What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?

(James 2:14 ESV)

The Greek word for 

works is – ergō which means to work; toil (as an effort or occupation); by implication, an act: — deed, doing, labor.  

Faith with ergo’s application, a toiling effort to act on what we believe through occupation, working, and walking out the truth, reveals our faith! We act on what we believe! 

So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless.

(James 2:17 NLT)

If a woman becomes pregnant, she begins to prepare for the coming of that child.  She doesn’t just hope everything will be there when the baby is born.  She and her husband prepare a nursery, decide on a name; they buy baby clothes, diapers, and other items needed to provide for the child’s arrival. All kinds of plans and preparation are made because they know that the child she is pregnant with is coming at the appointed time.  Are you pregnant with faith? Do you believe in God for a miracle? Has He given you a promise in His word or a Rhema word in your spirit? 

If so, then you are expecting! Have you named it? Can you see it? Are you preparing for it with an agreement and correlating actions that say- yes! I trust you, Lord! I believe in you! I believe what you have spoken in your word to be accurate, and I’m eagerly awaiting your promise to be born and come to fruition!

It is important to remember why we have faith and how we obtained it.  

So faith comes from hearing, that is, hearing the Good News about Christ.

(Romans 10:17 NLT)

So, what do you believe about Him? What have you heard? Who is Jesus to you? I think we have to honestly answer this question. Is He the God of the miraculous? Is He our Savior to the world? Can He forgive our sins? Can He still raise the dead, open blind eyes, feed the multitudes with only a little offered up in prayer and faith? WHO IS HE TO YOU?  Because this belief changes everything about our past, present, and future!   It changes the way we live daily.  The apostle Peter had to answer this same question when asked by Jesus.  

Then he (Jesus) asked them, “But who do you say I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Jesus replied, “You are blessed, Simon son of John, because my Father in heaven has revealed this to you. You did not learn this from any human being. Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means ‘rock’), and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it. And I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven. Whatever you forbid on earth will be forbidden in heaven, and whatever you permit on earth will be permitted in heaven.”

(Matthew 16:15-19 NLT)

What an astonishing revelation, along with great power and responsibility, given to those who answer and understand correctly! I believe Jesus needs this resolved in our lives just as He needed it to be in Peter’s life. If we are going to experience the power of God’s Blessings and the authority of His kingdom, this resolve brings us to a far greater connection than just having faith alone!  It brings the explosive power of His Spirit into a demonstration that builds the church because our actions now reveal the true meaning of the cross!  It moves us from elegant speech into a demonstration of His Spirit to reveal His real kingdom! Look what the apostle Paul had to say about this! 

I stood before you feeling inadequate, filled with reverence for God, and trembling under the sense of the importance of my words. The message I preached and how I preached it was not an attempt to sway you with persuasive arguments but to prove to you the almighty power of God’s Holy Spirit. For God intended that your faith not be established on man’s wisdom but by trusting in his almighty power.

(1 Corinthians 2:3-5 TPT)

It’s not just that we believe there is a God and that He can do anything that brings the world’s change.  Most people believe there is a God. Most will tell you He can pretty much do anything He wants because He is God. After all, He made the heavens and the earth.  But, does that bring effective change? So there must be more! There have to be those who demonstrate who He is by the way that they live.  

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. Rahab the prostitute is another example. She was shown to be right with God by her actions when she hid those messengers and sent them safely away by a different road. Just as the body is dead without breath, so also faith is dead without good works.

(James 2:21-26 NLT)

If ever there was a time to add actions to our faith, it is now! Not superficial, think good vibes and hope the universe serves you up something good- but an actual demonstration of God’s power and His promises being revealed in the earth! Who do you say He is? How do you live because of who He is?