Lincoln

I encourage you to be trustworthy for Christ’s sake

To be considered trustworthy is a valuable quality which finds favour with both people and God. It’s true that at some point, and to varying degrees, most of us have done things which would disqualify us from the halls of trustworthiness fame. However, it’s equally true that by God’s grace this status can be reversed.

When calling Israel to repent of her sin by exchanging corruption for righteous living, the Lord invited them to consider His ability and willingness to transform them. “Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool” (Isaiah 1:18). Herein lies humanity’s only hope; God’s ability to wash away sin through forgiveness and to cleanse repeat sinners. Repentance should always be our initial response to God’s invitation for transformation; this begins with rationale thinking that aligns itself with God’s thinking.

When we think of God, we are to recognise “the works of his hands are faithful and just; all his precepts are trustworthy” (Psalms 111:7). He is utterly dependable, totally reliable, and consistent in all his thinking, values and actions. In fact, the Lord is incapable of being anything less than holy and trustworthy. Likewise, “the law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul. The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy, making wise the simple” (Psalms 19:7 NIV). God’s Word expresses His perfections and His gracious salvation which brings spiritual regeneration for the reader who surrenders to Him. This is true wisdom; inviting God’s restoration through faith in His Son Jesus Christ.

Surrendered reality

However, reality teaches us that in spite of our best intentions, we won’t get obedience right all the time. Sadly, some of us will fail the Lord and others terribly. It’s this inner struggle with sin that Paul confessed; “when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members” (Romans 7:21-23). Paul was a realist, knowing the battle that follows a life that has turned from self and sin to being under the cleansing and lordship of Jesus Christ.

Paul also recognised his life of service for the Church as an entrusted responsibility from the Lord. As such, Paul reminds us that “it is required of stewards that they be found trustworthy” (1 Corinthians 4:2).  Even though we are terribly inconsistent, the Lord’s grace upholds the relationship He has with us. Even in times when “we are faithless, he remains faithful” (2 Timothy 2:13).  The Lord’s faithfulness convinces us of His trustworthiness, and His trustworthiness inspires our enduring loyalty and devotion to Him. So, in times of personal disappointment, we focus on Christ by repeatedly turning from failure in preference of loving obedience.

Today, I encourage you to persevere in faithful service for Jesus Christ. Don’t allow the difficulties and struggles of life to deter you from a trustworthy life for Christ. Do not allow critics to slow you down in the race of Christian living. Run for Christ, the finish line of eternal life will materialise His reward soon enough. Your trustworthiness will honour the Lord and encourage others in God’s faithfulness to them and His worthiness of their faith in His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

I encourage you to overcome disbelief by trusting in God

Trusting can be a complex process, usually because of past relationship failures. Trust is a sophisticated mechanism bringing both comforting assurance and awareness of caution when needed. It ideally works hand in hand with conscience, forming a powerful component of who we are. 

However, as with all matters of the heart, trust can be deceived and damaged. It can become so abused that it ceases to operate correctly. Damaged trust can be a difficult thing to recover from, often leaving scars with debilitating effects. 

Trust by nature is vulnerable, meaning it has softness permitting misinformation which in turn may mislead, particularly when done by those less reputable. As such, trust functions at both the conscious and unconscious levels, being both spontaneous and thought through. 

Damaged, yet trusting

When it comes to trusting God, it’s sometimes challenged by those who are untrusting by nature, or have never recognised God’s trustworthiness. Some people only view mankind’s bad behaviour from a human perspective which leads them to misinterpret, then transfer blame for those bad experiences to God accompanied by mistrust.

It’s all too easy to forget the Lord’s intrinsic nature, “for there is no injustice with the LORD our God, or partiality or taking bribes” (2 Chronicles 19:7). In other words, God is nothing like us! He is holy to such a degree that we can’t even imagine the extent of His infinite perfections.

When referring to the Jewish nation, the apostle Paul questioned; “What if some were unfaithful? Does their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God? By no means!” (Romans 3:3-4a). Paul’s point is simple; just because people are faithless and therefore do and believe wrong things, does not make God like them. Nor does mankind’s disbelief in God actually change God’s character. God is God! In spite of what people say about Him, God remains eternally present and utterly holy. 

Our wisest choice

For our part, we’re wise if we say like Moses, who told the nation of Israel; “I will proclaim the name of the LORD; ascribe greatness to our God! “The Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright is He” (Deuteronomy 32:3-4).

My friend, regardless of your past, in spite of life’s anxieties, no matter how many years you have held your present beliefs; God, through His Son the Lord Jesus Christ is worthy of your absolute and unreserved trust. This trusting must Begin with your need to be spiritually born again (John 3:3). 

Job, though once extravagantly wealthy, and having lost everything within 24 hours, summarises faith and trust well. He said that those who disbelieve in God should “not trust in emptiness, deceiving himself, for emptiness will be his payment” (Job 15:31). In other words, if you believe in nothing, nothing will be your reward for eternity. “God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him (Jesus) is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God” (John 3:17-18). 

Choosing to believe in nothing only seals your fate in the cement of eternal judgement under a Holy God. Whereas “those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O LORD, have not forsaken those who seek you” (Psalm 9:10). Reach out to the Lord Jesus Christ for forgiveness; He will fully pardon you of all sin. Confess that He died the death that you should have died for your sins on the cross 2000 years ago. He will never disappoint. He will never fail you. He will be your trust and security for all eternity.

 

I encourage you to entrust your life to the God of security.

While this world may entrust itself to politics, wealth, an improved environment, and pleasure; it finds no security that can endure the grave, let alone the struggles of daily life. Sadly, worldly efforts to accumulate stuff that is meant to bring lasting and satisfying peace and security fails miserably to fulfil its promises.

Mankind’s greatest need remains the same; to be restored to a right relationship with God. Only then, can we experience the peace and security we so desperately long for.

Wisdom you can trust

Psalm 16 is rich with lessons revolving around this whole issue of trust. We do well to acknowledge God, like David, who said; “You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you” (Psa 16:2). Jesus’ younger half-brother James agreed; “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights …” (James 1:17). God is the only source of any and all good things, weather directly or indirectly, He is the origin of good!

David then acknowledged God’s ultimate rulership over his life, stating; “The LORD is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot” (Psa 16:5). David understood that the Lord is the invisible and determining factor in his life, having the final say over all circumstances and events. While some are offended by that, the believer in God rests content and secure in this knowledge.

Wisdom to crab on to

Realising God’s personal interest in you, and His commitment to engage invisibly in the events of your life, produces confidence which you can entrust yourself to. Just as David could say; “I have set the LORD always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken” (Psa 16:8), so can we also experience such confidence in the Lord following surrender to Him.

Following David’s choice to place his dependence in the Lord, He was able to say; “my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices; my flesh also dwells secure” (Psa 16:9). David realised that having entrusted himself; body, mind, and spirit, to God, produced emotional and spiritual joy which was accompanied by the physical realisation of security. He could relax in the certainty of God! God was greater than David’s inability to control, greater than his inability to foresee the future, and greater than his inability to overcome personal sin and weak faith. His relationship with the Lord was not based upon his ability to please God; rather, it was based upon his faith in God, to which God responded with acceptance and security.

Wisdom to act upon

This life governing confidence in God does not simply pop into our lives without cause. No, this state of certain hope results from God working in our lives. He makes us aware of Himself through creation, through circumstances, through conscience, through His Word, and through faithful Christians who love us enough to speak about the Lord. So, “let us choose what is right; let us know among ourselves what is good,” (Job 34:4) for “those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O LORD, have not forsaken those who seek you” (Psalms 9:10).

Today, I invite you to surrender in dependant faith in God. Turn to His Son the Lord Jesus Christ, seek His forgiveness, call upon His mercy, and receive His cleansing and the gift of eternal life.

 

I encourage you to evaluate who and what you trust in

Trust is one of those peculiar things which can be quite illusive for all soughts of reasons. We all value people who are trustworthy. Even those who don’t consider themselves trustworthy, look for people they can trust.

Most of us go through periods feeling as if there is no one in whom you can fully trust without doubts or fears. Humans crave friendships in which they can place complete confidence without fear of being taken advantage of or being disappointed.

David, the psalmist, possessed an uncommon degree of understanding on this critical issue of trust. He explains; “Our soul waits for the LORD; he is our help and our shield. For our heart is glad in him, because we trust in his holy name. Let your steadfast love, O LORD, be upon us, even as we hope in you” (Psalms 33:20-22). Trust speaks of dependence upon the Lord, while hope speaks of the certain fulfilment of trust in God. Therefore, believers wait patiently, not knowing exactly how or when God will fulfil His plans, but because He is God, He will; and with that we are content.

It works like this; we are to attach our attention, our emotions, and our spirituality, consciously and subconsciously, to the unchangeable holy character of God. It’s the Lord’s inability to violate His relationship with us, plus His enthusiasm to express loving mercy, which enables us to experience gladness that overshadows life’s pains.

It’s not haphazard

We often think of trust as something that just happens at some point in a relationship when it’s earned according to our felt needs. Thus, we simply become aware that we are trusting in someone else. However, with God it’s different. He invites us to engage our trust in Him through our conscious choice. Belief, emotion, intellect, and behaviour are all activated when we say “I trust in you, O LORD; I say, ‘You are my God’” (Psalms 31:14).

For those feeling so beaten by life’s disappointments that they feel incapable of trust, God says; “Blessed is the man who makes the LORD his trust” (Psalms 40:4). Out of the desperation of an abused soul, the weak child of God invites their Lord to supernaturally become the trust mechanism within them. God then enables them to place that very trust back in Him as Lord. This work of trust development by God within Christians enables them to say; “When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can flesh do to me”?  (Psalms 56:3-4).

“Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him, and he will act” (Psalms 37:5). Make no mistake; our choice to trust activates a response from the Lord. We trust; God acts! Therefore, “Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful” (Colossians 4:2 NIV). Give the Saviour your attention by leaning more and more on the Lord Jesus Christ. Then, observe Him responding to those decisions to depend upon Him, and then respond with thanks.                                                                                                     

I encourage you to evaluate your heart. Scrutinise your learned behaviours. Examine how you engage with others, with life in general, and with God. It may not be the most comfortable exercise you’ve ever done, but it can be revealing of some disturbing realities which the Lord wants you to change as an act of faith in Him. “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding” (Proverbs 3:5).

 

Be encouraged to excel in building up the Church

Jesus, speaking in Matthew 16:18 of building as the architect of the Church stated; “I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it”. The Lord of Lords informed that His full measure of divinity is committed to the unstoppable project of establishing His kingdom through His church. No earthly or spiritual powers of opposition are capable of prevailing against Him. Scripture records this unchangeable fact, history proves it to be true, and the future shall see it brought to completion.

Just as Christ is unmovable, so in Him, we too can be unmovable as we endure in the faith. It’s with this heavenly confidence the apostle Paul affirms “that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6). Not only will the entire structure of the Church be finalised, but the individual stones used in construction of the Church shall be brought to mature Christ-like perfection in the final assembly. Praise God for the forgone conclusion of glorification in Christ!

The personal nature to building

In spite of personal struggles and external opposition, believers align themselves with the Lord Jesus Christ and “strive to excel in building up the church” (1 Corinthians 14:12). We recognise our fellow believers are far more than inconsequential joy-riders in life. They, like us, are the children of God. Together in Christ we are the product of divine election, the working out of God’s perfect will through redemption (Eph 1:5-7).

As Christians, it’s our privilege to join the Lord, being energised by His Spirit and equipped with His Word to “encourage one another and build one another up” (1 Thessalonians 5:11). There is no place for cutting each other down or moaning of imperfections that simply reflect our own imperfections. There is no time for sitting on the side-line of church life consumed with self, while runners in the race of faith pass us by. Instead, lets “lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith” (Hebrews 12:1-2).

Relational Evangelism

When our relationships fail in reflecting Christ’s character, those watching on soon become aware of the work still required within us, and the gospel testimony of His church is damaged. The power of the Church’s testimony is not in theological perfection, although unity in truth is extremely important. No, the power of our testimony is that “all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35).

May Christ’s prayer for His disciples be fulfilled in our lives, where He prayed; “that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me” (John 17:21). The Lord’s credibility before the unbelieving world is greatly determined by believer’s willingness to surrender to oneness in Christ.

What a humbling privilege; being entrusted with building fellow believers up while securing a favourable testimony for Christ before a dying world. The renown of Christ’s name is to be our consuming passion, and the replication of Christ’s character in fellow believers is to be our motivation for service. “For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field, God’s building” (1 Corinthians 3:9). Let’s strive as one person in excelling at building up the Church.