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Authentic Bible Faith Part Four
by Mark Stidham Even so faith, if it hath not works (or corresponding actions), is dead, being alone. (Jas 2:17) It is also important to understand that true faith calls for action. To simply believe something is not enough to qualify it as true Bible faith. What do I mean? Well I can believe all day long that if I put my key in my car crank it, press the gas that it will take me to town. Now I am perfectly correct in believing that, however if I do not get in the car, put in the key, turn the switch press the gas then it will sit in my driveway all day long, doing me absolutely no good. Now I believe when I sit at my desk chair it will sustain me. I have faith in that fact when I actually sit in it. Faith is acting on what you believe. And again he entered into Capernaum after some days; and it was noised that he was in the house. And straightway many were gathered together, insomuch that there was no room to receive them, no, not so much as about the door: and he preached the word unto them. And they come unto him, bringing one sick of the palsy, which was borne of four. And when they could not come nigh unto him for the press, they uncovered the roof where he was: and when they had broken it up, they let down the bed wherein the sick of the palsy lay. When Jesus SAW THEIR FAITH (emphasis mine), he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee. (Mark 2:1-5) How did Jesus see their faith? He saw their actions. Having said that let me clarify something, we do not need to do foolish actions before we have built up our faith to that point. For example some have thrown away their medicine thinking they were acting in faith and died. We have to act but we have to act at the level where we are. If we look to the Word day and night and build ourselves up in faith there will come a time when we will know that we know that we no longer need medication and a doctor can confirm that. Until that time we take our medication, and simply thank God every time we do. Did you know that speaking is an action, praising and thanking God is an action? Do that and you will be acting and building your faith at the same time. Actually some things in the Bible only call for a confession of our mouth as the only action. Romans 10:9-10 for instance, says if we confess Jesus as Lord and believe God raised him from the dead we will be saved. Confessing in faith in that situation is the only action required. If something else is required in your situation the Spirit will let you know and you can take that action in complete confidence. Mark L. Stidham Th.D. is an Ordained minister,a life coach,a motivational speaker, a preacher,a pastor, an evangelist,a web site publisher,a writer,a songwriter, a singer, a photographer and a musician. Mark has been married to his wife and valuable life partner, Patty Stidham for 19 years. Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com |