What is Faith without Works?

The Lord has been speaking to me heavily about "Faith without works is dead" in James 2; and how He wants His children to have the full assurance of understanding (Colossians 2:2) about the works He is referring to. Society deems works as things like putting in a lot of hours on the job, setting goals and striving to reach them, pounding the pavement to achieve one's dreams or even doing "good deeds". While those may be practical steps involved, believers should understand that the world's idea of working hard is not the Lord's ways. 

"Works" is not about the specific acts themselves, such as ministry and doing good deeds; works is about putting the faith you say you have, into action. Putting works to your faith means trusting the Lord to do whatever He instructs you to do. Let's look at verses 21 & 22 "Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect?" The Lord broke this down to me as the perfect representation of His intended works. Abraham said he trusted the Lord. When the Lord tested his heart to see if his trust in God would prevail; it wasn't just words with Abraham. He said he trusted, and he followed through by doing what the Lord asked of him.

Here are a few examples that may apply today:

- If you say you trust the Lord in the area of relationships then He asks you to leave the person you're with, and you don't; you haven't put works to your faith. 

- If you say you trust the Lord to provide for you financially then He asks you to quit your job, and you don't because you're concerned about paying bills; you haven't put works to your faith.

- If you say you trust the Lord to heal you of sickness then He asks you to stop taking the medicine, and you don't because you think you need it; you haven't put works to your faith.

- If you say you trust the Lord to bring to pass your calling then He gives you instructions to help prepare you but you don't receive it and do them; you haven't put works to your faith.

To sum up; If you say you trust the Lord, but you don't listen when He speaks; you've just revealed you don't trust Him. If you say you trust the Lord, but you don't do what He says; you've just revealed you don't trust Him. His ultimate desire is for you to trust Him fully and completely, in everything; even things we don't recognize we need Him for. It's not always easy to trust Him right away; especially if you've believed wrongly about something for so long. But every time you open your heart to your good father and say yes, you're deepening the trust and intimacy. Let us not be deceived into thinking we are more zealous for God than we are, simply because we say we have faith; but let us put the faith we say we have into action and do what He's asking us to do. (Proverbs 19 and Romans 10)

The only way your faith will increase is to use it; follow through and do the thing you say you trust God for. He wants to show you He is faithful, but He can't if you won't let Him.

RESOURCES
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