James 2:14-22(NKJV) 14What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? 15If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, 16and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? 17Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. 18But 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. 19You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble! 20But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is £dead? 21Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? 22Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect?
In our time this week, we have been adding the element of corresponding action to our faith in the promises of God and in the power of words. Mark 11:24 tells us that we must believe that we receive the answer to our prayers of faith when we pray them. If we ask God to move on our behalf, we need to be ready to act in accord with what we believe. James 2:26 tells us that faith without works, or corresponding action is dead.
The examples James uses of the works faith requires are Abraham offering Isaac and Rahab hiding the Israelite spies in Jericho. In each case, they believed the word of God, but it was necessary that they do something because of what they believed. Their actions would not make sense to the natural mind. If God did not move in their circumstances, their actions would lead to bad things. However, God did move and both of these people effected history.
I want to be sure you understand that actions we put to our faith usually involve some kind of risk. We looked at Peter walking on the water to Jesus. He had to get out of the boat and put his life at risk if he was going to do as Jesus directed. When he wavered Jesus was there to help him. I believe he will be there to help you as well but I also believe that the Lord puts his people in local churches so they body can help as well. If you believe you need to act on your faith and there is risk involved, go to your pastor or leaders and get counsel. They know you and can help determine if you are acting in faith or acting prematurely. You will have to act on your faith to do great things, but you are not alone.
I want to close this week by looking at three types of corresponding action that must be in place if we are going to walk by faith. The first is what we have been studying to this point. If you have a promise from God and you have prayed for God to move you will eventually have to act as though that promise is true. If you are sick, you may have to get up and go to work even though you do not yet feel healed. If you are pressed financially, you may have to give something you do not feel you can give. If you are struggling with depression, you may have to offer up the sacrifice of praise which is the fruit of your lips giving thanks. (Hebrews 13:15)
These are all corresponding actions. They all involve types of risk and they all go against the flesh. The actions vary from person to person and situation to situation. One problem we saw as we were learning these things is that God will tell someone to act in a given way and others assume that is what they need to do. I have heard stories of people who gave away cars and God blessed them with a better car. Someone hears that, thinks I will give away my car and they end up walking because God did not tell them to put that particular action with their faith. You need to listen to the Lord. Sometimes the actions are obvious and sometimes they are more subtle.
God will not ask you to act beyond the faith you actually have. He will deal with you where you are at the moment. For some, giving one dollar is a big action while others may give one hundred dollars. The important thing is that we obey to the best of our ability. Sometimes I just ask myself, “What can I do right now?” I look at the situation, find what is comfortable for me to do and then try and go just a little farther so that I am stretching. Sometimes the action we must take is to stand. Ephesians 6:13 tells us that when we have done all we can do, we need to stand. There are times when not going backward is all the action that is required. None of this is a formula. It is all based in a relationship.
In James 2 we read about giving to those who are in need. Although I believe that the context of this scripture points to something more than doing good works for people, I also believe that good works is included. If we want to be able to act on the promises of God for healing, prosperity or victory, we must be acting on our Christianity in terms of helping others as well. Charitable deeds are part of the directive of Jesus and Paul to the church. We are to help the needy. We are to share what we have. We are to demonstrate the love of God to the world. That is what Jesus did. If we do not have those actions in place, how can we expect to take bold actions on the promises of God? The one will lead to the other.
The third type of corresponding action that must be working in our lives is found in James 1.
James 1:22-25(NKJV) 22But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; 24for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. 25But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.
In the early days of learning these things, sometimes people thought they could boldly act on the promises of God even though they were not walking in everyday truth. They were not “doers of the Word” when it came to dealing with sin or walking in righteousness, forgiveness and holiness. They were rebellious against authority and unfaithful to the house of God. They would come to me and say, “I acted on the Word, but it didn’t work for me.” I would have to tell them, “You can’t choose which words you are going to act on. You have to be a consistent doer of all the Word you have been taught. You have to walk right and live right before you can start taking bold faith actions!”
That applies to every one of us. I am not saying we have to be perfect. No one has ever been perfect except Jesus. What I am saying is that we need to let the Word of God rule our lives to the best of our ability. If there is a bible truth you are not walking in, you need to repent and do your best to start walking in that truth. If there is a sin in your life, you are going to have to start acting in faith to overcome that sin before you start acting in faith to change your world.
For instance, if you want to give in order to receive a specific financial need met, you need to be giving consistent tithes and offerings. If you are doing that, you can sow seed for a specific promise and it will produce. There are exceptions to this. God may ask someone who has never given to start by sowing for a need, but for the most part, we need to be consistent givers.
I was praying about holiness once and I felt the Lord said something important to me. I know that we cannot be perfect. I have proven that all too often in my own life. I was troubled because there were things I was trying to deal with and I was not being as successful as I wanted. As a pastor, I knew that I was not alone in this. The Lord said to me, “I am not so much concerned with the times when you try and fail in walking in holiness. I am concerned with those who do not care enough to try.” If you want to be able to act on the Word of God by faith and see things change, it is important that you care enough to do your best to walk upright before God and the world. We must be doers of all the Word, not just the parts we like.
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