Just Walk

In my time with the Lord this morning, I was praising God for some of His wonderful attributes. I started to think about His grace. As I was thanking Him for His grace, I thought of Ephesians 2:8-10. I was thinking of how I struggle to find ways to please God, how I strive to find "good things" to do that will garner His favor on my life. Nobody wants to be the servant that buried his talent only to give it back to Jesus upon His return, we want to be one of the "good and faithful servants" that will hear Jesus say "Well done." Growing up I was taught that salvation is free and that you could not earn it through works, but that they would be the fruit of a redeemed soul. I believe this, scripture bears it out, but it left me frustrated trying to "grow my own fruit" to validate my salvation experience. Then the Lord revealed something to me this morning that for some reason I had never seen before. Verse 10 says, "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them." Did you catch that? God prepared our good works beforehand, and all we have to do is walk in them! To me, It's a picture of a Thanksgiving meal that your mother spent the better half of 24 hours cooking. All you have to do is show up at the table and eat what she prepared. God already has our good works ready to go, and we were created specifically and uniquely to walk in those works.
I then thought of Matthew 28, the great commission given to us by Jesus. He said "Go therefore." Some translations say "As you go." In other words, as you walk through life, do the things that God leads you to. You don't have to beat the bushes and scare up some good work like a frightened quail, just walk in what He has already prepared.

God can pay taxes with a fish!

God's promises are put into motion when we believe and obey. His protection and provision are ours, however Hebrews 11:6 tells us that "without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him." You must not only believe that He is the God who provides, you must have faith that He is the God that provides for you. It is easy to believe that He will provide for others, but it is much different to have the faith that He will provide for you.
Not only must you have faith and believe, but it must be coupled with our obedience when we hear His voice. In Matthew 17:24-27, we find tax collectors asking Peter for money to go for the temple. When Peter came to Jesus, He told him to throw a hook into the water, take the first fish he caught and open it's mouth. Jesus said that inside the fishes mouth would be the money to pay the tax. This fish was created for one purpose, to swim around, find a coin on the sea floor, keep that coin in it's mouth and be caught by Peter. The fish already had the coin, but it would not matter if Peter did not obey the instructions of Jesus to cast his hook into the water. Peter not only believed that God would put the coin in the fishes mouth, but he obeyed by going fishing when Jesus told him to.
What do you need from God? Do you believe He will do what He promised, and have you obeyed His voice?