← The Wake-Up Call
The Wake-Up Call
The Mirror of the World
00:12:50
In this episode, the central message is that faith is meant to be lived, not just heard. Drawing from the book of James, the conversation explores how Scripture acts like a mirror, revealing the condition of our hearts and inviting us to respond with real transformation. The episode also reflects on the relationship between guilt, shame, and grace, emphasizing that God's love calls us to change through surrender rather than self-effort. The discussion also highlights the role of the Holy Spirit in helping believers align their words, actions, and daily choices with what they profess to believe. Through personal reflection, worship, and journal prompts, the episode encourages listeners to examine where their faith and actions may be out of sync, and to rely on God's mercy for ongoing growth. Overall, it is a practical and encouraging message about spiritual maturity, obedience, and living out a faith that is visible in everyday life. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Sing along...
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So Nation. It's Wednesday, August 5th in the year of our Lord 2026. I'm Luann Riley and this is your wake up call. We are on day three of walking through some of the verses and scriptures in the book of James. I have loved being with you and being in this space with you and meeting Jesus with you. I kind of feel like after yesterday I wanted to show up with beef jerky, but that' not what I would normally choose for my breakfast this morning. But maybe some of you did. But just thank you for journeying with us and being here together as we continue to look at the book of James. So let's enter in this morning with consecration. Wake up sleeper. Rise from the dead and Christ will shine on you. Jesus, I belong to you. I lift my heart to you. I set my mind on you. I fix my eyes on you. I offer my body to you as a living sacrifice. Jesus, we belong to you. Praying in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen. So now we'll go to God's Word together. So hear the word of the Lord. We will be. In James, chapter one, verse 22 through 25, it says this. 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 someone who looks at his face in a 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 heard, but doing it, they will be blessed in what they do. So maybe you've had this happen to you. Have you ever told someone what to do? Given an instruction, maybe your child or a coworker or a friend, and they nodded and said, got it, but then didn't do anything that you ask. And it made you wonder, did they even actually hear me? Well, James says that our relationship with God works the same way. We might listen to sermons or read scripture, go to Bible. We know all the right answers. But hearing God's word and actually doing what it says are two very different things. James says, do not merely listen to the Word and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. And this word deceive here matters because James is warning that what can actually happen to us is that we can fool ourselves into thinking that we're growing spiritually just because we're learning more more knowledge or more information. We might know more verses, we might underline verses, we might fill Our Bibles with notes, but never let the truth actually change us or change how we live. Warren Wiersbe, who I quote a good bit in my teachings. He puts it this way. Too many Christians mark their Bibles, but their Bibles never mark them. Think about that one for a moment. Too many Christians mark their Bibles, but their Bibles never mark them. That one can land close to home. Because God's word isn't just information that we collect. It is a truth that is meant to shape us. It should change how we speak, how we forgive, how we serve, how we respond, how we spend, how we love, how we treat people around us. And James gives us this clear illustration, this example that we can understand. He says that hearing the word but not doing what it says is like looking in a mirror and then walking away, forgetting what you saw. Imagine getting up in the morning and you go to the mirror and you see that your hair is sticking up, that there's toothpaste on your shirt, that there's breakfast in your teeth. The mirror shows you the problems, but instead of fixing them, you just shrug and walk out the door. Well, that would be ridiculous, because the purpose of looking into the mirror was so that you could fix things. But spiritually, we do this all the time. Scripture shows us where our hearts are off track. It reveals bitterness that we've excused pride we've held onto words that hurt others or someone God wants us to love. But then we close our Bibles and then we go on as if we never saw it. And the mirror's purpose isn't to shame us. God doesn't show us what we need to change to embarrass us. He does it because he loves us too much to leave us the same. So the question isn't what did I hear today? It's what will I do with what God has shown me? Maybe that means saying sorry, forgiving someone, watching your words, helping someone in need, or finally taking a step that you've been putting off. We don't grow just by hearing more truth. We grow by living out the truth that we already know. So let's not walk away from the mirror unchanged. Let's stay long enough for God's word to mark us, to let it move from our ears to our hearts, from our hearts to our lives. The world doesn't just need people who know what Jesus said and needs people who are willing to do what he says. Won't you join me in praying, faithful God? You know how easily we can listen or hear your word without allowing it to change us. We learn and we agree, but sometimes we still walk away unchanged. Jesus, don't let your word remain only in our minds. Let it move deeply into our hearts and to shape the way we speak. Love, forgive, serve, respond, mark us with your truth, shape us by your spirit, and make us more like Jesus. Amen. So a couple journal prompts for this for today. The first is this. Where do your words or actions fail to reflect the faith that you profess? And how might God be inviting you to love, forgive, serve, or show mercy more fully? I think about this idea that James puts here about how we look at God's word and it's like a mirror, and it shows us the places that we need to grow. It shows us the places that we have room in order for God's grace to transform us more. And I think sometimes we can kind of respond two ways to those things. Sometimes we can feel a lot of guilt and shame over our failure in that we see something in scripture and we know. We know that that's what we're supposed to do, and yet we don't. And so we can fall into this pattern of guilt and shame, and that can be paralyzing to our faith sometimes. We can take a look. We can become overwhelmed, we can think, well, this is too hard. I could never change this. And that is where the Holy Spirit comes in and changes our lives. Because in our own power, in our own strength, we can't just decide to will ourselves to change. And that's not what James is saying, is that when we see those spaces, that is the Holy Spirit's work, opening our eyes and our ears and our hearts to his Word. And that same spirit is what will empower us to grow in those places. And so it's not a do hard, try more, do better. It's rely more, it's surrender more, it's commit more. It's to be open to growing and changing as we continue out our walk. And so if you feel any type of guilt or shame about how you've approached scripture or things that you haven't been unable to change, I just want to free you from that today. There's grace and mercy and forgiveness for that. And so the Lord is ready to meet you in that place and continue to help you grow. And now we will transition into our beautiful time of worship this morning and Bethany Johnson's gorgeous singing
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Good Morning, Sower Nation. My favorite part of a movie is not the beginning, it's not the middle, it's not the end. It's how the movie was made. If you're ever watching a movie with me, I'm that friend who's googling how a scene was made right as the credits are rolling. The same goes for me for how songs were composed. One of my favorite hymns, Blessed Assurance, Jesus Is Mine, has an incredible beginning. It was written by Fanny J. Crosby, who was blind. She wrote thousands of hymns, and her friend Phoebe, the composer of the tune, played the melody for her. And she asked Fanny, what does the melody say to you? And immediately Fanny says, blessed assurance, Jesus is mine. And then proceeded to come up on the spot with the first verse. Incredible. I am assured through every story that I have in my life that I can say Jesus is mine, Jesus is yours. We can rest in that today. Please join me in singing hymn 570, Blessed Assurance, Jesus is Mine, from our seedbed hymnal. Our great Redeemer's praise.
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Blessed assurance Jesus is mine O what a foretaste of glory Divine heir of salvation A purchase of God Born of his spirit Washed in his blood this is my story this is my song Praising my Savior all the day long this is a pious story this is my song Praising my Savior all the day long Perfect submission Perfect delight Visions of rapture now burst on my sight Angels descend in a bring from above Echoes of mercy Whispers of love this is my story this is my song Praising my Savior all the day long this is a pious story this is my song Praising my Savior all the day long Perfect submission All is at rest I in my Savior am happy and blessed Watching and waiting Looking above Filled with his goodness Lost in his love this is my story this is my song Praising my Savior all the day long this is my story this is my song Praising my Savior all the day long
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Amen for the Awakening. I'm Bethany Johnson.
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I'm Luann Riley, and we'll see you on the field.