April 24, 2020
Brothers and Sisters,
As we continue out thoughts on “Faith” this week, the Bible makes it clear that faith is a requirement to please God. As a matter of fact, it is impossible to please God without faith. And I’m sure that we all have a personal goal to please God with our life.
(Hebrews 11:6) But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
The Bible says that at the end of life’s way here on earth we will all have to stand before God at the judgement. The lost will stand before God at “The Great White Throne” and the redeemed will appear before the “The Judgment Seat of Christ”.
(Rev 20:11-12) And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
(2 Corinthians 5:10) For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in hisbody, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.
I would like to only deal with the redeemed in this morning’s devotion. Jesus on several occasions during His earthly ministry with the disciples rebuked them by saying, “O ye of little faith”. That causes me to stop and think if Jesus said that about His disciples, I wonder what He says about my life sometimes. I don’t think when we appear before “The Judgment Seat of Christ” we’ll be standing there with a goofy grin on our face or blowing bubbles. No, we’ll be standing there ashamed for some of the wrong things we have done and ashamed of the opportunities that we have missed along the way since we were saved.
I believe these past few weeks when we’ve been shut up in our homes, it has caused many of us to re-evaluate our relationship with the Lord. I know it has me. I would really like to come out of this quarantine with a renewed focus on pleasing God. Since the only way to please God is through faith, I’m asking God to increase my faith more than ever before and help me display my faith for others to see.
James 2:18 says, 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.
We are not saved by works, but we can let others know about our faith by our works. Here are just a few ways that we can all display our faith for others to see:
- Pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17)
- Read and study the Word of God (2 Timothy 2:15)
- Be faithful to the House of God (Hebrews 10:25)
- Live soberly, righteously and godly in this present world (Titus 2:11-14)
Let us all pray that God will increase our faith and put it on display for others to see as we move forward in our service for Him.
Bro. Rick
