Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works. But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also (James 2:17,18,20,26). Using God’s divine faith requires not only believing but also putting that faith into operation and obeying God in all things.

Many people claim to believe in God, but their actions and works prove otherwise. Their lifestyle, their language and their treatment of others are contrary to the Word of God; and He is displeased.

People who say they believe in God are deceiving themselves when their lives are full of sin and disobedience. The devil and his kingdom believe in God, and they actually show Him much more respect than people do who openly defy or deny Him. James said, Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble (James 2:19). However, a devil’s belief in God is in vain because his very existence is unholy and evil, and he is incapable of pleasing God in any way.

Abraham Obeyed God

James asked, Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect? And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God (James 2:21-23). Abraham’s belief and obedience showed his divine faith was in operation, and that faith brought the righteousness and blessings of God upon his life.

Hebrews 11, the faith chapter, speaks of faithful Abraham saying, By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went (Hebrews 11:8). God called Abraham out from his country, his city and his family and friends; and Abraham humbly obeyed. He left behind everything he was familiar with and set out on a journey without knowing where it would take him.

To believe God is to obey Him in all things, even when you don’t understand; and to obey the Lord in very difficult times requires great trust and humility. Abraham had those things.

Seek God’s Thoughts

It doesn’t matter how close to God you live or how long you have served Him; no one will ever know all the ways of God. The Bible says, For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts (Isaiah 55:9). That is why God’s Word declares, The just shall live by faith (Romans 1:17).

You can’t just use faith; you have to live by it day after day, trusting the Lord with all your heart and obeying all of His love commands. If you don’t trust the Lord completely, you will never obey Him and act on all that His Word declares. Instead, you will lean on your own understanding when difficult circumstances arise and stifle the faith of God. Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths (Proverbs 3:5,6).

Relying on your human understanding can be a stumbling block in your relationship with God. Instead of believing, trusting and obeying God, you stumble along trying to reason things out within yourself or with other people; and that allows fear of the unknown to move in. Then your imagination will run wild with weak thoughts; and eventually, you will lose your trust in God.

Sarah Didn’t Wait on God

Sarah and Abraham believed God when He promised them a son. Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised (Hebrews 11:11).

They had to wait 25 long years for that promise to be fulfilled; and during that time, their faith in God was severely tested. As the years passed, there was one time when their trust in God wavered. Sarah started to get impatient with God, and she devised a plan to try to fulfill His promise to them her way. She took the situation out of God’s hands, and that always leads to trouble.

Sarah gave her handmaid, Hagar, to Abraham in hopes that Hagar would conceive a son, and she did; but that was not what God had promised. Sarah soon became so jealous of Hagar and her son that she urged Abraham to cast them out, and that brought him much sorrow and grief.

When God was finally ready to fulfill His promise to Sarah and Abraham, Sarah did conceive a son, Isaac, even though she was way past the age of childbearing. Always remember that when you follow God’s will for your life, His promises will be fulfilled His way and in His time.

Children of God will be tried and tested in this life. Will you trust God and His promises, or will you be full of fear and live in your feelings? Will you believe God, or will you doubt Him and draw back on Him? Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul (Hebrews 10:38,39).

Abraham Chose God’s Way

When trials and troubles come, do you obey God and His Word completely; or do you pick and choose which parts you want to obey? Some people will obey the Lord when it’s convenient for them, but they don’t want to obey Him if they have to sacrifice or suffer. There are those who say they believe in God, yet they don’t want to obey His Word that says they must separate from the world, live holy and righteous and receive the baptism of the Holy Ghost.

God put Abraham to a great test when He told him to go to Mount Moriah and sacrifice Isaac for an offering unto Him. Abraham had waited 25 years for God to give him Isaac, and then God asked him to kill his beloved son. How would you have responded to such a request? Would you have ignored it or even turned your back on God?

Surely, Abraham was taken aback at first; but he possessed such deep-rooted love for and trust in God that the next day, he set out on his journey to obey God. Abraham had faith which worketh by love (Galatians 5:6).

Abraham never allowed the devil, self or Sarah to persuade him against God’s will. That is divine faith in operation. Abraham believed God when He had said that through his seed, Isaac, a great nation would come forth. He trusted God so much that he knew if he did kill his son, God would raise him to life again. However, Abraham was still a human being, so obeying such a request was not easy.

Testing Day

Abraham traveled for three days to reach the mountain; and I’m sure the devil was working on his mind each step of the way saying, “What kind of God do you serve that He would tell you to kill your son? What will you tell Sarah if you kill him, and he does not come back to life? You must be crazy to do such a thing to your son!”

By the time Abraham and Isaac started climbing the mountain, Abraham had won the victory within himself. When young Isaac asked, My father…Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering (Genesis 22:7)? Abraham wisely and calmly responded with love and faith saying, My son, God will provide himself a lamb [a sacrifice] for a burnt offering (Genesis 22:8).

Abraham knew in his heart that if he sacrificed Isaac, God would raise him back to life. Then they would make a sacrifice to God together. By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called: Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure (Hebrews 11:17-19).

When Abraham raised the knife over his son, he had completely obeyed God in his heart. Then at that moment, the angel of the Lord stepped in and stopped Abraham from actually killing Isaac. When Abraham looked up, he saw a ram caught in the thicket. God had indeed provided the lamb.

Divine Faith Brings Miracles

When Jesus was on Earth, He displayed all the powers of the divine blood as well as the power of the Holy Ghost. He performed miracles of all kinds and even raised the dead, but that great power from On High operated only according to the divine faith of the people He ministered to. Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth (Mark 9:23).

Consider these accounts where faith made miracles possible: Then touched he [Jesus] their eyes [of two blind men], saying, According to your faith be it unto you (Matthew 9:29). Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman [whose daughter was vexed with devils], great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour (Matthew 15:28).

On the other hand, Jesus’ great power was limited by a person’s lack of faith. And he [Jesus] did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief (Matthew 13:58). O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt (Matthew 14:31)? For Jesus to perform the miraculous, He needs people’s cooperation; and He needs their divine faith to be in operation.

In Luke 5, the Bible tells us that Peter and the other fisherman with him had fished all night long and caught nothing. Then Jesus told them, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught (Luke 5:4). In the natural, Jesus’ request seemed foolish and impossible; yet Peter humbled himself and decided not to lean to his own understanding. He said, Nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net (Luke 5:5). Peter put his divine faith into operation, and he trusted and obeyed Jesus. Then so many fish filled the fishing nets that they broke.

Man Healed of Palsy

Later in that same chapter, Jesus was in a certain house ministering to a crowd of people when four men came carrying a man with palsy on a bed. They wanted to get the sick man to Jesus; but there were so many people there that it seemed it would be impossible.

Those men believed without a doubt that Jesus could heal their loved one, so they put their divine faith into action and carried the man to the roof of the house. And when they could not find by what way they might bring him in because of the multitude, they went upon the housetop, and let him down through the tiling with his couch into the midst before Jesus. And when he saw their faith, he said unto him, Man, thy sins are forgiven thee…Arise, and take up thy couch, and go into thine house (Luke 5:19,20,24).

Woman Healed of an Issue of Blood

In Mark 5, a woman afflicted with an issue of blood for 12 years went to Jesus seeking a cure. She had spent all her living on doctors and had only gotten worse, so she decided to believe upon Jesus; and her divine faith went into operation. She set her time and her point of contact for deliverance. And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years…When she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind, and touched his garment. For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole (Mark 5:25,27,28).

That woman did not need Jesus to speak to her, lay hands on her or even pray for her. Her divine faith within said, “Only touch His clothes, and His power will make you whole.” And that is exactly what happened.

I’m sure that woman used all the strength she had just to get to Jesus. Then she reached out to touch Him with such great, divine faith that her touch was different from every other person’s touch in that crowd. And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about in the press, and said, Who touched my clothes? And his disciples said unto him, Thou seest the multitude thronging thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me (Mark 5:30,31)? Jesus immediately recognized her touch of divine faith.

Centurion’s Servant Healed

In Matthew 8, you’ll find a Gentile centurion who exhibited amazing faith. He came to Jesus requesting help for his very sick servant, so Jesus said He would go to the centurion’s house and pray for his servant. Then the centurion’s faith went into operation with a great display of humility; and he said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed (Matthew 8:8).

The centurion acknowledged the power and authority of Jesus, and he trusted Him completely. He knew that if Jesus would just speak, it would be done. When Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel…Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee. And his servant was healed in the selfsame hour (Matthew 8:10,13).

Humble Woman Receives Salvation

Luke 7 tells of a woman who received the greatest miracle of all—salvation. While Jesus was eating at Simon the Pharisee’s house, a sinful woman fell at His feet and began to weep with great humility and godly sorrow. She proceeded to wash Jesus’ feet with her tears and dry them with her hair. Then she kissed them and anointed them with oil.

The woman did not care what anyone else in that house thought of what she did. The woman’s divine faith in operation went beyond the faith of all those who were gathered there; and Jesus said, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little. And he said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven…Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace (Luke 7:47,48,50).

Friend, the Word of God says, God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith (Romans 12:3). You are to use that measure of divine faith to receive salvation and eternal life and to be delivered of all manner of sickness and disease. In His Word, God has given us promises of healing, miracles and deliverance through His Son, Jesus Christ.

Your faith will be tested in this life; and after receiving prayer, there will be times when you will have false symptoms. If you hold on to them, you will forsake the mercy God tells about in His Word.

Friend, only believe in the Word of God, and let your measure of divine faith go into operation for your need right now. The Word of God declares, If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (I John 1:9). It also says, And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him (James 5:15).

God bless you today.