¹⁴My brothers and sisters, what good does it do if someone claims to have faith but doesn't do any good things? Can this kind of faith save him? ¹⁵Suppose a believer, whether a man or a woman, needs clothes or food ¹⁶and one of you tells that person, “God be with you! Stay warm, and make sure you eat enough.” If you don't provide for that person's physical needs, what good does it do? ¹⁷In the same way, faith by itself is dead if it doesn't cause you to do any good things. ¹⁸Another person might say, “You have faith, but I do good things.” Show me your faith apart from the good things you do. I will show you my faith by the good things I do. ¹⁹You believe that there is one God. That's fine! The demons also believe that, and they tremble with fear. ²⁰You fool! Do you have to be shown that faith which does nothing is useless? ²¹Didn't our ancestor Abraham receive God's approval as a result of what he did when he offered his son Isaac as a sacrifice on the altar? ²²You see that Abraham's faith and what he did worked together. His faith was shown to be genuine by what he did. ²³The Scripture passage came true. It says, “Abraham believed God, and that faith was regarded by God to be his approval of Abraham.” So Abraham was called God's friend. ²⁴You see that a person receives God's approval because of what he does, not only because of what he believes. ²⁵The same is true of the prostitute Rahab who welcomed the spies and sent them away on another road. She received God's approval because of what she did. ²⁶A body that doesn't breathe is dead. In the same way faith that does nothing is dead.  James 2:14-26

A philosophy well worth consideration that we all would do well to employ is: don't tell me what you believe, just live your life, do what it is that you do . . . I will watch you, then I will tell you what you really believe. The absolute truth is, what you do, that is what you believe.

Our time is very short and opportunities are passing by rapidly. Whether Jesus comes today or 10,000 years from now the fact is that every man, woman, boy and girl alive today will stand before a Holy God within just a very, very short while. Maybe minutes, maybe hours, or maybe days, but then the judgment, and the result will be eternal. The same is true for both you and me. Whatever we are going to do, we need to do now. I encourage you in the strongest possible terms to trust in God and His Love for you, and dare to step out in faith. Seek ways to be an active part of sharing God's Love with others. Jesus is the ultimate expression of God's Love in that while we were still sinners, He died for us to pay for our sin. Share that Good News in all ways that you can.

KLTJ,

Dennis