His work, not ours - 1/26/06

James 2:22 - "You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did."

This is a verse brought up by my wife at our weekly Bible study. I feel like this is Chapter 2 of the entry from the 23rd - being His hands and feet as the next step after faith. Our next step is to begin works, making our faith perfect and complete by doing what He asks of us.

I saw in 1 Corinthians 12:28 & 31 that we are given gifts. We step out in faith to complete the works Jesus calls us to do, knowing that he has equipped us - gifted to us - the abilities required for our success. The hardest part, a point on which everybody in the Bible study agreed, is to be obedient when we are called to use our gifts. To surrender ourselves and our wills to HIS WILL and His timing for His purpose - not our own. We know what is right to do, what is good, and have seen His work in our lives as a testimony to that, but we still choose to be disobedient at times.

My wife reminded me on Tuesday that the enemy and his followers once worshipped God before Him in His presence and glory, but still they chose to disobey Him by choosing themselves over Him - separating from Him to call the shots for a time even though it ultimately meant failure and destruction. How hard is it then for us as creatures who've never been in His presence to cede control of our lives to His ultimate purpose! But He promised, "abide in Me, and I will abide in you." And I know He keeps His promises - and knowing also that He is good, I'm willing to give Him control in my life. Doing so will prevent destruction and allow me to share in His victory over death and have eternal peace and joy. Not that the problems of my life now will go away by following God, but I'll have the tools to handle them responsibly, and find success through His wisdom in those situations.