March 6, 2025
Works That Work
How do we cultivate a faith that truly makes a difference?
In today's episode of My Morning Devotional, host Rochelle Alessi and her guests, Chris Alessi, explore the significant relationship between faith and good works in a believer's life. They reflect on Titus Chapter 2 and discuss how, while our salvation is not earned by works, our actions play a crucial role in living out our faith effectively. Chris offers insightful analogies, sharing how his own family experiences reflect the call to actively participate in God's work and purpose. He emphasizes that our works do matter, encouraging listeners to embrace their role in advancing God’s plans and making a positive impact on others.
Join Rochelle and Chris as they pray for motivation and zeal to engage in good works, allowing their faith to be a dynamic force that glorifies God and enriches lives.
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Transcript
WEBVTT
00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:03.688
You're listening to my Morning Devotional podcast, episode 1220.
00:00:03.823 --> 00:00:06.900
Today's Zivo is called Works that Work.
00:00:07.919 --> 00:01:06.659
Hey there. We're the Alessies, a ministry family working together in our church in Miami, Florida. And if you're like us, when days get busy and to do lists get longer, it can be hard to find devotional time. That's why we've partnered with our friend Allison to produce a five minute daily dose of heaven. This is the My Morning Devotional podcast. Good morning, everybody. Happy Friday. Happy New Year Friday. We've made it to the weekend and we are gonna have a wonderful, wonderful weekend because now we have tools about having an effective faith. So we're gonna have an effective weekend. Oh, I love that. And we're gonna properly rest and just have a great time. My name is Rasha Alessi, and I've been with my husband Christopher Alessi this week. We hope that you've been blessed. Please let us know what you thought of all these great little tips. And not really tips, but what would you call them?
00:01:06.780 --> 00:01:24.540
I don't know. This great podcast this week. Yes. About having an effective faith and living our life to the fullest. And we're going to end it with works that work. Yeah. So Titus, chapter two, verse 13. And I want to thank you again for having me on all week. I hope that the viewers don't go down.
00:01:25.079 --> 00:02:28.216
No, But Titus, chapter 2, verse 13 says, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearance of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. Now they're going to tell us something about that God, that Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us, to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works. Now, we've been talking about effective versus ineffective faith all week, and the reality is, is that part of that is like a lot of people look at, like, just certain thoughts and that they have certain beliefs. And reality is, is that it might sound good, but it doesn't work. And if you build your faith on a piece of, of belief or theology that doesn't work well, then it's like building your house on sand. It's just you can't really build a faith that can stand the test of time. And so one of the things that I actually think needs to get some kind of retooling is this idea of works. A lot of people will come and just, you know, they say it's not about works.
00:02:28.247 --> 00:04:10.710
It's not about works. It's not about Works. And they'll quote one verse that says that salvation is not a result of works. So that no man may boast. And they take from that that my. My works don't get me saved. And that could not be more true. I am not saved because of my works. But what we also don't realize is when we forget the next part, which is, I still have to do the work. I still have to put my hands to good use. I still have to do good things. Maybe they're not what get me into heaven, but I still need to do good things. What happens is we eventually start to tell our church, you're forgiven, you're forgiven, you're forgiven, your works don't matter. Your works don't matter. Your works don't matter. But then eventually we rob them of their power to do what we were talking about yesterday, to really return to God, to really honor him. And now we kind of put people in this position where they start to think my works don't matter. Who I am and what I do doesn't matter, doesn't make a difference. And so you've got people, you know, it's just an example, but they're like, I don't vote because one vote's not going to matter. And they apply that to their life. That, like, my life really doesn't matter because at some point, it's only the next logical conclusion. If the bad stuff I do doesn't matter, then the good stuff I do doesn't matter. But the reality is that Paul presents it here like, no, it's a gift to Jesus, a pure people who are zealous for good works. And when we say good works, we think of things like, oh, man, walking an old lady across the street. But the reality is my faith should have some work.
00:04:11.409 --> 00:05:13.250
My faith should be put to work. It's like when we go to my dad's house, me and Moenya, and then our future brother in law, Christian, right? When we get there, my dad puts us to work. The reality is that's exactly how we should look at our Heavenly Father. That when we bring our lives to Christ, he's like, great, you're here, you're redeemed, now let's get to work and let's go do good things to bless him. So, yeah, it's not about works. But the reason Paul says that is because he's saying we don't boast in our works doesn't mean we don't do them. And so what we were going to do in this podcast, but we Changed. It was a verse in Psalms where David says to offer right sacrifices. Some people today don't even think there are right sacrifices. That if my heart is just pure, which basically means if I'm just trying my best, then all is well. And that's just not true. We have to be put to work. God has something he wants to accomplish. And listener, he wants to use you.
00:05:13.709 --> 00:05:28.406
He wants to put you to work to advance his purposes. How blessed are we that God wants to put us to work. Yeah, he wants to use us. That actually means, y'all, that we're effective, we're not broken.
00:05:28.517 --> 00:05:45.732
At church recently, I had a young man come up church and just be like, man, I'm lost. I said, no, you're not. You're on your way to being found. We are getting put to work because we might not be all the way there, but we can work. We're not lost, we're not stuck.
00:05:45.875 --> 00:06:00.221
We're not worthless. We matter. And if you spend the rest of your day thinking what you do matters, you will bless somebody, you will love someone better, you will will serve better, you'll try harder at work.
00:06:00.326 --> 00:07:27.269
And all of those things, I think, honor God. Amen. That was amazing. Thank you. Our works do matter. And as we got a great gift from the Lord, yes, we're saved not by our works, but because of Jesus. But now that he's given us this gift of salvation, it's our turn to say, we got a great gift from the Lord. We're not just going to bury it down. We're going to take it. We're going to multiply it. We're going to live our life to the fullest. We're going to have an effective faith, we're going to have a full life and we're going to experience amazing things here on earth as well as we glorify God. Amen. Amen. So, guys, thank you so much for being with us. But before we go, Chris, can you pray for us? Absolutely, Father. I pray that you'd put us to work. Use us. Lord, let us be zealous for good as you purify your people as a gift to Jesus. Lord, let us be zealous for doing the right things so we can make a difference. We can love people, we can bless people, and we can honor you. We thank you for it all, Lord, in Jesus name. Amen. Amen. So there you have it, your 5 minute daily dose of heaven. Thank you so much for tuning in today. We pray these devotionals empower you to take, take on your day. If you found value in this devotional, share it with a friend. Leave a comment or review for us on the app you're using right now. Until tomorrow, we pray that your latte is strong, but your love for Jesus is stronger.
00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:03.688
You're listening to my Morning Devotional podcast, episode 1220.
00:00:03.823 --> 00:00:06.900
Today's Zivo is called Works that Work.
00:00:07.919 --> 00:01:06.659
Hey there. We're the Alessies, a ministry family working together in our church in Miami, Florida. And if you're like us, when days get busy and to do lists get longer, it can be hard to find devotional time. That's why we've partnered with our friend Allison to produce a five minute daily dose of heaven. This is the My Morning Devotional podcast. Good morning, everybody. Happy Friday. Happy New Year Friday. We've made it to the weekend and we are gonna have a wonderful, wonderful weekend because now we have tools about having an effective faith. So we're gonna have an effective weekend. Oh, I love that. And we're gonna properly rest and just have a great time. My name is Rasha Alessi, and I've been with my husband Christopher Alessi this week. We hope that you've been blessed. Please let us know what you thought of all these great little tips. And not really tips, but what would you call them?
00:01:06.780 --> 00:01:24.540
I don't know. This great podcast this week. Yes. About having an effective faith and living our life to the fullest. And we're going to end it with works that work. Yeah. So Titus, chapter two, verse 13. And I want to thank you again for having me on all week. I hope that the viewers don't go down.
00:01:25.079 --> 00:02:28.216
No, But Titus, chapter 2, verse 13 says, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearance of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. Now they're going to tell us something about that God, that Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us, to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works. Now, we've been talking about effective versus ineffective faith all week, and the reality is, is that part of that is like a lot of people look at, like, just certain thoughts and that they have certain beliefs. And reality is, is that it might sound good, but it doesn't work. And if you build your faith on a piece of, of belief or theology that doesn't work well, then it's like building your house on sand. It's just you can't really build a faith that can stand the test of time. And so one of the things that I actually think needs to get some kind of retooling is this idea of works. A lot of people will come and just, you know, they say it's not about works.
00:02:28.247 --> 00:04:10.710
It's not about works. It's not about Works. And they'll quote one verse that says that salvation is not a result of works. So that no man may boast. And they take from that that my. My works don't get me saved. And that could not be more true. I am not saved because of my works. But what we also don't realize is when we forget the next part, which is, I still have to do the work. I still have to put my hands to good use. I still have to do good things. Maybe they're not what get me into heaven, but I still need to do good things. What happens is we eventually start to tell our church, you're forgiven, you're forgiven, you're forgiven, your works don't matter. Your works don't matter. Your works don't matter. But then eventually we rob them of their power to do what we were talking about yesterday, to really return to God, to really honor him. And now we kind of put people in this position where they start to think my works don't matter. Who I am and what I do doesn't matter, doesn't make a difference. And so you've got people, you know, it's just an example, but they're like, I don't vote because one vote's not going to matter. And they apply that to their life. That, like, my life really doesn't matter because at some point, it's only the next logical conclusion. If the bad stuff I do doesn't matter, then the good stuff I do doesn't matter. But the reality is that Paul presents it here like, no, it's a gift to Jesus, a pure people who are zealous for good works. And when we say good works, we think of things like, oh, man, walking an old lady across the street. But the reality is my faith should have some work.
00:04:11.409 --> 00:05:13.250
My faith should be put to work. It's like when we go to my dad's house, me and Moenya, and then our future brother in law, Christian, right? When we get there, my dad puts us to work. The reality is that's exactly how we should look at our Heavenly Father. That when we bring our lives to Christ, he's like, great, you're here, you're redeemed, now let's get to work and let's go do good things to bless him. So, yeah, it's not about works. But the reason Paul says that is because he's saying we don't boast in our works doesn't mean we don't do them. And so what we were going to do in this podcast, but we Changed. It was a verse in Psalms where David says to offer right sacrifices. Some people today don't even think there are right sacrifices. That if my heart is just pure, which basically means if I'm just trying my best, then all is well. And that's just not true. We have to be put to work. God has something he wants to accomplish. And listener, he wants to use you.
00:05:13.709 --> 00:05:28.406
He wants to put you to work to advance his purposes. How blessed are we that God wants to put us to work. Yeah, he wants to use us. That actually means, y'all, that we're effective, we're not broken.
00:05:28.517 --> 00:05:45.732
At church recently, I had a young man come up church and just be like, man, I'm lost. I said, no, you're not. You're on your way to being found. We are getting put to work because we might not be all the way there, but we can work. We're not lost, we're not stuck.
00:05:45.875 --> 00:06:00.221
We're not worthless. We matter. And if you spend the rest of your day thinking what you do matters, you will bless somebody, you will love someone better, you will will serve better, you'll try harder at work.
00:06:00.326 --> 00:07:27.269
And all of those things, I think, honor God. Amen. That was amazing. Thank you. Our works do matter. And as we got a great gift from the Lord, yes, we're saved not by our works, but because of Jesus. But now that he's given us this gift of salvation, it's our turn to say, we got a great gift from the Lord. We're not just going to bury it down. We're going to take it. We're going to multiply it. We're going to live our life to the fullest. We're going to have an effective faith, we're going to have a full life and we're going to experience amazing things here on earth as well as we glorify God. Amen. Amen. So, guys, thank you so much for being with us. But before we go, Chris, can you pray for us? Absolutely, Father. I pray that you'd put us to work. Use us. Lord, let us be zealous for good as you purify your people as a gift to Jesus. Lord, let us be zealous for doing the right things so we can make a difference. We can love people, we can bless people, and we can honor you. We thank you for it all, Lord, in Jesus name. Amen. Amen. So there you have it, your 5 minute daily dose of heaven. Thank you so much for tuning in today. We pray these devotionals empower you to take, take on your day. If you found value in this devotional, share it with a friend. Leave a comment or review for us on the app you're using right now. Until tomorrow, we pray that your latte is strong, but your love for Jesus is stronger.