Can You Separate Faith From Work?

Faith is not just a feeling, belief or confession; it does not just exist on its own, and as such cannot be completely separated from work. Some people believe that once they profess to trust God or to believe  His word, everything is finished; and then they would go and relax, waiting for results to come without any form of action.

Come to think of it, why did the bible say that “the demons believe God and they tremble?” (James 2:19 & 20). Does that make demons to be Christians? The answer, of course, is an emphatic ‘NO’. Demons may believe that God is real and that he made the heavens and the earth; but if they do not take action to accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and personal savior, their belief amounts to nothing.

While was Abraham called the father of faith? Was it because he believed what God said? After all, he faltered along the line and slept with his housemaid Hagar. The reason he was addressed as the father of faith was because of the actions he took. First, when God asked him to leave Ur of the Chaldeans to a place He (God) would show him, Abraham believed God completely and he took action by leaving his father Terah and followed God’s direction.

Besides, when God instructed Abraham to sacrifice his promised son, Isaac, he didn’t argue; he knew that Jehovah Almighty was capable of giving him back what he would offer. He took action and took his son to the mountain of Moriah until God divinely intervened. His faith was totally backed with work.

The bible also says that faith that is not backed by good works amounts to nothing (James 2: 14-18). When you process to be a believer, you must back up your profession with good deeds. When you hear God’s voice, you also need to be proactive; you need not to be a passive observer of His command, you must take action and do what He says you should do before you start getting results.

If you are looking for a job for example, you must go and submit your CV to the company you hope would employ you. Don’t stay in the house and hope to get an invitation for interview when nobody knows your phone or email address. When you have submitted your CV, you put your trust on God to touch the management of the company to invite you for a job interview.

You get results because first you believed God; and second you took action which is a back up to your faith. If a prophet gives you a message from God for example and gives you instructions as to what to do, you must follow his instructions otherwise your belief without taking action would never earn you a positive result.

How To Build Up Your Faith in God

Developing a rock-solid faith could be an uphill task sometimes; but it could also be a simple thing to do if one understands the steps to take. It is the number one ingredient needed to please God as a believer: to please God, you must first believe that he lives and that he is able to reward those who earnestly seek him (including you).

Has God ever done anything unique for you or anything that would have been impossible from the human angle? Then you have a reason to develop your faith further because if what he did would otherwise have been very difficult or impossible then you should trust more in his ability to do the impossible or the extra-ordinary.

Have you ever woken up at midnight and your child takes ill and there is no vehicle to transport your ailing child to the nearest hospital? The acute sickness became so threatening that you concluded your baby would die before dawn? If in that circumstance you prayed and he/she suddenly gets well, your testimony should encourage you to build your faith in God.

If you have been close to a friend who suffered a terminal disease maybe liver cancer, liver cirrhosis, lung cancer, tumour of the brain, etc; and the doctors at a point ruled that he/she would definitely die in few days and you went on your knees to seek God’s face and your friend got healed, that should motivate you to put your trust in God.

Have you ever come face-to-face with death, maybe you got involved in an auto crash and remained unconscious for days or weeks and the prayer of the brethren sustained you? It shows that the mercies of God can actually do beyond what the orthodox medicine could do.

Albert Einstein was once told by his class teacher that nothing good could come out of him (Einstein): that was when he was about 14 years. But at 26 he propounded “the law of relativism”. Do you think his teacher or his parents gave him special tutorials? No, of course! The hand of God was at work in his life. If you could trust God for once, he can change your life story. Believe that the same God who did it for Albert Einstein could do it for you.

Sometimes you approach God for a thing in prayer and give him a sign to be sure he actually answers your prayers. You wait for the sign to come to pass. Surprisingly it comes to pass without anybody else assisting you to get that desired result. It is enough to help you develop your faith in him because he answers prayer.

To build your faith therefore, reappraise your life; look at those things God has done which no man could easily do for you. Acknowledge him as the source of those miracles. Believe he is trustworthy and that he would never disappoint you if you put your trust in him. Build on that trust; have that firm belief that even in the future God is able to handle all difficult situations you may come across in life.

Disciples Of Jesus Christ - What It Takes To Be One

A disciple is one who is willing to follow and learn from Jesus Christ; one who is ready to learn his physical attributes and aspire to be endued with his spiritual qualities as well.
Discipleship is about learning from him and transmitting that which you have learnt from him to those you are going to raise.

Christianity would be incomplete if the early disciples like Simon Peter, Andrew, James the son of Zebedee, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Thomas, Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus and Thaddeus did not follow Christ religiously and carry out ‘The Great Commission’.

They stayed with and learned from the master: they imbibed his teachings and transmitted all he taught them to the next generations of believers to ensure there was continuity.

In order for one to be a good disciple, one needs to have the following qualities:
1. Willingness to learn: One must be willing to learn from Christ himself or from those who have been disciples themselves. One must be prepared to study the word of God at all times and put on the qualities of the master as written down therein.

2. Obedience: he must be ready to be obedient to the authority of God, Christ and the leaders of the church. Anyone who is not ready to obey established authorities is not ready to be a disciple.

3. Persecution: he should be ready to face persecution as well because the master made it clear that his followers must be ready to face persecution just as he did since a servant cannot be greater than his master.

4. Patience: Such a person must be patient because Christ demonstrated his strength by being patient.

5. Love: One great attribute of Jesus was his love and compassion for humanity and the dying soul. He’s always moved to compassion at the suffering of man and is always ready to do something to alleviate human suffering and pain.

6. Faith: A disciple must have faith in his master; he must believe in the master’s ability to meet his needs, take care of him and protect him. He must believe that no matter the circumstances the master is always there to answer him whenever he called.

7. Zeal: Such a person must also have the zeal and hunger to be like his master. Peter was one such example who kept striving to be like Jesus Christ; he even asked Christ to invite him to walk on the water like himself.

8. Raise others: Christ instructed Peter to take care of the sheep. He also told the disciples to teach all nations in his name. His followers should therefore be willing not only to teach others, but to also to support them in the Lord.

As one who wants to be a disciple of the Lord, are you ready to carry the cross that he carried? Are you ready to learn from him and carry out the great commission? Think about what it takes to be one and make up your mind to follow the master to the end.