Studying in the book of James lately. I love this book of the Bible. Reading in chapter 2 this morning:

James 2:14-26 New Living Translation (NLT)

Faith without Good Deeds Is Dead

14 What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone? 15 Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, 16 and you say, “Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well”—but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do?

17 So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless.

18 Now someone may argue, “Some people have faith; others have good deeds.” But I say, “How can you show me your faith if you don’t have good deeds? I will show you my faith by my good deeds.”

19 You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God.[a] Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror. 20 How foolish! Can’t you see that faith without good deeds is useless?

21 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? 22 You see, his faith and his actions worked together. His actions made his faith complete. 23 And so it happened just as the Scriptures say: “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.”[b] He was even called the friend of God.[c] 24 So you see, we are shown to be right with God by what we do, not by faith alone.

25 Rahab the prostitute is another example. She was shown to be right with God by her actions when she hid those messengers and sent them safely away by a different road. 26 Just as the body is dead without breath,[d] so also faith is dead without good works.

Our faith should show in our every day living. Think about that, what does your life and the way you live it show others about your faith? Our kids will learn about faith by our words and what we teach them but more-so of how we live it out in front of them. We’ve all heard, “You may be the only bible some people ever read” so I ask you again, what does your life and the way you are living it say about your faith? Are people inspired to live a more faithful life by looking at yours?

This passage used Abraham as our example. What a great example of a faithful and obedient life. Our faith will show in our obedience to God & His word. Abraham’s faith, no doubt, was evident.

Our faith also can produce some amazing miracles in our lives. I believe we all want to see the miraculous work of the Lord but are most of us willing to have that faith like Abraham, to be obedient even in the hard times? Abraham was obedient to the fullest, to be willing to sacrifice your son, wow! Being set apart by our faith and saying no to the world and our flesh, that’s faith lived out!

Our faith can move mountains in our lives(Matthew 17:20), no weapon formed against us can prosper (Isaiah 54:17), He promises to break every yoke of slavery in our lives (Isaiah 58:6), the devil has to flee (James 4:7), we do not have to be afraid because He will never leave us nor forsake us (Duet. 31:8), He will bless us (Malachi 3:10), He will meet all our needs (Phil 4:19), He will give us the desires of our heart (Psalm 37:4), peace will reign in our life (Phil 4:6-7), we can be healed (James 5:14-15) and my favorite is Matthew 6:33, Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added to you. If you we live a God first life, an obedient life, a faith lived out life we don’t have to worry about anything because He says ALL these thing will be added to you. He will take care of EVERYTHING! Hallelujah!! There are so many promises for us faithful believers in the Bible. Read them, study them, know them. The benefits of living a faithful, obedient life is always worth it. Sin and rebellion are never worth it. The devil may make sin look enticing but the ramifications it will cause are never worth it. Live faith loudly and boldly. Trust God with it all, I promise when you do you will not regret it, He will do exceedingly abundantly more than you can think or imagine in your life(Eph 3:20).

I’m inspired to be more faithful. Believing God for the miraculous in my life! Let’s be mighty women of faith, let’s live our faith out boldly through our actions.

Michelle J.