FAITH WITHOUT WORKS

James 2:17-20 (KJV) 17 Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. 18 Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works. 19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. 20 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? 

 I have written in journals for over fifty years,I discarded all of the ones I had before my divorce. I determined that the entries were full of pain and I needed to let it go thus throwing away the journals was symbolic of me letting go of my past. Since that time I began journaling again, not only is it therapeutic it is now a way of documenting my progress. Now each journal has a title, an underlying theme used to move me forward. If I had entitled my old journals they would have been called: O Me Poor Me Pasts one through one hundred plus. The titles now? “Thankful”, “My Faith”, “By Faith”, and the latest: “Pray -Believe-Write”!
I am a follower of God’s words and a believer in the leading of the Holy Spirit, I do not believe in accidents or co-incidents. In writing about being thankful I discovered that I was thankful, this lesson I needed to learn. My soul and my mind needed to be assured that I was appreciative of where I was, where I am and where ever God sends me, as well as the people who were in, are in and will be in my life. I needed to be confident that I would not get a ‘big head”, as I deemed it, full of pride, if I had all of my needs met or became discouraged if I was lacking. 

 Philippians 4:11-13 (KJV)
 11 Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.  12 I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. 13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

 I am appreciative, thankful for my today. My past helped me become the woman of faith that I am today. I had to learn to count it all joy! 

James 1:2-4 (KJV) 2 My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; 3 Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. 4 But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.

 Everything is not perfect BUT I can still praise Him with a heart filled with joy that comes from the One who knows my troubles and hears my prayers. It is important for the reader to understand, I wrote this blog 10/24/2025 and I am editing it 11/16/2025, it has been about 3 weeks so when you read the next paragraph know that those financial issues are not resolved but I know that they will be.
 (I wrote then)
It took me a few days to realize that things were happening in my life that would try my faith; most of the challenges had to do with money! As a tax preparer I do not have an income during the off season, unemployment is not enough and social security would be enough if I had not purchased things via credit card. And then the money dried up and there was barely enough to pay bills let alone eat. One of the first challenges was my daughter needing money a day after I had sent my grandson money. If I gave her the money I would not have enough to pay a bill. The Spirit had given me a specific dollar amount to give to my daughter, I gave it, yes, I hesitated. As is my habit, when I hear from God I question the voice. As I was transferring the money I simply said to Father God: “I am trusting You.” The next time I checked my bank balance there was enough funds. I had received a payment on-line because of a paid survey I had taken and forgot about. That was the second time something like that had happened.
There was another incident in which I received a court summons naming me as a defendant in a financial situation my ex-husband found himself in, my name was on the original papers, I could not afford a lawyer. I was angry, I spoke to my ex and he said not to worry but I still didn’t have peace about it. I spent money, that could have paid a bill, to utilize an on-line law service and was advised what to do, I did and received a response so that I am no longer a defendant of an approximate two hundred thousand dollar liability. Side note: if my ex-husband does what he promised, he will be giving me money, I had not asked for anything during the divorce. I had to let that go; if God wants me to receive money out of the resolution of the financial transaction, I will get it. The issue should have been resolved in October, now we are heading into November and I have the same bills!
My biggest challenge has to do with my purpose which for me is greater than money. I am called to write more than blogs and I have just finished a thirty day challenge to write 50 thousand words in 30 days with Faith Based Novel Writing Month. I did it in 23 days! “Congratulations Marsha, so what’s the problem?” You might ask. The problem is the rest of the journey. I need to edit, publish and sell more than one copy. Can I do what I believe God wants me to do? Money is the source of my distraction, it cost to self publish and promote books. The old me would have started thinking about all the “if” options, which include going into debt. But I want to get out of debt.
On this day, November 16, 2025, I did a financial assessment. Why? I suspect the Holy Spirit wanted me to understand how much money I owe. This is not something I would do willingly, unless I had a lump sum of money. Hmmmmmm. I owe a lot of money, my unemployment ends in 2 weeks and I will not get my first work paycheck, if I go back to work, until the last week of December. Will the wood still urn if you pour an ocean of water on it? (1 Kings 18)
I wrote all of this to explain to you that, you can only do what you BELIEVE in your heart and mind. There are things that you may have a back up plan for, I have financial back up plans, but your back ups may not work. In order to publish another print book I will need: time to do the initial rewrites and editing; money to pay for editing as well as the printing service that will publish the hard copy . What I really need is time to do the rewrites, the money is coming.
“But” is the excuse we all use to not do what God wants us to do. Do you believe it when you say: “I can do all things through Christ” or are you allowing what “they” say stop you? “They” say you need a college degree to make money but you don’t have college money. Do you know how many free courses there are out there? Did you know that some colleges give their employees free tuition? And, do you really need that degree to do what you want to do? Most millionaires don’t have a college degree, they have the knowledge.
God knows what you need and when you need it. If you allow the Spirit of God to lead you He will teach you step by step. Are you walking by faith or your opinion? Are you walking by God’s word or man, or woman's’ interpretation of God’s word. Are you complaining, worrying, angry, or do you have joy? Is your financial giving tied to hope or knowing? 

 James 2:18-20 (KJV) 18 Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works. 19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. 20 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?

Ineffective faith is dead faith because your actions nullify what you say you believe. I am writing and I believe, I know, everything will work out for good because the God I love has purposed me to be a writer.

 Romans 8:28 (KJV) 

 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. 

 Written by Marsha L Floyd 

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