Faith Without Works is Dead
As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.
James 2:26
Our faith is the reason we trust the Lord to be his servant. When we serve the Lord by following the Spirit, and we always trust his will over our will. Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. (Proverbs 3:5-6) If we live by this verse, trusting the Lord over our own understanding, then we are living by faith that pleases God.
And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. (Hebrews 11:6) Faith in God is critical because our faith indicates that we truly know our Lord and have a close relationship with Him. How can we have a close relationship with the Lord if we don’t trust his will over our will?
As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:9) We pray based our understanding and we make sure our prayers bring glory to God, but we trust God’s answer and timing because his thoughts and ways are higher than our thoughts and ways. He is God and we are his servants. He loves us perfectly and He understands us and our life better than we do, so His answer is always to our benefit. The Lord is always guiding us through life to become more like Jesus.
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith–and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God. (Ephesians 2:8) Our faith in the Lord reveals our gratitude for His undeserved grace. Faith is critical because we are saved by faith, and without faith, we cannot please God. We can develop a faith pleasing to God if we live as the Lord’s servants, seeking and praying so we can minister to lost souls. We become dependent on the Lord to minister, and as we develop a closer relationship with the Lord, He gets bigger and we get smaller. We start to see the greatness of the Lord and we start to see the weakness of self.
A close, loving relationship to Christ sees him in divine nature and realizes He is the creator of all things, He knows all things, and nothing is impossible for Him. Faith comes from seeing the Lord for who he really is, and seeing ourselves for who we really are. Then, we will develop a loving, thankful, and dependent heart, that lives to serve the Lord.
Today, live by faith as the Lord’s servant, reflecting Jesus to everyone. Go through your day with peace and joy, knowing the Lord is with you.
Prayer: Lord, I pray my faith is pleasing to you. If it’s not, guide me through the Spirit so my faith will be pleasing. I pray that I will always have the faith to follow the Spirit and be a Light in this world. In Jesus’ name, Amen.