So it all comes down to not trusting ourselves anymore. If we are people of faith, then we will trust in the Lord Jesus Christ and find firm footing. Our feet will not slip because we are planted on a firm surface. Jesus equated it to building a house:
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“Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.†(Matthew 7:24-27)
Our Lord has given us an easy-to-use faith ruler. So how do I measure up? How do I react when the winds blow? Do I experience a great fall when the rush of calamity comes calling, or do I bend and not break because I am standing on the Rock? What about you? Do you crumble at the slightest adversity or do you lean into the winds of adversity?
The Bible is clear that although we have a choice of what and in whom we can trust, it isn’t really much of a choice if you choose any other than Christ Jesus. The Apostle Paul was keenly aware of this:
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“For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, you are God’s building. According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it. For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is. If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.†(1 Corinthians 3:9-15)
We can proclaim ourselves faithful servants of Christ, but we are not the Judge of our works. We can believe we build upon the Rock of Christ with gold but in the end will it stand up to the revealing fire?
I have already written that things may get much worse in our nation and that we will need a strong shield to face the Enemy’s arrows of panic. Our fortress must be Christ for only He can defend us for He is our refuge:
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“But the Lord has been my defense, and my God the rock of my refuge.†(Psalm 94:22)
So I am sure I have not revealed anything new or visionary but I am confident in writing that most of us struggle with trusting God. With such a sterling track record, why is that so? It’s because we’ve become a people who do not like to take risks when it comes to our lives, especially with our futures. And guess what? Yep, trusting God takes some risk. That great man of faith E.M. Bounds once wrote:
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Trust is faith that has become absolute, approved, and accomplished. When all is said and done, there is a sort of risk in faith and its exercise. But trust is firm belief; it is faith in full bloom. Trust is a conscious act, a fact of which we are aware.
Faith is trust in action, a conscious act of obedience. What it is not, and I’m afraid too many of us wish it to be, some automatic response we perform throughout our daily lives because we’ve taken our faith pill in the morning in the form of a five minute devotional such as this one.
No beloved, it is you deciding that you will no longer trust yourself or anyone else except Christ and Him alone. And we can do so even in our darkest moments. The life of King David is one of great triumphs and loathsome losses and when he was at his lowest, a captive of the Philistines, he wrote:
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“Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You. In God (I will praise His word), in God I have put my trust; I will not fear. What can flesh do to me?†(Psalm 56:3-4)
Indeed, what can flesh do to you and me?
Beloved, allow your faith to bloom fully and like the flower that needs nourishment from nature, let us feed on His faithfulness and just watch us grow!
Have a blessed weekend and please remember to go to church on Sunday.
In Christ
Dave
Ps. 37:4
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Copyright © 2012 David Jeffers
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