Trust

Proverb 3: 5

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.

This scripture was brought to my mind recently and I saw it in a new light. Trusting the Lord is a favorite theme of mine both in my ministry and in my own personal life. I have a personal saying that I wish to walk in “radical trust in the Lord.” And sometimes I have been that deep in my trust, but I find it is a difficult place to stay. The world rushes in; my own thoughts take me captive and the next thing I know, I have let my trust slip.

This proverb points out how complete our trust in the Lord is to be. When we trust the Lord with our whole heart, rather than only part, then there is no room for any other emotion at all. There is no room for even one seed of doubt or one micro-ounce of fear. There is no questioning how He is going to provide the answer we need because we have completely abandoned the problem to Him. When we really trust the Lord with all our heart, then trust is all there is. All of your heart, all of your emotion, all of your thoughts are of easy reliance on our God and Father.

Read this verse again today, for the first time. Read it with emphasis on the word all. Picture a human heart and imagine yours completely full of trust. See that there is no room for doubt or fear. Let yourself feel that immersive trust welling up from inside of you and overcoming you entirely and enjoy a new level of trusting the Lord.

Hater

Proverb 6: 16 – 19

There are six things which the Lord hates, yes, seven which are an abomination to Him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that run rapidly to evil, a false witness who utters lies and one who spreads strife among brothers.

This is an amazing passage to me. First of all, it is so interesting that of the things God hates, I mean really hates, He has included haughty eyes and a lying tongue. Now we all expect Him to hate hands that shed innocent blood, feet that run to evil and a heart that devises wickedness. I don’t imagine any of that is a surprise but what about the haughty eyes and lying tongue? Did you think that God hates those as much as the others?

Secondly, the haughty eyes and lying tongue are mentioned before those heinous attributes that we all recognize as wicked. Also, the author uses a body part to describe each of the things that God hates until He gets to the end. He starts with eyes, then tongue, hands, heart and feet. When he gets to the end he just goes straight to talking about God hating a person who does these things. That is really strong. You may not have thought that spreading strife was that big a deal or making false statements, but it seems to me that those two don’t even get the benefit of a body part to hide behind. The writer just levels those straight at anyone who participates in that kind of behavior.

Lastly, I am struck that three of the things God hates have to do with how we use our mouths and two of them have to do with lying specifically. This is a great revelation. These things are an abomination to God. He hates a lying tongue, a false witness who utters lies and one who spreads strife. The first two are pretty obvious. As for strife, how is that usually spread? By the words of our mouths usually. Look, Jesus described himself as the truth so of course lying and bearing false witness are an abomination to the Lord. The truth and a lie cannot exist together. The devil, God’s mortal enemy, is the father of lies (John 8: 44) so we have no business having any part in deception of any sort. Jesus is the truth and the Holy Spirit was called, by Jesus, the Spirit of truth (John 14: 17) which stands to reason since Jesus is the truth. So, the truth is completely incompatible with deception and lying. We must choose. It is either truth or deception, God or the devil. You cannot have it both ways. Choose truth in all circumstances and don’t grieve the heart of God.

Lifted Up

Psalm 75: 9 – 10

But as for me, I will declare it forever; I will sing praises to the God of Jacob. And all the horns of the wicked He will cut off, but the horns of the righteous will be lifted up.

It is nice knowing the conclusion of things beforehand. It brings confidence. This verse, we should take to heart and remember God’s determination for our lives. He has pre-ordained that all the righteous shall be lifted up. Your house, your name and all that you hold dear are on Yahweh’s list of glory. And by house, I do not refer to the timber box you live in. I refer to your family, tribe, or the group with whom you associate.

The wicked will receive their due. Don’t you worry about that. On the other hand do not become part of their world because the judgment has already been rendered. They will be cut off and hell is their reward. Hell is eternity separated from God. They will be in a dark place where there is no light. It will be awful and some of them are living bits of it now. You see it in people’s lives. Therefore, live your life to Christ, who is the light. Make decisions today which move you into the light rather than into darkness. Everyone gets the opportunity to make those life altering decisions daily, actually even moment to moment. What are you deciding?

Notice that the author has made a decision to sing praises to God forever. That is a decision of the light, and it is a choice. Even as Christians, we get the opportunity to make “light” decisions or “dark” decisions. God has not made us puppets. He values our freewill, probably more than even we do.

Let your light be lifted up as you reflect the glorious luminescence of our dear Lord. Let his light shine upon you so that your life is bathed in him and all that he is. May your life be glorified in him and a praise offering in itself. Be blessed today!

Qualified

Colossians 1: 12

giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.

You are already qualified to share in the inheritance of God. Isn’t that good news? You do not have to earn it. It is done. So, give thanks. Praise the Father. He has arranged everything so that you could be His heir. Even if you do not pray every day, get in the habit of praising every day. That is really more important because God has already done everything He needed to do to bring you into the throne room of grace. He has already provided for your every need. He has already bestowed on you the blessing of Abraham.

You have been pre-qualified. Now enjoy the fruit of what God has supplied you but always remember that as His child He has an expectation that you are not going to use all that He has provided you on your own lusts. He is not increasing you so that you can have a new boat. You can have the new boat and a jet ski too but remember that your job is to feed His children. You are to use your inheritance to spread God’s love and prosperity around. It is not only about you and how much of your inheritance you can spend gratifying the pleasures of the flesh. It is not just about a new vacation and new shoes. God wants to bless you, but He also wants you to bless others. He wants you to be like Him. He is not using up all of His resources on Himself. Otherwise, there would be no inheritance for us to receive. Don’t use up all the blessing that He is giving you on yourself. Thank God and praise Him from the bottom of your heart and then show your appreciation by blessing His kids. Find someone every day that you can bless. Then you will really see the manifestation of God.

Outlandish Favor

Exodus 11: 3

And the Lord gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians. Furthermore, the man Moses himself was greatly esteemed in the land of Egypt, both in the sight of Pharaoh’s servants and in the sight of the people.

If you know the story about Moses leading the Israelites out of Egypt, you know that neither Moses nor the Israelites had favor in the sight of the Egyptians in the natural. They were hated and despised. Pharaoh was more than fed up with Moses and Aaron. At one point Pharaoh told Moses that if he saw Moses’ face again, Moses would surely die.

None the less, when it came down to it, God was victorious. Not only did Pharaoh release the captives, but the Israelites carried out of Egypt much gold and silver. They left 400 years of slavery in immense wealth. God gave them such favor that the Egyptians just gave over their wealth to the Israelites. That is God for you.

We know that through Jesus all of the blessings of the Israelites have come upon all people; all who call God their Lord. How much more should His favor operate effectively in this country and in our lives than against such high odds as the Israelites faced in Egypt? After all, the Israelites were slaves when they were in Egypt. None the less, when they left Egypt, they left with the Egyptians’ wealth. The Israelites didn’t earn that bounty. It was the favor of God on their lives that moved the wealth out of the hands of the Egyptians and into the hands of the Israelites. That same kind of profound favor is available in your life too.

God sent His son to the cross for you so that you could enjoy all the blessings of God. We must accept in our hearts that God is a good God and that He has good intentions towards us. Then with our faith we reach out to Him with the expectation that He will be a good partner in our lives. He will lead us by His Spirit into the land of favor and abundant life. That is what Jesus came here to do (John 10: 10).

Rejected

Psalm 74: 1 – 2

O God, why have You rejected us forever? Why does Your anger smoke against the sheep of Your pasture? Remember Your congregation, which You have purchased of old, which You have redeemed to be the tribe of Your inheritance.

Can I be honest with you? I am not in love with this psalm and had trouble choosing a segment to write on. Ultimately it was what I didn’t like that captured my attention. This is not a psalm of David and I find myself missing him. Read the entire psalm for yourself and tell me which verse you would have chosen. Click reply or enter your choice in the comments section.

I chose verses one and two because of the tone they set for the entire psalm. David may have whined a time or two in his songs but one of the things I like about his spirit is that he turned to praise in the end. Today’s psalm, by Asaph, is an entreaty for God to rise up against those who oppose him and his people.

The heart warms to thoughts of being God’s own inheritance. What a crazy concept. God created a people so that He might have an inheritance. This people, though, accuse Him of having rejected them. I posit that they rejected Him rather than the other way around. I believe this because of the history that we read in the Bible but also because I see how we are today. Even now we might accuse God of leading us into the desert or otherwise abandoning us, but I know it to be untrue. We are the fabricators of silence and desolation.

How many times and in how many ways do we isolate God from our lives and isolate ourselves from His life? We pray, begging Him to meet our needs, but at the first opportunity we immerse ourselves in lives, habits and activities of which He cannot be a part. We shun Him, putting Him in the corner until Sunday morning when we put on our holy garments for an hour.

Do not think I am accusing you without pausing to look in the mirror. I, too, fall far short of the prize and it bothers me that I do. We live in a cultural time when it takes concerted effort to live a life of meaning and value. These days, people want to text rather than talk. We are too busy to just sit down and have a cup of coffee with a friend. When we are together, we rarely engage in meaningful conversation. We are more likely to have a beer together than even one word about our Lord and God WHICH begs the question. Is He really our Lord if we don’t serve Him, give Him any time or worship Him? Is He our God, truly? Perhaps He is only our ticket out of hell. In the meantime, here on earth, we have compartmentalized Him so that He does not invade our lives.

When you know the history of the Israelites, you may think that rather than God having rejected them, they had rejected God. Then, since all the words in the Bible are for our ultimate edification you stop and think that perhaps we are a modern example of the same thing.

Whose Authority?

John 12: 49 – 50               NLT

I don’t speak on my own authority. The Father who sent me has commanded me what to say and how to say it. And I know his commands lead to eternal life; so I say whatever the Father tells me to say.”

This is the model of ministry and it applies to clergy as well as lay people. We need only speak what the Father tells us to say.

Pulpit ministry can be challenging and so can ministering to your friends. We, however, make it harder than it was supposed to be. I have come to take this quite literally though. If the Father didn’t speak to me today, you wouldn’t have a Word of the Day. The NASB version reads, “For I did not speak on My own initiative.” Well, if Jesus did not speak unless the Father initiated it then I suppose he would have remained silent. Therefore, unless the Father gives me something to write, I don’t see the point in writing anything.

A lot of what we give people is actually our opinion. Jesus didn’t speak from opinion but from the inspiration of the Father. Jesus didn’t even recognize his own authority to speak. He deferred to God. Now, if Jesus didn’t speak from his knowledge and authority, who are we to offer anything other than what the Father gives us to say?

It is quite humbling. I also think many seminaries miss God right here. Students are taught how to craft a sermon and how to deliver one, but I wonder how often they are taught to follow only the inspiration of God rather than speaking from knowledge or their education. One might think, well, it’s Saturday, I’ve got to have a sermon for tomorrow but, if God doesn’t give it, I wonder if we are best to remain silent. I know that feeling.

There are days I sit down to write and feel as empty as can be. I pick up my Bible and look for the inspiration of the day. There are times when I have read, flipped pages, read again and can’t find a single thing that seems to have an anointing on it. I’ll pray, whine, importune, and read again. Sometimes I think there is nothing to say, nothing to write. However, as of this writing we have produced 3050 Word of the Day, daily devotionals. Never once has the Father let me down. Sure, I panicked a time or two but now I just say, “Dad, if you want a Word of the Day for tomorrow, you are going to have to write it or tell me what you want.” I refuse to worry about it. If our Father cannot provide a Word of the Day, then one will not be sent. You do not need what I have to say. You only benefit from a Word from the Lord.

The same is true when you witness to others or have friends who ask questions. The only valid answer is, “Let’s see what the Word says.” If you think you are going to learn a bunch of stuff and then lead others, you are going to find yourself and your followers out in the tall weeds. If Jesus didn’t teach, lead and preach in his wisdom and through his authority, then we are certainly not qualified. And rather than taking that as a put down, I think it should relieve you. God definitely does not require you to do something Jesus wasn’t even required to do. So, that weight should fall off your shoulders realizing that your Father provides and if He does not give you the words to say, then you are not required to say anything.

There is a really big and important lesson in this, and this lesson applies to preachers as well as laity. If Jesus didn’t speak of his own initiative but only said what Father God told him to say, then that is good enough for me too.