"Love and Good Works" - To

 "And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:" (Hebrews 10:24 KJV)

  "Dear brothers and sisters, if another believer is overcome by some sin, you who are godly should gently and humbly help that person back onto the right path. And be careful not to fall into the same temptation yourself. Share each other's burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ. If you think you are too important to help someone, you are only fooling yourself. You are not that important." (Galatians 6:1-3 NLT)

 If you must know, sometimes I get really carried away with certain words, especially those that call us to action. There are certain times when we really don't know what we must do. It is times like that when we really need to stop and pray, asking God to show us how to be humble enough to love, even though we might not like doing it! 

 There are so many different things that set people off and telling them that they are wrong, only makes for more disagreement. Like Jesus said, ""And why worry about a speck in your friend's eye when you have a log in your own? How can you think of saying to your friend, 'Let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,' when you can't see past the log in your own eye? Hypocrite! First get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend's eye."" (Matthew 7:3-5 NLT)

 Therein is the point I was trying to make yesterday, that the, "provoke," which might appear to be a negative thing, is actually a good thing when it involves us, as we are those responsible to consider how we must act and what we most do, even when we might not want to do it! 

 The NLT has that used in a different term, saying, "Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works". Which is all well and good, as long as you are doing the love and good works first, which allows us to show the way, and not just talk about it! 

 Anywho, I am probably the least likely person that can always do what I feel the Lord wants me to do; anytime I plan to be loving and caring, praying to God that He will make me so; the next thing I know, I'm dealing with someone that pushes my buttons, and sets me off! Go figure! 

 You ask God to help you to love, and then He give you a situation where you don't like loving the way that you should; but that is how you learn to love, regardless of how you might feel; you deny yourself and love them anyways... 

"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 and 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." (James 2:14-17 NLT)