Pastor Mary Haley

Intro: Two weeks ago, we started a new series in our LIFE Lessons Bible Study: Discernment vs. Reckless Faith. Discernment makes all the difference in how we perceive the storms of life. Discernment is the ability to decide between truth and error, right and wrong, and to know and choose God’s will set before us. Here is a way to look at discernment: the ability to distinguish the majors from the minors, the excellent things from the mediocre, and the eternal from the temporal. We can understand the true weight and nature of all things with discernment.

When we ask God for discernment, faith becomes a means of protection against the storms of spiritual deception. Freedom to live in the truth becomes our greatest reality; to live the gospel by faith which pleases our Father. Finally, we grow and develop in our faith and trust in the God whom we openly say we love and serve because during the storms our lives witness the Truth.

In our passage today from Luke 8, Jesus is teaching the disciples about discerning the storms of life. Keep in mind, it is the heart of God to always prepare us and extend to us the grace we need each day. However, every day requires faith—living like we believe the Word of God is true! Jesus gives the Word, the disciples get into the boat as their starting point (A), and then Jesus says, “Let’s cross to the other side of the lake” (v. 22). The end point (B) is the other side of the lake. Jesus’ plan is to take them from A to B. But, in the middle of the lake [a symbol of reflection and transition] they face a storm. Jesus allows the disciples to reflect on what he has said while living in the midst of the storm that arrives to test them. Do the disciples discern that Jesus gave them the Truth about making it to the other side? Do they believe he is the living Peace sent by the Father to guide them through life? The answer is they struggle to believe when they face the “storm” in the middle.

We all struggle with a variety of storms we face each day, but if we have asked for discernment, we have the ability to reflect on what God’s Word tells us about life as His children in a fallen world. We need great faith that prompts us to leave the safe shore knowing grace will carry us through the middle of the challenges and will deliver us victoriously to the other side. The enemy always seeks to stop us from faith in the Word, because Satan knows the Truth of God’s Word. Satan uses waves of fear to intimidate God’s children. The safest place in any storm you will face is dwelling with Jesus, because he is the Peace that guards our hearts and leads us forward in faith. If we will stay in Peace, we will always discern things more clearly. Have a wonderful weekend. Hope to see you in worship Sunday!

Luke 8:22-25 (NLT) Jesus Calms the Storm
22 One day Jesus said to his disciples, “Let’s cross to the other side of the lake.” So they got into a boat and started out. 23 As they sailed across, Jesus settled down for a nap. But soon a fierce storm came down on the lake. The boat was filling with water, and they were in real danger.

24 The disciples went and woke him up, shouting, “Master, Master, we’re going to drown!”
When Jesus woke up, he rebuked the wind and the raging waves. Suddenly the storm stopped and all was calm. 25 Then he asked them, “Where is your faith?”

The disciples were terrified and amazed. “Who is this man?” they asked each other. “When he gives a command, even the wind and waves obey him!”

Prayer: Lord, as your children, we ask you for a spirit of wisdom and discernment to fill us. We want to know and focus on the things that are true, major, and eternal so we can live for your glory. We exalt you as Lord of heaven and earth and confess your authority and power over all creation. Help us to hold on to you, Jesus, because you are the supernatural Peace we so desperately need to deny fear any access to our souls. Use every storm as a way to build our faith and trust in you, because you have promised to take us safely to the other side of the lake of transition. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

July 21, 2022
Intro: I truly enjoy a ministry planning or Board meeting that welcomes the Spirit; one that is centered on discerning and obeying God’s plans. God imparts wisdom and insight through the gifts he places in His people; the gospel is the focus as we plan. Peter has always provided this kind of environment for our planning or Board meetings at Connect2Christ Church. We are so blessed with his leadership.

In Acts 1, Jesus, sets his disciples up for ministry success. In verses 4-5, Jesus essentially calls a “planning meeting” with his disciples. His instructions for moving forward begin with waiting! What? That’s right, Jesus tells them to wait for the Holy Spirit. In other words, the disciples are not to start doing things according to their own ideas, but they are to wait for the Spirit to impart God’s plans to them and provide the power to fulfill them (v.8). The Spirit was always Jesus’ source and power for ministry. As soon as Jesus finishes sharing this part of the planning meeting, he ascends to heaven.

In our passage today, the disciples obey Jesus’ Word; the eleven disciples, Jesus’ brother and mother Mary, as well as several other women, return to Jerusalem and go to an upper room to wait (v.13-14). Soon, the group grows to about 120 people—many new believers in Christ. Peter takes charge and calls a planning meeting. What is on the agenda? It is time to ask God to replace Judas the betrayer who killed himself near the Potter’s Field. The disciples want God’s choice for a replacement, so they begin to devote themselves to prayer and they wait. Waiting is not passive activity, it is dependance and obedience to God’s Word and timing.

Waiting before the Lord is essential whether we are seeking God’s plans for ministry or we are seeking God’s plans for our lives. God will bring us direction; he will reveal His plans, so we can follow. God wants our victory. I always have to remind myself of this Truth, so my Life Scripture is Proverbs 3:5-6: “Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.”

Acts 1:15-25 (NLT)
15 During this time, when about 120 believers were together in one place, Peter stood up and addressed them. 16 “Brothers,” he said, “the Scriptures had to be fulfilled concerning Judas, who guided those who arrested Jesus. This was predicted long ago by the Holy Spirit, speaking through King David. 17 Judas was one of us and shared in the ministry with us.”

18 (Judas had bought a field with the money he received for his treachery. Falling headfirst there, his body split open, spilling out all his intestines.
19 The news of his death spread to all the people of Jerusalem, and they gave the place the Aramaic name Akeldama, which means “Field of Blood.”)
20 Peter continued, “This was written in the book of Psalms, where it says, ‘Let his home become desolate, with no one living in it.’ It also says, ‘Let someone else take his position.’

21 “So now we must choose a replacement for Judas from among the men who were with us the entire time we were traveling with the Lord Jesus— 22 from the time he was baptized by John until the day he was taken from us. Whoever is chosen will join us as a witness of Jesus’ resurrection.”
23 So they nominated two men: Joseph called Barsabbas (also known as Justus) and Matthias. 24 Then they all prayed, “O Lord, you know every heart. Show us which of these men you have chosen 25 as an apostle to replace Judas in this ministry, for he has deserted us and gone where he belongs.”

Prayer: Lord, help us as your children to wait patiently for the response of your Spirit to guide us into righteous living and leading. May you be exalted and praised. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Intro: I have a great respect for the overall brilliance of the mind that our God designed and imparted to human beings. God has provided us with the ability to gain intellectual knowledge, reason, and wisdom. We have a computer in our heads and God is the necessary Host if we are going to connect to Truth. Remember, even believers need to continually consume the eternal Word of God to know how to think properly; we need the divine perspective. The devil is the father of lies who hates the Truth (John 8:44). He tries to speak lies into our thoughts in order to bring deception. The Word has the power to renew our minds and lift us out of worldly thinking into righteous thinking, so we can know the will of God for our lives (Romans 12:2).

Human beings are uniquely designed by the hand of God. Our minds, wills, and personalities are all known to our Creator. When we connect to God through the work of Jesus Christ, everything begins to make sense. Being born again from above is to connect to the divine. No one can believe Jesus is the Son of God unless God helps, because our human minds will dismiss Truth. In Christ, we know and have fellowship with God and can begin to learn who we are according to the Creator’s design. Unfortunately, many people try to decide who they are and what life is about by using their carnal (un-renewed) minds, wills, and emotions without the help of Jesus and his righteous perspective. What a mess we can make of our lives when we make our own human thoughts and feelings our gods (paganism).

In our passage today, the Jewish leaders cannot wrap their heads around how Jesus could be the divine Son of God, as well as the human son of Joseph and Mary. They have no ability to think about how God could send Christ’s Spirit to earth in order to inhabit a human body. These leaders could not believe even though Jesus said the same things Isaiah prophesied about the Messiah, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free” (Luke 4:18; Isaiah 61:1). Jesus is the Truth; he brings salvation and we must allow the Word to help us spiritually see, know, and live in eternal life.

John 6:41-51
41 Then the people began to murmur in disagreement because he had said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” 42 They said, “Isn’t this Jesus, the son of Joseph? We know his father and mother. How can he say, ‘I came down from heaven’?”

43 But Jesus replied, “Stop complaining about what I said. 44 For no one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them to me, and at the last day I will raise them up. 45 As it is written in the Scriptures, ‘They will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me. 46 (Not that anyone has ever seen the Father; only I, who was sent from God, have seen him.)

47 “I tell you the truth, anyone who believes has eternal life. 48 Yes, I am the bread of life! 49 Your ancestors ate manna in the wilderness, but they all died. 50 Anyone who eats the bread from heaven, however, will never die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will live forever; and this bread, which I will offer so the world may live, is my flesh.”

Prayer: Lord, thank you for helping your children know the Truth; it is a battle each day to fight the lies the devil sends our way. As we believe and place our trust in you, we will grow and mature. We will become more like Jesus; flesh filled with your divine Spirit. Through the Word, put a guard over our thoughts. Please protect us and help our unbelief. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Intro: Do you ever feel powerless against some sinful habit operating in your life? Habits are things we practice. We can have both righteous habits and sinful ones. God celebrates our righteous habits, but what about those sinful ones? How do we rid ourselves of them? Good News: God has a plan.

Every believer has an Advocate—Someone who pleads our case to the Father. Jesus is the One who puts his mantle of grace over our lives and causes us to be successful against the control of sinful habits. He alone is the righteous One who atones for the sins we have committed or will ever commit. However, we must repent of sinful habits, by turning away from sin and toward the Word. If we keep on living with sinful habits against God’s Word, we really have a wrong concept of Christ’s love and the purpose of salvation. Living with a sinful habit reveals we don’t really know God; sin is the opposite of obedience.

If our greatest desire is to remain obedient to the commands of God, our thoughts and actions will push sin away. To know God is to live in the Truth. Jesus teaches the commandment is love; we imitate the love of our Master and Lord. This is how we fight sin. “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind; Love your neighbor as yourself (Mat 22:37-39).

This world is full of temptations to love self more than God or our neighbor [everyone else]. The love of self is consistently exalted in our secular world. Fulfill every desire, live for your pleasure, take what you want, etc. So, we must learn how to be delivered from the evil temptation to demand our own way. Submit yourself to God and resist the devil who wants to rob you. If you do not give the devil power, he will leave and you will be able to live the Truth in God’s strength. Scripture teaches, “The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure (1 Cor 10:13).

1 John 2:1-6 (NLT)
1 My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous. 2 He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins—and not only our sins but the sins of all the world.
3 And we can be sure that we know him if we obey his commandments. 4 If someone claims, “I know God,” but doesn’t obey God’s commandments, that person is a liar and is not living in the truth. 5 But those who obey God’s word truly show how completely they love him. That is how we know we are living in him. 6 Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did.

Prayer: Lord, thank you for helping me live in the Truth of your divine love. I cast upon you every selfish or sinful thought or habit that tries to attach itself to me knowing you will help me escape into righteousness. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Intro: The family of God involves a whole bunch of folks: those who believed God in the past, everyone who believes God in the present, and all those who will come to believe God in the future. Every genuine believer is a family member, because we all have the same Father who is the Creator, as well as Owner of everything in the heavens and on earth (Heb 2:11). We all have the same Savior, who is Jesus the Living Word of God (2 Peter 1:1). Finally, we all have the same Spirit who leads our lives into Truth (John 16:13).

In our passage today, the Apostle Paul speaks about the identity of the Father’s children and the limitless resources that belong to each one. We have been made spiritually alive in Christ Jesus and the supernatural unlimited resources that belong to the Son also belong to us as the Father’s sons and daughters. We are the sons and daughters when our lives are led into righteous ways by the Holy Spirit (Ro 8:14). We may start out as spiritual toddlers, but eventually we must grow up in our understanding of what it means to be alive and powerful in Christ; to belong in the Father’s family.

When I think about being alive in Christ, I am filled with such gratitude, passion, and awe. We are so blessed by our Father! Jesus instructs us, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened (Mat 7:7-8). This is a place of righteous power in the Spirit and it belongs to the family of God. Remember the Truth and allow Christ to be at home as Lord in your heart. Have a wonderful weekend…

Ephesians 3:14-21 Paul’s Prayer for Spiritual Growth
14 When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, 15 the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth. 16 I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. 17 Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. 18 And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is.

19 May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.

Prayer (based on Verses 20-21): All glory to You, God, for You are able, through Your mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.  Glory to You in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen.

Intro: When was the last time you had another person lie about something that involved you? Recently, a friend of mine was in a car accident; another driver ran a red light and totaled my friend’s vehicle. The only witness left the scene; obviously afraid to get involved. The driver and passengers in the other car lied to the police about what happened. The dispute is still being investigated. I was saddened when I heard about the situation, but I pray for the God of Justice to rule by bringing forth the Truth in spite of the lack of moral character demonstrated by the guilty party. “People with integrity walk safely, but those who follow crooked paths will be exposed” (Pro 10:9).

I love this psalm of David and needed to be reminded of it, today. The whole psalm is set up as a question and answer session about the things that David has learn are important to God regarding moral character. As believers, we are to demonstrate righteousness, so we cannot get our character guidelines for living from an earthly society.

The Word of God reveals the way God expects his sons and daughters to live among our friends and neighbors if we want to abide or dwell in His presence. In fact, this psalm of David gives ten standards for us to consider when we are examining our lives. They alternate highlighting positive and negative character traits. We must adhere to the things of God and do to others as we would have them do to us (Luke 6:31).

As I read through the list, I know without Christ and the work of grace none of this is possible to perform perfectly; our flesh is weak. So praise God for the New Covenant of Grace we so desperately need. We need the Holy Spirit to help us become more like Jesus (Truth) in our moral character; because we cannot have fellowship with God if we are not living the Truth (1 John 1:6).

Psalm 15 A psalm of David (NLT)
1 
Who may worship in your sanctuary, Lord?    Who may enter your presence on your holy hill [your dwelling place]?
2 
Those who lead blameless lives and do what is right,    speaking the truth from sincere hearts.
3 
Those who refuse to gossip    or harm their neighbors    or speak evil of their friends.
4 
Those who despise flagrant sinners,    and honor the faithful followers of the Lord,    and keep their promises even when it hurts.
5 
Those who lend money without charging interest,    and who cannot be bribed to lie about the innocent.Such people will stand firm forever.

Prayer: Father, in a world that seems to be moving in the wrong direction of moral responsibility and integrity, please help us as your children to live according to your Word. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Intro: All Scripture—Old and New Testament—leads us to understand the Kingdom of God as a system of government and territory that is ruled and controlled by God. It has not yet manifest as a physical realm of government. Rather, the Kingdom is a spiritual realm of government that begins with Christ in the heart of a person, but it is certainly not limited to the heart. It begins like a mustard seed, but the Kingdom grows and begins to branch out and produce righteous fruit that permeates the natural realm and has the power to influence everything and everyone (John 15:5). The Kingdom exists among us; it impacts every aspect of human life.

The Kingdom is open to those who accept the sacrifice of Jesus, repent from sin, and begin to live as witnesses to others. Jesus said we must “Seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness (His way of being right in Christ) and God’s blessing and favor in the Holy Spirit will provide for us (Mat 6:33). The Holy Spirit seals and marks believers as the children of God and one day the Kingdom will touch absolutely everything on earth.

Believers know the work of the Kingdom refers to: 1) acknowledging the rule of Christ on earth as it is in heaven, 2) the blessings that cover those individuals who obediently live under Christ’s Lordship and rule, and 3) those under Christ’s Lordship—the Church—assemble to worship Him and share in His favor and purpose to redeem the world. God has been getting His Church ready, because believers will rule and reign with him when He sets up His physical Kingdom on earth. Exciting times await us in God’s future plans!

Here is the Truth that is hard for many to accept: Not everyone will enjoy the Kingdom of God, because it is only open to the poor in spirit (Mat 5:3). To be poor in spirit is to individually acknowledge our sinfulness and spiritually bankruptcy without Christ. We can do nothing to save ourselves from the death penalty of sin, so by faith we must call on the mercy and grace of God. We can do nothing in divine power without Christ, so we are to connect with him in producing the righteous fruit that will influence the world. In fact, Jesus says it this way, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the Kingdom, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven (Mat 7:21). The will of the Father is to believe in the work of the Son and obediently follow him (John 3:16).

Matthew 25:31-46 (VOICE)
31 When the Son of Man comes in all His majesty accompanied by throngs of heavenly messengers, His throne will be wondrous. 32 All the nations will assemble before Him, and He will judge them, distinguishing them from one another as a shepherd isolates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put some, the sheep, at His right hand and some, the goats, at His left. 34 Then the King will say to those to His right,

King: Come here, you beloved, you people whom My Father has blessed. Claim your inheritance, the Kingdom prepared for you from the beginning of creation. 35 You shall be richly rewarded, for when I was hungry, you fed Me. And when I was thirsty, you gave Me something to drink. I was alone as a stranger, and you welcomed Me into your homes and into your lives. 36 I was naked, and you gave Me clothes to wear; I was sick, and you tended to My needs; I was in prison, and you comforted Me.

37 Even then the righteous will not have achieved perfect understanding and will not recall these things.

Righteous: Master, when did we find You hungry and give You food? When did we find You thirsty and slake Your thirst? 38 When did we find You a stranger and welcome You in, or find You naked and clothe You? 39 When did we find You sick and nurse You to health? When did we visit You when You were in prison?

King: 40 I tell you this: whenever you saw a brother or sister hungry or cold, whatever you did to the least of these, so you did to Me.

41 At that He will turn to those on His left hand.

King: Get away from Me, you despised people whom My Father has cursed. Claim your inheritance—the pits of flaming hell where the devil and his minions suffer. 42 For I was starving, and you left Me with no food. When I was dry and thirsty, you left Me to struggle with nothing to drink. 43 When I was alone as a stranger, you turned away from Me. When I was pitifully naked, you left Me unclothed. When I was sick, you gave Me no care. When I was in prison, you did not comfort Me.

Unrighteous: 44 Master, when did we see You hungry and thirsty? When did we see You friendless or homeless or excluded? When did we see You without clothes? When did we see You sick or in jail? When did we see You in distress and fail to respond?

King: 45 I tell you this: whenever you saw a brother hungry or cold, when you saw a sister weak and without friends, when you saw the least of these and ignored their suffering, so you ignored Me.

46 So these, the goats, will go off to everlasting punishment. But the beloved, the sheep (the righteous), will go into everlasting life.

Prayer: Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy. May your Kingdom come soon. May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us today the food we need, and forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us. And don’t let us yield to temptation, but rescue us from the evil one. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Intro: Recently, John and I celebrated our 44th wedding anniversary. As well, our family got together to celebrate two birthdays and I thought to myself, “Where did the time go?” Have you ever felt like you were watching time fly by? Was it ever actually slower or was I just more immersed and engaged in the details of parenting and purpose of life during those moments? As we gathered for dinner to celebrate, I looked at each loved one there and said a prayer, “Thank you, Lord, for my heart is full and my thoughts overflow with sweet memories of the love we have shared during the years.” There are no perfect times or perfect families, but God is good and his love is perfect. I must never forget it.

We all have the same number of hours, minutes, and seconds in a day. We cannot slow time down, nor speed it up. Therefore, we must be purposeful about what our call is each day as God’s children: to love God wholeheartedly, as well as love other people. If we want to know that we are using our time each day wisely, God has given us an indicator for our lives. We are to avoid selfishness, hunger for righteousness, deeply love our brothers and sisters in the faith, and reach out to serve Christ’s purpose for redeeming love in our spheres of influence. If we are not living purposefully each day with those things in mind, we are “wasting” our divine opportunities to share eternal life with others. The love we should be sharing is the love of the Father, because the Holy Spirit fills our hearts with His love (Romans 5:5).

In our passage today, the Apostle John wants us to evaluate our faith when it comes to eternal life, because within the world we witness good and evil. Are we sharing saving faith and hope in God’s goodness and perfect love with those around us or just going through the motions of life; sleepily moving through the duties of our worldly roles? Can we lay our heads on our pillows knowing we have been purposeful that day to touch the lives of others with the indispensable character of God’s love? When we are deliberate about extending God’s love we demonstrate that we know Christ and are tasting the power outflowing his resurrection (Phil 3:10-11).
The hope of every believer should rest in Christ’s final work one day within us to conform us to his perfect image; he will finish that work and we will be just like him in how he loves. In the meantime, the desire should be growing within us to share his likeness now in the many ways the Spirit makes available.

1 John 3:11-17 (NLT)
Love One Another
11 This is the message you have heard from the beginning: We should love one another. 12 We must not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and killed his brother. And why did he kill him? Because Cain had been doing what was evil, and his brother had been doing what was righteous. 13 So don’t be surprised, dear brothers and sisters, if the world hates you.

14 If we love our brothers and sisters who are believers, it proves that we have passed from death to life. But a person who has no love is still dead. 15 Anyone who hates another brother or sister is really a murderer at heart. And you know that murderers don’t have eternal life within them.

16 We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us. So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters. 17 If someone has enough money to live well and sees a brother or sister in need but shows no compassion—how can God’s love be in that person?

Prayer: Father, thank you for the love you have given me through the Holy Spirit. Help me to use every day as a way to share your love with others who are facing some kind of lack; may I rise to help them spiritually, emotionally, or physically. Continue to form me in your image, Lord. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Intro: A Christian believer is a person who has repented from sin against God and accepted the salvation the Son of God, Jesus the Christ, offers. To be a believer is to reflect the heart of Jesus and his ongoing work of salvation to lead us into abundant faith as we learn to live in the Truth. In Greek, the word “believer” brings with it the understanding of making a deep commitment. Believing in Jesus is about clinging to him as our only hope for abundant life. Sometimes people have the mindset that a believer is someone who ascribes to a religious preference or organization. On the contrary, attending a religious service does not make a person a Christian believer. Loyalty to Jesus makes one a believer. Salvation from sin is a priceless gift from Jesus to believers who desire the new life he offers—to experience life from above (heaven).

In our passage today, Jesus has been talking to a Pharisee named Nicodemus—a Jewish leader—about the new birth or new life that is required to be able to see the Kingdom of God. New life is about regeneration or conversion by the Spirit of God. When we connect to Christ, our perspectives begin to change. Jesus wanted Nicodemus to understand all his education and religious training did not give him this new life; he needed Jesus to save him. You and I need Jesus, too. God did not wait for humanity to turn to him before choosing to love us. Instead, God chose to love us and prepare a way of salvation so with Him we could be safe and sound. How long can we expect to be made safe and sound as we follow Jesus? The answer is for eternity…God’s love for you is limitless! Let that soak into your soul, today.
John 3:16-18 (Amp)

16 For God so greatly loved and dearly prized the world that He [even] gave up His only begotten (unique) Son, so that whoever believes in (trusts in or relies on) Him shall not perish (come to destruction, be lost) but have eternal life.

17 For God did not send the Son into the world in order to judge (to pass sentence on) the world, but that the world might find salvation and be made safe and sound through Him.

18 He who believes in Him [who clings to, trusts in, relies on Him] is not judged [he who trusts in Him never comes up for judgment; for him there is no rejection, no condemnation—he incurs no damnation]; but he who does not believe (cleave to, rely on, trust in Him) is judged already [he has already been convicted and has already received his sentence] because he has not believed in and trusted in the name of the only begotten Son of God. [He is condemned for refusing to let his trust rest in Christ’s name.]

Prayer: Father, thank you for sending Jesus to save the world. Help me to grow in my trust each day as I cling to Christ. I know your love for me has no limits. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Intro: There are many changes going on in our world, today; however, some things in life never change. Some things remain constant like the saving love of God. Another constant is the reality that someone around us every day needs a form of help. This is why we are called to love our neighbors in spiritual, emotional, and tangible ways. We are to care deeply about the well-being of the people in our sphere of influence—in other words, our neighbors. We are to pray for wisdom on how to love them. Do we have a righteous level of concern and mercy for others? Or, in life, do we only position ourselves or a certain group of people as the center of importance?

The Christian faith is identified by what we produce; we are to look like Jesus. If we do not extend care and mercy to our neighbors, we have not genuinely met the God of all mercy (2 Cor 1:3). When we extend mercy to others, we demonstrate we have receive God’s mercy—we reveal a living faith! Otherwise, we are simply making a mental assent to the words of Christ while never attaching faith through acts of obedience. The Word of God is alive and active (Heb 4:12). God sends His children to operate in Christ’s saving faith; when our words and actions are in harmony with the character of Christ. Obedience to God’s Word is the call to every sinner—all of humanity. Who governs our lives spiritually, how we deal with life and people emotionally, and how we choose to live morally are all involved in saving or living faith.

Christ never showed partiality to his “neighbors.” He used his faith to help those whom he knew would welcome him, as well as strangers whom he simply encountered each day. James is not teaching about two methods for salvation. There is only One way to our Holy God and that is through Jesus the Son who offers to forgive our sin and impart to us his righteousness, so we can have personal fellowship with God. Instead, James is teaching us about two kinds of faith: 1) a living faith that saves, and 2) a dead faith that does not. Be a part of what is constant: the saving love of Jesus Christ shared in the midst of a fallen world of sinful and broken people wrestling with the question, “Who do I trust?”

James 2: 14-20 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. 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?

Prayer: Father, may the love and mercy you have poured into me, be released to others, today. May I place you in the center of all that I can be as I love those around me. And, may I be a positive influence for salvation to others through active and living faith. Should you bless me to be that vessel, today, may I tell them about you as my Source. In Jesus’ name. Amen.