FAITH WITH WORKS
by
Dr. Gale A. Ragan-Reid (June 27, 2015)
“Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of so little faith? (St. Matthew 6:30; St. Luke 12:28, King James Version [The sermon on the mount; warnings of Christ]; And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm.(St. Matthew 8:26, KJV [Jesus calmed the sea].”
Greetings in Jesus' Name,
My brothers and sisters, most if not all of us go from saying, “Lord, how long---how long must I wait? Then feeling regret for impatience we go to saying, Lord, let your will be done.” My father and my mother always said work hard and you will see your dreams come true one day. Well, I worked hard and the powers that be/people in more power gave the promotion to another. My fellows, I would not let anyone say that their faith in what God can do and what God will do in their life were more true to the doctrine of Christ Jesus and closer to God's heart than the faith I have in what God can do and what God will do in my life. “Ye of so little faith (II John 9, KJV [in the doctrine of Christ].”
Further more, I do not want to be the one that bursts your bubble about working hard. Remember, David before he became King David worked hard for King Saul but still King Saul chased him to kill him---out of jealousy. Of course, David was already anointed the king of Israel but did not want to retaliate and kill the king whom he came into his own under and David probably did not feel the same kind of jealousy would haunt him when he became king---that he would be jealous of his hardest worker. Yet, it was so, that David fell in love with Uriah's wife, Bathsheba---his hardest worker and plotted to kill him because he would not stop working hard, for him and spend time with his wife so he could cover up the truth that the child Uriah's wife carried was King David's child not her husband Uriah's child. King David felt jealousy in love that King Saul felt in power but in both situations the jealousy felt was jealousy for their hardest worker.
Most importantly, how do you know your faith did not deliver unto you? I ask you a second time, how do you know? Do you feel you know because God did not speak to you so you could hear to receive? [God stopped speaking to King Saul and had Prophet Samuel to anoint David the next king of Israel. The reason God rejected King Saul was because King Saul rejected the power and authority of God [It was a power struggle that King Saul convinced himself he could win over God] yet he wanted God to remain with him and accept his disobedience and disrespect. King Saul was a puffed up fool---an imbecile that feared his people's feelings more than the power of God who made him king of Israel. How many of you have buckled under the pressure of the people---public opinion and abandoned your faith in Christ Jesus that God will deliver? Or, do you feel you know because God did not reveal the impact of his promise in your life, to you? [King Saul asked Prophet Samuel to reveal to him God's decision about his kingship while he laid cold in the grave through the witch of Endor but Prophet Samuel's spirit spoke the same that he said to King Saul when he lived in the flesh that God was no longer with him.] Researchers found in a recent study “that folks would much rather have a root canal procedure or apply for another job than go ask their present boss for a raise” (I Samuel 28: 6-25, KJV [King Saul sought a woman with a familiar spirit to raise Prophet Samuel from the dead; the witch of Endor raised Prophet Samuel]; NBC, 2014 [Today Show---study on asking for a raise...]; [King Saul did not work hard for God and disobeyed God's instructions so God did not let him remain king of Israel, he worked hard for the people holding the words of the people superior to the Word of God which placed the people above Christ Jesus---the promise---the high priest under the order of Melchiseldec---all unrevealed to King Saul and Prophet Samuel did not tell him anything else].
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Moreover, why do you fear your future standing so much when you say your works are with faith? The promotion that you did not get today opened the door for the promotion that you will get and no
evil influencer from the depths of hell will stop that---stand as a mountain in your way. The raise that you did not ask for today is the raise waiting for the asking---even if, the evil in an influencer in a higher position than yourself laughs in your face saying you got a fifty cents raise and did not get the promotion---then you must believe that God is still sitting on the throne. You must believe that God
will do what he said he will do. Oh!, If only you believed then how light the weight of expectations would be on your heart, no longer burdening you down in unbelief but lifting you up in faith?
More importantly, King Saul was not slick and he could not out slick God. King Saul disobeyed God's instructions and placed the people over the will of God so he could manipulate the decision for the next king of Israel---designing a plan to place his son Jonathan in secession but Jonathan lined up with the will of God and loved David. However, King David's son Solomon did secede him and become the next king in secession after his father King David. Let's look further at the will of God. King Saul's son Jonathan was so full of love he did not treacherously betray his father for the throne even though his father King Saul betrayed God yet King David's son Absalom did treacherously betray his father and rally an uprising against his father to take the throne just as King David betrayed Uriah sending a message to place Uriah on the front lines of war to be killed (II Samuel 1:5-17 [King Saul falls...Amalekite killed King Saul and took the king's crown---delivered the crown to David; David laments the death of King Saul and his son Jonathan]; II Samuel 15th chapter, KJV [Absalom seduceth Israel; II Samuel 18: 9-10, KJV [“...Absalom hanged in an oak.”]; I Kings 2:12, KJV; [Then sat Solomon upon the throne of David his father; and his kingdom was established greatly]).
God's will be done---works with faith must line up with the will of God in Christ Jesus for eternal life. How many of you are gods of yourselves and reject the will of the Almighty God as King Saul did opting to do things the way he saw fit---making yourselves the wiser and in such a way rallying the people against God as King David's son Absalom did and Satan did---to overthrow God sitting on the throne of power and might with Christ Jesus sitting on his right. Are you setting yourselves up for the fall as Adam and Eve did standing against the Word of God? This sort of behavior is as prevalent in today's world as it was in yester day and yester year but God is still sitting on the throne with Christ Jesus sitting on his right hand. You cannot unseat the Almighty God---though many in leadership have tried but if God has to go to the pasture as he did with King Saul to replace you as he replaced King Saul with King David, obviously he will. You ask yourselves how do the meek and lowly rise up to the top you must see yourselves---be transparent and hear your heart to render yourselves blameless of plotting against the Word of God to know your truth---the truth you see and hear in your heart does not taste and see the Word of God---just as those who did not show up to the wedding left the family no choice but to go out and get the people of the streets to attend the wedding ceremony; just as King David let Bathsheba Uriah's wife take him and did not let King Saul's daughter---his wife see him after she mocked his naked dance was before the women of the streets for the ark of the covenant before God; just as Bathsheba's son Solomon sat on King David's throne; just as Esther became queen, a Jewish woman when the king's wife refused to come to him. Was their faith with works greater than your faith with works? (II Samuel 11th chapter, KJV [David and Bathsheba; Uriah refused to go home to Bathsheba to sleep with her to cover up King David's sin of adultery; David commiteth adultery; David betrayed Uriah unto death]; I Kings 1:16-17; 29-31, KJV [Bathsheba's intercession---”...Assuredly Solomon thy son shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne in my stead; even so will I certainly do this day; I Kings 1:23-2:25, KJV [Adonijah claimed the throne of King David and Abishag the Shunammite to marry”]).
In closing, King David said, “...The God of Israel said, “the Rock of Israel spake to me, He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God.” Lord have mercy. Christ have mercy. In The Name Of Jesus. Amen (II Samuel 23: 2-3; 23:1-7, KJV [King David's last words]).
