ACTING ON THE WORD

James 1:22 22 But be doers of the word, and not only hearers of it, blinding yourselves with false ideas. 23 Because if any man is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man looking at his natural face in a glass; 24 For after looking at himself he goes away, and in a short time he has no memory of what he was like.

God expects us to act on his words and not just be hearers of it. We must endeavor to be doers of the word after we have heard it. Faith is acting on what you believe . when the word is preached it takes one who believes to act in Faith to receive it. we can only receive something when we act on what we believe . The bible also says Faith without works is dead . we must understand that Faith is different from believe . Hebrews 11 defines Faith as follows ;  Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, and the sign that the things not seen are true(BBE ).
Faith is the palpability of what you are hoping for . Hope is an expectation ,usually it is not a 100% assurance to have it. Believe is similar to trust .They are both based on history .Believe is the foundation of faith ,yet your believe alone can never bring your expectations to bear.For example:You can strongly believe that a pen could write ;that is true but if  you do not act by holding it to write it would lie there idle .Secondly you can openly confess that your car can move ,that's also a fact, cars do move, but you would be disappointed if you do not take an action to sit in the car and start it . The actions you take to write or sit in the car and start it ,stands for faith . Faith is acting on what you believe ,just believing is not faith you must act . They are people who have read the bible cover to cover and are able to quote the scriptures which they have memorized . This is a good thing . It's always wonderful to hear people do this . however what would be the use of the scriptures memorized if we are not living by it . The bible is like the law of a Christian ,not one that enslaves but one that brings freedom .It is also like looking through a mirror . (v: 25). A mirror is an object that reflects light . The mirror has the capacity to reveal to us how we look like and who we are .It sometimes shows us where our short comings are . when you look through a mirror and see a dirt in your shirt ,you are torn between two choices ,either to remove it or ignore it.In the same way the bible shows us who we are. Most people enjoy looking into the mirror . They can stand infront of the mirror examining themselves , how they look and what they look like .They get frustrated when they see a pimple on their face .In their frustration they try everything to remove it .The mirror works on the basis of a "WYSIWYG " Protocol . This acronym is the basic rule of printing which stands for "What You See Is What You Get " .The printer prints exactly what You have typed .It does not correct neither does it replace the words .It prints precisely what You give it.This is how the bible works,it reveals who we are and what we are made of plainly without covering it. Matthew 14:20 gives an account of how Jesus walked on water .When the disciples initially saw him do this ,they were terrified .They thought it was a ghost .Peter in his disbelief asked Jesus to call him to come if it were truly him.Jesus called him and Peter obeyed and was able to walk on the water just as Jesus did . Peter could have stayed in the boat doubting if truly it was Jesus but he acted on the word Jesus gave .Acting on the word requires faith . Peter made history ,Together with Jesus they were the only people to walk on water in the bible .