Ephesians 2:8-9

"For it is by Grace that you have been saved, through faith-and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift from God-not by works, so that no one can boast."

Today I was studying from "Wesley Gold," it basically is a collection of his works and thoughts. It inspired me to begin writing a blog on my spiritual walk.

John Wesley was an interesting Theologian, in that he never had more than one congregation. He only stayed at that congregation for 3 years. He was asked to leave because his messages were offending the aristocrats. Instead he did a lot of soul searching, and found that his walk with God was troublesome because he didn't know who Jesus Christ was. So it wasn't till he went through a violent storm on his way to the Americas that he realized his life was based on works.

I found this to be a good place to start my journey. I know who Christ is and He is very much alive in me. However, I am not an open air speaker and felt this might be the place to start preaching.

I want to talk about Lightning and Thunder for a moment. Every one knows that thunder always follows lightning. You can't have thunder before lightning, because it is the light that breaks the sound barrier that creates thunder. Very much of our Faith is the same as lightning and thunder.

Many people believe that good works are going to secure their place in Heaven. Ephesians speaks very differently. You are not going to be saved from works alone. Because whether you believe it or not, we are all inherently selfish and vain. Christ knew this and that is why He spoke so much on it is by faith. For you to enter into the kingdom of Heaven you are going to need a child like faith. A child like faith is not referring to a immature faith, but instead a faith that is putting all trust and understanding on to Him.

Now to those who say, "but faith without works is nothing." My response is you are right and you are wrong. I believe that if you have faith works will come naturally, because you are wanting to serve the Lord for what He has given us. However, if you think that your Faith is proportionate to the amount of works you perform, then you would be wrong. Because Ephesians makes it very clear, that it is nothing that we could have done, but it is a Gift from God through His Son, Christ Jesus.

To sum it up, treat your faith like lightning and your works light thunder. Your faith will produce works, like lightning produces thunder. However, you can never have thunder before lightning, just like you can't have works that produce faith.

Thanks and God Bless.