So, Can I Really be Trusted?

S - John 7:16-18, 23-24 (TLJ): "Jesus answered, "What I teach is not my own.  My teaching comes from the one who sent me. People who really want to do what God wants will know that my teaching comes from God.  They will know that this teaching is not my own.  If I taught my own ideas, I would just be trying to get honor for myself. But if I am trying to bring honor to the one who sent me, I can be trusted.  Anyone doing that is not going to lie. … Yes, you often circumcise baby boys on a Sabbath day.  This shows that someone can be circumcised on a Sabbath day to obey the Law of Moses.  So why are you angry with me for healing a person's whole body on the Sabbath day? Stop judging by the way things look. Be fair and judge by what is really right."

O - Jesus really is the way and shows the way for us all.  He shows us how we are to "share" or "speak" or "teach" or "proclaim."  In our world (religious and secular) people use truths or principles all the time to affirm and move forward their own agendas.  Jesus is showing us that even this is a huge problem and the problem is one of trust.  It's not that all people are moving bad, wicked or evil agendas … it's that we are moving agendas at all.  What hangs in the balance is not doing a good thing or not but rather who can be trusted.  The little manipulation or alteration for appearances or mixed motives to accomplish something "good" is the bad yeast Jesus warns all of his followers about repeatedly.  We must take extreme care in assessing our own hearts, words and motives.  We are called to work with the Lord in that which is already doing NOT work for him with ideas we claim his authority for. It's really straight forward according to Jesus. When we work with him we can be trusted and when we work for him we can't.

A - The application here for me is huge.  I teach, share, speak all the time and I'm engaged in projects for the 2/3's world which require funding.  If "good" is the only measure I can do and say almost anything. If motives, agenda and working with Jesus are the measure I am limited AND can be completely trusted.  Of course, choosing the limitations of with Jesus ends like his requirement of losing my ends.  I find my life and am working with the confidence that I can ask him anything … and with him anything is possible.  Tenderly he does not require me to be flawless in the repelling of this yeast but blameless.  He will help me/us to learn, grow and become those who are consistently to be trusted.

P - Lord who is forever to be trusted,
Thank you for refusing to launch out on your own in your Father's name.  Thank you for warning us/me about this yeast, for forgiving it whenever we/I get infected and for calling us to grow, learn and become those who bear, according to grace, the strong family likeness of being trustworthy.  Lord, I do rely completely on you and want to me one you (and all others) can rely on as well.  With King David I say, teach me your ways and lead me in a straight path.
All my love,
Steve