New Look :)

OK, So I remodeled this blog. :) What do you think?? I LOVE it! I will be posting here more...not just devotionals, but personal thoughts too. :)

I am so EXCITED about my new look! :D

Faith Without Works is Dead

What is the use, my brethren, for anyone to profess to have faith if he has no good works to show for it? Can such faith save his soul?

If a brother or sister is poorly clad and lacks food for each day,

And one of you says to him Good-bye! Keep yourself warm and well fed, without giving him the necessities for the body, what good does that do?

So also faith, if it does not have works, deeds and actions of obedience to back it up, by itself is destitute of power, inoperative, dead. James 2:14-17

The original Greek word for works is ergon (er'-gon) and means; an act, deed, doing, labor, work.

Faith is something that does not stand alone. There must be some kind of "doing" behind it to make it work, otherwise it is dead! Following is an example of faith that works and faith that is dead.

FAITH THAT WORKS:

Mary has just lost her job due to downsizing. She is a single Mother and is in desperate need of a job. She calls out to God and asks for favor in her search for a job. She hits the pavement every day. And every day she prays and believes that God will provide for her and her children. By the second week, Mary gets a job that pays better than the one she lost.

FAITH WITHOUT WORKS = DEAD:

Mary has just lost her job due to downsizing, She is a single Mother and is in desperate need of a job. She calls out to God and asks Him to help her. She looks through the paper and makes a few calls a day. Then she sits on the couch and watches soap operas while waiting for some one to call her. She puts forth no real effort. She just expects it to happen. She then gets angry at God for not giving her a job. After all she asked and believed didn't she?

You can believe and believe and believe and never receive. If you do not step out and DO, then your faith is worthless and dead. Even when we accept Jesus as our Savior, it requires us to step out in faith and confess our sins and believe that we are saved. It requires an action. If we never opened our mouth to confess and receive then we would never have received Salvation.
It is the same for everything that we are believing for....

If we are believing for healing, then we need to be reading books and gaining knowledge about ways to promote healing, or we need to be attending healing services on a regular basis and keep pressing in. Oh, yes! God still heals miraculously today!

If we are believing for a job promotion, then we need to show up for work on time every day and put forth that extra effort. We need to be working as unto the Lord.

If we are believing for a financial miracle, then we need to be exploring practical ways to increase our income and gain wealth. We need to be good stewards with the money that we have now. We need to thankful.

The point is that no matter what we are believing God for, we need to speak it out every day, open our arms to receive, and step out and do (responsibly, of course).

Let's Pray,

Daddy God, than You that You want to keep no good thing from me. Thank You for sending Your Word to teach and help me to understand Your ways. Daddy, I ask that You would help me to slowly but surely build my faith. Help me to live from faith to faith to faith. Thank You so very much for loving me. In Jesus Mighty Name, Amen.

Copyright © Lara Velez

Note: All Scripture is taken from the Amplified Bible, unless otherwise stated. Also, the Webster's dictionary, Random House Thesaurus, Strong's Concordance, and/or The Complete New Testament Word Study may have been used.

Judgement and Mercy

For whosoever keeps the Law as a whole but stumbles and offends in one area has become guilty of breaking all of it.

For He Who said, You shall not commit adultery, also said, You shall not kill. If you do not commit adultery but do kill, you have become guilty of transgressing the whole Law.

So speak and act as people should who are to be judged under the law of liberty, the moral instruction given by Christ, especially about love.

For to him who has shown no mercy the judgement will be merciless, but mercy exults victoriously over judgement. James 2:10-13

We must always keep in mind that we are all saved by Grace. We cannot assume that because one of us may have a weakness in an area that seems to be a more "severe" sin than our own sin that we are better than our brother or sister in Christ.

James makes it very clear here with the comparison of adultery and killing someone. James is pointing out that sin is sin. Sin is sin. When we accept the free gift of Salvation we are free from the bondage of sin...but that is another lesson altogether. :)

Our sin v/s another's sin:

When we show no mercy and judge others, we are forcing God to judge us with no mercy. We must never assume that we are better or know more than another. They may be struggling in areas that we do not struggle in, but we all have our own personal struggles to deal with.

I know of many Christians who judge others by the "degree" they place on their sin. For example; many Christians have a not so nice attitude towards gay people. They never get to know the person and build a relationship so that they can share the love of Christ with them. No, they judge them and hate the person instead of the sin.

Or, we see a news cast about a Mother who killed her children. We get all high and mighty and never feel any compassion towards the person...the lost soul...who committed the sin. We act as though their sin is much worse than ours.

We put labels on sin. To God, we ALL fall short. We ALL sin. That is why He HAD to send His Son Jesus to redeem us ALL from sin. All sin. Sin is sin.

Who are we to judge ANYONE? We were ALL sinners before we accepted the Blood of Jesus Christ. We ALL fall short. There is not ONE person or ONE sin that we have ANY right to judge. ONLY God has that right and authority.

Our ONLY job is to LOVE. Love the sinner. Hate the sin. Love the person and reach out to them with LOVE, MERCY, and COMPASSION.

We, as Christians are FREE from sin. However, even with this freedom through the Blood of Jesus Christ, we still struggle. We ALL struggle with something. For example; smoking, swearing, over eating, lying, gossiping, unforgiveness, judgemental, unmerciful, stealing, self made idols, etc.

Oh, yes, Christians struggle in these areas. Who are you or I to judge though? It is no different to to rob a bank than it is to lie to your sister in Christ when you want to avoid having to spend time with her because she "annoys" your flesh. Sin is sin.

However, if we choose not to judge, and show love, mercy, and forgiveness. Pray for that person, and try to help that person, then we are operating in the realm of mercy and we have no worries. We have removed any judgement from us. We will also be judged with mercy.

This goes for self too. Don't be so hard on yourself when you mess up. Take it to God, pick yourself up, and try again. The wonderful thing about God is that He is faithful to forgive when we repent. He loves you. He forgives you. Put yourself in His Loving Hands and He will help you through your struggles.

Let's Pray,

Daddy God, forgive me for times when I have been judgemental and looked down on another. Forgive me for not showing love, mercy, and forgiveness to those who have wronged or hurt me. Forgive me for taking on the a job that is not mine. You are the Judge. I am not. I release all judgement and now, by faith will operate in the realm of Mercy. The same Mercy that You show me every day of my life. Thank You, Daddy. I love You. In Jesus Mighty Name, Amen.

Copyright © Lara Velez

Note: All Scripture is taken from the Amplified Bible, unless otherwise stated. Also, the Webster's dictionary, Random House Thesaurus, Strong's Concordance, and/or The Complete New Testament Word Study may have been used.

Prejudice and Favoritism

My brethren, pay no regard to people, show no prejudice or partiality. Do not attempt to hold and practice the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ together with snobbery!

For if a person comes into your congregation whose hands are adorned with gold rings and who is wearing splendid apparel, and say to him, sit here in this preferable seat! While you tell the poor man. stand there! Or, sit there on the floor at my feet!

Are you not discriminating among your own and becoming critics and judges with wrong motives?

Listen, my beloved brethren: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in the faith and in their position as believers and to inherit the kingdom which he has promised to those who love Him?

But you have insulted, dishonored, and shown contempt for the poor. Is it not the rich who domineer over you? Is it not they who drag you into the law courts?

Is it not they who slander and blaspheme that precious Name by which you are distinguished and called?

If indeed you really fulfill the royal Law in accordance with the Scripture, You shall love your neighbor as you love yourself, you do well.

But if you show prejudice and and favoritism for people, you commit sin and are rebuked and convicted by the Law as violators and offenders. ~ James 2:1-9

We all have preconceived ideas about people. We stereotype, and yes, we have all been guilty of showing favoritism. James is pretty clear in these Scriptures that prejudice and favoritism are sins.

It does not matter if a person is of a different class, race, or education. We are all equal in the eyes of God, and as soon as we step out and become judgemental and stereotype we are stepping into some serious sin.

Think about it this way:

God's chosen people were the Jews. When many of them rejected Him, He decided to allow us, the "Gentiles" to be grafted into the family of God. Christians are all adopted children. God looks past our faults, race, class, education, and sex. He looks into our hearts and loves us from the inside out for who we are and who we will become though Him.

We are all sisters and brothers. We are all children of the same Almighty God. We are all heirs to the same Kingdom. We should act like it. We should all be doing what Jesus said to do and Love our neighbor as we love ourselves.

If the Body of Christ will obey the Word of God, and begin to show love for one another, we will surely get the attention of this dark and lost world. Unfortunately, if we continue to back bite, gossip, judge, take offense, and allow favoritism and prejudice to rule us, we will remain ineffective for Christ and a joke to the world.

Love...Love...LOVE!

Let's pray,

Daddy God, thank you for grafting me in to your plan of Salvation. Thank you for choosing me to be Your very Own. Help me to look at others with Your eyes. Help me to look past worldly stereotypes. Help me to show love to my brothers and sisters. Help me to forgive and let go of offenses. Help me to not gossip and judge others. Help me to represent You in my walk. I love You, Lord! Thank You, for loving me! In Jesus Mighty Name, Amen.

In His Love and Service,
Lara ;)

Copyright © Lara Velez