To Come This FarSample

"Move."

In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
- James 2:17 (NLT)

Jesus talks about the power of faith in Matthew 17:20. He tells us even the smallest amount of faith can allow us to tell mountains to move. He followed that by saying nothing would be impossible for us. If this is true, the most challenging question we have to answer is… why are we not doing more?

When God says that with faith the size of a mustard seed, we can tell mountains to move, we can be sure of two things:

• God understands that we are human and that faith can be difficult to have, so He only asks for the smallest amount—a mustard seed size, to be exact—for us to prove our faith to Him. He is trying to set us up for success!

• Faith will not move the mountains; faith will give us the ability to TELL the mountains to move. There has to be action! Again, God sets us up for a win because all we have to do is TELL it to move.

We can find an incredible example of faith in action in the Bible in Joshua Chapter 6. When the Israelites approached Jericho, God told Joshua, "I have delivered Jericho into your hands." This was before anything even happened! From the beginning, God told Joshua how the battle would end!

But Joshua still had to take action. God gave specific instructions to Joshua that essentially came down to marching around the city. (I encourage you to read this story in Joshua Chapter 6 as part of your devotional time.) These instructions weren't invading the walls, not firing boulders, not throwing slushies—yes, that is a VeggieTales reference—but simply marching. God showed His infinite power through the simplest of man's actions. Through action and faith, the walls of the city fell, and Jericho was given to the Israelites. They had faith, God instructed their works, and the battle was won.

Think about the walls that need tumbling in your life. God is setting you up for a win if you choose to take action. Today, decide to be intentional about making your works match your faith. Now go see what mountains God will move through you!