Praise the Lord! I pray everyone is enjoying the blessings of God. I myself am blessed just to be able to be here addressing you all right now. Two nights ago some drug crazed man tried to kick my front door down, he apparently in his confusion mistakenly came to my door seeking drugs. It was about 4a.m. and the noise startled me out of my sleep. I yelled at the guy and threatened to call the police and he left. It shook me up at first and for a minute I even thought about getting a weapon to keep in my house, then I realized two things, One: I had gone to bed that night without praying and anointing myself as usual and two: I remembered whose I am and whom I serve and how many times He has delivered me from worse situations. I then called my wife and we talked and prayed finally I went went back to sleep. The devil is a liar!
When studying about faith in the bible one of the most quoted scriptures is in Ephesians chapter 2:8-10
8For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
9Not of works, lest any man should boast.
That is pretty clear, our salvation is based on faith not works so no man can say he saved himself because of what he did. Then the next verse says
10For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
This may be confusing to some, they might say Gods word contradicts itself but is this really true? The point of the matter is that we can't work our way into heaven, no matter how many tracts we give out, how many doors we knock on, how many big offerings we give and how many "hail Mary's" we say, it is our faith or lack there of that determines where we will spend eternity. Faith in what? you might ask, first we must believe there is a God and that He sent His only begotten son to live and to die on a cross so that we, sinful man, could be redeemed back to God so that we could stand before Him justified, Justified by what? by our faith in these things. How then do we show that we have this Faith that the bible speaks about? this is where works come in. The above scripture talks about how those who believe are created "unto good works" Not works to build ourselves up but works "ordained" by God for building up His kingdom and to give Him Glory. "Faith without works is dead" James 2:19-21 states
19Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.
20But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?
21Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?
15If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food,
16And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?
17Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.
18Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.
Faith is not just something you have it is something you demonstrate, it is an action word. Unfortunately some in the body of Christ say they believe and that they trust God but at the same time they are always whining and complaining and at the first sign of trouble they have an anxiety attack. "Is there anything to hard for God?" The answer is no! Is God soveriegn? the answer is yes! We have to stop talking about faith and start being about faith. The next time I speak to a Christian brother or sister about what I'm believing God for and they tell me " that's all well and good but God gave us common sense" I'm going to throw up. I tell people God is dealing with me about something and they ask me "how do you know it's God maybe it's the devil talking?" I'm going to cry. Demonstrate your faith, study Gods word and stand on what it says. It's not works that save you but it is works that show you are truly saved.
God bless you all, Brother Darrell, A Watchman
When studying about faith in the bible one of the most quoted scriptures is in Ephesians chapter 2:8-10
8For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
9Not of works, lest any man should boast.
That is pretty clear, our salvation is based on faith not works so no man can say he saved himself because of what he did. Then the next verse says
10For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
This may be confusing to some, they might say Gods word contradicts itself but is this really true? The point of the matter is that we can't work our way into heaven, no matter how many tracts we give out, how many doors we knock on, how many big offerings we give and how many "hail Mary's" we say, it is our faith or lack there of that determines where we will spend eternity. Faith in what? you might ask, first we must believe there is a God and that He sent His only begotten son to live and to die on a cross so that we, sinful man, could be redeemed back to God so that we could stand before Him justified, Justified by what? by our faith in these things. How then do we show that we have this Faith that the bible speaks about? this is where works come in. The above scripture talks about how those who believe are created "unto good works" Not works to build ourselves up but works "ordained" by God for building up His kingdom and to give Him Glory. "Faith without works is dead" James 2:19-21 states
19Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.
20But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?
21Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?
Abraham demonstrated his faith by obeying God believing He would work it out somehow. Going to church on Sundays is by itself an act of Faith albeit a basic act of faith. As we take those basic early steps of faith God expects our faith to grow stronger as we go from experience to experience in Christ.
James 2:14-18 states it plainly
14What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him? 15If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food,
16And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?
17Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.
18Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.
Faith is not just something you have it is something you demonstrate, it is an action word. Unfortunately some in the body of Christ say they believe and that they trust God but at the same time they are always whining and complaining and at the first sign of trouble they have an anxiety attack. "Is there anything to hard for God?" The answer is no! Is God soveriegn? the answer is yes! We have to stop talking about faith and start being about faith. The next time I speak to a Christian brother or sister about what I'm believing God for and they tell me " that's all well and good but God gave us common sense" I'm going to throw up. I tell people God is dealing with me about something and they ask me "how do you know it's God maybe it's the devil talking?" I'm going to cry. Demonstrate your faith, study Gods word and stand on what it says. It's not works that save you but it is works that show you are truly saved.
God bless you all, Brother Darrell, A Watchman
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