I love to talk about faith! Why? The reason is simple. Faith is required to please God. Faith is required to be saved. Faith is required to get healing. Faith is required to live without sin, because the Bible says that anything that is not of faith is sin. Also, according to James 1:6, faith is required to get our prayers answered.
Faith is definitely important and I love to study and talk about faith. However, faith is not just believing. Faith is also doing.
James 2:14 says, “What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him?”
James 2:17 says, “Thus also faith, by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” Later in the same chapter it says, “But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect?”
How does a man have faith without works anyway? Well, he hears the Word but does not do it. And, according to the Bible, a man who hears the Word and does not act on it, does not truly have faith.
Sometimes good people who want to please God unknowingly deceive themselves. Because they hear the Word of God, they convince themselves that everything is okay. However, the reality is that everything is not okay. They just think it is. Therefore they have deceived themselves. Thinking you have faith does not please God. Having faith pleases Him.
In Matthew 7:24, Jesus tells the story of two men who built houses. One man, a wise man, built his house on the rock. When the storms came, his house withstood the storms. The other man, a foolish man, built his house on the sand. When the storms came, his house was destroyed. Jesus said the man who built his house on the rock was like someone who hears His sayings and does them. He compared the foolish man, who built his house on the sand, to a man who heard His sayings and did not do them.
We must not deceive ourselves. Hearing the Word of God without acting on the Word can be deadly. God didn’t give us His Word just so we would be highly educated. Education is good. It’s a good thing to read and study God’s Word, but without action it profits us nothing. That’s what the scribes and Pharisees did. Because they did not put the Word into action, Jesus rebuked them for their hypocrisy.
We’ve all known people who can talk real well but never seem to deliver. Our words are important. Our thoughts are important. Our faith is important. But we must not just believe, we must act. Only then will there be faith.
We must act on God’s Word. Only by hearing the sayings of Jesus and doing them, will our houses be built on the rock. Only when we build on the rock will we survive the storms.
Remember this. A doer of the Word is someone who prays for the sick. A doer of the Word is someone who forgives. A doer of the Word is someone who loves those who don’t love in return. A doer of the Word is someone who not only says he has faith but he has the corresponding actions to prove it.
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Dr. Larry Ollison is founder and Senior Pastor of Walk on the Water Faith Church and founder of Larry Ollison Ministries. With over forty years in the ministry, he is a very popular speaker nationally and internationally and ministers the Word of Faith through radio, television, Internet, and daily e-mail devotionals. As the author of twelve books (including The Power of Grace, The Practical Handbook for Christian Living, Breaking the Cycle of Offense, Life is in the Blood, and recently released The Paradise of God), he is in frequent demand for radio/TV interviews, book signings, and magazine publications.
Dr. Ollison was raised a Southern Baptist. While majoring in theology at Southwest Baptist University, he received the baptism of the Holy Spirit. For many years he traveled extensively speaking at Full Gospel Business Men's meetings and conventions. He later earned an M.A. in Theology and a Ph.D. and Th.D. from Life Christian University.
Currently President of International Convention of Faith Ministries (ICFM), Dr. Ollison is also Vice-President of Spirit FM Christian Radio Network, Missouri State Director of Christians United for Israel (CUFI), and a Trustee on the boards of several international ministries. He is also the host of The Cutting Edge Radio Broadcast and authors The Cutting Edge Daily Devotional.
As the owner of a marine dealership, his extensive business background brings a unique flavor to his teaching. He founded and served as chairman of the Missouri State Marine Board, President of the Marine Dealers’ Association, Vice-President of a bank holding company, along with holding several directorships in various corporations.
Dr. Ollison's strongest areas of teaching are the blood of Jesus, faith, relationships, the Hebrew language, the Holy Spirit, the end times, and heaven. During ministry, he operates freely in the gifts of the Holy Spirit. His use of humor and his ability to make a theological concept simple makes it enjoyable and easy for everyone to understand. Countless testimonies have been received from people who say their lives have been changed after experiencing Dr. Ollison's unique ministry.
Dr. Ollison is a pastor, pilot, teacher, and author. His number one goal is to meet the needs of the people through the teaching of faith in God's Word. He and his wife, Loretta, have two children and six grandchildren.