Good Works of Obedience

But someone will say to you then, You say you have faith, and I have good works. Now you show me your alleged faith apart from any good works if you can, and I by good works of obedience will show you my faith.

You believe that God is one; you do well. So do the demons believe and shudder in terror and horror such as make a man's hair stand on end and contract the surface of his skin!

Are you willing to be shown proof, you foolish unproductive, spiritually deficient fellow, that faith apart from good works is inactive and ineffective and worthless?

Was not our forefather Abraham shown to be justified (made acceptable to God) by his works when he brought to the altar as an offering his own son Isaac?

You see that his faith was cooperating with his works, and his faith was completed and reached its supreme expression when he implemented it by good works.

And so the Scripture was fulfilled that says, Abraham believed in (adhered to, trusted in, and relied on) God, and this was accounted to him as righteousness (as conformity to God's will in thought and deed), and he was called God's friend.

You see that a man is justified (pronounced righteous before God) through what he does and not alone through faith, through works of obedience as well as by what he believes.

So also with Rahab the harlot--was she not shown to be justified (pronounced righteous before God) by good deeds when she took in the scouts and sent them away by a different route?

For as the human body apart from the spirit is lifeless, so faith apart from its works of obedience is also dead. - James 2:18-26

Last time we we talked about faith, we mentioned that faith without "doing" is dead. Doing in the sense of not only believing God for something, but putting our faith into action.

Today, we see James go in another direction with faith and works. He talks about faith and good works of obedience. Again, we learn that it is not only what we believe that makes faith work, it is the action behind the faith that makes it a working faith.

It is believing and obeying. When God told Abraham to sacrifice his only son, Abraham did not hesitate. Why? Because he knew that God could not lie. He knew that God would keep his covenant with him. He knew and did not doubt. So, it made it easy for him to be willing to give his promised son as a sacrifice.

Look at it this way, when we are believing God for a financial breakthrough and we are selfish with the little that He has already given us, then we are not operating in good works of obedience. If we were then we would know that it is better to give than to receive. We would know that unless we are sewing seed we cannot reap a harvest.

Let's say someone is believing God for a new car or house. However, the one they have is unkept and dirty. If they were operating in good works of obedience then they would know that we must be good stewards with what God has already given us, before He can bless us with more.
There are countless examples I can give.

Here are a few more...

• You are believing for healing, but your eating unhealthy and/or smoking and/or some other unhealthy action...
• You are believing God for a better job, but you are a slacker, or your consistently late, or you never quite do your best...
• You are believing God for a better marriage, but you have yet to submit to your husband, or your a nag, or you complain all the time, or you are dominating and controlling...

I will stop there. The point that James is trying to make is this:

Faith is more than believing. It is doing. It is good works of obedience. It is believing. All of these things together are what make faith alive. All these actions together are what make faith work!

Let's Pray,

Daddy God, thank You for Your life giving Word of Truth. Thank You that You want me to live a life full of joy and happiness. Thank You that through Your Word, You have shown me how to accomplish this. Help me to live from faith to faith to faith that works. Help me to walk out all I have learned. Thank You. In Jesus Mighty Name, Amen.

Healthy Communication

Communication is something every human being must do. This mini devotional will focus on healthy communication in our relationships. Issues, offences, and hurts come up, and we need to be able to communicate our feelings in a healthy non damaging way. If we bottle everything up we are basically a ticking time bomb. And, in prime position for the enemy to work his snake like tactics.

When an issue comes up, or you are hurt, offended, or have any sort of negativity, the FIRST thing we must do is wait and pray. By doing this, we allow ourselves time to pray about the issue. We allow God time to work in US. We allow ourselves to have time to think about HOW we should share our feelings in a healthy and GOD pleasing way. It also allows us the opportunity to see how we may be overreacting...or where YOU may have to apologize...if that is the case.

THEN, you MUST go to the person and express what you are feeling...in love. This is a VERY important and Biblical. (ref. Mat. 18: 15-16, Eph. 4:15)

Healthy Communication Tips:

- PRAY! Preferably WITH the person you are having conflict with
- Share your feelings in love without accusing or character assassination
- Listen with your whole body
- Be respectful, no matter what
- No name calling
- No "you this and you that" type of words. Instead; "I feel this, and I that."
- Stay on topic
- Take a break if it gets heated
- Shelf the subject entirely for a bit if you need to
- Ask a pastor, friend, or elder to be a mediator.
- Pray some more

In closing, you CAN exercise healthy communication on a regular basis! Trust in your God, the Great I Am, and remember, the Lord is not looking for perfection. He is looking for a WILLING vessel! His Grace will do the rest.

Application Prayer:

Daddy God, thank You for the friendships, loved ones, and many people you have placed in my life. Thank you that iron many times must be used to sharpen iron. Please help me to be the woman of God that You created me to be. Please help me to put all of my trust, hopes and expectations ONLY in YOU. Help me to communicate in a healthy way to others so that Your Name is glorified. Thank You, Lord. In Jesus Mighty and Loving Name, Amen!

New Look :)

OK, So I remodeled this blog. :) What do you think?? I LOVE it! I will be posting here more...not just devotionals, but personal thoughts too. :)

I am so EXCITED about my new look! :D

Faith Without Works is Dead

What is the use, my brethren, for anyone to profess to have faith if he has no good works to show for it? Can such faith save his soul?

If a brother or sister is poorly clad and lacks food for each day,

And one of you says to him Good-bye! Keep yourself warm and well fed, without giving him the necessities for the body, what good does that do?

So also faith, if it does not have works, deeds and actions of obedience to back it up, by itself is destitute of power, inoperative, dead. James 2:14-17

The original Greek word for works is ergon (er'-gon) and means; an act, deed, doing, labor, work.

Faith is something that does not stand alone. There must be some kind of "doing" behind it to make it work, otherwise it is dead! Following is an example of faith that works and faith that is dead.

FAITH THAT WORKS:

Mary has just lost her job due to downsizing. She is a single Mother and is in desperate need of a job. She calls out to God and asks for favor in her search for a job. She hits the pavement every day. And every day she prays and believes that God will provide for her and her children. By the second week, Mary gets a job that pays better than the one she lost.

FAITH WITHOUT WORKS = DEAD:

Mary has just lost her job due to downsizing, She is a single Mother and is in desperate need of a job. She calls out to God and asks Him to help her. She looks through the paper and makes a few calls a day. Then she sits on the couch and watches soap operas while waiting for some one to call her. She puts forth no real effort. She just expects it to happen. She then gets angry at God for not giving her a job. After all she asked and believed didn't she?

You can believe and believe and believe and never receive. If you do not step out and DO, then your faith is worthless and dead. Even when we accept Jesus as our Savior, it requires us to step out in faith and confess our sins and believe that we are saved. It requires an action. If we never opened our mouth to confess and receive then we would never have received Salvation.
It is the same for everything that we are believing for....

If we are believing for healing, then we need to be reading books and gaining knowledge about ways to promote healing, or we need to be attending healing services on a regular basis and keep pressing in. Oh, yes! God still heals miraculously today!

If we are believing for a job promotion, then we need to show up for work on time every day and put forth that extra effort. We need to be working as unto the Lord.

If we are believing for a financial miracle, then we need to be exploring practical ways to increase our income and gain wealth. We need to be good stewards with the money that we have now. We need to thankful.

The point is that no matter what we are believing God for, we need to speak it out every day, open our arms to receive, and step out and do (responsibly, of course).

Let's Pray,

Daddy God, than You that You want to keep no good thing from me. Thank You for sending Your Word to teach and help me to understand Your ways. Daddy, I ask that You would help me to slowly but surely build my faith. Help me to live from faith to faith to faith. Thank You so very much for loving me. In Jesus Mighty Name, Amen.

Copyright © Lara Velez

Note: All Scripture is taken from the Amplified Bible, unless otherwise stated. Also, the Webster's dictionary, Random House Thesaurus, Strong's Concordance, and/or The Complete New Testament Word Study may have been used.