Past Tense of God's Word
Devotions:
“Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.” 2 Peter 1:2-4 NASB
One of the great truths that most Christians miss is the past tense of God's word. God has already granted to us everything that we need to walk in victory. So instead of begging God to give us what we need we need to realize that God has already provided what we need in the spiritual realm. Our belief that it is a fulfilled fact and it belongs to us even when we do not readily see it. To believe it is to act like it is true becasue it is. When we act contrary to our circumstanses because we believe that a higher truth exist in our favor then we see the truth manifest through our faith. We are not waiting for God to do something to change our situations, we believe that God has already done something for us and He asks that we believe Him and act accordingly. Many times we need to ask God for wisdom on how to act on God's word.
“Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.
You see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected;
For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.”
James 2:17, 22, 26 NASB
In this passage in James actions is better translated, corresponding actions. So our corresponding actions completes and perfects our faith. Without our corresponding actions, our faith is lifeless and will not produce the desired results. Believing and acting like the word of God is true then will bring it to pass in our lives. We miss it when we ask God to do for us what He has already done. When we believe and act on what God has already accomplished we see then reality in our lives.