Salvation Summaries

James 1:22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.

Do you want to receive God’s blessings in your life? If so, you may need to change the way you live.

According to the Bible, there are two ways to live: a worldly way, and a godly way. The worldly way is described as having a wide gate and a broad road that many people travel on, and which leads to destruction. The godly way is described as having a small gate and a narrow road that few people travel on, but which leads to eternal life. A person will receive God’s blessings on the narrow road, but not the broad road.

Unfortunately, many people are deceived into believing that a life of happiness and acceptance and wealth can all be found without God – or on the broad road – and bring fulfillment and contentment in one’s life. “If I can just attain these – through hard work and a little luck – then I’m set.”

But we all know that’s not true.

Yes, a person can be happy and wealthy and even have good relationships, at least for a time, but troubles will inevitably come, with a never-ending list of social, emotional and/or financial problems. In addition, none of these temporary “worldly blessings” will measure up to the feeling and satisfaction one gets from being blessed by God.

But being blessed by God – apart from the spiritual blessings one receives upon becoming a believer, such as forgiveness of sins and receiving the Holy Spirit – doesn’t happen automatically. According to James, a person will be blessed when they DO what God says they should do, as found in His word.

While true, there’s a caveat. Anyone can look at a number of do’s and don’ts, or shall and shall nots, in the Bible, and try to obey them under a “to do” or checklist approach, and then expect a blessing from God for a job well done. But in my experience, that’s not really how blessings work, especially if they are done out of obligation rather than desire.

Blessings from God begin when you start a relationship with Him, whereby He communicates with you through your mind and heart, and primarily via His word. This takes place when you set aside some quiet, one-on-one time with Him – which for many of us is not easy to do – and then sincerely and earnestly seek Him. As such, it requires time, effort and commitment – precious commodities in a busy world. Then, when one possible answer or “coincidence” takes place, and then another, and then another, you begin to realize that God is reaching out to you.

In my experience, and I guess it could differ by person, God communicates to you by working in your mind to give you a thought or an answer immediately after you say a short or quick prayer for help. This doesn’t happen every time you pray of course, but once in a while – whenever He wants to “say” something to you.

He also communicates by directing you into His word – such as from a daily Bible reading program or even a random opening of the Bible – to find a verse or verses that just-so-happen to relate to your situation. Although some may view the latter with skepticism, it has happened to me a number of times, proving it can’t be by coincidence.

Then, when you realize that the God of this universe is actually interacting with you – a sinner – and developing a two-way relationship with you, you begin to experience godly happiness and joy, and want more and more of this relationship. Here is where you develop a real desire to do what He wants you to do – not out of obligation, but because you want to do what pleases Him and to be obedient – and this will lead to the blessings that James refers to.

So, what does God want us to do? We can look at this from the perspective of the Old Testament and the New.

In the Old Testament, God wanted His people to seek Him and love Him with all of their heart and soul and mind. He wanted them to fear Him, honor Him, serve Him, obey Him, praise Him and glorify Him. God wanted them to live in a way that pleased Him. This included meditating on His word day and night, and living blamelessly or without guilt. It included treating other people fairly and justly, especially the poor, the orphans and widows. Also, God issued His 10 commandments to guide people in how they should live.

I believe all of these carry over into the New Testament in terms of what God wants from us, but under Jesus, we have other commandments and expectations too. Examples include: repent and turn to God, let your good deeds shine for all to see, love your enemies and pray for them, follow the golden rule, do not lust or commit adultery, do not worry, be persistent in prayer, bear good fruit and seek to do God’s will not yours.

However, one problem for most professing Christians, and maybe even some genuine Christians too, is that they don’t know all of what God wants them to do, for they may not go to church, or read their Bible, or listen to Christian radio to learn about it.

Another problem for some is that they may have earnestly sought answers to prayer for problems in their life, but when no answers came, they gave up on God and chose to take matters into their own hands. If you live like this, don’t expect to receive any blessings from God.

But more importantly, if you live like the rest of the world does (e.g., lustful desires, sexual immorality, selfish ambitions, drunkenness, anger, jealousy and other sins), then I plead with you to re-examine your faith to see if it is genuine. There are simply too many verses in the Bible that tie DOING (good things) with faith (see examples below). Doing what God wants you to do – and which you will want to do as well because of your relationship with Him – is evidence of a genuine, saving faith, and will result in a lifestyle that is pleasing to you and to Him. Doing only what you want to do raises the risk that your faith is not genuine, and that you fall into the category of “professing Christian” rather than genuine Christian. Don’t make this mistake, for many people do, and you will forgo the many blessings God is willing and able to give to you.

So, IF you want to receive God’s blessings in your life, THEN develop a relationship with Him – through effort, time and commitment – and seek to DO what He wants you to do. Here is where you will find genuine happiness, and joy, and peace, and other blessings as you live your life on the narrow road.

Prayer

Dear Heavenly Father,

Please forgive me. I know that I’ve been living apart from You, and as such, I’ve not been receiving any of Your blessings. I claim to be a Christian and really think that I am, but I can’t honestly say that I have a relationship with You. You seem distant and uncaring to me, frankly, and You’ve not answered any of my prayers that I know of.

But I want that to change. I want to know You, and be blessed by You. And if that means changing how I live, then I’m willing to do it. I’ve sought out what the world has to offer, and it’s left me unsatisfied; always wanting more. I know that true joy and happiness and contentment are only from You, and I’m willing to DO whatever You want me to do in order to have that.

So today, I commit to setting aside quiet time on a regular basis to seek You and to pray to You. Please reveal yourself to me in a way that I can understand. Show me in Your word answers to my questions and guidance in how I should live. I look forward to hearing from You and getting to know You.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Sample of Faith and Doing Verses

James 2:17-18, 26  ¹⁷ In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.  ¹⁸ But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.  ²⁶ As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.

According to Jesus, believers are those who hear God’s word and put it into practice (Luke 8:20-21). 

According to Jesus, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven (Mt 7:21).

John 15:6-8 6 If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. 8 This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

Matthew 13:22-23 22 The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful. 23 But the one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”