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If you been following along you have an idea of what faith and works are:
1. Faith is trusting in Jesus to keep His promises and living in a manner that is consistent with that trust or faith.
2. Works, in this verse, are those things that we do to try and earn or deserve God’s acceptance.

“For by Grace you have been saved”, now, what is this thing that we see in Ephesians called Grace? The Greek word for Grace is “Charis” and is most often defined as “unconditional gift”. We could spend a lifetime trying to figure out what this magnificent thing called God’s grace is. Grace is so awesome, unexpected and undeserved. God’s grace in the area of salvation is that if we put our faith in Jesus we are forgiven of all our sins and receive the guarantee that we will go to Heaven and spend eternity with Him. In other words, Heaven is actually a free gift to those whose faith is in Jesus! To truly understand God’s Grace, you must understand God’s love first.

In the New Testament, there are three important words that are translated from the Greek into the word “Love”.

1. Storge: This is the type of love signifies the natural affection between family members. 
2. Phileo:  This Greek word for love signifies, to be a friend to…fond of an individual or object; having affection for; a matter of sentiment or feeling.
3. Agape: This Greek word for love appears most frequently in the New Testament.  It is most often understood in the Bible as “unconditional love”, or a choice to love.

Agape love is a love that is the outcome of a moral principle, rather than a feeling of liking or affection. As a result, Agape love means to love the undeserving, despite disappointment and rejection. At no time, does it mean to love as a duty or a cold religious obligation.

Parents of children can appreciate this kind of Agape love. No matter what the children do, no matter how they may disappoint you or hurt you… you still love them and want the best for them. That is the kind of love God has for you. No matter what you have done, no matter what kind of person you have become… God sent Jesus just for you! Romans 5:8 says, “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us”.

God’s nature is Agape love, 1 John 4:8 tells us that, “He who does not love does not know God, for God is love”. This doesn’t mean that God is capable of love, it is more than that. He is the embodiment of Love! Everything He does is from the perspective and motivation of Agape love. God loves His creation even when the creation rejects Him. This kind of love is quite foreign to our life’s experience. Honestly, most of us have experienced a performance type of love. If we are “good” we experience love. If we are not “good: we are punished or rejected.

 Ephesians 2 says, “It is the gift of God”, The word “gift” makes it undeserved and unearned. “Not of works” clearly means that it is not based on “how good you are”! For most of us, we are taught and go through life believing that if we are good we will be rewarded. While there is a practical and natural truth to this it does not apply to God’s view of us. John 3:16 clearly shows us what motivates God to give us wonderful gifts ”For God so loved or Agape the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life”. You see, God gives out of love”.

So here are two things that are quite impossible to fully understand, God’s love and God’s grace. They are difficult to understand with our natural minds or intellect because they are spiritual principles. How then do we comprehend them, it must be by faith! When we accept by faith that God loves us, it then naturally follows that we can then accept that He wants to bless us.

Take these steps of faith today, see yourself, not as the world sees you, but see yourself as God sees you… you are loved by the Father, forgiven by Jesus, and accepted into the family of God by virtue of the Holy Spirit living in you.

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The point that faith requires doing something is well made in the book of James. First look at James 1:6-8, “But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways”.

We must be steadfast in our faith in God. If our faith is in the promise then circumstances will cause our faith to waver, but if our faith is in Jesus and our relationship with Him then we will be steadfast. It is very much like being a passenger in a plane, is your trust in the advertising promise that you will have a safe flight or in the pilot to make it a safe flight?

The second point is found in James 1:22, “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves”. If we are not doing or responding according to the Word of God; then we are hearers only! Don’t deceive yourself in thinking that you have faith if there is no out-working of that faith. It is like the person who believes it is going to rain but doesn’t bring an umbrella along. Let your actions correspond to what you are believing for!

The third point is found in James 2:14-26. This section of scripture is sometimes misunderstood in particular verse 24 which says, “You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only”. It is a tragic mistake to think that James is saying that salvation or any other area of spiritual life is by works and faith. In the context of verses 24-26, James is saying that faith must have some evidence or outworking that points to faith in God. Just doing good deeds or good works, while noble and should be encouraged, by itself will not justify you. However, believing in Jesus and as a result, you are led to do good deeds… well that is the evidence of Faith!

Now there will be times when we must wait upon the Lord to do His part, but this by no means suggests that we do nothing. Resisting the temptation to sin is an important faith action. Resisting doubt and fear is also an important action. The Apostle Paul says in Ephesians 6:13, “Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand”. Too many interpret this to mean I do nothing and God will do it all. Yet Proverbs 16:9states, “A man’s heart plans his way, But the Lord directs his steps”. We need to walk it out or as the Apostle Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:7, “we walk by faith and not by sight”.  

Finally, what’s “the story” when what we are believing for doesn’t come to pass. Sometimes it is just a timing issue. God is always at work and the promise is on its way. Remember God is not limited by time and space. However, it could be that as it says in, James 4:3, “You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures. In other words God cant bless those things that are contrary to His nature of love, forgiveness and acceptance.

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So, faith is not wishing, hoping, or wanting something to be. Instead, it is the confidence and assurance that because of the love of God He will not leave you or abandon you to your circumstances. The Apostle Paul says in Romans 8: 38-39, “For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord”. Do you believe that… that nothing can separate you from God’s Love?

 It is your faith in the Lord that causes you to behave or act in a manner that shows you have already received that for which you are believing. Now that was a mouthful! The world says, “Show me and then I will believe!” God says, “Believe in Me and then I will show you!”

Abraham of the Old Testament is called the “Father of Faith” because he acted on what God said even before there was physical proof. God spoke to Abraham that he would be the “father of many nations” even before he had any children. Abraham received the promise of a son when he was 75 years old and was reminded of that promise when he was 90, but it wasn’t until he was 100 years old that the promise was fulfilled. During all that time Abraham believed in what God said. Listen to what Genesis 5:19-22 says about Abraham, “And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah’s womb. He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform. And therefore “it was accounted to him for righteousness.” You see faith is believing that you have it before it comes to pass.

Believing with your mind is not the same as demonstrating faith with your actions! True faith gets you into the wheelbarrow!

Start your adventure with God today by remembering that “we walk by faith and not by sight! (2 Cor 5:7)

Now you may be thinking, “Are you talking about blind-faith”? The answer to that question is a resounding NO! As Christians, our faith is not in religion, but in a relationship with Jesus. There is a difference between blindly believing and believing in someone you know. That, in essence, the difference between religion and relationship, in religion you know about Jesus; in a relationship you get to know Jesus on a personal level. It’s easy to have faith in someone who has already demonstrated love for you. Jesus demonstrated His love by giving His life for yours, granting you eternal life, and empowering you to overcoming sin. The key to it all is Faith.

There is no better definition of faith than that found in Hebrews 11:1, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen”. The things hoped for in this statement are the things that God has promised in the Bible. You have a right to hope for what has been promised. The evidence of things not seen simply means that God is at work in the spiritual realm to bring to reality what you cannot see, yet. Remember we are called to “walk by faith and not by sight” (2 Cor 5:7). That is why trying to intellectually reach God won’t work.

As Christians Faith is the only key to pleasing God because Hebrews 11:6 states, “But without faith, it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him”. If you will please God by faith He will bless you abundantly!

Our faith must be in Jesus and His calling and direction for our lives. As we follow Him we become more like Him. Obviously, our faith begins with the assurance that we are saved or born-again. Then it follows that we must have faith in His plan for our life. As I’ve said in the past, “faith is impossible unless the will of God is known” therefore as God speaks to us through His Holy Spirit we must, by faith, obey even when it doesn’t make sense to do so. We must Just Do It!

Romans 12:3 says that we have all been given a measure or portion of faith. You might believe that your faith is too little, listen to what Jesus said to His apostles when they complained of having too little faith, “And the apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.” So the Lord said, “If you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you” (Luke 17:5-6). The mustard seed is one of the smallest of seeds and yet like the mustard seed the smallest amount of faith will be able to release miracles in your life, as you obey the Lord.

Of course, the difficulty with faith is that you must learn to put your trust in someone else, Jesus, when all your life you have trusted in yourself, other people, your job, the government or your possessions. The problem is very much like the young person applying for a job and being told that they don’t have experience. Well, how are they to get experience unless they are given the job and do it?  How can your faith grow if you trust in everything else but the Lord? The only way that spiritual faith can grow is to begin to put your trust in God and see Him come through in the small things. God’s faithfulness then becomes a springboard for greater steps of faith. In other words, start with “baby steps”. Keep in mind, whatever believe you hear from God must not contradict his word, the Bible!

Finally, if you want things to change in your life… do something different! Release your faith in Him!

JUST DO IT!

DO IT FOR JESUS!

Christians often use the phrase, of God that he “opens or closes doors”. When God opens a door it usually means an opportunity to fulfill His plan, whereas when He closes a door it means that the path you are thinking of is not part of His plan, or He is not in that plan. In either case, opening and closing doors are for the fulfillment of His plans for you.

It is important to distinguish between a co-incidence and a God-incidence. A coincidence is random and can be beneficial or harmful. It is strictly by chance. A God-incidence is, as the name, implies a circumstance God has orchestrated. It is a God “set-up”! Remember, as Romans 8:28 states, “all things work out for good to those who love Him and are called to his purpose.

A good scriptural illustration of this is found in Acts 16. The Apostle Paul along with Silas and Timothy were sharing the Gospel in Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey)/ They also visited the churches that had been established, during Paul’s first missionary journey. The Bible then says that at some point they were forbidden (the door was closed) by the Holy Spirit to continue preaching the word in Asia or Turkey. Then “tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit did not permit them”, the door was closed to continue.

It was in Troas that a vision appeared to Paul in the night. The vision was of a man from Macedonia (modern-day Greece) who stood and pleaded with him, saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” Now after he had seen the vision, they immediately made their way to Macedonia. You see Paul’s conclusion was that the Lord was calling them to preach the gospel in Macedonia or Greece.

What is so significant about this event is that Paul established 7 important churches in Macedonia or Greece. These are the very same 7 churches mentioned in the Book of Revelation chapters 2 and 3.

God’s plan was that the Apostle Paul was to establish these churches in Macedonia! Paul could have resisted the closed door but then he would not have accomplished God’s best! In God, nothing happens by accident.

In closing, it is important to note that while God may open or close a door He will not force you to go through the open door or prevent you from opening a closed door. A very important truth about God is that He has given you Free Will! Faith requires free will, love requires free will, obedience requires free will. We always have a choice! Recall Joshua’s words in Joshua 24:15b, “But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”As Joshua made a decision to trust God, I encourage you to do the same. Learn to hear God’s voice through the scriptures, the Holy Spirit, through the circumstances of life, and allow the peace of God rule (or be the umpire) in your hearts, Colossians 3:15a.