What ARE You Doing?

"Brothers, what good is it to profess faith without showing works? Such faith has no power to save you." - James 2:14

Being a good person is often viewed in terms of what we don't do. Someone could say, "I'm a good person; I don't cheat, I don't kill, I don't steal." Great! Good for you! But now tell me… what ARE you doing?

A sin of omission, holding back on a good we could have done for someone, is just as bad as actively committing a sin. When an opportunity comes for you to help someone, you better believe that's God putting that in your way for you to lend a hand. It could be the time someone asked to borrow 20 bucks, although you knew they wouldn't pay you back. It could be the time that annoying person called you because they needed to talk to someone. It could be that woman you saw carrying all the bags to her car by herself. The bible says that even the demons believe in God and tremble, so if you say you believe in God and pass up these opportunities to actually do good for people God has put in your way, how is your faith any different than that of the demons? In the end, God will decide we're good people based on the work we did for Him, not from just believing. How do we show God we believe if not by the actions we take?

And don't stop at just helping out when a situation arises… look for these situations! Talk to someone who is depressed about the love of God! Be inspired to be a blessing for others. It's not all about you and what you need from God! There are people going through serious hardships, and if you want God to bless you, you better be willing to be a blessing to other people. Saying you believe in God can't save you, but living a life dedicated to the service of others will.

Today's Prayer:
Lord Jesus, in the same way You spent Your life serving others, I want to spend mine doing Your work. Help me see those that need my assistance. I am here to do Your will, My Lord. In Your Name we pray, amen.

Held Accountable

"If any of you should cause one of these little ones who believe in me to stumble and fall, it would be better for you to be thrown into the depths of the sea with a great millstone around your neck." - Matthew 18:6

In January I held a prayer group because I felt God telling me to organize it. I put it off for a bit but He kept insisting. It took a lot out of me to put together because I'm a shy person and didn't want to harass people into attending, although I knew God had a purpose for everyone there. Tonight, my mom told me she bumped into someone whose daughter had attended that night. I don't know the girl. Someone else had invited her. Her mother told my mom that she was transformed that night. She received such a special call from God that all she wants to do is pray, go to church, and read the bible now. Although this is really great news, it scared me. God kept insisting that I put this together and it took so much out of me to silence myself and let Him work. It took so much out of me to even stand before people to talk about my faith. What if I hadn't listened and this young girl, a stranger, would have never received the love of God that night? But more importantly, on the night, God was able to act because I prayed and let myself be guided by Him, but how about who I am 95% of the time? How about who I am when I'm not praying as much? How about the Audrey that gets cranky with my brothers and is quick to snap when things don't go my way? What kind of example do I set then? The girl is just one person who I won over for God because I was praying so much, and I wouldn't have even known about her if my mom hadn't seen her mom. But I wonder how many people I have led into sin when I'm far from God and don't listen to Him. One offense, one bad word, one bad example could have led so many to sin and I would never know, but God knows and I'm sure He's keeping count. Ninety-five percent of the time I'm not who God wants me to be and I'm ashamed of that. Ninety-five percent of the time I could be causing others to sin and that is not acceptable to me.

If there are any of you that are hurt or offended by anything I've done, I am deeply sorry. Sometimes our own ignorance and insecurities lead us to harm people and we never even know it. Please know that if I've ever done anything to any of you, it's been because of my own faults, and I apologize from the bottom of my heart. I'm ashamed of a lot of things I've said, done, and thought, and hope you pray for me as God continues to mold me.

My prayer for tonight is that each of you meditate on your own actions and see if you think you've led people towards God or away from God by the examples you've set. Sometimes it's not the people we live with who we influence the most, but those whose lives we affect when casually walking by. We never realize how the smallest action or gesture on our part can significantly affect the soul of another person. I've heard that in the final judgment, God will show each of us all the souls that were lost and all the souls that were won because of us. Please pray so that we can correct the mistakes and offenses we've made and can work to bring the love of God to those who need His mercy. I ask this in Jesus' Name, amen.

Faith Is Shown In Action

"Brothers, what good is it to profess faith without showing works? Such faith has no power to save you." - James 2:14

It's very easy to get into a rut when it comes to living in the Spirit. We go to church and we pray, and sometimes we think that's enough. However, we were created to be the hands and feet of Jesus in this world so unless you are doing something active with your faith and helping others in some way, your faith is dead. It means nothing. If you're not encouraging someone, lending a hand or being an example of faith to others, there is no way your faith can manifest itself. In the same way Jesus gave of Himself through the connection He had with God, so it is our responsibility to go out and be Jesus for those in need. If God were to ask you today what works your faith has produced for Him, what would you have to show for yourself? How are others seeing that God lives in you?

Today's Prayer:
Lord Jesus, give me the courage to step up in Your Name and help those You have put in my path. Open my eyes to see those that need my assistance and guide me in doing Your will. In Your Name we pray, amen.

And You, Who Do You Say I Am?

"Jesus asked them, 'But you, who do you say I am?' - Matthew 16:15

Every Friday at 2:30 pm I have a conference call with a big client. I report to him on a weekly basis so I have to spend that entire week implementing marketing strategies and preparing myself with the right answers and the right results for him. He's the VP of Marketing for the company so this is a big deal and therefore my work has to be on point. Now, the work that I do is a direct response to this man's title and weight, how much more so should my attention be in serving Jesus Christ? When Jesus asks "who do you say that I am?" we all need to be prepared with an answer. With my client, I know I have to be prepared by Friday, but with God, you never know when the time will come for you to answer that question. And when the time comes to answer it, what will you say? Peter answered Him saying He was the Lord, the Messiah, son of the living God and in order to proclaim that, he needed to back up that answer. If you stand before Jesus right now and you answer, "You are my God, my Lord," do your actions and way of life live up to that answer? By working hard during the week to show my client results, I show my acknowledgement of his position and do my part to deliver for his product. In the same way, if I tell Jesus "You are my Lord," I pray several times a day, I fast, I give alms, I give of myself to others, I work on increasing my love and patience for others, and most importantly, I do His will and try to stay away from sin. If you proclaim Jesus as your Lord and these actions are not part of your day to day life, you are a liar. Instead of proclaiming Him Lord, by their actions, most people see Jesus as someone they don't know too well and don't make time to know. Someone whose will they can ignore as long as everything is comfortable and fun in their own lives. This should never be so! Forget whatever priorities you have today, because the time will come when Jesus asks you directly "who do you say that I am?" and you better be prepared to answer, and back up your response.

Today's Prayer:
Lord Jesus, I want to be able to proclaim You as my Lord and savior and rearrange my life to reflect Your love and holiness. Show me what stands in the way of me having You front and center in my life so that I can follow You perfectly. In Your Name we pray, Amen.

Taking Care of Jesus

"For I was hungry and you fed me, I was thirsty and you gave me drink. I was a stranger and you welcomed me into your house. I was naked and you clothed me. I was sick and you visited me. I was in prison and you came to see me.…Truly, I say to you: whenever you did this to one of the least, of these my brothers, you did it to me." - Matthew 25: 35-40

It's not enough to only believe in God, we have to show our faith through our actions. Just as God has told us to love our neighbor, it is also our mission to go out and seek those whom we should serve. It is so easy to say that of course we would give Jesus food and drink if we were to encounter Him on the street but would we really do so for a stranger? Someone off the streets? Just as much as God loves you and is in you, so does He love the person He has put before you to help. If you follow the Lord, this passage is such a beautiful expression of love - it is such an honor to have the chance to care for Jesus, give Him drink and food, take care of Him when He was sick, and here Jesus tells us it is the same thing as doing it for Him! There is always someone less fortunate than you that you can treat as your own Jesus so please, open your eyes and look for who to help.

Today's Prayer:
Jesus, thank You for the beauty of letting us clothe You, feed You, and take care of You through our brothers and sisters. I pray that You help me take advantage of these situations and truly open my heart to doing Your will. In Your Name we pray, Amen.

The Struggle

"I can want to do what is right, but I am unable to do it. In fact, I do not do the good I want, but the evil I hate." - Romans 8:18-19

This here is the every day battle for the Christian - failing to do what we know God wants from us and falling subject to sin. We know the difference between good and bad so clearly, but every day something comes up and we promise ourselves we won't be bad, we won't sin, but before we know it, we fall and end up disappointing ourselves; feeling ashamed.

What do we do when this happens? I, for one, always beat myself up and wonder how I gave into evil so easily. It feels like all the praying I do, reading the bible, going to church was all in vain because there I am, back to square one. I feel like I don't deserve to follow Him because I'm just not good enough, obviously, if I can't stop from talking behind someone's back, cursing, putting someone down, or not helping someone out when I know I could have. And I know these things are bad, and I really don't want to do them, but they just happen so easily. As much as I want to avoid them, they are so much easier to do than good deeds I want to do.

This is the natural way to feel but it does NOT mean you're not a good Christian. These are the normal feelings one gets when one falls into sin, but do not allow it to take hold of you for another second because if you do, it's no longer your conscience speaking to you, it's the devil himself trying to knock you down and keep you from God. He caused you to sin and he wants to make sure you feel completely defeated. At this point, you're back to how you used to be, frustrated, lost, without hope. That's where sin leads us to and that's where the devil wants to keep us.

It's at these times that God wants you to come to Him the most! He knows you are weak but all that matters to Him is that you keep trying! As Paul continues to say in Romans, we sin because sin exists in our flesh, but to combat the sin, God didn't give us a spirit of slavery, but a sprit that seeks life! He gave you His Holy Spirit to uplift you even when you fall so you can continue to get up and call on Him!

Today's Prayer:
My Lord, You know my spirit wants to do good and please You, but my flesh is weak and I end up failing You and what You have taught me. Give me the grace, Lord, to always pick myself up again and continue on the path that leads to You. In Your Name we pray, Amen.