Do We Really Trust Him?

"And he sent them to preach the kingdom of God, and to heal the sick.  And he said unto them, Take nothing for your journey, neither staves, nor scrip, neither bread, neither money; neither have two coats apiece." - Luke 9:2-3



Most of us at some time or another have made the statement "I am trusting the Lord."  It seems to me that we make that statement flippantly, without giving it a whole lot of thought as to the gravity of what it actually means to trust the Lord.  My question for us is, do we really trust Him?

Notice that as Jesus sends out His twelve disciples He tells them to take nothing with them - no staff, no bread, no money, and no extra coat.  How many of us would be willing to take a trip like that?  Do you trust Christ enough to do that?  Modern day "American Christianity" would say that it is ridiculous to take the words of Christ so literally, but is it really?

We are left with the question of why Jesus would require this of His disciples, why would He not simply let them go home first and pick up a few things to take with them?  The answer is simple, Jesus was forcing His disciples to trust Him.  Christ would have to come through for them because they had nothing else to fall back on.  Unfortunately, "American Christianity" knows nothing of this kind of trust.  We have it burned into our minds from the time we are children that we need to have something to fall back on in case it doesn't work out. Now please don't misunderstand me, there is a fine line between faith and stupidity.

I want to share with you a quote from Francis Chan's book Crazy Love:  "This place of trust isn't a comfortable place to be; in fact, it flies in the face of everything we've been taught about proper planning.  We like finding refuge in what we already have rather than in what we hope God will provide.  But when Christ says to count the cost of following Him, it means we must surrender everything.  It means being willing to go without an extra tunic or a place to sleep at night, and sometimes without knowing where we are going."

Again, modern day "American Christianity" knows nothing of that kind of trust.  We all have way too much in the way of material possessions and we all spend way too much money on things that have no eternal significance.  How many of us are willing to downsize our incomes and our lifestyles to get to the point where we have nothing to fall back on except Christ Himself?  Would you be willing to give up some of your luxuries and conveniences so that you might give more money to missions or so that you might be able to help the poor in your community?  One of the things that our family gave up was our satellite television.  We were spending about $90 per month on satellite.  We decided that it was more important to take that money and invest it in eternity by using it to support missionaries financially each month.  Now I am not saying that you have to do exactly what we did, but I would ask you to pray and ask God what you could surrender to Him so that you might invest in eternity.

I pray that you will allow God to speak to your heart about surrendering ALL to Him and coming to the place where you have nothing else to fall back on but Jesus Christ.  Are you willing to come to the place of total trust in Christ?  Do you really trust Him?

Prayer For Today:

Heavenly Father, help me to come to the place of complete and total dependence on You for my needs.  May I not trust in my abundance or what I have to fall back on, but may I come to the place where You are the only One I have to fall back on!  Help me to be willing to surrender everything to you!  In Jesus name, Amen!

Do They See It?

"I waited patiently for the Lord; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry.  He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings.  And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the Lord." - Psalm 40:1-3


Have you trusted Jesus Christ as your Savior?  Has Christ put a new song in your heart and mouth?  Does your life show forth praise unto Christ?  Finally, the most important question is: do other people see it?  The Psalmist says that God will bring us up out of our pits, He will bring us up from the miry clay of this wicked world, He will plant our feet on a rock (Jesus Christ), He will establish our path, and He will put a new song of praise in our mouths.

Have you recently experienced a setback in your life?  Have you been in one of those horrible pits or bogged down in the miry clay?  If you are going through a valley in your physical or spiritual life, look for what the Lord is trying to teach you.  Don't murmur or complain against the Lord concerning the state that you are presently in.  You must view your valley, your trial, your pit, as an opportunity to be drawn closer to Christ and an opportunity to show others the new song that has been put in us.  The Psalmist tells us in this passage that when we do these things that many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the Lord.  Do you realize that the world is watching you when you go through the fire to see how you will respond.  The world is watching to see if Jesus Christ is as real to us as we say He is.  The world is watching to see if you really believe what you tell them you believe.  If you will allow the pits, valleys, and trials in your life to show forth the praise of Christ it will cause people to not only see it but it will cause them to trust in Him.

I want to challenge you to view your failures and disappointments in life as an opportunity to be drawn closer to Christ and then an opportunity to let others see the praise of Christ in our lives.  Life is difficult and the journey can cause us to grow weary, even jaded.

Will you view your failures, disappointments, and setbacks as an opportunity to let others see Jesus Christ in your life?  Is Christ as real to you as you say He is?

Prayer For Today:

Heavenly Father, help me this day to let others see your praise in my life.  When I suffer setbacks, when I have failures and disappointments, may I see it as an opportunity to be drawn closer to You and to let others see You in my life.  I pray that you will help me to see what You are trying to teach me through the tough times in my life.  I desire You to be so real to me that others will see it, and fear, and trust in Christ.  In Jesus name, Amen!

Casting Our Care Upon Him

"Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you." - 1 Peter 5:6-7


Do you ever feel weighed down by the burdens and cares of this world?  Do you ever feel like you do not have the strength to go on?  If we are honest, we all have days where we feel this way.  However, the Lord never intended for us to carry our burdens by ourselves and face our battles alone.  Yet, that is exactly what we do, we try to carry our burdens on our own shoulders and not turn them over to the Lord.

God is a tremendous source of strength and support if you will call upon Him.  When we grow weary in our walk, God will give us strength.  When we feel there is no hope, the Lord reminds us of His promises to us.  When we are grieving, the Lord will comfort us and make His presence so real to us.

If the demands and burdens of this world begin to get you down, you must not rely upon your own strength or abilities.  You must totally rely and depend on the Lord to get you through your trial and lift your burden from you.  The Lord Jesus Christ will go every step of the way with you through whatever you are facing.  He will not only hold your hand through it all, but when it seems you can no longer go on, He will carry you through.

"Faith is not merely you holding on to God, it is God holding on to you." - E. Stanley Jones


I am so glad that I am not holding on to Christ, but that Christ is holding on to me!

Prayer For Today:

Heavenly Father, I know that You will never leave me nor forsake me.  You have promised to go through every trial with me.  You have promised to take every burden from me.  No matter what the day may bring and no matter what I may face, thank you for Your strength, comfort, and love.  Help me today to cast all my cares upon You.  In Jesus name, Amen!

Trusting God For The Impossible

"Is anything too hard for the Lord?" - Genesis 18:14


The context of this verse is dealing with Abraham's wife Sarah conceiving a child in her old age.  Sarah was way past the years of child bearing yet the Lord promised her that she would give birth to a son in her old age.  Human logic would tell us that it would be impossible for a woman of Sarah's age to conceive and give birth to a child.  However, there is nothing that is too hard for the Lord.  Only God can do what we see as humanly impossible.

Are you afraid to ask God to do big things in your life?  Is your faith weak and wearing thin?  It is time for us to abandon our doubts and our fears and to trust God to do the impossible in our lives.  The Word of God makes it so clear that NOTHING is impossible for God!  We must take God at His Word and expect Him to do the impossible in our lives.

This past Sunday we unveiled our theme for 2012 at our church, "Building Our Future & Our Lives Around Our Church."  The church has been in a building project for about 7 years to add a gym/fellowship hall and other rooms to the existing facility.  I must admit that I have been discouraged because it has been 7 years and the building is not complete.  I challenged our church that we are going to see the building completed by the end of this year and do it without going one penny into debt.  That is a very bold an ambitious statement and some no doubt will ask how in the world can it be done.  They might even say, "that's impossible!"  My response is, I am going to trust God to do the impossible at Fairystone Baptist Church!  Will you trust Christ to do the impossible in your life today?

Prayer For Today:

Lord, nothing is impossible for You.  Help to never lose sight of your strength and power.  When I lose hope, give me faith; when others lose hope, let me remind them of Your glory and works.  Today and everyday, Lord, help me to trust You to do the impossible in my life.  In Jesus name, Amen!

Be Courageous

"Be strong and of good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the Lord thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee." - Deuteronomy 31:6


Does life at times seem to be difficult and discouraging?  I'm sure that Joshua was feeling that very way here in Deuteronomy chapter 31.  Moses, their leader, is about to die and it is now time for Joshua to step up to the plate and lead the children of Israel into the Promised Land.  This would require courage and faith on Joshua's part because now he was the one leading instead of just following.

As Christians, we are able to live "courageously" because the ultimate battle was fought and already won at Calvary.  Just like in the Old Testament when the children sent spies into the land to check it out, they did not need to fear, because God had already promised them that He would go before them and give them the victory.  However, most of us in our walk with Christ fall prey to fear just like ten of the twelve spies did.  The answer to our fears is to trust God and His Word.  If He has promised us something, then we have no reason to doubt or fear, we can be bold and courageous.

Before I finish, I would like to mention that the month of January at Fairystone Baptist Church will be "Courageous Month."  We will be having special messages in our Sunday evening services during the month of January.  Then on Saturday January 21 we will be showing the movie Courageous at the church.  I pray that, just like Joshua, the Lord will give us the strength to be courageous.

Prayer For Today:

Lord, may I turn to you for courage and strength as Joshua did.  I know that You are always with me and will never forsake me.  Lord, help me to face the challenges of this day by completely trusting in and depending on You.  In Jesus name, Amen!