Some speak about faith, but God commands us to move in faith. Faith is an action verb.
~ Lisa Blair
Faith is part of the Lord’s equation. It demands action. Without acting in faith through deeds, there is no faith. Your deeds activate your faith, otherwise you are only speaking of faith, but not doing God’s Will to serve others in need, at home, work, or walking down the street.
Your faith is powered through love. So, yes, faith requires action, powered by love and activated through the action of your deeds. Faith is an action verb. We do because the Almighty commands us to spread the Word and help wherever we can.
“Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did.
You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone.
As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.” James 2:15-17, 22, 24, 26 NIV
God’s promises never fail, but all too often we fail to see them. Always survey the fullness of your life and you will begin to recognize the minute, small, and large things in your life.
~Lisa Blair
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God is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow.
The Lord will never leave us or forsake us. This verse is one of God’s promises to us. The promise means you will never be left in the slimy pit of the muck and mire of life. There is escape lodged within His promise to never leave us.
In my post, Living Through the Muck and Mire, February 21, 2018, I shared “we have been talking about our dependence upon the Lord and how He works wonders in our lives, not because of anything we do, but because of His unconditional love or us.”
God lifted us out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; He set our feet on a rock and gave us a firm place to stand. I believe that accepting this truth relaxes the anxiety, fear, and stress that is aligned with struggling in the slimy pit. Being saved does not mean we will not suffer during our lives, it means that we will be supported through God’s promises, Jesus’s death, the Holy Spirit’s direction, and ultimately eternal life and entrance into heaven.
Like so many, I have experienced the trials that felt like mud and mire, or a slimy pit. During those times I did not step back from the situation and pray, the mud and mire felt more like quicksand. In those instances when I rebuked the evil one’s hold and prayed for deliverance and help, God was able to give me peace within the storm. That peace is more than calming, it places you on solid ground.
Once you realize you are on solid ground, resolve becomes more than a possibility, the Holy Spirit provides direction for escape, providing actions to take while in many instances removing stumbling blocks and walls that surrounded us.
Some may say, ‘I live in the slimy pit’, I prayed to no avail. I say, do not give up, do not relax your guard. God is always working on our behalf. His thoughts are not our thoughts. Therefore, since He knows what we must experience to mature as Christians, and His time is not our time, the lesson may extend over a greater length of time than we think it should.
Pray, pray and pray until you see the manifestation of your prayers. Look at all of the things happening around you and to you. Seek to identify the small things God has done. For example, if it was a debt, was the total due reduced, was the payment time renegotiated, did you receive unexpected incoming funds? All of these things are God’s blessings associated with your prayers.
God’s promises never fail, but all too often we fail to see them. Always survey the fullness of your life and you will begin to recognize the minute, small, and large things in your life. Once you do that, you will recognize He always pulls you out of the slimy pit, out of the mud/muck and mire of life’s obstacles and places you on solid ground.
God gave us the tools to survive through life’s challenges. Strong faith will allow you to experience peace in the midst of the struggle.
~ Lisa Blair
Trials produce patience and patience is reinforced through faith. If you are faithful, you will experience the joy of the Lord and not become bitter and discouraged through the trial. You will rest in God’s peace and weather the storm.
Facebook is a good place to post quick, God-honoring posts which I hope will help encourage believers. I was recently reviewing some of my Facebook posts from a few years back, and realized they were worth sharing with my blogging family. So, in no particular order, here are just a few of them.
Thought No. 1 In a world of turmoil and chaos, here is a precious promise of peace for God’s people:
“Then justice will dwell in the wilderness and righteousness will abide in the fertile field. And the work of righteousness will be peace, and the service of righteousness, quietness and confidence forever. Then my people will live in a peaceful habitation, and in secure dwellings and in undisturbed resting places” (Isaiah 32:16-18).
Oh for that day!
Thought No. 2 If the inner longing of the Christian were given speech, this is what it would…
I am reblogging this post, I am not the author.
Today’s key verse reminds us how God is a God of miracles who delights in answering the prayers of His people as He sees fit and in His timing: “You are the God who performs miracles; you display your power among the peoples” (Psalm 77:14). – Tracie Mills
“You are the God who performs miracles; you display your power among the peoples.” Psalm 77:14 (NIV)
When a marriage fails and a divorce occurs, problems erupt from every angle. Hearts are broken. Emotions are all over the map. Self-worth and confidence plummet. Fears take root about what the future will look like, how the children will cope, being alone, etc.
But one of the most common problems women struggle with when facing separation and divorce is the fear of financial instability. Constant, daily worrying about how they will survive all alone as an independent single woman — and possibly as a single mom as well.
When my husband left over four years ago, despite all the ways my heart was breaking, one of the biggest obstacles to my faith and my happiness was worrying about money.
Our goal is to rely on the Lord and not our own knowledge.
~Lisa Blair
The Lord is our source of knowledge. Spiritual wisdom always out weighs human wisdom fraught with misconceptions and myopic thought. Our help, insight, and wisdom come from the Holy Spirit. Go to Him before making decisions and He will lead you down the right path.
Lisa’s Daily Inspirations 