DOING AND SAYING

Have you thanked Him?

Have you praised Him?

Have you made it your priority to agree and cooperate with Him today?

Have you taken that deep breath and listened for what He has for you today?

1 Timothy 2:1 (The Message)

The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know.

As a Pastor, I get lots of opportunities to “talk”; in fact, I probably “talked” for 12 or 13 hours yesterday. 

I know some of you are glad you weren’t on the listening end of those exchanges.

Right?

Don’t lie.

But you know what I mean right?

In counseling sessions in front of a group or in one on one’s I get plenty of times to “talk the talk”; offer some suggestions, provide a little direction, maybe even fleck it all with a scripture or two.

But like the cliché says, “Talk is cheap”.

And that brings me to this question this morning…

“Do your actions agree with your words? Are you merely talking the talk or are you walking it too?”

As believers and followers of Christ we are called to action and cannot be confined to just “good” words. If our lives don’t reflect our speech, we are missing the mark and missing the point.

And I will be the first to admit my actions and my words sometimes don’t line up. Either my actions are a poor reflection of what I speak into others or worse yet my words are dismal reflection of the job to which I am called. Either way when the talk and the walk don't align, it sends the wrong message to those around me.

Martin Luther King said it this way:

“One of the great tragedies of life is that men (and I will add women) seldom bridge the gulf between practice and profession, between doing and saying. A persistent schizophrenia leaves so many of us tragically divided against ourselves. On the one hand, we proudly profess certain sublime and noble principles, but on the other hand, we sadly practice the very antithesis of these principles. How often are our lives characterized by a high blood pressure of creeds and an anemia of deeds!”

I love that last line, don’t you?

Bible says it this way…

A man (and woman) is justified before God by what he does as well as by what he believes. Rahab who was a prostitute and a foreigner has been quoted as an example of faith, yet surely it was her action that pleased God - James 2:24-25 (PH)

Yesterday I was sitting around the table with some “Rahabs”.  Yes, I was. 

And they were providing “progress” reports.  They are residents of one of our ministry partners.  And what so inspired me was as they shared how they were progressing with their assignments and spiritual growth, it was clear that as they were DOING their FAITH was GROWING!  Their “DEEDS” were validating their “CREEDS”.  They had migrated from merely professing to practicing and it was making a huge difference in their lives.

They were no longer TALKING recovery and restoration, they were WALKING it too!  And that alignment was bringing intense blessing and hope!

That brings me to us today.

Perhaps we too can pay closer attention to what we are doing and what we are saying and work a little harder to make sure they both align?

Remember…

Benjamin Franklin said…WELL DONE IS BETTER THAN WELL SAID…

Let’s do BOTH well today!

I love you all!

OPPORTUNITIES for HOPE