We are discussing James 2:14-25 (http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=james%202:14-25&version=NIV1984).
If we look at life we see that those who dare are the ones who get somewhere. The Paralympics has been going the past ten days and all of us have been astonished by the ability of these athletes to accomplish what they have and many of us have been shamed by their success. However, where did their success start? It began with a leap of faith. As I watched this wheelchair tennis player, Nick Taylor, from the USA with his twisted body in his electric wheelchair, with the racket attached to his malformed forearm, catching the ball with his twisted feet and then flipping it into the air to serve, playing an excellent game, I thought of where it could have begun.
He probably had this twisted body and perhaps had to be spoon fed when someone asked him whether he would like to play tennis. He might have looked up to the person enquiring whether he was nuts, or he might have thought ‘why not, I can do it’. Whatever prompted him to start playing tennis; he still had to believe that it was possible. Whoever prompted him to play would probably have been prepared to help him and if he had thought of it himself he would have had to seek advice and help. To get there he had to muster the courage to do something about it by making a fool of himself, going through much hardship and relying on others for help, but in the end he would have reaped the reward. What looked to be impossible for this twisted man, without much hope in life, became a rewarding sport.
When it comes to dealing with the spiritual realm we are all paraplegic, in other words in comparison to God and even to the power of the evil forces we are powerless - paraplegics. However, the Lord has called all these paraplegics to believe that He is able to get us where He wants to use us to affect the world around us, through the power of the Holy Spirit. In the process we need to use those gifts that enable us to work hand in hand with the Holy Spirit. In our spiritual paraplegic state our gift is the one limb that will make all the difference. However, we need to believe that we can. “I can do everything through him who gives me strength,” (Philippians 4:13). Like the tennis player we need to rely on the Holy Spirit’s and others’ help.
Getting there means that we have to hear what the Holy Spirit expects of us and then we have to believe it. Once we believe that the Lord wants to use us, we need to believe that we can do it through His power. When we get to this point, we believe, but we do not have faith yet, since faith is doing what we believe. Like that wheelchair tennis player we have to do something about our belief. We need to start doing what the Holy Spirit tells us. Years ago the Lord told me through a company of prophets that I need to get into the Word of God and get to know it, for He will use me in a very special way, which I did. Some years later I started to write these kinds of things publicly and were amazed by what came from my pen, but it was and still is a difficult road to walk because of the resistance from my enemies.
Being obedient and adding action to what we believe the Lord wants to do through us will never be easy and it takes courage. The sinful nature and the devil will make every effort to cause doubt, unbelief, insecurity and so on to make us give up and become complacent. Real faith keeps going, though, in spite of hardship, persecution and setbacks. Real faith will be tested, but if we persevere the rewards will be wonderful.
Each Christian therefore has a choice to either say we believe and live a mediocre, religious life whilst receiving that reward in the end, or act on our faith by exercising our gifts in spite of resistance and reap those rewards.
Lord, I want to act on my faith.
Thank you Lord that your Word went out from your mouth, via your servant’s pen, and it will not return to you empty, but will accomplish what you desire and achieve the purpose for which you sent it.
Please pass this on if you think others may benefit by it.
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