Actions

Believe In Your Heart

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Are we fully committed to putting Christ first in life?  Our actions will always speak louder than our words.  We know we can never be good enough on our own, yet we seem to keep trying to go our own way.  Thank you, God, for your mercy and your grace…because of His great love for us we can return to Him and confess our sins because we believe in our hearts that Jesus Christ is the Son of God who was crucified, died and has risen.  I know I struggle often when I reflect on my own actions…the things I have done and the things I have left undone.  It is at these moments that I imagine with my mind’s eye, kneeling at the foot of the Cross, laying down my sins and thanking Jesus Christ for His sacrifice.  God is with you and me, He loves us and only He can see us through the event in our lives.  Amen.

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“If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.  For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.”

Romans 10:9-10

(This photo was taken in June of 2013 in Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado)

The Fruit Of The Spirit

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The way we think…the words we say…the actions and behaviors we put into practice in our daily life can be built on the nine qualities described as the Fruit of the Spirit.  None of these things cost money, they are free.  It is up to us to choose how we live.  Our best life is one led by God and His Holy Spirit.  Seek Him and live your best each day.  Amen.

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“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”

Galatians 5:22-23

(This photo was taken in June of 2013 while traveling through northern Colorado)

What Matters Most

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Belief.  In the Apostles’ Creed there are three statements that begin with ‘I believe…’  Those statements refer to God the Father, Jesus Christ His only Son and the Holy Spirit.  Faith is a journey and one of the first and most important steps on this journey is to face the question…What do you believe?  Your beliefs guide your values and your perspective and those will drive your words and your actions.  Every day is a new opportunity to feed your mind information about what you believe…no matter what your past has been…start or continue today to read the Word of God and what Jesus Christ said about life, love, faith and hope.  What matters most is what you believe.  May the peace of the Lord be with you.  Amen.

We Believe by The Newsboys

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“If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

Romans 10:9

(This photo was taken in June of 2018 at a lake near Plymouth, Minnesota)

God’s Word…Our Actions

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Do these things connect easily in our daily life?  We read the words of Jesus and others in the bible and we look around at the world we live in and it really is difficult to see it in action.  Or is it?  Actions that reflect God’s love are happening all the time, all around the world every day…the real questions are where are you looking to see God’s love in action and what are you doing in your circle of influence in the world to show God’s love to others?  Just because the news and social media streams are obsessed with sin, evil, darkness and hate does not mean that is all that is going on in the world…it just means we are looking in the wrong places for Him.  Every single person of all backgrounds and expereicnes have a responsibility to show the love of God to others in some way.  If more people had a goal to show kindness, goodness and love to just one other person each day…it would make such a big difference in the world.  May the God’s love flow through you today.  Amen.

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“My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this:  Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for one’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.  Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves.  Do what it says.”

James 1:19-22

(This photo was taken in June of 2013 in Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado)

Actions Mean More than Words

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Have you ever been having a discussion with someone and you told them “I am listening” and yet as they begin or continue to speak your mind begins to wander?  Once they have finished they are looking at you for a response or a reaction…in that moment your actions will truly determine if your statement of “I am listening” was really true.

It is this belief about actions being more important than words that really gets me confused about the explosion of social media…words, words and more words.  Do you notice the items on social media that get the most attention or go “viral” (now there is an action) are the ones with a photo or a video?  Why?  Because they show actions not only words.  This is not to say that words and what you say is not important but words are less important if you don’t have actions to back them up.

There is a song by Rich Mullins entitled Screen Door and that song states “Faith without works is like a song you can’t sing
It’s about as useless as a screen door on a submarine”

Actions can be so much more powerful than words that sometimes just doing something for someone means more than anything you could say.  The bible has many words and usually they are words that are describing the actions of people in the past…so reading it is good to gain understanding of what God wants us to DO.  Then we need to go do it!

Always remember the greatest action in human history is this…

“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.  We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth”.

                                                                                                                John 1:14

That is action…he came into the world to save us……I am off to go pray that God can use me to help someone who needs it today.

If you are interested in learning more about Rich Mullins here is a video from one of his last concerts

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ZNYtYRbH6aI