Week 19: Day 4
Aaron reminds us that he wouldn't have faith today if someone else hadn't shared theirs with him. Who can you share your faith with today?
Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. And the scripture was fulfilled that says, ‘Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,’ and he was called God’s friend. You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone.
As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.
Intro: Hello, and welcome back to Orbit. And today we're in James chapter two.
Bible: Before we look at the book of Psalms tomorrow, so I'd love for you to turn with me to James to I'm going to be reading from verse 21, to 24. And then I'll skip a verse and then finish with verse 26. So 21–24 and then verse 26.
Don’t you remember that our ancestor Abraham was shown to be right with God by his actions when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see, his faith and his actions worked together. His actions made his faith complete. And so it happened just as the Scriptures say: “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.” He was even called the friend of God. So you see, we are shown to be right with God by what we do, not by faith alone.
Just as the body is dead without breath,[a] so also faith is dead without good works.
Thoughts: For me, this is always been a challenge, to take what I know, as faith and I think you and me today will agree that we truly have faith that Jesus makes a difference. We believe truly, that Jesus changes our lives, we believe that He sets us free.
But even as I'm saying, this now can recollect countless moments where I know, I felt God tell me, Hey, walk across the room and have a conversation with that person.
Pray for this person, share faith with this person, tell your friend about Jesus.
And maybe even as I'm saying it, I wonder if you had those moments where maybe you were in a room and you saw a person by themselves and you felt God say go and have a conversation?
Or maybe you were sitting and randomly someone popped into your mind.
Or maybe you were in a meeting and God prompted you to pray for someone, but we didn't.
Now in all of those things.
I wonder what would have happened if we did?
How would our faith have grown? If we had stepped out?
I guess James, as he's writing these letters, is trying to help the followers of Jesus.
Remember, this very thing may be just like us, they struggled with that, too. They truly believe God made a difference. But it didn't outwork itself in their actions. And he's trying to remind them Hey, remember Abraham, the father of faith known for his faith that he had? His faith was only made complete by his obedience by his action.
So, if that is true, what does that look like for you and me today? What does it look like for us to be those who truly believe Jesus makes a difference in our lives, What would it look like for us to step out in faith? And step out with what God is asking us to do? Because I'll tell you this. I wouldn't be here today following Jesus if it wasn't for someone telling my mom and dad about Jesus, I wouldn't be here today. If it wasn't my parents telling me and for loads of my friends for their story is similar. They would not be following Jesus today, If it wasn't for a friend telling them. It wasn't for someone praying for them. It wasn't for someone inviting them.
Challenge: We are called to be those who are full of faith and also those whose faith makes a radical difference in the place where it sits today. This is my challenge for you. I'd love for you to do number one. Write a list of five people, five people in your life
If that you know that in this moment, don't yet know Jesus.
And once you've written those five names, I'd want love for you to commit to praying for them. And the reason I wanted to start off by this is this prayer works. Prayer isn't our last resort. Prayer isn't what we do when there's nothing else to do. I would love to challenge you and say, Hey, prayer is how we put our best foot forward.
And the second thing I'd love for you to do is this. And this is where we're really going to have to put our faith into action. I'd love for you this week to pray and tell someone about Jesus or invite them to church, invite them to your youth group. What would it look like for us to take our faith that has radically changed us and step out and put it into practice? That it will change the world around us? Because James says this faith is dead without good works.
I guess what he's ultimately trying to tell us is this.If this makes a difference for us, there is a world around us who was looking for hope. And we carry that hope.
Prayer: I would love to pray for us:
King Jesus, thank You that You are the giver of life. You are the God that radically changes us and transforms us. You've set us free, you've healed us, You made us your own. And today I pray for everyone watching, and everyone hearing this that God give us faith.
And as we step out in faith, give us strength to overcome the lies and the fears.
Let us walk in line with the and I pray for the names that they write and commit to praying that in this next year, we would see some of our friends come to meet Jesus. And even some of those that they invite or talk to or share their story with would radically meet Jesus in this season. Thank you that you're calling sons and daughters back onto you. Would you use us to be your hands and feet. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.
Outro: That's it for today's Orbit. I'll join you tomorrow for our final devotion where we look at Psalms. I'll see you then.