Welcome to another day the Lord has made that we should rejoice and be glad in. (Psalms 118:24)

Today we’ll examine how our integrity is displayed in our deeds of faith.

In today’s scripture, James 2:14‭-‬17 (NLT), believers are challenged…
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?… Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing,… 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?…So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless.

Consider…
The United States Declaration of Independence begins with, “We hold these truths to be self-evident”. As I read today’s scripture, I thought this is the believer’s declaration of faith, which says, we hold this faith to be self-evident!

Today’s scripture also made me think of the old quote “talk is cheap, actions speak”. I was unable to find who originally said that, however I found a couple of fitting quotes in my search…

• Talk is cheap. Words are plentiful. Deeds are precious. – Ross Perot
• Talk is cheap, let’s go play. – Johnny Unitas
• Talk is cheap. Learn to listen with your eyes. Actions do speak louder than words. Watch what a person does more than what he says. – Robert Kiyosaki

Verse 17 from today’s passage, says faith without deeds is useless. That’s similar to what Jesus said in Matthew 5:13‭-‬16 (NLT)…
“You are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavor? Can you make it salty again? It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless. “You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.

Jesus is telling His followers to be God’s seasoning salt to add His flavors of love and grace whereever we go. And He wants us His flashlights that lead others out of darkness to His marvelous Light! Yet, notice Jesus used ‘salt’ and ‘light’ as illustrations of His expectations for our good deeds!

Jesus’ ministry while clothed in flesh here on earth was filled with good deeds…

• Healing the sick
• Raising the dead
• Feeding the hungry
• Freeing the possessed
• Giving sight to the blind
• Restoring dignity to the discarded
• Teaching those who wanted to learn
• Leading those who wanted to follow

Have you ever noticed that Jesus never had to announce himself? He attracted large crowds whereever He went because of word of mouth about His good deeds. Do our good deeds, for Christ, make others look forward to seeing us?

You see, Jesus knew the secret to reaching and teaching the lost was serving them first. That’s why I believe He told His disciples, and us…
Follow my example: Even the Son of Man did not come for people to serve him. He came to serve others and to give his life to save many people.” – Mark 10:45 ERV

Jesus’ attitude and actions remind me of Theodore Roosevelt’s quote, that ‘People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care’

Seems to me like faith integrity is looking more like Jesus and less like me.

Others can’t appreciate how good God is by what we have, but rather by what we share. People experience God’s goodness when…

• We bless others, so they too can experience His blessings
• We share our gifts with others, so that they can experience the giver of every good and perfect gift.

Indeed others will care more about meeting Who we know, when they experience Him through the good deeds we show.

Our deeds demonstrate the integrity our faith…

• If we believe God is good, we should be good to others
• If we believe God forgives, we should forgive others
• If we believe God extends grace, we should extend grace to others
• If we believe God loves, we should love others

God, and others, know what we know by what we show. Thus our profession of faith should be seen, not heard.

In closing, the Holy Spirit has inspired the following acronym for action-packed faith…

Fruit of the Spirit
Actions
Inspiring
Trust in
Him

That looks like…

• LOVING others
• Spreading Infectious JOY to others
• Being a PEACEMAKER for others
• LONG-SUFFERING or tolerating others shortcomings
• Showing KINDNESS to others
• Being unconditionally GOOD to others
• Being FAITHFULLY reliable for others
• Dealing GENTLY with others
• Exercising and modeling SELF-CONTROL in the midst of others

These expressions of FAITH will show others Who we know and hopefully inspire them to want to know Him too!

Let others see your FAITH today! 🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾

Today’s song is…
Less Like Me

Blessings 4HG (1 Corinthians 10:31)