Happy New Year

How fitting a quiet time for New Year's Day

James 2:
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.

Faith here I think it is talking about what I believe in my heart - actual faith - and how I let my beliefs become good intentions, and my good intentions become inaction, replaced by the business of the day, a moment of self indulgence, and an "I deserve it" attitude.

I was listening to Charles Stanley the other night talk about how Christians have perverted worship(worship being living a life focused on God's will and living every moment of every day to that end) to be all about themselves - I think that is the real trap - the "I deserve it" line. Self esteem replacing esteeming others more highly, self- reliance replacing dependence upon God's grace

18 Now someone may argue, “Some people have faith; others have good deeds.” But I say, “How can you show me your faith if you don’t have good deeds? I will show you my faith by my good deeds.”

19 You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God.[f] Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror. 20 How foolish! Can’t you see that faith without good deeds is useless?

21 Don’t you remember that our ancestor Abraham was shown to be right with God by his actions when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see, his faith and his actions worked together. His actions made his faith complete. 23 And so it happened just as the Scriptures say: “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.”[g] He was even called the friend of God.[h] 24 So you see, we are shown to be right with God by what we do, not by faith alone.

This is a hard concept to grasp and I always had trouble with it until a few years ago. We don't earn our salvation - Ephesians 2 - and we are saved by grace - yet we do not sin so that grace may abound - Romans 8 - so then how does James jive with the rest of the Bible.
Surrender - what was the one thing that Abraham wanted more than anything else in the world? A son, yet when God asked he was willing to give that up, to please God - his actions were an outward reflection of an inward attitude of servanthood. Surrender is really really hard. I would like to believe that when I surrender something to God he will actually let me keep it anyways - like Abraham and Isaac - BUT in reality - surrender means I will let it go even if it is taken away, because it is what my God wants, my obedience, my surrender to His will in my life.

The cool part of all that is that I don't serve some sadistic jerk in the sky - I serve The One True God - and He wants what is ultimately best for me, by giving up I gain confidence, I gain clarity, I gain reliance on God, and God gives me more and more grace - to continue to grow and serve Him.

His grace allows me to come to Him, allows me to turn over any stronghold in my life, and gives me the strength and peace to keep going even though even the hardest times.

If that isn't cause for a Happy New Year - I don't know what is.
Thank you God for Your mercy and for Your unceasing goodness to me. I do not deserve it, I can not earn it - and You give it anyways.
Thank You.