Put Action behind your faith.....

I read something to our Rock Group families last Sunday and I wanted to share this with you today. This is something that I did not write but came to me via email many months ago. Many of you who know me, know that I carry stuff around that might not be important to anyone else but is important to me. A family that is dear to me gave me a Sermon Journal to write in when we first started leading our Rock Group. You should see it now - pictures of some of "My Kids" that I pray for everyday. Notes and brochures - I even have a sticker on the front that is from one of "my other kids" - she gave me her sticker name tag after asking me about my little book one Sunday after Sunday school. She was very excited to be apart of my prayer journal.

Over the last year or so - I have been really pressing hard to put action behind my faith. I did not want to walk along someone in need and say to them - Call me if I can do anything. I wanted to not wait on them - many times folks who are in need don't even know what to ask for or are too proud to ask for help. So - I made the decision to put action behind my faith and serve folks in a way that I was passing on the blessings that God is blessing me with. Its been an amazing year this last year and I am closer with more people now than ever in my life.
I am thankful for so much......
Enjoy the read....and put some action behind your faith.... there is nothing more rewarding than passing it on.....

Randy~

Getting Practical With Love by Jon Walker
“Little children, let us stop saying we love people; let us really love them, and show it by our actions.” (1 John 3:18 LB)
The heart is the control center of all actions. How you act reflects what your heart trusts. Dallas Willard says, “You can live opposite of what you profess, but you cannot live opposite of what you believe.”
Eventually what you believe will show up in your actions. If you believe God loves you, then you’ll begin to love others. If you believe God forgives you, then you’ll begin to forgive others. Your experience of God results in an overflow of his life into the lives of others.
As we allow the Holy Spirit to continually fill us, we become a spring of his love and life to all around us. John would say we have “rivers of living water flowing out of us.” We become a conduit for the life of Jesus.
The life of Jesus is a practical life. The disciples were expected to live out what they heard Jesus say. Jesus told his disciples they would be known by the way they treated others.
He gets specific in Matthew 25:35-36:
· You gave food to the hungry,
· You gave drink to the thirsty,
· You invited a stranger into your home,
· You gave clothes to the naked,
· You cared for the sick,
· You visited the prisoners,
And this isn’t an exhaustive list on the ways to offer practical help. Jesus constantly provides us with down-to-earth examples meant to get us started.
What now?
· Love language – Make a list of people you love and pray through it, asking God to show you what you can do that will speak love to each person.
· Take initiative – When someone is in crisis, we genuinely want to help, and we’ll say, “If there’s anything I can do, please, just let me know.” Start changing that to express a concrete form of love: “I’m going to do this for you.” Maybe you offer to bring over a meal or watch the children. Perhaps you offer to cut the grass. Maybe you bring a roll of quarters to the hospital so the family can grab snacks and drinks from the vending machine. Be creative – and let the Holy Spirit guide.
· Fake it ‘til you make it – C.S. Lewis said, if you don’t love someone, then act like you do. Eventually the feelings will catch up with your actions.
· Pray – Be still and ask God to show you someone you know who is in need, and ask him how you should help your friend. Seek God about the timing of your help. Ask him to use your act of service to make his presence known to your friend.