July 18th, 21

James says, “How can you show me your faith if you don’t have good deeds?  I will show you my faith by my good deeds” 

George MacDonald a Scottish author, poet and pastor I’ve been reading quite a bit of this year says, 

• When we cease listening to the cries of self-seeking and self-care, then the voice that was there all the time enters into our ears. It is the voice of the Father speaking to his child, never known for what it is until the child begins to obey it.

When I think of ‘good deeds’ I think of ‘obedience’.  Just doing “good deeds” is not what God is after.  He is after so much more.  He is after a real relationship with us, and our real participation with him in what he is doing.  He invites us to walk in step with his Spirit within us

It is only in acting on what we say we have faith in, that we begin to really walk with Christ.  We have to move out of our head and into our hands and feet, responding to His life within us.  It is in this responding to  and participating in the life of Christ, that we are transformed.  It is this journey of obedience that saves us from ourselves.  When we obey we come, more and more, to recognize the voice of our Father,  that was there all the time but which was drowned out by our own willful spirit of independence from him.  Our Father is committed to our transformation and that comes through surrendering to him daily.

It is in this way of obedience, doing the good deeds that He calls us to, that He is seen in the world.  And in this walking with Him, our trust and faith in him grows stronger.

Begin to do the next thing that your Father has laid before you.  Do it with a trust in his loving care for you.  Step out.  Let your faith move from your head to your hands and your feet.  In this way, as you participate with him, your confidence will grow and your faith will be strengthened.

You are loved!