The Environment and Requirement of Trust

S - Psalm 55:16-19a, 22-23 (NLT): "But I will call on God, and the Lord will rescue me. 17 Morning, noon, and night I plead aloud in my distress, and the Lord hears my voice. 18 He rescues me and keeps me safe from the battle waged against me, even though many still oppose me. 19 God, who is king forever, will hear me and will humble them. Interlude … 22 Give your burdens to the Lord, and he will take care of you. He will not permit the godly to slip and fall. 23 But you, O God, will send the wicked down to the pit of destruction. Murderers and liars will die young, but I am trusting you to save me."

O - Safety, provision, rescue, relief are not dependent on an absence of hostile forces nor a season of overwhelming abundance … they are dependent upon God … the Living God for whom nothing is impossible, too difficult or too wonderful. He brings water from rocks, rains bread from heaven, feeds multitudes from a single lunch and prepares a party in the presence of our enemies. Trust is all about his person not our current understanding of the plan. Trust must be engaged before the final results are known because trust cannot be "backfilled" once the tension, threat and challenge have ended. The cessation of hostilities or a change of season will bring us a sense of relief but not grow us in faith nor in the fierce personal loyalty he both deserves and requires. David said 'the time I am afraid I will trust in him.' Trust will not grow without a known threat and an unknown conclusion. If we will not learn to trust under threat and difficulty we will not trust under blessing and safety. Since trust is all about his person the importance of prayer is magnified. Prayer brings us uniquely near his person … calling on him in our distress is less about negotiating a desired outcome and way more about experiencing his person and gaining the needed confidence according to his love. We should ask, but our asking is only the symptom of our hearts desire and decision to put our trust in the Living God.

A - Trust is an essential element in all relationships. Its absence will ultimately disable and destroy any relationship. The Lord trusts me with so much … and insists that I trust him with all. My assignment today and every day is to live out loud the trust, the fierce personal loyalty he deserves and requires. The one who trusts in him cannot be put to shame and will not be shaken. As the days go forward and we draw closer to the release of a new wineskin, of mulberry trees in the ocean and of that which is too wonderful to me - I get live out this trust so that when the season has completely turned I will be as he would find me … in vibrant faith and unflickering trust in the Living God.

P - Living God,
Too wonderful for me, too awesome for me, too brilliant for me … thank you for loving me/us because you do. Thank you for allowing us the privilege of ongoing relationship; for dignifying my life with the capacity to choose. Thank you that you are not only worthy of praise but of complete trust and wholehearted devotion. Lord, I trust you and as I pray for the calm seas, the firm steps, the fulfillment of what you have placed in my heart and the continued trajectory of my life as you've been leading, I am acutely aware of my capacity to fear, to fail, to be shackled by doubt and unbelief. Lord, I ask you to fill me/us with your resurrection life - for your life to come into me and out of me. I am asking you to fill my eyes, ears, mind, heart, mouth, hands and feet with faith so I may please you … bring you glory and make you glad. Lord, thank you for being the warrior God … the God who fights for his people. Thank you great King for being tender toward me and ruthless toward my enemy. Lord, the time I am afraid I will trust in you!

Steve

Words to Live By

S - Matthew 26:31-35, 50-56 (NLT): "“Tonight all of you will desert me,” Jesus told them. “For the Scriptures say, ‘God will strike the Shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’ 32 But after I have been raised from the dead, I will go ahead of you to Galilee and meet you there.” 33 Peter declared, “Even if everyone else deserts you, I never will.” 34 “Peter,” Jesus replied, “the truth is, this very night, before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.” 35 “No!” Peter insisted. “Not even if I have to die with you! I will never deny you!” And all the other disciples vowed the same. … 50 Jesus said, “My friend, go ahead and do what you have come for.” Then the others grabbed Jesus and arrested him. 51 One of the men with Jesus pulled out a sword and slashed off an ear of the high priest’s servant. 52 “Put away your sword,” Jesus told him. “Those who use the sword will be killed by the sword. 53 Don’t you realize that I could ask my Father for thousands of angels to protect us, and he would send them instantly? 54 But if I did, how would the Scriptures be fulfilled that describe what must happen now?” 55 Then Jesus said to the crowd, “Am I some dangerous criminal, that you have come armed with swords and clubs to arrest me? Why didn’t you arrest me in the Temple? I was there teaching every day. 56 But this is all happening to fulfill the words of the prophets as recorded in the Scriptures.” At that point, all the disciples deserted him and fled."

O - The Scriptures really are a matter of life and death for the entire human race. They are God's written voice to the entire world … and the entire world included Jesus - the only true son. He is the Living Word, the Word of the Father in flesh, and he engaged, leaned into and never exempted himself from the Scriptures. They were not just a platform for his teaching but the locus of his success in the wilderness temptation. They were not just for talking but for living day by day … even when obeying them meant death for him. Under the threat and pressure of personal loss or death (in all aspects - socially, emotionally, relationally, financially, physically) we are tempted to 'set them aside' out of self-preservation or some 'greater good' we think is dependent on us or that we can and should do. Jesus never thought or acted this way. Though it was in his capacity to avoid/refuse the horrific events the Scriptures revealed, he would not and did not. The religious leaders set aside the Scriptures when they thought it best (condemning an innocent man). Jesus never did even when it cost him everything. When obedience means for us certain death, God has planned for us resurrection life. Jesus lived so that the Scriptures would be fulfilled and he expects his followers to do the same; to live out the words of the written voice of God while we're coming to him for life and listening for his speaking voice.

A - It is a narrow door - obey with no exceptions. It is a narrow door which leads to life even when death comes first. It is a narrow door which requires trust in the person because the plan will seem so impossible, sometimes brutally and ludicrously impossible. It is a narrow door which opens up to a very broad place where nothing is impossible, too difficult or too wonderful to ALL who enter through it. The truth is, when things are looking bad God is still being good - an extreme goodness based upon his awesome brilliance and limitless power. The Scriptures must be, and will be fulfilled … my assignment is to have this result include my willing participation, intentional pursuit and fierce personal loyalty to Jesus.

P - Living Word of the Father,
You reveal God to us exactly and you reveal our design as humans exactly. I admit there is no life apart from you and apart from you I can do nothing. Thank you for your written voice and for your speaking voice and that your sheep, your followers, know your voice AND you know us and call us by name. Lord, thank you for remembering me/us! Today is my day to engage your voice, written and spoken. I am not to reserve it for tomorrow or a more convenient time; I am never to set it aside according to my understanding. Rather, in fierce personal loyalty to you and with my very best on the line (even when by best is pathetic) I am to listen and obey for this is the way of life. Please pour your life into me and let your life come out of me - today while it is called today. Speak, Lord, your servant is listening and set to obey.
I love you back,
Steve

Now About those Lions, Tigers and Bears

S - Matthew 10:28-32 (NLT): ""Don't be afraid of those who want to kill you. They can only kill your body; they cannot touch your soul. Fear only God, who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Not even a sparrow, worth only half a penny, can fall to the ground without your Father knowing it. And the very hairs on your head are all numbered. So don't be afraid; you are more valuable to him than a whole flock of sparrows. "If anyone acknowledges me publicly here on earth, I will openly acknowledge that person before my Father in heaven."

O - Jesus brings up some of the toughest realities there are, viz. those who want to kill you and hell. Neither are pleasant thoughts. Both are intensely intimidating. The Lord's point is not to add another or bigger threat to an already scary list but to relieve them all. His point is not 'so you better really walk the line' but rather "so don't be afraid." What is it that relieves all fear? Jesus says this is found in fearing God. It's not the fear of divine retribution or eternal demise. It is the wholesome dread of being disconnected from the One who loves you … the one who knows, literally, how many hairs are on your head. Jesus' tells us that in a world which accepts and promotes collateral damage and that uses and abuses people; one which considers others as expendable and throw-away, in that very world God considers all people as valuable. This assessment is confirmed by Jesus. He would literally rather die than be without any of us.

A - If I fear the Lord (the wholesome dread of being disconnected from him) I NEVER have to be afraid; not of anyone or anything. Not only so, in that "fear" my value, my identity is affirmed … known, wanted, dearly loved, and fully adopted forever! Jesus is not secretive about his love and neither is his Father. God is acting openly for us, towards us and about us … and we have the joy of living out loud a child's response … safe and secure from all alarm.

P - Lord who IS love,

Thank you for loving us, for wanting us even (maybe especially) at our worst. Thank you for relieving our fears and instilling confidence according to love! Thank for calling us to yourself, not just to an idea, principle or place. Thank you for letting us love you back and for our loving you back really mattering to you - Great God of all. This is your day and I am your child. You lead, I'll follow.

All my love,

Steve