Asking for Faith

One of the most important good works that the child of God must perform, while in this ungodly world, is to believe in God. If we do not have faith in Him, there is not one good work that we can perform. Did Paul not write in Ephesians 2:8 , "By grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God"?

This explains why James wrote in chapter 1:6, "But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed."

James wrote this after exhorting us to ask God for wisdom, so that we would not fall into sin when we are tempted. Falling into sin is falling away from God and becoming worthy of hell fire!

To enjoy God's love, and to be brought through death to live with Him, you need wisdom to enable you to walk in the way God commands, not in the way Satan tempts you to go. If we doubt God's goodness, we are not walking by faith, and we reveal a lack of wisdom.

If a man doubts that his surgeon can successfully remove the cancer that is threatening his life in months to come, he will not submit to a surgery that may cause death the day it is performed. Likewise, if we doubt that any work of God is good for us, we are not going to pray for it. We must believe that God has all things completely in His hand, and that what He sends us is good. Ask Him then, believing that He has the power to save you from sin, and will fulfill His promise to keep you from Satan's sinful intentions for you.

God is not so busy that He cannot give us wisdom, and that He will forget what He promised us. Believe that He will keep His word, and that He has a love that never wavers. Let not the sea of sin toss you away from faith.

Read: Romans 8:22-39

Meditations on the Heidelberg Catechism

Through the Bible in One Year
Read today:

1 Kings 20 
1 Kings 21:1-29 
Acts 12 
Acts 13:1-15 
Psalm 137:1-9 
Proverbs 17:16

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Quote for Reflection:
Herman Bavinck: "Scripture knows no independent creatures ... God cares for all his creatures: for animals (Gen 1:30; 6:19; 7:2; 9:10; Job 38:41; Pss. 36:7; 104:27; 147:9; Joel 1:20; Matt. 6:26, etc.), and particularly for humans. He sees them all (Job 34:21; Ps. 33:13, 14; Prov. 15:3); fashions the hearts of them all and observes all their deeds (Ps. 33:15; Prov. 5:21); they are all the works of his hands (Job 34:19), the rich as well as the poor (Prov. 22:2). He determines the boundaries of their habitation (Deut. 32:8; Acts 17:26), inclines the hearts of all (Prov. 21:1), directs the steps of all (Prov. 3:21; 16:9; 19:21; Jer. 10:23, etc.), and deals according to his will with the host of heaven and the inhabitants of the earth (Dan. 4:35). They are in his hands as clay in the hands of a potter, and as a saw in the hand of one who pulls it (Isa. 29:16; 45:9; Jer. 18:5; Rom. 9:21, 21)" (In the Beginning, p. 230).