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James 2:21-24 (NLT)
“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.”
Regardless of what your past may look like or what your current set of circumstances may be, nothing can compare to the love of God being activated by right actions and faith in Him. It’s like what happens when we put the key in the ignition and turn it; the motor begins to run and we start moving in the right direction. Trust and believe, it will never be enough for us to go to church on Sunday, pray, and then go back home inactivated. We should be learning to activate our faith through doing what God requires of us. This is such an important step to tapping into the flow of His blessings. Many of us are becoming disillusioned and disappointed, and it is because we are looking to others to do what God has assigned as our responsibility. It’s unpopular to say, but we are not hitting our stride by coupling our doing with our faith. This is one of the reasons why we’re not seeing things move in the direction we want.
Any time that we go near subjects like this, sisters will tell us, “God accepts me just the way I am. I’m not perfect. He made me, and He looks beyond my faults.” His grace is amazing and all of us know it, but at what point do we look honestly at our lives and figure out that things have stalled. Heavenly Father is our sufficiency. He provides for us, but obedience is non-negotiable. So, when it comes to monuments of unity and love like marriage and family, God is beyond on point. No, He doesn’t expect us to walk around like zombies with the bible in our hands 24/7, but He created us with a purpose in mind. He expects us to be an on-purpose, proactive, vigilant people with a loving attitude when it comes to honoring Him and His Word. We expect this from all our relationships, so if we expect it, we’ve got to present it to our Creator first and foremost.
There is no way we can lose out if we put all our trust in God. In Psalm 91:1, David invites us to sit down in the presence of the Almighty God. Just the thought of this really knocks your socks off. To think that we can come before the throne of the Most High God and stand in His presence is almost too much to take, but because of Christ we have this great privilege and honor. David said that when we sit at His throne and hang out there in our minds and hearts, we’ll be enveloped by His shadow; and in His shadow, blessings fall like apples from a tree. There are more blessings than we would know what to do with. You want to make the most out of your life, this is how you do it. You stay at the throne.
In Psalm 91:2, David encourages us to declare “God, you’re my refuge. I trust in you and I’m safe!” Trusting Heavenly Father is everything, and we can’t say that we do, and then flake out on His Word. He wants a very intimate relationship with us, and tells us that the way to build this intimacy is to simply trust Him and what He says. Abraham was called a friend of God because of the honor he had for God’s Word. He received divine instructions, and followed them. What about you? Are you listening to God’s instruction? Are you following where He leads? Are you doing the things in your life that will crystalize your efforts and turn them into magnets for the blessings you seek?
This is not the kind of encouragement that is for those who are satisfied with things as they are. This is for the sister that knows there is so much more available to her and she won’t stop until the manifestation of her efforts are realized. Just remember that your faith must be mixed with the love of God, and love is the greatest action word in the human vocabulary. Love is not stagnant. It is active, and when you are activated in God’s love, things cannot help but change.■
Scripture taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
“Not by Faith Alone”, written by Kim Times, edited by Reverend Fran Mack for Sundie Morning Sistas ©2017. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord! SMS is dedicated to inspiring and encouraging Christian Women through the Word of God.
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