King
James Bible Daily Devotion – Learning
Scripture One Day At A Time
Date: Saturday, October 17, 2015
Chapters: Mark 9-10 http://imfollowingjesus.com/Bible-Reading-290.html
Message Title: Works That Accompany Faith
Hello My Friend,
We talk a lot about faith, which is the substance by which everything of God falls on, but we do not talk much about the thing that must accompany faith to make it stick and in fact, increase our faith, works. While our works for God have nothing to do with our salvation, it has everything to do with our relationship with Him after we get saved, and the impact it has on our lives as we increase our faith through them. “Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.” - James 2:17,18.
Many people have faith in God, but few are willing to take the one step needed to get saved and make Him present in their lives, and that is to receive Christ as their Saviour. It often takes something tragic for us to see that we need Jesus, all throughout His ministry we see that many followed Him around, but few actually received Him into their lives. We come to a man who had a son possessed by an evil spirit, he tried to get the disciples to help him first, but to no avail, desperate, he seeks Jesus to cure him. “And he asked his father, How long is it ago since this came unto him? And he said, Of a child. And ofttimes it hath cast him into the fire, and into the waters, to destroy him: but if thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us. Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth. And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief. When Jesus saw that the people came running together, he rebuked the foul spirit, saying unto him, Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I charge thee, come out of him, and enter no more into him.” - Mark 9:21-25.
“Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.” Jesus was well aware of the boys problem, and how long he had it, He wanted to see his fathers faith and waited for him to call on Him alone to cure the boy. Faith is great, but if we do not actually call on Jesus to help us, He can't help us. Why? Jesus never forces Himself upon anyone, that's free will, He will never intercede unless we actually call on Him. As much as we believe in Jesus, even the strongest Christians can have some unbelief that He can help them sometimes, and it takes a last resort for them to call on Him. All things are possible with God! All it takes is one call and He will be there to help us, just as He saved us. Once we are saved, the devil can't touch us, we belong to Jesus, yes, he can still tempt us, but he can't have our soul, Jesus bought that with His blood the second we received Him and will save us to the uttermost. If we want to see Jesus do more than that, we need to have a relationship with Him. “And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it. If ye love me, keep my commandments.” - John 14:13-15.
Many people believe in Jesus, I remember growing up, being taught about Jesus, on Christmas we knew it was His birthday, during lent we would give us something we enjoyed, and eat no meat on Wednesday and Friday. On Good Friday we observed His death on the cross, and on Easter we celebrated His resurrection. These were all works not necessary to be saved. Many religions are very good at telling us about Jesus, but leaving out one vital piece of information, we need to receive Him to be saved. Even more astonishing, many will deny Him upon learning that vital piece of information. Why? They do not want to give up what they have. A rich young man, following the ten commandments came to Jesus asking Him how to be saved, Jesus, tells Him to sell everything he had, and give it to the poor. The man left, never receiving him. Jesus, was kind of angry by this.
“Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me. And he was sad at that saying, and went away grieved: for he had great possessions. And Jesus looked round about, and saith unto his disciples, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God! And the disciples were astonished at his words. But Jesus answereth again, and saith unto them, Children, how hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. And they were astonished out of measure, saying among themselves, Who then can be saved? And Jesus looking upon them saith, With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible.” - Mark 10:21-27.
“How hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God!” We must understand that Jesus was not telling this man that selling these things would save him, He was testing his faith, if he really wanted to be saved than he would have been willing to sell all he had. Following all of God's commands does not save us, following man made rules does not save us, only believing in Christ and receiving Him saves us. God will often place circumstances in our lives in order to increase our faith in Him, Jesus is always with us, we just need to call out to Him, such as the case of a blind beggar who heard that Jesus was passing by.
“And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out, and say, Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me. And many charged him that he should hold his peace: but he cried the more a great deal, Thou Son of David, have mercy on me. And Jesus stood still, and commanded him to be called. And they call the blind man, saying unto him, Be of good comfort, rise; he calleth thee. And he, casting away his garment, rose, and came to Jesus. And Jesus answered and said unto him, What wilt thou that I should do unto thee? The blind man said unto him, Lord, that I might receive my sight. And Jesus said unto him, Go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole. And immediately he received his sight, and followed Jesus in the way.” - Mark 10:47-52.
“What wilt thou that I should do unto thee?” Although Jesus was in His presence and very well knew what the man wanted, He did not give Him what He wanted until he first cried out to Him, and secondly, Jesus wanted to see his faith. It is not enough to simply have faith in God we must act upon that faith and call on Him. Faith is great, but without actually doing something about it it is dead. “If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well: But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors. For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.” - James 2:8-10,19,20,26.
Today's Prayer: God, it is amazing that we can simply come to You through Your Son, and be a part of Your Kingdom. We do not have to work our way to heaven or pay our way to get there, because Jesus paid the price for us, we just need to simply have faith in His finished work. Lord, I offer myself to You as a living sacrifice, I am trusting in Your Son to help me endure every trial and temptation as I follow Him. I know that I do not need to do anything to keep by salvation, but if I want a lasting, fulfilled, and abundantly blessed life with You, I need to be led by the example of Your Son. Even if I fail I know that You are always with me and will help me when I humble myself before You and call You as Your child. In Jesus' name. Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
Subscribe To Our Devotions: http://eepurl.com/2WMzT
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Copyright © 2015 I'm Following Jesus, All rights reserved.
Date: Saturday, October 17, 2015
Chapters: Mark 9-10 http://imfollowingjesus.com/Bible-Reading-290.html
Message Title: Works That Accompany Faith
Hello My Friend,
We talk a lot about faith, which is the substance by which everything of God falls on, but we do not talk much about the thing that must accompany faith to make it stick and in fact, increase our faith, works. While our works for God have nothing to do with our salvation, it has everything to do with our relationship with Him after we get saved, and the impact it has on our lives as we increase our faith through them. “Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.” - James 2:17,18.
Many people have faith in God, but few are willing to take the one step needed to get saved and make Him present in their lives, and that is to receive Christ as their Saviour. It often takes something tragic for us to see that we need Jesus, all throughout His ministry we see that many followed Him around, but few actually received Him into their lives. We come to a man who had a son possessed by an evil spirit, he tried to get the disciples to help him first, but to no avail, desperate, he seeks Jesus to cure him. “And he asked his father, How long is it ago since this came unto him? And he said, Of a child. And ofttimes it hath cast him into the fire, and into the waters, to destroy him: but if thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us. Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth. And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief. When Jesus saw that the people came running together, he rebuked the foul spirit, saying unto him, Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I charge thee, come out of him, and enter no more into him.” - Mark 9:21-25.
“Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.” Jesus was well aware of the boys problem, and how long he had it, He wanted to see his fathers faith and waited for him to call on Him alone to cure the boy. Faith is great, but if we do not actually call on Jesus to help us, He can't help us. Why? Jesus never forces Himself upon anyone, that's free will, He will never intercede unless we actually call on Him. As much as we believe in Jesus, even the strongest Christians can have some unbelief that He can help them sometimes, and it takes a last resort for them to call on Him. All things are possible with God! All it takes is one call and He will be there to help us, just as He saved us. Once we are saved, the devil can't touch us, we belong to Jesus, yes, he can still tempt us, but he can't have our soul, Jesus bought that with His blood the second we received Him and will save us to the uttermost. If we want to see Jesus do more than that, we need to have a relationship with Him. “And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it. If ye love me, keep my commandments.” - John 14:13-15.
Many people believe in Jesus, I remember growing up, being taught about Jesus, on Christmas we knew it was His birthday, during lent we would give us something we enjoyed, and eat no meat on Wednesday and Friday. On Good Friday we observed His death on the cross, and on Easter we celebrated His resurrection. These were all works not necessary to be saved. Many religions are very good at telling us about Jesus, but leaving out one vital piece of information, we need to receive Him to be saved. Even more astonishing, many will deny Him upon learning that vital piece of information. Why? They do not want to give up what they have. A rich young man, following the ten commandments came to Jesus asking Him how to be saved, Jesus, tells Him to sell everything he had, and give it to the poor. The man left, never receiving him. Jesus, was kind of angry by this.
“Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me. And he was sad at that saying, and went away grieved: for he had great possessions. And Jesus looked round about, and saith unto his disciples, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God! And the disciples were astonished at his words. But Jesus answereth again, and saith unto them, Children, how hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. And they were astonished out of measure, saying among themselves, Who then can be saved? And Jesus looking upon them saith, With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible.” - Mark 10:21-27.
“How hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God!” We must understand that Jesus was not telling this man that selling these things would save him, He was testing his faith, if he really wanted to be saved than he would have been willing to sell all he had. Following all of God's commands does not save us, following man made rules does not save us, only believing in Christ and receiving Him saves us. God will often place circumstances in our lives in order to increase our faith in Him, Jesus is always with us, we just need to call out to Him, such as the case of a blind beggar who heard that Jesus was passing by.
“And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out, and say, Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me. And many charged him that he should hold his peace: but he cried the more a great deal, Thou Son of David, have mercy on me. And Jesus stood still, and commanded him to be called. And they call the blind man, saying unto him, Be of good comfort, rise; he calleth thee. And he, casting away his garment, rose, and came to Jesus. And Jesus answered and said unto him, What wilt thou that I should do unto thee? The blind man said unto him, Lord, that I might receive my sight. And Jesus said unto him, Go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole. And immediately he received his sight, and followed Jesus in the way.” - Mark 10:47-52.
“What wilt thou that I should do unto thee?” Although Jesus was in His presence and very well knew what the man wanted, He did not give Him what He wanted until he first cried out to Him, and secondly, Jesus wanted to see his faith. It is not enough to simply have faith in God we must act upon that faith and call on Him. Faith is great, but without actually doing something about it it is dead. “If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well: But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors. For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.” - James 2:8-10,19,20,26.
Today's Prayer: God, it is amazing that we can simply come to You through Your Son, and be a part of Your Kingdom. We do not have to work our way to heaven or pay our way to get there, because Jesus paid the price for us, we just need to simply have faith in His finished work. Lord, I offer myself to You as a living sacrifice, I am trusting in Your Son to help me endure every trial and temptation as I follow Him. I know that I do not need to do anything to keep by salvation, but if I want a lasting, fulfilled, and abundantly blessed life with You, I need to be led by the example of Your Son. Even if I fail I know that You are always with me and will help me when I humble myself before You and call You as Your child. In Jesus' name. Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
Subscribe To Our Devotions: http://eepurl.com/2WMzT
Do You Know For Sure You Are Going To Heaven?: http://godsprice.com/
Visit I'm Following Jesus: http://imfollowingjesus.com/index.html
Like I'm Following Jesus On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/byhisstrength
Copyright © 2015 I'm Following Jesus, All rights reserved.
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