We are saved, then we are sanctified, then we are justified and then we walk in His glory. On earth as it is in heaven.
The Lord is showing me this order of events in recent days. I was saved a number of years ago. I have been going through the sanctification process and He has really been opening up all of me to be aligned with Him.
Now I feel He is showing me that I am moving in the justified stage. In this stage the works will be in power.
James 2:24
You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only.
25 Likewise, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way?
26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.
This justified stage is to step out in the works He has been preparing for Me to step out into.
As I step out into these works He will be glorified.
I have spent years doing works in line with what He has given me as a calling but a number of these works have failed and some works have held. The reason for failing are many but in some works I was outside His timing moving in my flesh. In other works I was being sanctified and He used these works and failures to help me die to myself and become more one with Him.
Now some works stuck and these were the works that were in align with His timing, in line with my sphere of influence, and ones that I could hold the ground on. These were works that enable Him to build upon. One brick at a time.
Does that mean we should do nothing? No!
Let’s explore these thoughts further.
We are required to do works. To be a righteous man is to be a man of faith. To be a man of faith is to be a man of works. We want to be a righteous man. He tells us this in scripture and righteousness is an outcome of sanctification.
To graduate to being justified and to have us do greater WORKS than Jesus did then we must be righteous.
James 2:22
Do you not see that faith was working together with his works and by works faith was made perfect
And when we look at Hebrews 4:3 it goes on to say
Although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.
God has done the works from the beginning but we must step out in faith by doing works to see that he has been before us and completed the works. This action of works is what perfects faith.
What a rest we can then be in because we understand that our works are in His peace. We get to a place of knowing that our works count for the kingdom and are what are written in our scrolls for us to do. You can’t get here if you do nothing.
Romans 4:3
For Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness.
Believing equals faith.
We step out in faith and do works understanding completely that God does it, not us. This is what gives us a great position of rest and peace in him. There is a balance here that we must understand. It is not about stepping out in works for the sake of doing works it is about stepping out knowing Him and what He will complete through us.
HE NEEDS AN ACTIVATION FROM US TO HAVE SOMETHING TO WORK WITH. BUT MAKE SURE YOU DON’T OVER ACTIVATE.
But if we don’t step out in works what has God got to work on. He wants to show us through this faith step, works as to enable faith building (perfection of faith). So step out in works (in his will) all the time you are led and he will show you he has been before. Sometimes these steps are large and really frightening but what good is faith if it can’t stand or be tested.
What a place what a peace.
Romans 5:1
Therefore having been justified by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Peace in our works.
Galatians 5:5
For we through the Spirit eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.
Righteousness is through faith and faith is perfected through works (James 2:22).
So do we sit and wait for the Lord to move you into that prophecy you have been given. No we take steps forward in a way that is in His will and the calling you are in.
2 Timothy 1:9
Who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began,
So we then reconcile this with James 2:22 where we are required to step out in works.
We work but in His will and our calling. It is not our works or our purpose. Wood, Hay and Stubble in those cases. Let’s make our works count.
Do your job
When he had to pay taxes he sends Peter down to fish to get hold of a coin. Peter was a fisherman and doing his job was how he got his taxes.
There is no lotto ticket. He can bless us but He wants to see us do our bit. How can you really be in faith if you don’t step out? No wonder He expects works and when you are aligned with Him the blessings will be in it and His grace will be there. The good grace not presumed grace.
We need to be aware of His timing.
If we step out into something and it falls flat it is either we got it wrong or it is not His timing.
Quite often He has said to me this is not the time yet because other things have to line up in my kingdom. In other words to step into that part now was outside His will.
This doesn’t mean we do nothing as there will be other things that is in His timing at the moment so step out in those.
Your calling might be business but this has come to a stop at the moment so therefore maybe step out in ministry and see what He does. Or maybe you just keep doing your job in faith.
When you look at the great men in the bible like Moses and Joseph as examples they were just doing their daily routine and the work they did day to day and then He just called them to step into something great. It was from a place of peace and from a place of having been sanctified.
Colossians 1:29
To this end I also labour, striving according to His working which works in me mightily.
I complete the daily tasks. I work hard in His will doing what he puts before me. His plan and His works are mighty and perfect. We are one and we complete the tasks.
We can’t be couch potatoes expecting the words in our book to occur. We can’t be sitting there with our bags packed waiting to go home expecting the things written about us to happen. He won’t bless that.
Proverbs 18:9
He who is slothful in his work is a brother to him who is a great destroyer.
Hebrews 6:12
Therefore do not be sluggish but imitate those through faith and patience inherit the promises.
Romans 4:4
4 Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt.
Is this suggesting that God pays back works as a debt as He owes no man?
No it is saying that it is the heart behind the works that counts. It is doing works knowing it is nothing to do with you but all Him. He gives, He blesses and He gives you grace. It is all Him.
You do works not in your strength (boastfulness) but in His.
John:36
“But I have a greater witness than John’s; for the works which the Father has given Me to finish—the very works that I do—bear witness of Me, that the Father has sent Me.
The works are for the Father they testify. They are a witness. Lord let me finish your works.
John 17:4
“I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do.
5 And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.
When I get to the end of my life I want to be in the position Jesus was when He said this. I want to be able to say “I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the works you gave me to do.”
Brick on Brick Teaching 