Tag Archive | faith

Mercy Toward Doubters

Sep24

And have mercy on some, who are doubting;
Jude 1:22 NASB1995
https://bible.com/bible/100/jud.1.22.NASB1995

Everyone deals with doubt at one time or another, even believers who walk with Jesus. Take Peter for example, who was a disciple of Christ at the time Jesus walked on the sea. Peter got out of the boat to walk to Jesus. Peter’s focus was on Jesus until the wind picked up and he became frightened. Jesus, of course, reached out to save him and spoke these words, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?

Peter who stepped out in faith, was a disciple of our Lord, and yet he doubted Jesus.
Matthew 14:28-33

There are people in our churches today who doubt. Can we extend mercy to them and lead them to the assurance we have in our future because of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior?

They are lacking assurance of faith, living in worry for the day, focused on everyday life instead of Jesus and eternity.

🌹Let us show mercy to those who attend church, yet doubt. Let us extend mercy to all who doubt.

Continually Seeking Him,

Sharon
https://indasharonjesus.org

Dwell in The Love of God

Sep23

But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life.
Jude 1:20-21 NASB1995
https://bible.com/bible/100/jud.1.20-21.NASB1995

Contend earnestly for the faith. Fight the good fight of faith; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, 
having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith. Just as you were instructed, encourage one another and build up one another, overflowing with gratitude. With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints while anxiously looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus.
Jude 1:3/1 Timothy 6:12/Colossians 2:7/1 Thessalonians 5:11/Ephesians 6:18/Titus 2:13 NASB1995 

🌹so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him.
Hebrews 9:28 NASB1995
https://bible.com/bible/100/heb.9.28.NASB1995

Continually Seeking Him,

Sharon
https://indasharonjesus.org

Prayer Offered in Faith -1

Sep4

Is anyone among you sick? Then he must call for the elders (Gr. ekklesia – called out one) of the church and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; and the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him.
James 5:14-15 NASB1995
https://bible.com/bible/100/jas.5.14-15.NASB1995

Anointing with oil was common in the Old Testament and a continued custom in Jesus’ day, as we can read in Mark 6. Jesus sends His disciples out by two and they were anointing many sick people and healing them.

The emphasis in this passage of James is the power of prayer offered in faith. The prayer of faith will save. The Lord will lift them up and forget their sin. I can’t help but think the source of sin is the sickness.

By faithful believing prayer the sick are healed, brought to salvation. The salvation that begins with prayer and extends into eternity.

Thank God for the power of prayer that saves lives. Who are you praying for?

Continually Seeking Him,

Sharon 🌹
https://indasharonjesus.org

Firm in Your Faith

Aug13

Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
James 4:7 NASB1995
https://bible.com/bible/100/jas.4.7.NASB1995

1 Peter 5:6 Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God. . .

Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world. After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you. To Him be dominion forever and ever. Amen.
1 Peter 5:8-11 NASB1995
https://bible.com/bible/100/1pe.5.8-11.NASB1995

Did you catch that? How do we resist the devil? Be firm in our faith.

🌹Whoever speaks, is to do so as one who is speaking the utterances of God; whoever serves is to do so as one who is serving by the strength which God supplies; so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
1 Peter 4:11 NASB1995
https://bible.com/bible/100/1pe.4.11.NASB1995

Continually Seeking Him,

Sharon
https://indasharonjesus.org

Faith, Works, Justified Part 2

Jul10

Jericho is conquered. (Joshua 6:1-21)
Joshua upheld the word of his spies.

Joshua said to the two men who had spied out the land, “Go into the harlot’s house and bring the woman and all she has out of there, as you have sworn to her.” So the young men who were spies went in and brought out Rahab, her family and her other relatives and placed them outside the camp of Israel.
Rahab with her father’s household and all she had, Joshua spared; and she has lived in the midst of Israel to this day, for she hid the messengers whom Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.
Joshua 6:22-25 NASB1995

By faith Rahab the harlot did not perish along with those who were disobedient, after she had welcomed the spies in peace.
Hebrews 11:31 NASB1995
https://bible.com/bible/100/heb.11.31.NASB1995

Rahab, who was a harlot in Jericho, is part of the lineage of Jesus. (Matthew 1:5)

🌹It’s not about where you came from, your past, or your abilities or inabilities. It’s about what God can and will do with a surrendered heart of faith willing to work in obedient faith for His purpose and glory.

Jesus is the One who justifies.

Continually Seeking Him,

Sharon
https://indasharonjesus.org

Faith, Works, Justified Part 1

Jul9

You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone.

In the same way, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.
James 2:24-26 NASB1995
https://bible.com/bible/100/jas.2.24-26.NASB1995

In Joshua, chapter one, God’s people were about to cross into the Promised Land given by God. ¹Joshua sent two men, spies, to view the land, especially Jericho. The king of Jericho got wind of this and sent word to Rahab to bring the men out who had entered her house.
But . . . the woman had taken the two men and hidden them, and she said, “Yes, the men came to me, but I did not know where they were from. It came about when it was time to shut the gate at dark, that the men went out; I do not know where the men went. Pursue them quickly, for you will overtake them.” But she had brought them up to the roof and hidden them in the stalks of flax which she had laid in order on the roof. So the men pursued them on the road to the Jordan to the fords; and as soon as those who were pursuing them had gone out, they shut the gate.
Joshua 2:4-7 NASB1995
https://bible.com/bible/100/jos.2.4-7.NASB1995

¹Rahab asked of the men she hid to have mercy upon her and her family confessing that, “the Lord your God, He is God in heaven and on earth beneath.” The men agreed to deal kindly and faithfully.

¹Rahab helped the men escape and their parting words were . . .
. . . “We shall be free from this oath to you which you have made us swear, unless, when we come into the land, you tie this cord of scarlet thread in the window through which you let us down, and gather to yourself into the house your father and your mother and your brothers and all your father’s household.
Joshua 2:17-18 NASB1995
https://bible.com/bible/100/jos.2.17-18.NASB1995

She said, “According to your words, so be it.” So she sent them away, and they departed; and she tied the scarlet cord in the window.
Joshua 2:21 NASB1995
https://bible.com/bible/100/jos.2.21.NASB1995

Continually Seeking Him,

🌹Sharon
https://indasharonjesus.org

¹Reference: Joshua 2:1-21

Faith: Soul Preserver

Jul8

But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless?
Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar? You see that faith was working with his works, and as a result (by the deeds) of the works, faith was perfected (completed); and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness,” and he was called the friend of God.
James 2:20-23 NASB1995
https://bible.com/bible/100/jas.2.20-23.NASB1995

The work of God is that we believe in Jesus. The gift of God is grace through faith.
John 6:29/Ephesians 2:8 NASB1995

Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.
James 2:17 NASB1995
https://bible.com/bible/100/jas.2.17.NASB1995

🌹But My righteous one shall live by faith; And if he shrinks back, My soul has no pleasure in him. But we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith to the preserving of the soul.
Hebrews 10:38-39 NASB1995
https://bible.com/bible/100/heb.10.38-39.NASB1995

Continually Seeking Him,

Sharon
https://indasharonjesus.org

Belief or Faith?

Jul7

But someone (will) may well say, “You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works.”
James 2:18 NASB1995
https://bible.com/bible/100/jas.2.18.NASB1995

Are you content being a believer? You said the prayer. You got baptized. Then . . . No fruit. No obedience. No spiritual growth.

Jesus said, “Why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?”
Luke 6:46 NASB1995
https://bible.com/bible/100/luk.6.46.NASB1995

Faith is more than believing. Faith is living. Living for Jesus . . .

In obedience to His word.

What I tell you in the darkness, speak in the light; and what you hear whispered in your ear, proclaim upon the housetops.
Matthew 10:27 NASB1995
https://bible.com/bible/100/mat.10.27.NASB1995

Growing, nourishing your spirit.

but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
2 Peter 3:18a NASB1995
https://bible.com/bible/100/2pe.3.18.NASB1995

Bearing fruit.

My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples.
John 15:8 NASB1995
https://bible.com/bible/100/jhn.15.8.NASB1995

Faith is being all in, sold out to the Lord.

“Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven.
And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake will find it.
Matthew 10:32, 38-39 NASB1995
https://bible.com/bible/100/mat.10.32-39.NASB1995

No act of worthiness means anything, but only faith through the Spirit in us working through love.
Galatians 5:5-6 NASB1995

Belief is not enough.

🌹You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder.
James 2:19 NASB1995
https://bible.com/bible/100/jas.2.19.NASB1995

Continually Seeking Him,

Sharon
https://indasharonjesus.org

Faith in Action

Jul3

If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that?
James 2:15-16 NASB1995
https://bible.com/bible/100/jas.2.15-16.NASB1995

I just have to say, “I know and serve an amazing God.”

My husband and I went out to breakfast and as we were leaving we noticed an older woman of seventy sitting in the foyer. She was drinking a cup of water, graciously given by the management of the restaurant, after having walked in the heat. This woman was headed to an ATM.

Here’s where God steps in…

We were asked if we knew where an ATM was in the area. With this one question the door of opportunity to practice our faith opened the door to put our faith into action. We took this woman, in an air-conditioned vehicle, to an ATM and then delivered her safely home. We talked of Jesus and we will be praying for her. What a wonderful blessing it was to practice our faith with action; to be a part of God’s plan.

🌹Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.
James 2:17 NASB1995
https://bible.com/bible/100/jas.2.17.NASB1995

Continually Seeking Him,

Sharon
https://indasharonjesus.org

🙏 Thank you, Lord, for giving me a testimony to share with these verses. To You, God, be all the glory!!! Amen.

Faith Works

Jul2

What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him?
James 2:14 NASB1995
https://bible.com/bible/100/jas.2.14.NASB1995

Works is an outpouring of faith. The desire, the call to serve sincerely, comes from a heart to serve our Lord God. Do you know that you know that you know you are saved?

Salvation is a commitment to follow and serve God.

Are you content in your salvation?

(Recommended reading: Matthew 25:31-46)

🌹But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does.
James 1:25 NASB1995
https://bible.com/bible/100/jas.1.25.NASB1995

Continually Seeking Him,

Sharon
https://indasharonjesus.org