The book of James makes it plain that faith without works (an action verb) is dead. When you have faith than you will have action. (Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.)
Acting on God's word can be very simple; it can be as simple as giving a person a glass of cold water for God. The Bible says to visit those who are sick, visit those in prison, visit the orphans and widows in their distress, clothe the poor, give a glass of cold water, it does not say to pray for them! Not inclined to go on the mission field, prison, nursing home, hospital, foster home, or visit a widow? Support a child monthly in giving or a missionary. Everyone can do “something.” Everyone can pick up the phone and encourage a friend once in a while. (In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. James 2:17)
God’s word never came as “alive” to me until I started going into teen’s jail and mentoring a girl who was an orphan with no parents who got in trouble, and putting action to my faith as a believer.
When did we see you a stranger and invite you in or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?' The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me. Matthew 25:38-40
Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world. James 1:27
Want to increase faith in your life? It’s acting on the word. Many times Jesus said, “Take up your bed and walk” when he told someone that they were healed. When Rahab the harlot hid the spies and that was her act of faith. It’s repent and be baptized for the remission of our sins. (Acts 2:38) or repent and believe (The time has come," he said. "The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!" Mark 1:15).
Elijah came to the widow, he told her not be afraid but to give him the last of her oil and cake first. When Elisha healed Naaman the leper, he told him to go bathe in a lake, he was expected a whoop dee doo healing ceremony, not something as simple as washing in a lake to be healed of leprosy. Many people when they get prayed for healing are expecting lightning bolts to hit them or something rather than taking prayer requests by faith that when hands are laid on them according to God’s word they are healed.
Elisha sent a messenger to say to him, “Go, wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed.” But Naaman went away angry and said, “I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, wave his hand over the spot and cure me of my leprosy. Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Couldn’t I wash in them and be cleansed?” So he turned and went off in a rage. Naaman’s servants went to him and said, “My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more, then, when he tells you, ‘Wash and be cleansed’!” So he went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times, as the man of God had told him, and his flesh was restored and became clean like that of a young boy. 2 King 5:9-14
I look at faith as simple acts of obedience to God’s word in my life. What simple acts of obedience does God want me to do? In California, I had a dream that I had a Euchre party and God has spoken to me through dreams a lot lately, so I went ahead and had a party as an act of obedience. The Lord may have wanted the party for something as simple as an encouragement for someone who lost his wife who came.
He replied, "Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it." Luke 11:28
He replied, "My mother and brothers are those who hear God's word and put it into practice." Luke 8:21
Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them. John 13:17
Read the whole chapter of Hebrews 11, and it is the faith chapter and tells you of what people did through faith. Even Elijah was a man with “like” passions as we are and he prayed and the rain stop and then prayed and the rain started. If you quote this scripture, many people will laugh at you, because they don’t believe God’s word, They don’t believe in prayer and the power of God’s word to take authority of the weather even though it’s in the Bible. We don’t take God’s word seriously, but make “light” of it in a crisis. I don't want to be a sceptic. When I lived in Jacksonville, Florida, the Christians were praying for a hurricane not to come through Jacksonville and it skipped over Jacksonville (went out to sea).
Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. James 5:17
If you go to a church or a Bible study where people focus on their weaknesses, most likely you will live in the realm of failure. Paul when he received an abundance of God’s revelation knowledge, was told to focus on the power of Christ, not on his thorn in the flesh.
(But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. 1 Cor. 12:9)
When Jesus healed the lepers, he still told them to go to the priests for purification. Nothing wrong with confirming a miracle through a doctor. I believe in using both prayer and doctors. We see an example in the Bible where a person just sought doctors for a foot disease and he died, but he did not seek the Lord. Part of seeking the Lord is realizing that modern medicine can only go so far, but it’s amazing where modern medicine has gone in treating the manifestation of our symptoms.
In the thirty-ninth year of his reign Asa was afflicted with a disease in his feet. Though his disease was severe, even in his illness he did not seek help from the Lord, but only from the physicians. 2 Chronicles 16:12
The Lord wants us to use moderation in all things in eating, drinking, and what we put in our bodies, and use wisdom in this world ---using this world without abusing it.
And they that use this world, as not abusing it: for the fashion of this world passeth away. 1 Cor. 7:31
If I make a difference in one person’s life like Elijah went to one widow and son so she did not starve, one leper was healed and one prostitute is saved from attack in Jericho or Indiana and my goal is one person a year, than that will make me very happy the next 20-30 years or how longer I live on this planet (there are no guarantees since our life is a vapor that vanishes like a flower). Just one starfish at a time, I am trying to rescue in this life. When the widow woman helped Elijah, her son and she was fed through an entire famine, when the boy gave his fish and loaves, it was multiplied to feed 5,000. A little bit goes a long way in many foreign countries.
This is a story of four people called Everybody, Somebody, Anybody and Nobody: There was some important work that had to be done, and Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it. Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it. Somebody got angry because of this, since it was Everybody's job. Everybody thought Anybody could do it, but Nobody understood that Everybody wouldn't do it. It ended with Everybody blaming Somebody as Nobody did what Anybody could have done.
Chariots of Fire:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S81SotjWal0&feature=related
Acting on God's word can be very simple; it can be as simple as giving a person a glass of cold water for God. The Bible says to visit those who are sick, visit those in prison, visit the orphans and widows in their distress, clothe the poor, give a glass of cold water, it does not say to pray for them! Not inclined to go on the mission field, prison, nursing home, hospital, foster home, or visit a widow? Support a child monthly in giving or a missionary. Everyone can do “something.” Everyone can pick up the phone and encourage a friend once in a while. (In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. James 2:17)
God’s word never came as “alive” to me until I started going into teen’s jail and mentoring a girl who was an orphan with no parents who got in trouble, and putting action to my faith as a believer.
When did we see you a stranger and invite you in or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?' The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me. Matthew 25:38-40
Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world. James 1:27
Want to increase faith in your life? It’s acting on the word. Many times Jesus said, “Take up your bed and walk” when he told someone that they were healed. When Rahab the harlot hid the spies and that was her act of faith. It’s repent and be baptized for the remission of our sins. (Acts 2:38) or repent and believe (The time has come," he said. "The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!" Mark 1:15).
Elijah came to the widow, he told her not be afraid but to give him the last of her oil and cake first. When Elisha healed Naaman the leper, he told him to go bathe in a lake, he was expected a whoop dee doo healing ceremony, not something as simple as washing in a lake to be healed of leprosy. Many people when they get prayed for healing are expecting lightning bolts to hit them or something rather than taking prayer requests by faith that when hands are laid on them according to God’s word they are healed.
Elisha sent a messenger to say to him, “Go, wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed.” But Naaman went away angry and said, “I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, wave his hand over the spot and cure me of my leprosy. Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Couldn’t I wash in them and be cleansed?” So he turned and went off in a rage. Naaman’s servants went to him and said, “My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more, then, when he tells you, ‘Wash and be cleansed’!” So he went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times, as the man of God had told him, and his flesh was restored and became clean like that of a young boy. 2 King 5:9-14
I look at faith as simple acts of obedience to God’s word in my life. What simple acts of obedience does God want me to do? In California, I had a dream that I had a Euchre party and God has spoken to me through dreams a lot lately, so I went ahead and had a party as an act of obedience. The Lord may have wanted the party for something as simple as an encouragement for someone who lost his wife who came.
He replied, "Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it." Luke 11:28
He replied, "My mother and brothers are those who hear God's word and put it into practice." Luke 8:21
Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them. John 13:17
Read the whole chapter of Hebrews 11, and it is the faith chapter and tells you of what people did through faith. Even Elijah was a man with “like” passions as we are and he prayed and the rain stop and then prayed and the rain started. If you quote this scripture, many people will laugh at you, because they don’t believe God’s word, They don’t believe in prayer and the power of God’s word to take authority of the weather even though it’s in the Bible. We don’t take God’s word seriously, but make “light” of it in a crisis. I don't want to be a sceptic. When I lived in Jacksonville, Florida, the Christians were praying for a hurricane not to come through Jacksonville and it skipped over Jacksonville (went out to sea).
Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. James 5:17
If you go to a church or a Bible study where people focus on their weaknesses, most likely you will live in the realm of failure. Paul when he received an abundance of God’s revelation knowledge, was told to focus on the power of Christ, not on his thorn in the flesh.
(But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. 1 Cor. 12:9)
When Jesus healed the lepers, he still told them to go to the priests for purification. Nothing wrong with confirming a miracle through a doctor. I believe in using both prayer and doctors. We see an example in the Bible where a person just sought doctors for a foot disease and he died, but he did not seek the Lord. Part of seeking the Lord is realizing that modern medicine can only go so far, but it’s amazing where modern medicine has gone in treating the manifestation of our symptoms.
In the thirty-ninth year of his reign Asa was afflicted with a disease in his feet. Though his disease was severe, even in his illness he did not seek help from the Lord, but only from the physicians. 2 Chronicles 16:12
The Lord wants us to use moderation in all things in eating, drinking, and what we put in our bodies, and use wisdom in this world ---using this world without abusing it.
And they that use this world, as not abusing it: for the fashion of this world passeth away. 1 Cor. 7:31
If I make a difference in one person’s life like Elijah went to one widow and son so she did not starve, one leper was healed and one prostitute is saved from attack in Jericho or Indiana and my goal is one person a year, than that will make me very happy the next 20-30 years or how longer I live on this planet (there are no guarantees since our life is a vapor that vanishes like a flower). Just one starfish at a time, I am trying to rescue in this life. When the widow woman helped Elijah, her son and she was fed through an entire famine, when the boy gave his fish and loaves, it was multiplied to feed 5,000. A little bit goes a long way in many foreign countries.
This is a story of four people called Everybody, Somebody, Anybody and Nobody: There was some important work that had to be done, and Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it. Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it. Somebody got angry because of this, since it was Everybody's job. Everybody thought Anybody could do it, but Nobody understood that Everybody wouldn't do it. It ended with Everybody blaming Somebody as Nobody did what Anybody could have done.
Chariots of Fire:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S81SotjWal0&feature=related
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