Remember Your Face Listen To What The Bible Says Then Take Action And DO It

Hello and welcome to Social Media Ministries. My name is Spencer Coffman. Thank you so much for tuning in today. If this is your first time with us, thanks so much, we are happy to have you here. Feel free to check out our channel trailer and also read the description below to find out a little bit more about who we are and what we stand for.

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Today we are talking about kind of an interesting topic, an interesting message. Pretty much it has to do with whether or not you look in the mirror and remember your face. Do you know what you look like? Later on, do you remember what your face looks like? If you saw a picture of yourself later, do you know it is you? I would hope so, I really hope you do, I hope you know what your face looks like.

Unless you grew up in a time when mirrors were hard to find, but even then they used polished pieces of stone or metal and they knew what they looked like. Everyone wants to see themselves in the mirror. Everyone likes to see their face; they want to know they look good and you remember what you look like.

You might say, ‘Well why the heck are you talking about this? Why do we care about the mirror and who looks like this? Of course, I remember what I look like. This is pretty lame and boring.’ But there is a point, and I am getting to it right now.

First another story, when you were a child, did you have parents who would say something about doing something or inflicting a punishment, and then that never really happened or didn’t follow through? I know maybe you don’t remember it for yourself because we tend not to remember that, but you probably remember your siblings not getting the punishment that your parents said that they were going to enact upon them.

Or perhaps you’re a parent and you can think of a time or two where you have told your child if you don’t stop that, then this is going to happen, and they didn’t stop that to test the boundary and of course, you didn’t make that happen because you said it in the heat of the moment and so then they know you didn’t follow through with that.

Or maybe you work with kids and you can surely think of an example that fits what I am trying to say here and that is someone saying something is going to happen or they are going to do something and then not following through.

Now what does that have to do with looking in the mirror and forgetting your face? Well to link those two topics together, we are going to turn to the Book of James. If you have your Bible please turn with me to James.

If you don’t have your Bible right now or if you are not in a position, maybe you are driving, then please look it up later, but otherwise, I will read it to you right now so you get the understanding and the idea. But I still want you to look up the references which will be in the description below.

So James Chapter 1 Verses 22 to 25, go to the back of your Bible. Find Hebrews. James will be right after that. It is pretty much toward the end of the Bible.

Now here we go, James 1:22-25, “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in the mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.”

That is a lot right there. What does it all mean? We are gonna unpack it. First off to tie together, looking in the mirror and following through, if you listen to the word but do not do what it says you are deceiving yourself.

You are like someone who looks in the mirror and forgets what they look like; you’re not a doer. You’re not following through. You’re not living what you are supposed to be doing in listening and then following through, like the parent that didn’t follow through with something they said.

Now what does this mean? Okay, if you don’t do what it says, it is like someone who looks at their face in the mirror [then] goes away and immediately forgets what they look like. That is pretty silly. How could you look at yourself and immediately forget? It is very very far-fetched, it is kind of absurd, no one is that dull, that they look at the mirror and bam, oh my, what do I look like? No, people are not.

I mean, maybe there are some people that are that stupid, but there really can’t be that many people that are that stupid, and that is the point that James is making here. He says, if you listen to the word and don’t do what it says, you are like someone who looks at their face in the mirror and can’t remember what they look like.

Basically, if you listen to the Bible and you don’t act on it, what are you, dull, dense, stupid? Pick your word. You are like the person who looks in the mirror and doesn’t remember what they look like.

Okay, so whoever looks intently into the perfect law, the Bible, that gives freedom and continues in it—so you look in it and then you continue in it—what does continu[ing] in it mean? Keep looking at it? No, it means internaliz[ing] it in your life, start externalizing it and doing it, not forgetting what you have heard, but doing it.

They will be blessed in what they do. What does that mean? Well if you are doing what the Bible says, you are going to be blessed. It’s when you do things the Bible says not to do, that you are not blessed.

For example, look at the Israelites. How many times did God tell them to go do this or go do that, go into the Promised Land – ‘oh no we are not doing that’ – well you are not going to be blessed. 40 years in the desert.

The day they go into the Promised Land, bam, Joshua’s plowing through cities, taking over everything. Why? Because he did what God told him to do. He heard. He listened. He externalized and did. He was a doer.

So you’re not only to listen to the Word, which is the Bible. You need to also do what it says. Do we got that? Listen to the Bible and do what it says. Now does that mean you can’t read the Bible because you have to listen to it? No. It means take what is in the Bible into your brain, understand it, and then externalize it. Do it.

If you only read the Bible and leave it at that, it’s not going to do you much good. It’s like looking at yourself in the mirror and forgetting what you just looked at. It is like looking at your owner’s manual for your car and then not applying any of the methods used to drive the car. Putting together your TV stand with the instruction booklet or the Lego for your kid with the instruction booklet but not following any of the steps in the booklet. What happens?

You can put together something, a little truck with Legos, follow these steps, it looks like the end most of the time. You decide, ‘You know what, I am going to look at this instruction and make sure I don’t do any of those steps. So if it says put piece A on piece D, okay I got to make sure A doesn’t touch D, and make sure you do not follow any of that.’ You read it but you are not following it.

What is going to be the result? You’re going to end up with something completely different, something way out there, something no good and kids are gonna be like, ‘What the heck is the matter with you? You can’t follow the directions. It is very simple, it is right here, you read it, you listened to it, but you didn’t do it.’ Kind of silly. Therefore do it.

What would happen if you follow those directions? ‘Wow, you created this really nice Lego truck, and your kid is so happy, blessed.’ Why? [The] kid is happy, you are happy, follow the directions, [and] everything is good. The Lego worked out, blessed in what you do. Follow the directions here, and you will be blessed when you do it.

Moving on, think about the last time you purchased a workout program, and you bought the DVDs or whatever you bought, or a gym membership; Six months later you are still overweight, [and] you are not in shape. What is wrong?

Well if you bought the program it is not going to help unless you do the work. You gotta do what it says to do. Okay, my workout says 20 sit-ups, 50 push-ups,[and] that is good. I read it, I listened to it, [and] move on. No, you got to do the work.

What the Bible says to do, you have to do, and you will be blessed. You want to work out, you want to get in shape, if you get an instruction program, a fitness plan and you just read it, but you don’t do it, you will not be blessed in your work. Meaning you will not achieve the results that you wanted to achieve, you will not lose that weight, you will not get in shape.

This concept is everywhere. James is telling you that if you buy a workout program, and you read or you watch the DVDs, but you don’t physically do it, you are kind of an idiot. Not even kind of, you are.

If you buy Legos, and you are going to put them together, and you read the instruction booklet and then don’t follow it at all, that’s stupid. If you have the Bible, and you are reading your Bible or you are going to church and listening to the words, but you are not putting it into practice in your life, same exact concept.

You are not going to get anywhere if you don’t use the tools, that is the bottom line. You need to use the tools God gave you in order to achieve the results, that not only you want to achieve, but that God wants you to achieve. You need to be doers of the word, that is very very important.

Look at the Bible and look at yourself in the mirror; when you leave the mirror do you remember your face? I hope so. When you leave the Bible, do you remember to do what it says? I certainly hope so.

What are some things that the Bible tells you to do? Maybe you don’t know. Well get it out, start reading because it’s very important, but some basic things, sharing the Gospel with others.

Man, you start doing that, looking for ways to share Jesus, whether it is simply clicking a button below and sharing this to your Facebook profile, or whether it is sending an email to someone saying, ‘Hey check out this message, tell me what you think,’ or whether it is paying for someone in line and saying, ‘Hey I’m passing it on, do the same.’ You are sharing what God has given you, love, joy, peace, finances, whatever it is.

When you do stuff like that, you will be blessed in what you do. I know that I want to be blessed, a blessing from God is unbelievable if you have never experienced it. Simply take a look at your life, think of the good that has happened, think of the times when you were like, ‘Whoa this was unbelievable.’

Maybe you went to the store to get something and the last one was right there, ‘Thank you, God.’ Maybe you got a front-row parking spot, nice, whatever the case may be. Blessings are all around.

Let’s check out one more verse, it is also in James, we are going to go to James Chapter 2 Verses 14 to 18. I have two more verses actually before we do James, put a pause on that one, let’s go to Luke Chapter 6 Verse 46. This is a Verse that I really like.

It says, “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?” God is telling you what to do. You call Him your Lord, Your savior, and you don’t do. Why would you do that?

“I will show you what he is like who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice. He is like a man building a house who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock, when the flood came the torrents struck the house, and could not shake it because it was well-built. But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like the man who built his house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck, it collapsed and its destruction was complete.”

House on the rock, house on the sand. You have probably heard the story. If you take what Jesus tells you to do, and you call Him your Lord, then you need to be externalizing it.

Let’s turn to James 2:14-18, “What good is it, my brothers if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food, if one of you says to him, ‘Go, I wish you well; keep warm and fed,’ but does nothing about his physical need, what good is it? It is in the same way, faith by itself, if not accompanied by action, is dead. But someone will say, ‘You have faith; I have deeds.’”

Think about that. This is another very very blunt straightforward point. Suppose a brother or sister, what is a brother or sister? Your literal brother or sister? No, a brother and sister in Christ, so it is more than just a stranger, someone you know is a believer, they are without clothes and no food, maybe homeless, living on the street – something, whatever – they have got nothing; they are down on their luck.

You might say, ‘Hey good luck out there man.’

‘Okay, great, thanks, your words help.’

Your words do nothing, so if one of you says to him, ‘Go, I wish you well’ but does nothing about the physical need, what good is it? If you read these words but do not do them, what good are they? Not much. You gotta do what it says.

Hopefully all of these examples, the points have made that point very very clear; you need to be doers of the word. Faith by itself without action is dead. You can have faith. You can call Jesus your Lord and Savior. You can read the Bible, but if you don’t do, you’re like the foolish man who built his house on the sand. [It] washes away.

You are like the person who looks at yourself in the mirror and forgets what they look like. You don’t follow through. You are not living up to what you are supposed to do. Stuck in the desert 40 years, go to jail, do not pass go, do not collect $200.

You want to live a good life, you want to be blessed in what you do? Faith with action, boom. Call Him Lord, Lord, and do what He says. Live out what you read, externalize the information you have internalized and you will be blessed in what you do. I don’t know about you, but I definitely want to be blessed in what I do.

Let’s pray. Thank you, Lord Jesus, for this time together. Thank you for the Book of James and for the straightforward hit-the-nail-on-the-head type of a blunt object that really gets the point across, that it’s very easy to understand, and we can see the connections, but I know Lord that it is harder to follow and do.

I ask that you give each and every one of these people the opportunity to do; have them read or listen or hear something in the Bible that they can think about and say, ‘Oh I can see that. I can do that.’ Whether it is giving someone clothing or food or shelter, they read that, they hear it, they say, ‘I can do that.’ They can help a brother or sister out, and then have them do.

Give them the courage, the initiative, [and] the drive to be people of action. To call you Lord, and to do what you say, because we know faith without action is dead, it is useless. Why would we have all of this if we aren’t going to use it? You gave it to us so we can use it.

Lord, give us the opportunity and help us make the connection that when you give us that opportunity, we see it and recognize the opportunity, and then act on it so that we can be brothers and sisters in Christ and people of action, that we can be doers of the word. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

So I really hope that you got the point, that you will go out there, that you will continue to read the Bible, talk to God, learn more, not only do for yourself but also do for others and help others do as well. Internalize all of that information, but then start to externalize it.

It could be as simple as clicking a share button below, that could be your first action. Why would I say that? You say, ‘Oh he is just promoting.’ No, it is a very very easy way for you to start sharing this word with others. If you don’t want to do that, that is fine, do something else, the point is do. God bless.