TODAY’S SIGNATURE VERSE ••• Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him! (Psalms 34:8 NKJV)
PRAISE & PRAYER PROMPT ••• Last weekend, I started an online Cake Camp. I follow an Instagram baker who is self-taught, and she makes the most incredible cakes. She’s very generous with her recipes on her website, and they taste as amazing as they look… It was a toss-up between taking this class or a class on decorating cookies… I figured I had less room for taste-testing with cakes and could give them away. It’s a creative outlet for me on Sundays after church.
Because I like to cook and bake, I can make the cake from scratch… that’s not really my challenge. As a former Pampered Chef consultant of mine used to say, “I can make it taste as good as it looks in the picture.” But it’s the decorating that I find intimidating. So that’s the focus I have for Cake Camp over the next three months… learning to make cakes that are as beautiful as they are delicious.
I think there’s a definite art to baking something delicious but also pretty. I don’t know about you, but is there anything as disappointing as to see a gorgeous, magnificent cake and order a piece — and find that the taste is like cardboard?!
And that’s the point of this week’s blog. Are we visually doing all the right things? Is the condition of our heart sweet? Or dry and bitter? But if the condition of our heart is good, shouldn’t it be reflected on the outside? For a successful and productive Christian life, the two go hand in hand.
James said it best in James 2:18, “But someone will say, ‘You have faith, and I have works.’ Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.” What he is saying is that when our faith is real, it will be manifested in the choices we make and the way we behave. We can’t say we love God and then never demonstrate kindness to others. Our actions speak louder than our words. And if we mean what we say about the transformative work of Christ in our lives, then we will allow Him to use us to show others.
Let’s flip back a few books to see what James’ big Brother, Jesus, had to say… “By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35). It’s as the hymn says, “They will know we are Christians by our love.”
When we love others, we outwardly show the truth of God’s love in us. And as we know from 1 John 4:8, “God is love.” When Jesus told us to demonstrate our love to others, He wasn’t asking us to do anything He wasn’t willing to do Himself… “In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another” (1 John 4:9-11).
Just as we want a beautiful cake to be delicious, so should we want to make sure that when the world sees us — they get a taste of Jesus. In doing so, we invite them through our faithful actions, “Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him” (Psalms 34:8).
Today, as you pray, thank Jesus for modeling perfect love toward you. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you live boldly on the outside as you say you believe on the inside. Ask Him to help you show others the hands and feet of Jesus.
SHARING ••• My Grace-Full Life is written by Denise Heidel. You are welcome to share anything I write, but please credit my writing and graphics accordingly. Visit www.MyGraceFullLife.com to read past blogs. Subscribe through my website to have My Grace-Full Life delivered to your email. You can unsubscribe at any time. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are from the NKJV translation.
