CORRESPONDING ACTION!

One major reason why many Christians do not experience breakthroughs in their lives is because they don’t put action behind the promise of God they claim to believe.

You must strike the match before the gas in the gas cooker can produce the flames you require to cook your food. You must put on the switch before the current in the wire can produce the light you require to light up your room. Similarly, you must put action behind the promise of God you claim to believe before you can experience the breakthrough you desire. So today, we want to look at - “CORRESPONDING ACTION!”

What then is corresponding action? Putting action behind the promise of God concerning your situation is what we call “CORRESPONDING ACTION.” This is an action that is in agreement with or that conforms to the promise of God you claim to believe.

If you really believe what God has promised you in His Word concerning your situation, you’ll act on that promise. That is the evidence that you really believe.

What is the action that will match the Word you claim to believe? If you are a doer of the Word of God, your actions must correspond to your confessions. The Bible emphasizes the need for a corresponding action (Jam. 1:22-25).

In James 2:18 the Bible says, “But someone will say, "You have faith, and I have works [corresponding action]. Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works [corresponding action].”

I can’t see your faith if you can’t demonstrate it, but I can show you my faith through my corresponding action.

In James 2:19-26 the Bible says, “Do you still think it’s enough just to believe that there is one God? Well, even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror! Fool! When will you ever learn that faith that does not have corresponding action is useless? Don’t you remember that our ancestor Abraham was declared right with God because of what he did [corresponding action] when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see, he was trusting God so much that he was willing to do whatever God told him to do. His faith was made complete [perfect] by what he did, by his actions. And so it happened just as the Scriptures say: “Abraham believed God, so God declared him to be righteous.”

So you see, we are made right with God by what we do, not by faith alone. Notice that his faith was co-operating with his actions, and by his actions his faith was made complete.

Examples of people that put action behind the promise of God they claim to believe abound in the Scriptures: A typical example of CORRESPONDING ACTION is the case of the woman with the issue of blood who obtained her healing on the platform of faith (Mk. 5:25-34). She was indeed a doer of the Word!

In Mark 5:25-34 Jesus said to the woman with the issue of blood, "Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace, and be healed of your affliction."

What definite steps did this woman with the issue of blood take to bring her issue to an end? Look at the steps she took to receive her desired miracle:

1. The first thing she did was to hear about Jesus [the living Word of God] (Mk. 5:27). This made her faith to come alive.

Romans 10:17 says, “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.”

2. The second thing she did was to think about [to meditate on] what she heard. The Bible says in Psalm 94:11, “The LORD knoweth the thoughts of man.”

“For as a man thinketh in his heart [subconscious mind] so is he” (Prov. 23:7).

The Bible said that someone had told her about Jesus (Mk. 5:27). She knew about Jesus. She knew that He was healing people. When she had heard of all the wonderful miracles that Jesus wrought in the life of others, and knowing that God is not partial, she was moved to speak out what was going on in her mind.

The Bible says, “…out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things” (Matt. 12:34-35).

She thought it! She renewed her mind with the Word of God she heard. She changed her way of thinking by replacing whatever she knew before with the Word of God (Rom. 12:2, Eph. 4:23; Eph. 6:12; 2 Cor. 10:3-5). She crucified the flesh [her way of thinking] by now ensuring that her thoughts agreed with the Word of God (Rom. 8:4-8; Gal. 5:16-17).

3. The third thing she did was to say it. In Mark 5:28 the Bible tells us that SHE SAID, “If I may touch but His clothes, I shall be made whole.”

That was exactly the first thing she did: SHE SAID IT! Whether positive or negative, according to what you say, that is what you’ll receive.

In Proverbs 6:2 the Bible says, “Thou art snared [taken captive] with the words of thy mouth.”

Proverbs 18:21 says, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.”

This woman could have made a negative confession instead of a positive one because everything about her situation suggests that there is no hope. She could have said, “There is no need for me to go. I’ve suffered for so long. Twelve years I’ve been sick. All the best doctors have given up on my case. I’ve spent all my living on physicians. I’m not better. I have nothing to live for. I might as well die.” Beloved if that is what the woman said, that is exactly what she would have gotten.

But she did not speak negatively. She spoke positively. For she said, “If I may touch His clothes, I shall be made whole.’”

And it came to pass! This woman knew that you will have whatsoever you say.

Mark 11:23-24 Jesus said, “For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. 24 Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.”

If you talk about your trials, difficulties, lack of faith, and lack of money, your faith will shrivel and dry up. But if you talk about the Word of God, and what your heavenly Father can do, your faith will grow big to make you a winner over your situations and circumstances.

If you talk about sickness, it will develop sickness in your system. If you talk about your doubts and fears, it will grow stronger and become bigger. If you talk about lack of finances, it will stop the flow from on high so the money will stop coming in.

Your word is a confession of your faith. Therefore, the word of this woman was a confession of her faith. Her word which is totally in agreement with what God said in His Word concerning her situation was the substance of the healing she was hoping for.

FAITH (the promise of God) is the substance of things hoped for. This was what gave substance to her expectation. Faith is the substance of the things we are expecting.

One who has not prayed in real heart faith might say, “I don’t see the result of the thing about which I have been praying, so it hasn’t come to pass.” Listen to me, if the thing had come to pass you wouldn’t have to believe it; you would know it.

You must take the step of believing to come to the place of knowing. Many want to know it first from the standpoint of it’s coming to pass. But we know it from the standpoint that God’s Word says it is so, then it materializes.

Notice what Jesus said in Mark 11:24, “Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, BELIEVE that ye receive them, and ye shall HAVE them.” Now notice that the having comes after the believing.

Jesus is saying that you’ve got to believe you have it before you get it. Even when every symptom in your body is crying out, “You don’t have healing after you’ve been prayed for,” simply say to your flesh, “’The Bible says, ‘Let God be true, but every man a liar….’

So if you say I am not healed you’re a liar. God’s Word says that I am healed. If you sit around groaning, sighing and complaining waiting for something to happen or waiting until you can detect that every symptom is gone and all the flesh correspond with your faith before you start believing God, then you are out of order.

In 2 Corinthians 4:18 the Bible says, “While we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.”

4. What was the next thing this woman did? Did she stop at her confession? No! She took a step of faith. She acted on the Word of God. This is what is called corresponding action.

She left where she was and went to the healer. She did it. This is the evidence of the thing she had not seen. At this point she was able to call those things that be not as though they were (Rom. 4:17).

Your action defeats you or puts you over. According to your action, you’ll receive or you’ll be kept from receiving.

On the way to your miracle, you may have a number of obstacles to overcome. This woman had a number of obstacles to overcome. She did not pray that God would remove the obstacles. She got up and walked over the top of them all.

In those days, a woman with an issue of blood was regarded in the same category as a leper and was not allowed to mix with the public, according to the teaching of her religion. But her actions said, “Religion or no religion, I’m going to get my healing.”

Also, in that day, women did not have the liberty to mingle publicly. Again her actions said, “Custom or no custom, I’m going to get my healing.”

When she got there, a multitude of people crowded between her and Jesus. In her weakened physical condition, that would have been enough to cause her to give up. But her actions said, “Crowd or no crowd, I’m going to get to Jesus to get my healing. And she elbowed her way through.

This woman’s actions showed (demonstrated) her faith. Her actions [steps] were an expression of her faith. She took a step of faith because faith without works (corresponding action) is dead (Jam. 2:26).

Now listen, daughter Jesus said, “THY FAITH hath made thee whole” (Mk. 5:34).

Notice that it was her faith [not her grammar, not her connections, not her crying ability, not her nationality] that caused that power to flow out to her. You can’t link up with God except through faith. Faith brings you to the realm of the supernatural. Faith brings you to the realm of the miraculous.

In Mark 5:30 Jesus immediately knowing in Himself that power [virtue, ability] had gone out of Him, turned around in the crowd and said, "Who touched My clothes?" And the disciples replied, “Thou seest the multitude thronging [crowding around] thee, and sayest thou, Who touched Me?”

Many people touched Jesus that day, some through curiosity, some accidentally, and some to see if something would happen. But no power flowed until there came a touch of faith! The very moment there was a touch of faith, the power flowed out to destroy the yoke upon the life of that woman. Hallelujah!

When you link up with God through faith, virtue is instantly released into your situation and surely solution to your problem follows. This woman knew how to tap into the healing power of God. It is like plugging into an electric outlet. If you can learn how to plug into this supernatural power, you can put it to work for yourself, and you can also be healed of any disease, sickness or condition. This plugging in is possible only by faith. Faith is acting on God’s Word. When you turn the switch of faith on your miracle is there.

5. The fifth thing she did was to receive it. “She felt in her body that she was healed of that plague” (Mk. 5:29).

Jesus said, “Virtue has gone out of Me. Some body has touched me or power has gone out of Me” (Mk. 5:20). Notice that the feeling and the healing followed the coming and the doing. The woman said it first. She then took a step of faith by acting on the word she spoke. Then she received, and felt in her body that she was healed. Many people want the feeling and healing first before the saying and the doing, but that’s not how it works.

6. The sixth thing this woman did was to tell it [to testify]. She overcame Satan in her situation by the word of her testimony. In Revelations 12:11 the Bible says, “And they overcame him [the devil] (1) by the blood of the Lamb, and (2) by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.”

In Mark 5:33 the Bible says, “But the woman, fearing and trembling, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell down before Him and told Him the whole truth.”

Not only Jesus but the whole crowd heard her. She told Him everything she had done. Beloved, tell boldly what the Lord has done for you so that others may hear it and believe in Jesus, the Son of the living God. That’s the main purpose of testimony.

In John 20:30-31 the Bible says, “And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book: 31 But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.”

And you ask, “Is it Scriptural to go tell it?” Yes! In Mark 5:19-20 the Bible says, “However, Jesus did not permit him, but said to him, "Go home to your friends, and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He has had compassion on you." 20 And he departed and began to proclaim in Decapolis all that Jesus had done for him; and all marvelled.”

7. The last thing she did was to follow Jesus by remaining in faith (Jn. 8:31-32, 36). If you don’t continue in the faith, you’ll quickly lose your healing (Matt. 12:43-45).

Therefore, if you want that reproach in your life to be permanently rolled away right now, you must choose to put action behind what you believe by acting on God’s Word. Act on His promises today and then rest on His power and faithfulness.

Until you act on God’s Word, it will never become a reality and there will be no change in your situation. It is not praying or crying, but it is acting on what God has said that brings results. Rise up and receive your breakthrough by faith today!

Watch out for the next edition of Good News from the Pulpit!

• Your friend: I. I. MADUBUNYI (Senior Pastor)                              Sept. 29^th, 2019!