In my previous post I talked about my goal to having a more self-disciplined
lifesyle. And you better believe a test came right after I declared that it was no
more of me being lazy and putting off things this year. The very next day I
posted my goal I woke up that Sunday morning very tired and with a sore throat.
I didn’t feel like going to Church at all and I told my husband that he would
be going to Church alone. But as I laid down about to go back to sleep God
spoke to me and this is what He said.
God: Why aren’t you getting up to go to
Church?
Me: Lord I’m tired and on top of that I’m not
feeling well.
God: But if
you believe and have faith that you can be more self-disciplined you are going
to have to get up and put works with your faith. If you just get up (works) and
believe (faith) I will empower you to succeed in your efforts by My strength.
I continued to lay down and think about what God had just
said to me. As I thought about it more I suddenly began to gain more strength.
Then I came to the conclusion, God is right! As God always is right of course!
If I truly believed that I could be more self-disciplined I was going to have
to make those steps in every area of my life to achieve that.
I knew that if I was to go back to sleep I would sleep the rest
of the morning away and fall right back into my same slothful routine because I
had already started off on a bad foot. I wouldn't have been exercising my
faith. So I got up and went to Church and there was a reward for my obedience. The
service at Church that day was very encouraging. Not only was it awesome, but
the message was confirming of what God was teaching me.
The Lord spoke to me confirming to me that the change
started now! I was reminded that I must continue to make the steps to get to
where I’m supposed to be going. If I keep making backtracks then I was just
prolonging my goals and would never reach them.
Don’t get me wrong I’m still a work in progress in this
area, but the point is that I’m making those steps to get where I need to go and
I can’t go back, I must continue to go forward. Although some steps maybe small,
sooner or later those steps are going to add up and I will soon be to the
finish line of this particular race of self-disciplining myself with my time.
So in all of this I’m learning the importance of having
faith that is alive! Having a faith that produces fruit, because in the end
real and authentic faith will produce works and that will show. On the other
hand dead faith is the opposite.
What does dead faith
produce?
No Works:
No Works:
James 2:17 Even so Faith, if it hath no works, is dead,
being alone. - KJV
When our faith is dead we don’t want to work for those
things which God has for us. We may have heard God say something in the past
that he has for us, yet we don’t see it manifested in our lives yet, but it could
be due to the fact that our faith is wavering. You may say well I believe what
God says He has for me is for me, I have Faith, I do believe, why isn't it here
yet? I've been waiting and waiting…
But Faith is not just about waiting for God’s promises to
manifest in our lives, we also have to have works with our Faith. God may have
something for us, but first He wants us to be equipped and ready to receive what
He has for us. Just like Jesus had to be prepared first before he did his
ministry, hence him fasting for 40 days and 40 nights and being tempted by the
devil in the wilderness.
In order for us to be trusted with the gifts and great
things God has for us we must first be tested and tried. We are no better than
Jesus. If Jesus had to be cultivated first then we will have to do the same as
well. Faith and works go hand and hand with one another, so if we have real
faith then we will put action with our belief and it will be shown.
It’s the same for when we become Christians. If we now
believe by Faith that we are children of God, we are going to start behaving
like children of God. That means we are going to get rid of the sin and bad
things in our life that we know is not pleasing to God. When we put works with
our Faith, God’s strength will empower us to be victorious in our walk with
Christ, and in our life as a whole.
We need to constantly examine ourselves to see if we are living
that real and authentic faith that the Word of God speaks about. That goes for
every area of our lives. Don’t allow yourself to never see God’s promises in
your life because you were just sitting down waiting for God to do something.
He’s already empowered us to do it and trust Him in the process. You can do
this!
God’s Grace is Limitless,
