stmatthew
02-12-2007, 10:29 PM
The bible says that faith without works ( a response or action) is dead.
I have been thinking upon this the last few days. If I plan to have a harvest of corn, no matter how much I believe that I can have it, until I respond to faith with action, I will never see the first sprout. To have true faith for a harvest, I must PLANT in hope. But I am not finished. I must cultivate and weed, and tend the garden if I expect to fill the crib. I cannot just "claim it" done, in Jesus name.
As I look back to my own life as a young christian, I was often guilty through ignorance of thinking if I could just have enough faith that God would step in and do it all for me. That I could just sit back and "wait on him" to perform. But I have come to realize that without works, all the faith in the world will not move god into actions.
God expects each of us to be doers. If it is healing you have faith for, do something that demonstrates your faith that God has healed you. Take up your bed, and walk. Your actions the saying says, "speaks louder than words". Don't just sit while the seed remains in the sack. Take it out and go plant it. Cultivate it. Water it, and in due season, you will reap a harvest.
The only key I can give to "working" your faith is something I read some time back concerning a preacher. During a time in his life, as he lay in bed dying, He related that a young came to his house, climbed on top of him, and rebuked the sickness in Jesus name. After the young man lift, this man stated that he figured that someone that was healed would not remain in bed, so he got up, got dressed, and having went downstairs, found a service call waiting for him (he was a plumber). The key, as I see it, is that we vision ourselves with the need met, and then act that way.
I have been thinking upon this the last few days. If I plan to have a harvest of corn, no matter how much I believe that I can have it, until I respond to faith with action, I will never see the first sprout. To have true faith for a harvest, I must PLANT in hope. But I am not finished. I must cultivate and weed, and tend the garden if I expect to fill the crib. I cannot just "claim it" done, in Jesus name.
As I look back to my own life as a young christian, I was often guilty through ignorance of thinking if I could just have enough faith that God would step in and do it all for me. That I could just sit back and "wait on him" to perform. But I have come to realize that without works, all the faith in the world will not move god into actions.
God expects each of us to be doers. If it is healing you have faith for, do something that demonstrates your faith that God has healed you. Take up your bed, and walk. Your actions the saying says, "speaks louder than words". Don't just sit while the seed remains in the sack. Take it out and go plant it. Cultivate it. Water it, and in due season, you will reap a harvest.
The only key I can give to "working" your faith is something I read some time back concerning a preacher. During a time in his life, as he lay in bed dying, He related that a young came to his house, climbed on top of him, and rebuked the sickness in Jesus name. After the young man lift, this man stated that he figured that someone that was healed would not remain in bed, so he got up, got dressed, and having went downstairs, found a service call waiting for him (he was a plumber). The key, as I see it, is that we vision ourselves with the need met, and then act that way.