Faith is not Works

Last time I wrote on How to Oppose Worry. This write-up is still in line with the last one.

So, we have times when we pray right and get an assurance that it was a done deal, but it appears as though nothing was forthcoming. Today, I want to explain how to use your faith in a way it didn’t [in many ways] occur to you how faith works.

First of all, grace and faith must work hand in hand for the manifestation of God’s provision. Grace is all about God’s provision, that which we inherited by becoming joint heirs with Christ Jesus. Faith, on the other hand, is simply believing that all God has given to you by grace is yours, that simple. So simple but not as simple as it seems based on the results seen, as many struggle to receive what God has given to them.

The funny thing is that we think there is something we must do to receive this grace after becoming born again. But to surprise you, the only work we are to do is simply to believe. Just believe, that’s all, nothing else. God doesn’t need your offerings before His grace is released or else it won’t be called grace. Don’t forget, grace means unmerited favour, that which you don’t deserve. So, from the beginning, we don’t deserve it. In other words, there is nothing you can do to merit what God gave you; this is why it is called grace. All you have to do is receive what God gave you. This act is called faith. But why do we not see these things manifest? [Read: Is Faith a Process?].

One reason why we do not see things manifest is that we think we need to do something before we can receive the grace of God. I see this many times, as we feel we are not worthy to receive the grace of God, so we feel we need to do something. But really, you were not worthy and will never be by works; this is why it is called grace! The only reason God has given it to you is because you were joined with Christ Jesus as one (ref.: Romans 8:17). After all, it was Christ Jesus to whom God gave all things. And because you are joined with Christ as one, whatever happens to Him affects you.

But then again, doubt stands as a hindrance to receiving this grace. Not that God withholds His grace, but we, through unbelief, cannot stretch out our hands to receive. This is because manifestation only happens when grace and faith are combined. In other words, this is called offer and acceptance in the Spirit. And doubt is the lack of acceptance. This is why we need to constantly renew our minds with the word of God (ref.: Romans 12:2).

Now, another crucial thing is that faith moves with speed. In other words, how we receive is based on how fast we raise our hands. Allow me to elaborate. We all received the perfect health of Jesus when we were born again. But how come you break down with sickness, and you declare that you are healed and see nothing done the moment you declare? But you saw another Son of God declare that by the stripes of Jesus, he was made healed, and immediately, he became healed. What did he do that you didn’t?

Your level of belief is the reason. But that doesn’t mean your body didn’t hear you when you spoke. What just happened is that your body’s speed of manifestation is based on your belief. In other words, you are to keep declaring that you are healed for your mind to accept Christ Jesus’ health as a normal way of life. The more you believe this implies you are doubting less. And this means the faster you see the health of Christ Jesus manifest in your life.

Faith is simply accepting all that God has given to you by grace through Jesus Christ. But the manifestation is based on your belief system. Just accept it as true and it will be. The more we fill our hearts with the word of God about who we are right now in Christ Jesus through confession, the faster we see doubt die off and grace manifest faster.

 

Why not accept Jesus today if you haven’t? Pray out loud, “Jesus, I confess that You are my Lord and Saviour. I believe in my heart that God raised You from the dead. By faith in Your Word, I receive salvation now. Thank You for saving me!” Congratulations—you’re born again, and you are now brand new!

                                          

Log on next time.

 

For prayers and comments, send them to the comment section below.

 

GOD BLESS YOU.

 

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Unless otherwise stated, the following scriptures are obtained from the New King James Version (NKJV)

 

How To Oppose Worrying

Have you ever prayed to God for a situation that you felt was urgent, and the Holy Spirit assured you it was a done deal, also strengthening you with the scriptures, but everything around you was shouting to you as it appeared as the opposite? Yes, I have been in such a situation.

The Bible has made us understand that the Sons and Daughters of God are in the world, but not of the world (ref.: John 17:16). So, it should not surprise you that things appear off what the Lord said. Then again the pressure could be so strong that you want to believe the situation wasn’t answered. But right there is where the trick of the devil comes in.

The Bible says in Proverbs 18:21 that death and life are in the power of the tongue. In other words, we could deny ourselves what God has answered based on our words. And that’s what the devil wants us to do by putting things around us to affect our thoughts and not see our prayers answered. But the Bible says in 2 Corinthians 10:5 that we should cast down every opposing thought to the obedience of Christ Jesus. And one powerful way is through gratitude to God for an answered prayer.

Gratitude, in this sense, is an act of faith. It strengthens our trust in what God has already done. And in doing this, we find ourselves not worrying, but resting on the words of God that He has answered our prayer.

The devil deceives using the five senses to make us disbelieve the truth. But when we remember who we placed our trust in and the assurance from His word and the Holy Spirit pointing them to us, all we need to do is to be grateful to God that He has done it. And, of course, we need to walk closely with the Holy Spirit, who will position us to receive this request because the work of the Lord does not seize because we haven’t received an answered prayer. But when we walk closely with the Holy Spirit in His leading us into the truth, we prepare the ground ready to receive the answered prayer.

The prayer was already answered the moment we presented it to the Lord, but God alone knows the perfect time the answer should manifest to our favour and His glory. So, don’t look at the clock, look unto Him in gratitude.

 

Why not accept Jesus today if you haven’t? Pray out loud, “Jesus, I confess that You are my Lord and Saviour. I believe in my heart that God raised You from the dead. By faith in Your Word, I receive salvation now. Thank You for saving me!” Congratulations—you’re born again, and you are now brand new!

                                          

Log on next time.

 

For prayers and comments, send them to the comment section below.

 

GOD BLESS YOU.

 

PLEASE LIKE AND FOLLOW MY BLOG

 

                                                                                                                 

Unless otherwise stated, the following scriptures are obtained from the New King James Version (NKJV)

 

It Happens In Your Hands

There is something remarkable about the feeding of the five thousand, a miracle by Jesus which is the only miracle recorded in all four gospels. So, what did I notice that is so remarkable? Well, it isn’t something quite new, but it is something we need to take note of when dealing with God.

Jesus went to a deserted area to spend time with His Father—God our heavenly Father, but He saw a lot of people who came looking for Him. Jesus, of course, had compassion on them, healed the sick among them, and performed several miracles. It was getting late and His disciples advised that He should dismiss the people so that they could go and get food to eat.

Jesus surprisingly asked His disciples to give the people something to eat. But thinking as typical humans, they concluded that it would cost a lot of money to feed the people because there were more than five thousand people. As the men alone were five thousand, women and children’s actual figures weren’t stated which in total would most likely hit above ten thousand at the least. So feeding them would cost a whole lot.

Now, this is where it gets interesting. Jesus asked them what they had, and they said they only had five loaves of bread and two fish, which belonged to a boy. Jesus said that was OK and requested for it. He raised the bread, looked up to heaven, gave thanks, and began to break the bread and gave it to His disciples to give to the people who were seated in their fifties and hundreds. As we know, when the people were filled, Jesus asked the remnant to be packed together, and it was a surprising twelve baskets full. Wow!

The point I want you to take note of here is that the miracle did not happen in the hands of Jesus but in the hands of the disciples. Remember, Jesus asked them to feed the people. When they didn’t get what He meant exactly, He asked them what they had. He blessed it and gave it to them to distribute.

God has given us the entire world as resources to use for His kingdom as managers here on earth. The question He will always ask you is what resource you have in your hand. The five loaves of bread and two fish were enough because that is enough for Him to show you how to exercise your dominion here on earth that He gave you.

Every time we cry to God to come to our rescue, He always asks what we have in our hands. It is what we have in our hands that we command in the name of Jesus to meet our needs.

Let me elaborate on that. God’s business is to meet our needs, not us. True, we could be in a state where unbelief sets in. When this happens, take what you have in your hand and speak life into it to meet your needs. In other words, you are asking Jesus to release how to make use of the wisdom He has deposited inside of you in the use of the resources He placed in your hands for the right purpose. I hope you got that.

The reason why this is important is that by living the life of a steward or manager here on earth, we use the resources He has given us in the right way to expand His kingdom. In the use of this, we see our needs being met. But as I said, unbelief or doubt could deter us from our focus on Him because we are not seeing our needs being met. In other words, we start thinking like the disciples who were seeing the impossibility of feeding the people. But God always needs us to focus on Him to get things running. So that is why we need to have a resource in our hands, that is, what the resource(s) we use for the work He asked us to do, and then we speak to it in the name of Jesus to be enough to meet the needs required.

Our focus is on His mission, the miracle happens in our hands as we use the resources in His wisdom. And in every case, in the Bible, the miracle happens when we obey Him on how to use the resources, the wine at the wedding at Cana of Galilee, the widow’s oil and many more. Speak to your resource and allow Him to lead you in the right way to use it.

 

 

Why not accept Jesus today if you haven’t? Pray out loud, “Jesus, I confess that You are my Lord and Saviour. I believe in my heart that God raised You from the dead. By faith in Your Word, I receive salvation now. Thank You for saving me!” Congratulations—you’re born again, and you are now brand new!

                                          

Log on next time.

 

For prayers and comments, send them to the comment section below.

 

GOD BLESS YOU.

 

PLEASE LIKE AND FOLLOW MY BLOG

 

                                                                                                                 

Unless otherwise stated, the following scriptures are obtained from the New King James Version (NKJV)

 

Who is the Judge?

I remember being in a class in my first year at the university, the lecturer that day said a tree cannot say it is tall until it stands among other trees. And what he said got stuck in my head since that day. And this is true; many times, we measure ourselves based on the standard we find around us to either justify ourselves or look down on ourselves. But when it comes to the righteous way of life before God, do we look around us to give ourselves a score, or do we look at the person who is righteousness personified?

In Luke 18:9-14, there is the popular parable of a Pharisee and a tax collector who both went to the temple to pray. The Pharisee justified himself based on the people he saw around him, like the tax collector, saying he fasts twice a week, gives tithes, and even compares himself with the collector that he wasn’t like him. The tax collector, on the other hand, just asked God to be merciful to him for being a sinner. Jesus said the tax collector went home justified rather than the Pharisee. Why?

Isaiah 64:6 says our righteousness is like filthy rags. This goes to show that no one ever qualified for God yet except Jesus. If anyone was righteous in the sight of God, then there wouldn’t have been a need for a saviour. So, the purpose of the Law wasn’t to make us righteous, but to show how unrighteous we are and the need for a saviour.

So, the Pharisee who justified himself only said he was less of a failure than the others, but still a failure. That sounds harsh, right? But that’s what we mean when we justify our actions.

Since Jesus was and is the only person who stands righteous before God. He then gave us the perfect spirit which we all receive when we become born again. This is why our righteousness is by grace and not by works so that nobody like the Pharisee can boast. Ephesians 2:8-9 says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, ⁹ not of works, lest anyone should boast.”

It is because of what Jesus has done for us we can come boldly to the throne of grace to obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need, (ref.: Hebrews 4:16).

So, the person who does the righteousness check is not us but God Himself because the only reason we are righteous is by the grace of Jesus. This is because, on our own, we can NEVER be righteous. So, it is all praise and thanks to our Lord Jesus.

I would have concluded my write-up in the previous paragraph. But just to answer some questions that may pop up in someone’s mind if I ended it that way. Someone might conclude that we can never be righteous by our works no matter how hard we try because we are righteous because of the grace of Jesus. So, we can go on sinning because it is grace and not works that matters. NO! That’s not what I mean.

Apostle Paul attended to this mindset in Romans 6, but I’ll quote verses 1-5 from The Passion Translation. It says, “[1] So what do we do, then? Do we persist in sin so that God’s kindness and grace will increase? [2] What a terrible thought! We have died to sin once and for all, as a dead man passes away from this life. So how could we live under sin’s rule a moment longer? [3] Or have you forgotten that all of us who were immersed into union with Jesus, the Anointed One, were immersed into union with his death? [4] Sharing in his death by our baptism means that we were co-buried with him, so that when the Father’s glory raised Christ from the dead, we were also raised with him. We have been co-resurrected with him so that we could be empowered to walk in the freshness of new life. [5] For since we are permanently grafted into him to experience a death like his, then we are permanently grafted into him to experience a resurrection like his and the new life that it imparts.” You can read the entire chapter when going through the scriptures.

So, it is clear that since we have been saved through grace, we now have the perfect spirit of Christ Jesus which in turn is expected to affect how we live through the renewal of our minds (ref.: Romans 12:2). So, the renewal is still a process, but because our righteousness is a free gift from our Lord Jesus, this is why we are righteous.

 

Why not accept Jesus today if you haven’t? Pray out loud, “Jesus, I confess that You are my Lord and Saviour. I believe in my heart that God raised You from the dead. By faith in Your Word, I receive salvation now. Thank You for saving me!” Congratulations—you’re born again, and you are now brand new!

                                          

Log on next time.

 

For prayers and comments, send them to the comment section below.

 

GOD BLESS YOU.

 

PLEASE LIKE AND FOLLOW MY BLOG

 

                                                                                                                 

Unless otherwise stated, the following scriptures are obtained from the New King James Version (NKJV)

Honouring Contracts

Have you ever had a contract between you and another person or company? I’m sure you know that whatever is within the contract is binding, and whatever is done outside the contract is not accepted. Well, I just want to be sure you knew that [smiles].

And so it happened that there was an honourable landowner who planted a vineyard and built a fence around it. He dug out a pit for pressing the grapes and built a watchtower. Then he leased the land to vinedressers and travelled to a distant country.

When it was harvest time, he sent his servants to collect the portion that was due him, based on the contract and being the landowner. But sadly, the vinedressers beat one servant, killed one, and stoned another. The landowner sent other servants, even more than before, but they were treated badly by the vinedressers.

Then, the landowner sent his son to them, believing that they would respect him being the son of the landowner. But the vinedressers saw him coming and decided amongst themselves to kill him being the heir so that they could have the inheritance for themselves. So, they seized him and took him outside the vineyard and murdered him, (ref.: Matthew 21:33-44; Mark 12:1-11; Luke 20:9-18).

This was a parable Jesus told the chief priest and elders after they asked what authority he used in performing signs and wonders. Jesus knew their heart, as their reason was always to get his hands tied to find reasons to get Him killed. But the parable was directed at them.

The landowner was God the Father, the vinedresser were the children of Israel represented by the chief priests and elders, the servants were the prophets of old, and finally, the son was Jesus Christ Himself, telling them how He was going to be killed.

The parable speaks of how the chief priests and elders had gone against the covenant God had between Himself and Abraham. It was this covenant which is a contract that the children of Israel went against. In fact, they don’t understand the purpose of the covenant, because if they did, they would have listened to the prophets who came. And if they followed the Law and the prophets that they claim they followed, they would have recognised Jesus Christ as the person the Law and covenant spoke of, and would have properly understood the covenant God had with Abraham, but they didn’t. They were in for their own selfish interest and greed.

It was going to be a win-win between the landowner and the vinedressers, which was the whole agreement in the first place. But sin comes with blindness, not seeing the benefit of what God has to offer.

As Sons and Daughters of God, we need to know the contract we signed. And once we understand it, we need to honour it, and honouring it is honouring God Himself. No one forced us to become born again. And no one is to be idle, as we all have our purpose in the growth of the kingdom of Jesus Christ.

 

 

Why not accept Jesus today if you haven’t? Pray out loud, “Jesus, I confess that You are my Lord and Saviour. I believe in my heart that God raised You from the dead. By faith in Your Word, I receive salvation now. Thank You for saving me!” Congratulations—you’re born again, and you are now brand new!

                                          

Log on next time.

 

For prayers and comments, send them to the comment section below.

 

GOD BLESS YOU.

 

PLEASE LIKE AND FOLLOW MY BLOG

 

                                                                                                                 

Unless otherwise stated, the following scriptures are obtained from the New King James Version (NKJV)

 

Your Actions Speak The Truth Eventually

There is a popular verse of the Bible from the Epistle of James, although some have misinterpreted this verse, but that’s not my focus today. The verse is derived from James 2:26, which says, “For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.” What this verse means is that faith is shown through our actions. In other words, our actions show us or others what we believe. For instance, if a maths question was explained to a boy, and he was asked if he understood the explanation and he said yes, it is in solving the question that we would know if he truly understood it or not. Faith is seen through our works.

There was a time when the chief priests and elders of the people confronted Jesus, wanting to know what authority Jesus did all they saw Him do. Amid this event, Jesus gave a parable of a man who had two sons. He saw the first one and told him to go and work in his vineyard. The son said he would not go, but along the line, he regretted what he said and eventually went to work in the vineyard. Then the man saw his second son and told him to go and work in his vineyard; his son said he would go but didn’t go. Jesus then asked which among the two did the will of the Father, and they said the first (ref.: Matthew 21:28-31).

Jesus’ point to the chief priests and elders who came to meet Him was to show them that their actions depict where they stand because, on the last day, many of those they call sinners will enter the kingdom of God before them just because they repented of their ways.

Faith is not seen in words but in action. Whatever we claim the Lord has done in our lives is truly seen through our works. We react based on what we believe. The acceptance of all Jesus has given to us is seen in how we work or do things. It is not a thing we can hide; our actions speak the truth, telling us what is in our hearts.

So, just as James wrote in James 2:26, whatever is planted in our hearts will grow for all to see through what we do.

 

 

Why not accept Jesus today if you haven’t? Pray out loud, “Jesus, I confess that You are my Lord and Saviour. I believe in my heart that God raised You from the dead. By faith in Your Word, I receive salvation now. Thank You for saving me!” Congratulations—you’re born again, and you are now brand new!

                                          

Log on next time.

 

For prayers and comments, send them to the comment section below.

 

GOD BLESS YOU.

 

PLEASE LIKE AND FOLLOW MY BLOG

 

                                                                                                                 

Unless otherwise stated, the following scriptures are obtained from the New King James Version (NKJV)

Do You Know Who You Are?

The disciples of Jesus walked with Him for three and a half years. And it happened that there was a time Jesus spoke to them about always forgiving, no matter the number of times the person might offend you. Jesus said they must always forgive the person whenever he or she apologises, even if it is up to seven times.

This was quite different from what they were used to because going by the Law of Moses they followed, it was a matter of “an eye for an eye.” But Jesus told them that no matter the frequency of offences by a person in a day, they should always forgive the person no matter what. This was deep to take in. Then the disciples asked Jesus to increase their faith.

You know, faith is not something that the Lord Jesus could snap His fingers, and the person would just have faith because faith is a personal thing.

Using an illustration, Jesus told them that if they had faith as a mustard seed, they could speak to a mulberry tree to be uprooted and planted in the sea, and it would obey.

To make them understand His point, Jesus asked them if they would wait on their servant who just came back from an errand for the servant to eat first. Rather, the master would tell the servant to bring his food, and when he is done then tell the servant to clear up and then eat. Jesus asked His disciples if the servant would be specially thanked that he did his job, of course not. Likewise, the servant would know his place and that he is privileged to serve the master (ref.: Luke 17:5-10).

Jesus’ point here was to make the disciples understand that when it comes to faith, they shouldn’t beg or be surprised that what was commanded was obeyed because that was expected to happen, as it is a normal thing to happen.

The action caused by faith is an effect meant to happen just as a bounce after a ball is thrown should not be a surprise to the one who threw the ball because it was meant to happen.

As Sons and Daughters of God, when we speak especially in the name of Jesus, it is expected for whatever is spoken to react in line with the command of faith. This should not be a surprise to us, for we know that we speak as one having authority, and whatever was spoken to just obeyed.

Learn to know who you are because that’s how God made man from the beginning, to have dominion over all things on earth, not to talk of Sons and Daughters of God that speak with a higher authority, the authority in the name of Jesus.

 

 

Why not accept Jesus today if you haven’t? Pray out loud, “Jesus, I confess that You are my Lord and Saviour. I believe in my heart that God raised You from the dead. By faith in Your Word, I receive salvation now. Thank You for saving me!” Congratulations—you’re born again, and you are now brand new!

                                          

Log on next time.

 

For prayers and comments, send them to the comment section below.

 

GOD BLESS YOU.

 

PLEASE LIKE AND FOLLOW MY BLOG

 

                                                                                                                 

Unless otherwise stated, the following scriptures are obtained from the New King James Version (NKJV)