Trust in God
The Psalmist states,
"I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I put my hope." Psalm 130:5.
Do you put your hope in God?
The writer of Proverbs tells us,
"Trust in the LORD with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;"
Do you have this kind of trust in God?
Please think about it.
Do you truly worship God?
Jesus speaking to the Samaritan woman said,
“Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.
God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.” John 4:23-24.
To my way of thinking there are three ways of viewing God.
You can simply say God does not exist.
You can give intellectual consent and say God exists, but have no real faith in Him.
OR
You can have complete faith in God.
The Bible makes it clear that it is the latter, faith in God that gets us to heaven. The writer of Hebrews telling us,
“And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” Hebrews 11:6.
Here is the question I leave you with. It’s a question only you and God truly know the answer to.
Do you truly worship God in spirit and truth?
Please think about it.
Matthew's gospel tells this story of a young man who came to Jesus,
"Now a man came up to Jesus and asked, "Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?"
"Why do you ask me about what is good?" Jesus replied. "There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, obey the commandments."
"Which ones?" the man inquired. Jesus replied, " ‘Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother,' and ‘love your neighbour as yourself.''"
"All these I have kept," the young man said. "What do I still lack?"
Jesus answered, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."
When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth." Matthew 19:16-22.
The young man believed God exists at least on an intellectual sense. But he trusted his wealth more.
Now there is nothing wrong being wealthy. It’s the love of money that’s the problem. The apostle Paul writes,
“For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.” 1 Timothy 6:10.
This young man was not willing to give up his wealth and follow Jesus.
Now I must stress this giving away all your money is not a prerequisite for becoming a Christian. There have been many men and women over the years who have used their wealth to further the Kingdom of God.
The apostle Paul stating
"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast." Ephesians 2:8,9.
We are saved by having faith in God and the salvation that comes through faith in Gods One and Only Son Christ Jesus.
Where do you stand?
Do you have complete faith in Christ Jesus?
Have you acknowledged Christ as your Lord and Saviour?
Please think about it.
"Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." John 20:29.
Here is a blessing from Jesus to all who have not physically seen him, yet still believe he is who he claimed to be through faith.
Faith being defined in Hebrews as
Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.
This is what the ancients were commended for. Hebrews 11:1,2
In Hebrews 11 we read,
"And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. Hebrews 11:6
Hebrews goes on to say,
“By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.
By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. Hebrews 11:8,9.
These men born long before Jesus came to earth did not see him physically yet chose to follow Gods leading by faith.
And so it should be to day. We although we have not physically seen Jesus are called to believe in him.
Thus the question becomes do you believe by faith in Jesus?
Please think about it.
Gently and Respectfully
The apostle Peter writes,
"But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behaviour in Christ may be ashamed of their slander." 1 Peter 3:15,16.
I am against the fire and brimstone preachers. I am against those who would as someone has said “scare them out of hell and into heaven”. I’m also against those claiming to be Christians forcing their faith on others.
I say this because many non-Christians first of all do not believe in Hell. Secondly most non-Christians would tell you that they are a good person better than some they see going to church, and as such believe they are going to heaven.
That’s why we as true followers of Christ Jesus should at any given time be prepared to tell people what we believe and why we believe it. While at the same time respecting what they believe.
God gave each and every person a free will to do and believe what they wish. That freedom extends to not believing what Christians believe. Each individual has the right to even believe God does not exist.
The bottom line however for a Christian is that when asked about our faith we should be ready and willing to tell people about it in a gentle and respectful manner. In the most simplistic manner quoting John 3:16-18
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son”. John 3:16-18
Telling people they are saved by the grace of God. Simply by having faith in Christ Jesus the one and Only Son of God.
The apostle Paul writing
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.
For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." Ephesians 2:8-10
Noting that Christians believe God reached down in the form of His One and Only Son Christ Jesus.
“That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.
As the Scripture says, “Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame.”
For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” Romans 10:9-13
Please think about it.
God examines our path
"For a man's ways are in full view of the LORD,
and he examines all his paths."
C. S. Lewis said,
"A man can no more diminish God's glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word 'darkness' on the walls of his cell." C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain.
I believe it doesn't matter who you are, or whether you believe in God or not, everything you do is done in front of God. He examines your paths. He knows why you do what you do. The Psalmist wrote,
"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be." Psalm 139:13-16.
The way I read what the Psalmist is saying is God knows us right down to our genetic code. That is why he has the right to judge us, because in knowing our genetic code he knows why we do what we do.
That being said our genetic code only accounts for part of what we do. In creating man God gave each individual complete freedom do believe and do as they like.
It is in how we exercise this freedom, that God will hold us accountable for. Should we choose to murder, steal, or do anything that is contrary to what God wants, we will, if we are unrepentant be punished by God.
If on the other hand we do as God wishes us to do, we will go to be with Him in heaven.
I also believe God made it as simple as possible for us to go to heaven. He in the form of his one and only Son Jesus entered this world to point us to heaven. The writer of Hebrews stating,
In Hebrews we read,
"In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe.
“The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven." Hebrews 1:1-3.
God understands that man is far from perfect. That every person that is living or has ever lived falls short of his ideals. That man sins. Sin is falling short of God's ideal for ones life.
Thus God reaches down in grace. The apostle Paul writing,
"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast." Ephesians 2:8,9
In Romans Paul writes,
"But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:8.
The Apostle Paul tells us,
"That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. Romans 10: 9,10.
Please think about it.
How to follow Christ if you consider yourself a Christian
In Matthews gospel we read,
“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’
This is the first and greatest commandment. Matthew 22:36-38
And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’
All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
In Matthews gospel we read,
“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’
But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.
If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that?
And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Matthew 5:43-47
In 1 Corinthians we read,
“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Love never fails....
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”1 Corinthians 13:4-8a,13
Jesus says,
“Do not judge, or you too will be judged.
For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”Matthew 7:1,2
The apostle Paul writing to the Corinthians writes,
“What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside?
God will judge those outside. “Expel the wicked man from among you.” 1 Corinthians 5:12,13.
“While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and “sinners” came and ate with him and his disciples.
When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and ‘sinners’?”
On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.
But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” Matthew 9:10-13
Ultimately it comes down to
“So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets” Matthew 7:12
If you consider yourself a Christian are you obeying what is said here?
Please think about it.
