The Start of our PracticePRACTICE: How do thoughts impact our actions?
Our actions should show our thoughts to an onlooking world.
Moving from Learning to Balanced.
Part 1 of our Practice
- Commencement: How to evaluate our thoughts and actions.
- Balanced: Our actions proportionally reveal our thoughts and the strength with which we hold them.
- Scripture: When we (also) view the Bible historically, we can learn the peoples in it and learn from their positive or negative examples, as well as see the example of Jesus, that we are to follow..
- Jesus: Jesus’ incarnation, life, teaching, mission, death and resurrection reveals how to live.
- Cultivation: What does good and bad fruit look like?
- Type: We can ask ourselves, what type of fruit is growing and who/what does it look like now?
- Motivation: We can ask, why does it look like that now? What has shaped our actions as such?
- Direction: We can ask, what is that fruit growing into? What areas are being developed in our lives?
- The relationship between faith and works.
- Forced: The contrast many think exists between Paul and James is forced and ignores the context and words used. (Most simply: Paul is addressing Judaizers and the Law, Paul shows how faith is separate from works of the law, James is talking about works as deeds, that automatically come from faith.)
- Revealing: Our works show the world our true beliefs regardless of what we claim.
- Synergy: The reality of following Jesus is that faith can not be removed from works and works can not be removed from faith.
- Culmination: Balance means to constantly learn, trim and grow.
- Learn: As we live and grow in our faith, we will continue to learn more,which can help us better know what our lives are to grow into.
- Trim: In times of dormancy as well as active growing seasons, we can look for good and bad branches and roots that need to be attended to.
- Grow: By setting our eyes on the example of Jesus we will constantly grow and reflect His balance between doctrine and practice.
