#soap # James 02 ## Title: Better Than Demons ## Scripture: (James 2:18-19) But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith without works and I will show you faith by my works. You believe that God is one; well and good. Even the demons believe that—and tremble with fear. (NET) ## Observation: James is talking about the deceptive shallowness of basic belief. He tells us that merely believing something does no good. Even demons believe in God. They tremble at that truth. The difference is what you do with it. Here’s an example. I can believe that a stool has the ability to hold my weight. I can believe it all I want. I can even tell other people how sturdy that stool is. I might even go so far as to encourage them to have a seat. All that means nothing unless I put my confidence in that stool enough to have a seat myself. That’s when basic belief transforms into confident trust. When it comes to Christ, we can believe He is God all we want. The demons believe that and are terrified of Him. The difference is when we make Him our King and trust in His saving grace because of the Cross. When we do this, our belief is transformed into confident believing loyalty. That changes everything. ## Application: Be sure your trust in God is not a mere belief. Transform that belief into confident believing loyalty. ## Prayer: Thank You, Jesus, for saving us and giving us the opportunity to place our confident trust in You.