Wednesday, June 7, 2023

We are in the fourth and final week of our series, The Butterfly Effect. The premise of this series is that a seemingly small gesture can yield historical effects, and we saw how this theory played out with Susanna Wesley, Harriet Tubman, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and William Tynsdale.  

Throughout this series, we learned that Susanna, who raised her children in extreme poverty, taught them through her actions and one-on-one time to prioritize Jesus and have a strong and active faith. Harriet led slaves to freedom. Dietrich’s faith was so strong that Jesus led him to repeatedly risk his life by standing up against Hitler in order to help the Jewish people. William fought to have the Bible available in English to everyone. These spiritual giants brought glory to Jesus and some even died for their beliefs. These amazing people changed the world, and their memories and actions live on, continuing to impact our lives today. 

I am in awe of their deep faith in Jesus, who led them to put their faith into action under very difficult circumstances. Faith is defined as living your life relying completely on Jesus and trusting in his infinite power, intelligence, and love to lead you to do his will. Andy Rectenwald put it this way:

Sincere belief produces significant action.

In other words, if we have faith in Jesus and believe that he is the Messiah and our Savior, we will be changed. We will be so filled with gratitude for all he has done for us and all he will do for us that we will gratefully serve, love, and sacrifice for others. Jesus' great love and peace will flow through us and we will be his light in this dark world.

I’m not sure if any of us will be called to sacrifice our lives for Jesus, but our faith always requires sacrifice, and I pray we are all able to obey him when it's hard. Jesus calls us to love people and encourage them. It could be something as simple as a smile and hug. It could be cleaning someone’s house, taking a meal to a family, sending an encouraging note to someone, or giving your testimony to a friend. What is Jesus calling you to do today? 

Remember that, although we are saved by grace through faith, faith without works is dead (James 2:26).

James 2:14-17
¹⁴ 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? ¹⁵ Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, ¹⁶ and you say, “Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well”—but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do?

¹⁷ So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless.

Questions: 
How have you put your faith in action? Why is faith without action useless?

What is God calling you to do today?

Next Steps:
Mark your calendar for Serve Day on July 22, 2023. Make a list of what God is calling you to do for others, and make a plan to do it.

Prayer:
Jesus, I am so overwhelmed by these amazing people of faith. I thank you for all the faith-filled people you have put in my life and how they mentor and encourage me. Increase my faith and help me to put it into action. I am so grateful for your love, joy, and peace. I am most grateful you willingly died on the cross and rose from the dead to save me. Thank you, Jesus. May your love, joy, and peace radiate through me to others. Amen.

Series Theme Verse:
Luke 8:15
And the seeds that fell on the good soil represent honest, good-hearted people who hear God’s word, cling to it, and patiently produce a huge harvest.