James 2:14-17 NIV84 "What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If 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? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead."
This scripture is just another great example of God’s heart placed on the pages of the Bible. It doesn’t mean you have to work your way into heaven. It means that once you have saving faith in Christ, your actions will define your faith because of the transformation occurring inside of you!
When God places a burden on my heart, I tend to become very sensitive when I see it in action. For example, what has become heightened in my perception over the past few months are comments like, “I’m too busy to…” In the Church, this often involves volunteering to serve others. Or how about, “I’m not being fed”. Going through times of needing to “be fed” are natural in the discipleship process, but we cannot take refuge there! No coasting into the Kingdom!
I’ve discovered that the phrase, “I’m too busy to…”, simply means that my agenda has taken precedence over God’s will for my life. God may be nudging you to volunteer with the youth, or maybe as a greeter, or a mentor, but the busyness of “life” has gotten in the way of where God desires to utilize your gifts and passions (the very ones He gave you). Many may say that they are too busy with “church work” to mentor...God will never call you to a ministry to only make your life miserable due to busyness...remember what Jesus said in Matthew 11:30 - "For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” He also told us in Matthew 28:18-20 to go make disciples...according to these scriptures, making disciples is simply part of who we are when we put God first in all we do. That is why He made mentoring as simple as building relationships with Him at the center!
"I'm not being fed" simply means that I am relying on someone else to give me the milk of God's word instead of taking the responsibility myself to study God's word to discern what God wants to reveal to me and where He wants me to join Him in the work He has given. It's time for meat, and the meat of scripture is living it out and serving others - loving God, loving others and making disciples!
My goal in writing these blog posts is never to condemn or judge anyone...God has called us out of judging others. My goal is to pass along what I feel the Holy Spirit has prompted me to write, for my sake as well as yours. My prayer for you will be that God uses these little posts to nudge your heart and call you to action. Prayerfully investigate your heart and life and see where God may be prompting you to serve and who God may want you to mentor...then take action and join God! As a follower of Christ, sometimes the faith part is easy...but action takes courage! Be courageous and take action where God prompts you. Watch where God is working, pray and listen for His call, then join Him boldly!
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