaries.
In the evangelized non-Christian world, there are
1.31 million full-time
Christian workers.
In the Christian world,
there are 306,000 foreign missionaries to other
Christian lands.
In the Christian world,
4.19 million full-time
Christian workers (95%) work within the Christian world.
(source here) |
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Phos (Gr) - Light (Eng) - phos is Greek word that refers to light or brightness such as sunlight, firelight, light from a lamp. Phos is the light, but does not refer to the sun, the fire or the lamp.
Even in secular Greek it was used figuratively to speak of ethical good in contrast to wrong
deeds of darkness. Jesus is the light (John 1:4; 8:12) and Jesus' light is in the Word (John 1:14).
We are told to "walk as children of light" (Ephesians 5:8) which means we are to
know and obey the word to be like light, of Christlike. |
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The gate furtherst south on the westside of the temple that provided access to the temple courts was identified by Edward Robinson. The remains of an arch and the pier that support the stairway has been identified. Josephus said these stairs from this southwestern gate led from the temple to the ravine known as the Tyropoeon Valley (or, the Central Valley). Images of this arch that supported the walkway to this gate can be seen here and here and here. A drawing can be seen here.
A labeled model can be seen here and here.
More details are here. |
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Do I ever compare my actions and deeds to what I profess to be my faith?
My actions should indicate my faith so clearly that I do not need to say, "I have faith."
(James 2:18) |
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"He who spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves hiim is careful to discipline him."
- Proverbs 13:24 |
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| Ask God to show you habits and practices and values that need to change. |
Desire to know
Christ better |
Taxation |
Uruguay - recent awakening generates challenges |
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| Reps & Sets is a daily Bible devotional for Christians from Generation Word Bible Teaching used each morning and evening. |
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