Kristi Burchfiel

Go and Do, Day 9 How do your beliefs translate into action? Read James 2:19. Just this one verse today, but it’s a good one that is left in with all the discussion regarding how your faith should translate into works. Here we see that belief and faith are not te same thing. James says that the demons actually believe in God. They believe, but the only action that produces in their lives is a trembling. They have sense enough to tremble, but they don’t turn in repentance. Their belief doesn’t grow into faith. Their faith doesn’t blossom into action. What comes from our belief? What does it produce in…

Go and Do, Day 8 Is your faith on life support? Read James 2:14-18. Here, James makes his most direct statement yet. Faith that does not produce works is dead. James indicates that if we are not actively demonstrating our faith, then it’s not real and alive within us. When we take a look at the faith we have in Christ, how tangible is that faith? Can we examine it based on our actions? Do we make decisions and take steps based upon the faith that we say we have in Christ? If the answer is no, we have to conclude that our faith may be on life support. We…

Go and Do, Day 7 Mercy triumphs over judgment. Read James 2:12-13. It’s always such an interesting thought that mercy triumphs over judgment. We are a society and a people that are very much focused on judgment for other people and mercy for ourselves. We want people to only judge us based on our intentions, not based on our actual actions. However, we judge other people based on their actions and not their intentions. The idea that mercy is greater than judgment is not one that is very prevalent. Yet God demonstrates mercy toward us. Because of Jesus Christ, we have the ability to be forgiven. We can follow him…

Go and Do, Day 6 It only takes one. Read James 2:5-11. I can’t count the number of people through the years who have yold me, “I’m not a sinner. I’m not that bad.” However, James disagrees. It’s not a scale of how bad you are. It’s a yes or no question. James reiterates in the verses today that it only takes one sin. One thing done wrong makes a person completely guilty. For our society that prides itself on tolerance and love, this seems harsh. After all, shouldn’t there be grace and tolerance made for accidents? Don’t our intentions count? The bottom line is that sin is sin and…

Go and Do, Day 5 Treat everyone like Christ would treat them. Read James 2:1-4. James gives this mandate in the first verse and then spends the next 3 verses giving an example of what he means. It’s such a relevant example, because I’ve seen this happen even in my own day and time. People treat some people better than others based solely on their appearance. Knowing that James was experiencing this during his day just reminds me that people really don’t change that much from time period to time period. The core elements of sin and our sinful nature are just the same for us today as they were…

Go and Do, Day 4 “What you do is what you believe and everything else is a lie.” Read James 1:22-27. I still remember when my husband came home from a conference and told me that statement. He told me that the speakers had all been running behind and so by the time it got to one of the speakers, they didn’t have hardly any time left for him. My husband said the speaker calmly got up on stage, apologized for the lack of time, then said, “I really only have one thing to say to you anyway. What you do is what you believe and everything else is a…

Go and Do, Day 3 What does your anger produce? Read James 1:19-21. Every emotion that we have produces something both in our own life and in the lives of others around us. When we are happy, we can produce happiness in others. When we are encouraging, we can produce joy in others. However, the Bible here says that when we are angry with human anger, one thing we do not produce in others is God’s righteousness. Sometimes it can be easy to feel that we have the right to be angry about something, and that when we act in that anger, we’re doing a good thing. After all, it…

Go and Do, Day 2 We are responsible for our own temptation. Read James 1:9-18. When things are going badly and we’ve made bad choices, it becomes really easy to try to find something or someone to blame. Nobody wants to think about the fact that we are the cause of our own difficulties and struggles. However, sometimes we are. If our struggles are a result of our poor choices and sinful nature, then we have to accept the fact that it was our giving in to the temptations that led us to where we are today. We have to take ownership of the responsibility that we have. We are…

Go and Do, Day 1 Just do it! Read James 1:1-8. James may be one of the most practical books in the Bible. If you are looking for a list of “do this, don’t do this,” to help you on your Christian walk, James is the place to start. As the brother of Jesus, James was near the Lord and saw him growing up, but did not fully believe in him until after Jesus’s resurrection. James understands what the practical needs are to ensure that people are going and doing everything that they need to be. The Christian life is about our love of Christ. But, how can we truly…