From James

James, it's a great name. I never really thought so until I married one. My husband's name is James but everyone has always called him Jamie. He is my love.

Ok, now on to the real post :)

Yesterday I visited my sister's church to watch my niece, Grace, get baptized. The message was part of a series called "According to Jim" and the scripture came from the book of James 2: 14-26.

¹⁴ What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? ¹⁵ Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. ¹⁶ 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? ¹⁷ In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

 ¹⁸ 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.

(read the complete text at http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=James+2&version=NIV)

As I listened I totally had that feeling, like "yes, this is so true."

I have a hard time calling myself a Christian sometimes because of the negative connotations it has with people that don't or haven't yet accepted Jesus. I usually just say that I love Jesus because I figure you can't go wrong with that. All the time I am surprised by my own faith and other believers who supposedly believe what I do. It is amazing that we all call each other Christians and that we are all part of one body and of one church but that our beliefs are foggy and the line between what we believe or don't is blurred. There are catholics, lutherans, evangelicals, mormons, orthodox, nondenominationals, and about 500 more branches of the Christian "one body" church that are not named here. I could go on on... maybe later, though. 

The sermon was right on when it says that, as a Christian, your faith and deeds should work together. If I see a homeless man without a coat and I have an extra coat in my backseat, as a Christian it is my duty to recognize need, share what I have and love people regardless of their circumstance. If I deny that homeless man of what I have to freely give and maybe just throw up a little prayer for him as I pass, what good is it? Am I really doing all I can and should as someone who calls herself a Christ follower? I want to note here (as did the pastor who spoke the message) that I am not saying that a prayer isn't good enough- prayer is an essential part of being a Christ follower. I am saying that we always need to be evaluating to see if there is something more we need to be doing. Verse 18 says "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." The point is that our faith in God should direct our actions. If you are a Christ follower and you have everything you need and then some, and you know people who are in need but you feel no need to help them, it's time to re-evaluate. 

As Christians, we do not need to do do do in order to earn God's grace. We deserve nothing and still we are richly blessed. Because of our faith we are called to do God's work on this earth. 

Use me, Lord. You're the only one to whom I can trust to say something like that.