Becoming a Doer

Which comes first? Doing or being?

 

WHAT DID God have to do to get to the point we called Him God?

Do we say, “If God does enough miracles and good deeds until I’m satisfied, then I’ll recognize Him as God.”?  OR maybe the question should be, Do we have a ‘plan B’ in case His ‘Plan A’ doesn’t work out?

 

 

A LAKE gives you water because it is water. You can ask a tree for water all day, but you’ll only get barked at.

In the same way, God’s “performance” is irrelevant. He already was (is, and is to come). Unchangeable:

 

He is God because He is God, and He cannot change because He’s perfect and complete.

 

 

WHAT DO WE have to do in order to be called His children? Believe! (not perform). If Christ, who already is, lives in us, then we already are exactly who the Creator of all Life says we are–even if we’re not walking in that identity.

• Trying to do without first being blossoms from a performance-based mindset
• But to do because you securely are blossoms from love-based, transformed mind

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ARE WE letting the pressure of success determine our value or our salvation?

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I CAN do as many good deeds as I want, but that won’t make me His. BUT if I first become His, then I can do (good deeds) without the pressure of my success determining my true value.

1. FIRST BE: “Therefore, lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted WORD, which is able to save your souls.” James 1:21 Jesus is the living Word
2. THEN DO:  “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer (doesn’t take it seriously), he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was (deny personal responsibility).” vv.22-24

 

I CAN’T BE AFRAID to look in the mirror (Scripture) and see my sin. I must not run away offended, ignoring or denying the ugly reality of my own fallen state. Instead, shove out distractions and focus intently upon the double-edged sword and allow it to discern the thoughts & intents of my heart. The process of BEING requires confession to God who’s faithful to forgive.

THEN…

MY DOING merely proves my position of being (faith). Good deeds are a lifestyle banner that declare, “God freely loved me first, therefore I freely love you.” 1 John
Loving my neighbor. Loving my enemies. Sincerely. Without partiality and without hypocrisy. No strings attached. PURE LOVE!

 

 

But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does. verse 25

 

And “blessed” is a benefit of BEING.

The Mechanics of an Embattled Spirit