Devotional Song: ... GO TO THIS LINK ... Please take the time to take in a YouTube video of images and lyrics from Steve Green singing … Find Us Faithful … powerfully singing of how our Lord calls us to faithful service in our lives, helping others thru our works to see the love and grace of God.
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Highlight Verse[s]: James 2:24 [ESV] ... 24 You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.
… James, Jesus’ brother, couldn’t imagine one having saving faith in Christ without expressing that faith with works that reflect the character of the Savior.
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Highlight Passage [context]: James 2:14-26 [ESV] ... USE THIS LINK ...
… God, thru James, shows that our good works for the glory of God are expressions of our faith in Christ.
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Reference Passage : … Matthew 5:14-16 [ESV] … USE THIS LINK …
… Jesus preached that kingdom believers would shine God’s light of faith by the works that reflect His love and grace.
Reference Passage : … Luke 4:18-19 [ESV] … USE THIS LINK …
… Jesus’ expressed mission in life should be our mission as well … to reach out in God’s Name and for His glory with works which proclaim God’s love and grace in this life.
Reference Passage : … Ephesians 2:8-10 [ESV] … USE THIS LINK …
… Paul exhorted to Christians that we are saved BY grace THRU faith UNTO good works.
My Devotional Journal: Today's ODB author, Xochitl Dixon, uses a practical - real life - ministry which expresses the love/grace of God to others by washing the clothes of those who can’t afford a laundromat. … The ODB author wrote: A small church in Southern California recognized an opportunity to express God’s love in a practical way. Believers in Jesus gathered at a local laundromat to give back to their community by washing clothes for those in financial need. [see photo] They cleaned and folded clothes together, and sometimes provided a hot meal or bags of groceries for recipients.
I think the photo/logo attached aptly expresses the mission and expression of God’s love and grace thru that ministry, doesn’t it? And that’s what Jesus called us to do as disciples of Christ, … didn’t He; … to carry out His mission in life (see Luke 4:18-19) and to reach out to help others, shining God’s light of love in this ever darkening world (see Matt. 5:14-16)
That’s what Jesus’ brother, James, was so adamant about in the highlight passage; … that those who truly have the saving grace of Christ in our lives, will show that faith by our works, thereby glorifying God in the process. And the Apostle Paul, expressed much the same in teaching that we are saved BY God’s grace, THRU our faith in Christ’s finished work on the cross, which ultimately leads to our expressing that faith UNTO good works in HIs name (see Eph. 2:8-10).
So, what will we be DOING today … and into the New Year … to express God’s purpose in our lives by SHOWING others the love of God as did those folks [again see photo] expressing their “laundromat love.”
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My THANKFULNESS: ... Oh Abba Father, ... thank You, Lord, … for giving us the opportunity to show Your love for others by the way we live out that love in our lives.
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My Prayer Today: Oh Abba Father, ... King Jesus, ... I pray, Lord, that all reading here will join me today, to faithfully fulfill Christ’s mission of love/grace by the way we help others today. … Amen
Blogger Note: Everyday during this year, my daily devotional blogs are influenced by the reading and study of the online devotional blog entitled “Our Daily Bread,” distributed online via email by RBC Ministries. If you GO TO THIS LINK on the date of my blog, you can read/study the ODB blogs; or you can subscribe to the blog via email at that site.</ span>
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