James was the the half-brother of Jesus, and in his epistle chapter 2, he makes these statements from verses14-18: 14. What doeth it profit,my brethern, though a man SAY he hath faith, and have not works? Can faith save him? 15. If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, 16. And one of you SAY unto them, Depart in peace, be ye filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doeth it profit? 17. Even so faith, if it hath not works, is DEAD, being alone.18. Yea, a man may SAY, thou hast faith, and I have works; show me thy faith without thy works, and I will show thee my faith by my works. A multitude of people SAY they are Christians. A person can SAY anything, but that statement does not necessarily mean that it is true. A person my SAY he loves you, but what does his actions show? Our words are meaningless without actions to back up what we say. Some people SAY that they love you, but their actions dispute what comes out of their mouths. And a person my SAY they love you, but they willingly embarrass you, provoke you, and have no problem treating you with distain. I have preached in the slums of Nairobi, Kenya, in Canada, Mexico, all over the U.S., Jamaica, and here in Honduras. I must say, a lot of those sermons was, in my opinion, probably the worst that has been spoken. But, there was times when they was not too bad as well. Some of the best sermons a person can speak is not with words, but with actions! What kind of sermons are you giving? You see, each one of us who call ourselves Christians, is in reality, preaching. Maybe not with words in a pulpit, but the way we live our lives! You may SAY you have faith in God, but is your works an example of that faith? I must confess something here, when this project began about building that home for that family, I had some serious doubts that it would come to fruition. The first time I entered their old home, I was shocked by what I saw! To think that people had to live in such conditions in this day and age, and with a 2 year old daughter, dumb-founded! When Cesar and I left that house that day, I SAID “WE HAVE TO DO SOMETHING!” The next day we went and bought that family some food because they didnt have ANY, NADA, not even salt! Then God put it in our hearts to begin soliciting money for that family, which, by the way, I absolutely HATE to do!!! After about 3 weeks of asking for donations, I began to wonder if we would see the end product of our pursuit, and that was to give this family a new home. There was about 8 people who responded, to whom I give a standing ovation for the generosity they exhibited by giving. When the house was completed and the last photo taken, and with a choked up emotion I said: “ I want to THANK YOU ALL for the work you have done in giving your time and effort for this project. It could not have been done without YOU.” I cannot recall the EXACT words, but that was the essence. And it could NOT have been accomplished without the response of those 8 people, and wouldnt have even begun! I showed the photos to that family, and they was dumb-founded, and all they could do was sit there and shake their heads in amazement, they had no words. I told them that I loved them, and there was people in the U.S. who loved them even though they did not know them or would ever see them before they get to glory. Our works PROVED what we SAID! There used to be an old saying in times past, and it is this: Actions speak LOUDER than words. What are your actions saying about YOU? Are they an example of Jesus Christ? Are they speaking of the love that you SAY you have? In the last words of James 2, in verse 26, we see these words: “For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith WITHOUT WORKS IS DEAD.” GBU, SAINTS!
Posted on: Mon, 06 Oct 2014 07:43:08 +0000
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