Happy Friday Friends!
I hope and trust this post finds you having a great day and an awesome week coming to a close for you. It has been absolutely beautiful in Arizona this week. After a cold snap a couple of weeks ago - hey, we got down to 28 degrees 4 nights in a row! - things have been better than "normal" with temperatures actually hitting 80 earlier this week. Come on, I know those of you in the Midwest and East are jealous!
For the last couple of weeks I have been wrestling with something. If we know what we should do or if we know what we shouldn't do why don't we do what we know we should do and why do we do what we know we shouldn't do? (It's o.k. if you want to read that one again; took me forever to type it and I had to re-read it to make sure I said what I wanted to say!). Kind of silly isn't it?
How many times have you read quotes, words of encouragement from people who we have achieved great things? We read things like, "pursue your dreams" or "you never fail until you fail to try" or "you miss 100% of the shots you don't take" and the list goes on and on. Truthfully, it is limitless. Try it; google quotes about purpose, pursuing your dreams, inspiration, etc. You will come up with more quotes than you will be able to read in a day. So why do we read these things, see these things and then have a conversation with ourselves that goes something like this; "oh, that is really good. Heck, that is so good I am going to share it with all of my friends on Facebook. Yeah, I am going to pursue my dreams. I am going to go for it. Yes, I will rise up every time I have a failing moment!"? By the end of the day we are trying to remember that great quote/thought, we vaguely recall that it had something to do with our goals, our dreams and doggone it, as we drift off to sleep we are bound and determined that we are really going to do it...tomorrow. Isn't it silly? Isn't it true?
What if we really decided that we would do the things we know we should do and if we didn't do the things we know we shouldn't do? How different would our lives be? How much joy would we have in our lives? How much stronger would we be, individually & collectively? I wouldn't propose that we attack each one of these things in a day, perhaps 1 a week...if your lists are anything like mine.
James 2: 14 - 26 has always been a favorite scripture of mine - it speaks to my heart.
"What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, "Go in peace; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds." Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that- and shudder. [That one always gets me...even the demons believe there is one God - and they shudder!]
You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. And the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness," and he was called God's friend. [I want to be called God's friend!]You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone.
In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead."
Faith AND deeds! I want that to be me. I hope that will be me and you. Each one of us will make several deed choices every day of our lives. I hope we choose to do what we know we should do and I hope we choose to not do the things we know we shouldn't do. One way or another, we are going to make a choice.
As I began typing this message I thought this last, short little question I wanted to ask all of us was a separate topic. I just realized that in fact they are directly related. My question for all of us, "What will your legacy be?" You see Friends, you and I are leaving a legacy for our families, for our friends, for our co-workers, for those we know very well and for those who we hardly know at all. What is that legacy? If we look at where we place our faith and the daily deeds of our lives, we can easily answer that question.
Please let me know if there is ever anything I can do for you or your families. I will always be willing to help you any way I can.
Have a great day, a wonderful weekend and please cherish your precious families and friends.
Kev
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