Expecting The Perks Without The Works
Even though I was looking forward to writing the post I’ve had on my mind for the past few days, when I saw Joyce Meyer’s TV broadcast message this morning, I knew I’d have to set that aside and share Joyce’s message instead. It’s The Perks Without the Works, in which she teaches the importance of discipline and self-control, and it’s a VERY important message for anyone serious about marriage restoration to watch.
There’s no way to overstate how important it is for us to understand the spiritual laws and principles operating and controlling the kingdom of God, which we need to know and understand so we can put them to good use as we stand against the gates of hell and what the rest of the world says about the restoration of our marriages. So I ALWAYS welcome and appreciate messages stressing how vital that is for the realization of our dreams and the fulfillment of our prayers. In fact, I recently wrote a post about that titled Doing What It Takes To win, in which I stressed the importance of studying God’s word so we’d know what it takes to win the battle for the salvation of our marriages, husbands and families.
God never meant for us to be passive as Christians. Yet, that’s how many view their relationship and walk with the Lord. But no one expecting or requiring a miracle can afford to be passive. No where in the word of God does it indicate that we can accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior and then just sit back and idly wait for God’s blessings, provision and protection to roll in. That’s not how it works, and if we don’t get that, we might be in for a big disappointment, because God will NOT be obligated to move on our behalf and bring about the restoration of our marriages. That point couldn’t possibly be made any clearer than in James 2:17, which says In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. And then Philippians 2:12-13 says Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose. Since we know that’s not a reference to salvation in terms of our relationship with the Lord and our eternal destination, it must mean salvation in terms of the Lord’s protection, provision, and blessings. And there’s no doubt that it’s saying we must obey in order to “work out” that salvation (or deliverance) according to God’s will and good purpose. And there’s further confirmation of that in Hebrews 11:6, which says And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. and that affirms an earlier message in Hebrews 10:38, which says But my righteous one will live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him.”
One of the Bible references Joyce used in her message this morning was Proverbs 16:32 (NKJV), which says He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, And he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city. Even though I’ve read that verse many times before, it had a much greater impact when specifically considering it in the context of self-control, which is obviously what it’s about! And none of us can say we can’t help what we do (or don’t do), because as Joyce points out, self-control IS one of the fruit of the spirit described in Galatians 5:22-23, which says But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. So when Satan tries to deceive us into thinking we can’t do what the Lord asks (and ALWAYS equips) us to do, we have to remember and claim the promise in Philippians 4:13 (NKJV), which says I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. May we all exercise the self-control and discipline necessary to insure that our faith is not dead, because our words of faith are backed up by our actions and attitudes, which are in keeping with God’s word.