Faith & Works 10-02-21

_ 100215 FAITH AND WORKS

As I sat here thinking about the prayer requests I’m getting from some believers that are close to me concerning the messed up times we are going through, the question of faith became important in my spirit. How’s your faith walk going really? Are you holding on to the Word of God and His promises or is the economic picture your god? Just asking the question to spur some spiritual thought.

Today’s Prayer

Father, remind us in case we forget, and our young people never have an opportunity to learn, that our nation was founded on the religious beliefs of our forefathers. They came to have freedom to worship God in accordance with their Judeo-Christian beliefs, which they had lost in the countries they were from. They incorporated Your moral guidelines in our Constitution, in their legal dealings, and in their courts. Later they posted Your ten commandments on the walls of their schools. Our nation weathered its hardships, and it later survived the war between the northern and southern states because You were the third strand of the cord that bound them together. And as our nation prospered, You blessed us. Oppressed people came to our shores seeking freedom and safety; some came seeing our nation as a land of opportunity. They were welcomed, absorbed, and they became American citizens. But what about today? Open our eyes that we may see ourselves as You must see us, and weep. Hear our prayers. Help us to see ourselves as You see us, and to weep! We have tried to usurp Your position and Your authority. How we must grieve You! You see the arrogance of many of our nation’s leaders and those opinion former’s, both inside and outside of our government. They assume and believe that as a nation we have outgrown You, and so have factored You out of their equations. They seek to replace You with a centrally controlled and “fathering” government that alone knows best. They vision a “new order” that exalts materialism, and legalizes and declares “normal” what You have called sin. Wake us up as citizens, and wake us up who call ourselves Christians, Your church and Your people. We have together become a party to our nation’s downfall by promoting, or accepting these changes, or we have been deceived by our lack of knowledge, and have been reluctant to defend Your truth. Open our eyes to see what we as a nation have become. Help us to truly seek Your forgiveness, for fear that we suffer Your severe mercy. Remind us that You have said that You cannot, and You will not tolerate sin! In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

Let’s eat.

Faith and Works

Justified by Faith

Romans 3:21-28 –

But now God has shown us a way to be made right with him without keeping the requirements of the law, as was promised in the writings of Moses and the prophets long ago. We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are. For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God, with undeserved kindness, declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past, for he was looking ahead and including them in what he would do in this present time. God did this to demonstrate his righteousness, for he himself is fair and just, and he declares sinners to be right in his sight when they believe in Jesus. Can we boast, then, that we have done anything to be accepted by God? No, because our acquittal is not based on obeying the law. It is based on faith. So we are made right with God through faith and not by obeying the law.

Before God; Justified by Works

James 2:14-24 –

What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone? Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, and you say, “Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well”—but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do? 17 So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless. Now someone may argue, “Some people have faith; others have good deeds.” But I say, “How can you show me your faith if you don’t have good deeds? I will show you my faith by my good deeds.” You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror. How foolish! Can’t you see that faith without good deeds is useless? Don’t you remember that our ancestor Abraham was shown to be right with God by his actions when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see, his faith and his actions worked together. His actions made his faith complete. And so it happened just as the Scriptures say: “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.” He was even called the friend of God. So you see, we are shown to be right with God by what we do, not by faith alone.

Quote of the Day

Oh, thrice fools are we, who like new-born princes weeping in the cradle, know not that there is a kingdom before them; then, let our Lord’s sweet hand square us, and hammer us, and strike off the knots of pride, self-love, and world-worship, and infidelity, that He may make us stones and pillars in His Father’s house. ~Samuel Rutherford~

WITH HOPE AND FAITH

REV. ELDER G E STERRETT


FOUNDER


GCKRS HELPING HAND FOUNDATION – THE RELATIONSHIP FACTORY

Written by Glenn Sterrett, Founder and CEO of the GCKRS™ Helping Hand Foundation.

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