We Need to Trust that He is Wherever We are Going

For the longest time, I was led astray by false doctrine.

I have written from time on this page about the bad teachings which had held me in bondage for the longest time.

The people who were responsible for training me in the way to go, they did not do their job.

My mother especially, who was a "Stepper Mom" without qualification, had imbued in my false ideas of so many kinds.

For the longest time, I was very angry. Angry with her, and angry with my father, too.

Yet being angry with people who have not taught you the truth - that is not the truth that will set you free, is it?

"Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it." (Proverbs 22: 6)

and

"And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. (JOhn 8:32)

The truth that we need to know is the truth of God's grace, for grace and truth came by Jesus Christ (John 1: 17)

The truth shall set you free.

It is very hard for me to accept that I had imbided so many lies, had not been nourished in the Word of God.

One of the biggest lies I was taught -- I was taught to live in constant doubt.

Doubt about whether God was for more or against me.

Doubt about whether he was going to be there for me or not.

Doubt about where I was going or not going, and whether it was a good idea to go or not.

This doubt was constantly forced into my mind through the fearful badgering of my mother:

"Are you sure that that is God's will? What if it's not God's will? You could be doing something wrong. God won't be there for you."

This doubt caused so much pain and unease in my life. Faith is essential.  We have to believe that God is, and a rewarder of those who seek Him.

All of this gets undone as long as we wake up every day believing that we have to think or feel a certain way so that He stays with us, that our feelings or our thoughts will somehow cut us off from God.

We do not need help. We need life.

We need to know that He is going to be there for us, even if we are going a way that is not beneficial to us - at first. He is slow to anger, rich in kindness is He not? Even the Psalms declare this wonderful revelation about God our Father, and we see Him in Jesus, our Lord and Savior:

"Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?

8If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.

9If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea;

10Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me." (Psalm 139: 7-10)

We cannot be separated from Him. This lie that He may or may not be there for us is all wrong, too.

Furthermore, the notion that He could go or run away from us: all of that is false:

"Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee." (Hebrews 13: 5)

We need to trust that He is already there -- wherever we are going.

He is not coming and going anymore, the way that He did under the Old Covenant, when the blood of Jesus had not yet been shed, forever cleansing away our sins.

He Is Still Trustworthy, Even if We Do Not Trust

"If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself." (2 Timothy 2: 13)

Here is another revelation worth sharing.

Jesus is still trustworthy, even if we do not trust Him.

He does not come and go in our lives, even if we find ourselves wavering and unsure.

Jesus does not get huffy and angry with us if we find ourselves wondering and doubting about His truth and committment to caring for us.

Consider Abraham, the father of faith, and how open he was about his doubts:

"1After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward." (Genesis 15: 1)

Notice, that even though God had quickened Abram to do great and mighty deeds, including the massive defeat and slaughter of wicked kings, the LORD had to comfort and assure Abram that He was with Him, his sure and unwavering reward.

2And Abram said, Lord GOD, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus? 3And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir." (Genesis 15: 2-3)

Abram was already having doubts about having a child of his own through his lawful wife Sarai. Instead of getting angry, instead of rejecting Abram or giving up on him, He continued His assurances:

 4And, behold, the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir. 5And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be. 6And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness. 7And he said unto him, I am the LORD that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it." (Genesis 15: 4-7)

God is not in the business of leading us on then dropping us.

He does not prop up our hopes, then dash us.

He comes though and has continued to come through for us time and again.

He is trustworthy, even when we think that He is not worthy or trust. When we understand this, then our faith is no longer an obstacle, for faith is not about us, but about Him who has been from the beginning (1 John 2: 12-14).

It's Hard Work Believing -- This is a World Obsessed with Doing

"Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? 29Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent. " (John 6:28-29)

This passage brings out the truth about our Lord and Savior.

He is still our Lord and our Savior.

He asks us to believe on Him, to trust Him, and this trust is a growing process which takes us faith to faith, as we grow in grace!

Why do we struggle with this?

Because like the Israelites of Jesus' time, we want to know: "What can we do? How do we work the works?"

We have nothing we can give God, for God gives us everything.

We are not autonomous.

We do not even create ourselves.

Such is the nature of sin, that we think that we can take care of everything, including ourselves, and thus do not have to rely on anyone or anything else.

We do not need other people. We need life.

We need Jesus, and the Good News is that Jesus, Savior, came to us and provided us everything.

It is hard for us to believe this. There is an innate need for us to keep trying to be more, to do more, to have a part in all that Jesus has done for us.

For years, I was so busy on the inside. So busy trying to figure out what I needed to.

He is our Life, and He has taken care of everything. It is the height of arrogance for me to think that i have to add something that what He has already done.

Now, once again, why do so many Christians have a hard time with this?

They have not accepted the harsh truth: I am dead, separated from God in Adam. I need a new life, a new identity, a new standing, out of Adam and into Christ.

Do we really accept what Jesus says when He told His disciples: "Apart from me, ye can do nothing."?

Most Christians still think that they can -- and must -- do something.

There we find ourselves right back to the Israelite dilemma: "What must we do, that we may work the works of God."

Jesus rebuffed their demand for a list of demands, and told them:

"This is the work: that you believe on Him whom He has sent."

Faith is Not About Blind Allegiance, but Trust

I was a Kierkegaardian.

The Danish theologian-philosopher cast Christianity in a dark and dour light, imposing on readers the sense of guilt and shame about their sin before God.

I recall one of his sermons, in which he wrote: "You are always guilty before God."

At first, a lot of this heavy-handed moralism sounds good and true.

The truth is, however, that it is false.

Kierkegaard's theology is just as wicked as any other false preaching out there.

One of the most dangerous aspects of his philosophical system argued that faith was somehow irrational, a blind hope, and leap into absurdity.

That is simply not the case.

There is so much in our experience based on what other people say.

The notion that faith is a some mystical felling and that we have no assurance about anything -- that is a fantasy all to itself.

Biblical hope is not about "maybe" or "could be".

It is all about "He did it all" and "It is Finished".

We are not called to believe on something which may or may not be true.

We are invited to trust in Someone who has already proven Himself Trustworthy.

He took the leap onto the Cross and rose again. He took us all with Him, too.

Faith is not about a physical effort, If we belong long enough and hard enough, then whatever we are believing comes to pass.

As the writer of Hebrews clearly defines: "Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things unseen."

Just because something is invisible (to us), does not mean that it does not exist. Just because I do not see or clearly understanding something in my midst does not mean that it is not true, either.

Faith is not a fantastic pressure placed upon us. It has nothing to do with our feelings or the facts in our face.

It is the foundation of what Jesus did at the Cross, and our growing awareness of all that He accomplished there.

I used to think that it was up to be to believe right to believe hard enough and long enough, to ensure that God was going to be there for me.

So much wrong teaching, so much misleading doctrine, too much emphasis on myself created this morass of confusion.

I was so convinced taht everything -- everything! -- in this life depended on me.

For a while, I knew that I needed to let go, and then He would take care of everything.

Then when things would go well, I was convinced, by lies and misleading frauds, that now I had to start doing something.

Never once did I understand that I was stepping into a Finished Work in every way.

I have been surrounded by church people who have been talking "Do! Do! Do!" all their lives.

Jesus was not kidding when He cried out on the Cross: "It Is Finished!"

And yet so many Christians run around hurrying and scurrying, as though everything in our lives will collapse if we do not hold it all together.

Once again, faith is not some kind of human effort to hold on in the face of painful opposition. Faith is an intelligent acceptance off something which He has already accomplished.

We are not jumping into the Unknown, but rather we are receiving By Him who is Known, and more importantly knows us!

He is Responsible for Us, not Vice Versa

Jesus is alive.

He is our life.

He is not a figment of the imagination.

We are not responsible for keeping Him alive and aware in our lives.

He is our life, and is responsible for us.

“But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?” (Galatians 4: 9)

Notice that Paul deliberately corrects himself, and so too more of us need to correct ourselves.

It is not about how much we know God. We need to realize that He knows us!

In this life, in our walk with God, we are not connecting with someone who may or may not know us. We are connecting with someone who knows everything about us, including everything that we are going through:

“For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.” (Hebrews 4: 15)

And thus:

“Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” (Hebrews 4: 16)

This revelation still tickles me, and gives me much room for pause.

My Savior, my high priest forever, knows what I am going through, and wants me to come to Him whenever I have a need.

He is responsible for us, not vice versa.

This is taking some getting used to for me. What about for you?

Be Still and Know that He is God

"Be still, and know that I am God." (Psalm 46: 10)

Why is this exhortation so difficult?

Because the noise in our heads starts to scare us and spark us into panic:

"If you don't do anything, nothing will happen."

Last time I checked, there was nothing that I could do to be saved.

"8For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9Not of works, lest any man should boast."  (Ephesians 2: 8-9)

And apart from Him, we can do nothing:

"I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing." (John 15: 5)

Notice that Jesus is the branches, therefore we can rest in Him.

Why was this so difficult?

We get a mixed message so much of the time,

"You have to do your part, so that God can do His part."

We have no part to play apart from Him.

I must say that in the past week, I have sensed a greater sense of rest than before.

For the first time, I did not feel that I had to generate life and options, outcomes or opportunities on my own.

I understand a little more every day why Paul prayed, declared to the Ephesian Christians "I bow the knee" that we would know the love of Christ for us. (Ephesians 3:16-19)

So, most of us refuse to rest because we do not believe that He is at work.

For me, especially, the reason why I believed that God was not on the job was that I kept looking at myself. What was I thinking or feeling? What was I doing?

This is an old discussion, perhaps, and a number of fearful thoughts have arisen for me.

The entanglements in which we find ourselves can cause so much frustration.

He is God, we are not. He is in charge, we are not. We need to know Him, and more importantly understand that He knows us.

I have spent so much time trying to figure myself out.

What?!

Let’s see more of Him, and how He is taking care of all things.

Jesus: Thank You for Being My Life

This is the hardest transition I have yet faced in my walk.

Notice that I no longer write "my life", for it was never my life to begin with.

The prophet Micah informed us about walking (identifying) with our God:

"He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?" (Micah 6: 8)

All of these demands are met for us in Christ Jesus, who is our righteousness, has graced us in every way, and granted us His standing before God the Father, and thus we have no boast in anything that we did to get there (Ephesians 2: 8-9)

This rest is more than I can fathom sometimes.

I am not trying to bring Him into every conflict and hardship.

He is already there.

I am not praying for God to be with me.

He is with me already.

"Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us." (Matthew 1: 23)

Not only is God with us, but He now lives in us:

"To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:" (Colossians 1: 27)

The Devil has worked so hard to convince sons and daughters of the Living God that they must continue to work and strive to bring God into their lives, to fix their hardships, to restore,

The fact is that He is already here with us, in us, and working through us:

"Whereunto I also labour, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily." (Colossians 1: 29)

and

"I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. 21I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain." (Galatians 2: 20-21)

Jesus, thank you for being my life, and living in and through me.

Today, show me more of what you are doing, how you are working in and through me. Like Paul, I do not want to frustrate your grace working in my life.