”And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and this [faith] was credited to him [by God] as righteousness and as conformity to His will,” and he was called the friend of God. You see that a man (believer) is justified by works and not by faith alone [that is, by acts of obedience a born-again believer reveals his faith].“
James 2:23-24 AMP
https://bible.com/bible/1588/jas.2.23-24.AMP
”But without faith it is impossible to [walk with God and] please Him, for whoever comes [near] to God must [necessarily] believe that God exists and that He rewards those who [earnestly and diligently] seek Him.“
Hebrews 11:6 AMP
https://bible.com/bible/1588/heb.11.6.AMP
”So then, being always filled with good courage and confident hope, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord— for we walk by faith, not by sight [living our lives in a manner consistent with our confident belief in God’s promises]—“
2 Corinthians 5:6-7 AMP
https://bible.com/bible/1588/2co.5.6-7.AMP
REFLECTION
Just before the start of Lent (14/2/2024), I sensed the Lord leading me to get up earlier to spend more focused time praying and pondering scripture with Him. I felt rather anxious about committing to that because – while starting my day in prayer and The Word has been something I’ve done for a very long time now (not because I have to but because I want to and need to) – I had been really struggling to get up early. When the alarm would go off, my spirit would say yes and my flesh would say a very firm no. Sometimes I got up early, sometimes I didn’t. And because my (official) work schedule started later in the day, it was easy to keep pressing the snooze button.
After praying about it, I received a deeper revelation of God’s love for me / us, in that everything He leads us to do is for our good and His glory… and that He, being our marvellous Maker, knows exactly what each one of us needs to truly be free and flourish. And it became increasingly clear that I needed to get up earlier every day. So – by faith – I said yes.
The night before Lent began, I prayed and set my alarm for 6am. The next morning, when I heard the alarm, I felt so heavy and sleepy, but I got up and made my bed – by faith. As the morning unfolded, I was so encouraged to find that with every faith-filled action, God was strengthening me and I was able to follow through. Every morning since then it’s been hard to get up early, but every time I got up I was given grace to keep going. And while moving forward, I was reminded of how important it is to colabour with our Maker, and do the work of aligning our thoughts and words with His truth (which is then expression in our actions). And when, by faith, we do what we believe God is guiding us to do, we can trust that He will empower us to do it.
And so, by faith, I will continue to get up early because I can (and so can you) indeed “…do all things [which He has called me to do] through Him who strengthens and empowers me [to fulfill His purpose—I am self-sufficient in Christ’s sufficiency; I am ready for anything and equal to anything through Him who infuses me with inner strength and confident peace.] – Philippians 4:13
PRAYER POEM: True
Almighty God ~ there is no difficulty beyond Your ability.
You are true to Your Word, so I’ll pray + praise You every day ~ in festivity, forlornity or in the fiery fray ~ trusting that You will give me grace to do what You say.
