TRUST IN THE LORD

“Blessed are those who trust in the Lord
and have made the Lord
their hope and confidence.
They are like trees
planted along a riverbank,
with roots that reach deep into the water.
Such trees are not bothered by the heat

or worried by long months of drought.
Their leaves stay green,
and they never stop producing fruit.”
Jeremiah 17:7-8 NLT
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Just before today’s passage Jeremiah said, This is what the Lord says: “CURSED are those who put their trust in mere humans, who rely on human strength and turn their hearts away from the Lord. They are like stunted shrubs in the desert, with no hope for the future. They will live in the barren wilderness, in an uninhabited salty land.” Then in absolute contrast he writes, But those who TRUST IN THE LORD and have made the Lord their hope and confidence - THEY ARE BLESSED.”

Trusting in the Lord – that is, focusing our hope and confidence in Him is at the very heart of experiencing God’s blessing as we go through trouble. Some of you are living examples of this truth. In hard and frightening times your hope and confidence has remained strong because you are planted along God’s riverbank and your roots reach deep into the water.

All of us have learned that Trusting in the Lord does not mean that we will be spared difficult and hard times in this life. In fact Jesus tells us, “Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.” Whatever He allows us to go through, if we continue to trust Him, and keep our hope and confidence deeply rooted in Him, will actually work out for our good.

Trusting in the Lord not only assures our survival, but enables us to live an abundant life even while we are hurting. Because our roots are deep in God’s water supply our leaves stay green, and they never stop producing fruit. Seeing the promising comfort of our green leaves, hurting people are drawn to us. By God’s grace we will have opportunity to let them know where our hope and confidence is rooted. To the degree that we keep trusting in the Lord, we will continue to produce fruit - not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought that may yet cross our path. The bottom line is, we will be BLESSED!

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Thank you for being a faithful visitor to our blog site over the past few years. We have truly enjoyed meeting you here. Your email replies and the comments you posted have been a real encouragement to us. However, we believe the time has come for us to slow up a bit. So beginning with September, as the Lord provides, there will be just two posts a month.

THE HOLY SPIRIT IN US

“We received the Spirit of adoption
by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.”
The Spirit Himself bears witness
with our spirit
that we are children of God.”
Romans 8:15-16 NKJV
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No matter at what age we put our trust in Jesus as Savior, God gave us His Holy Spirit. In fact Paul tells us, “if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.” As we grow in our understanding of God’s Word, we become more and more aware of the significance of the presence of the Spirit in our lives.

THE SPIRIT BEARS WITNESS:
One of the first things the Holy Spirit does in us when we become believers is, “He bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.” When we put our faith in Christ we believed the promise that we had become children of God. The Holy Spirit speaks to our spirit reaffirming the truth that we indeed are children of God – in fact we have been officially adopted as joint heirs with His only begotten Son. And now, like His only begotten, we can call God Abba, Father. (“Abba” is the Aramaic term for “Daddy”) - an indication of an incredibly intimate relationship!

THE SPIRIT IS OUR SEAL:
Paul writing to the Ephesians said, “having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise.” In ancient times a king marked important documents with the imprint of his signet ring. The “seal” was a sign that the document was authentic. When timbers were shipped, the buyer’s “seal” was imprinted on each log, signifying ownership. A similar practice takes place in cattle country where ranchers brand their cattle and ship them to market. At market they are mixed with other cattle, but the brand or “seal” always settles the issue of ownership. The Holy Spirit living in us is God’s authentic seal which settles the question of ownership! We belong to God!!

THE SPIRIT IS THE DOWN PAYMENT:
When Paul wrote the Ephesians, “having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise,” he added, “who is the guarantee (down payment or first installment) of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.” Making a down payment on a house implies that we will make full payment in the future. By giving us the Holy Spirit, God has given us the first installment of our inheritance and has committed Himself to give us the rest of it in the future. Presently we experience only part of it, but in the future we will have it all to enjoy forever! What a matchless secure inheritance!!

GREAT IS HIS FAITHFULNESS

“The faithful love of the Lord never ends!
His mercies never cease.
Great is his faithfulness;
his mercies begin afresh each morning.”
Lamentations 3:22-23 NLT
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A faithful person can be relied on and trusted in every situation. The closer the relationship, the more highly faithfulness is valued. While the faithfulness of a friend or business partner is highly valued, it cannot be compared to the value we place on the faithfulness of our mate!

There is so much unfaithfulness all around us in this world. A business partner goes back on his word, a friend betrays the trust we placed in him causing us deep disappointment and pain. But when a marriage partner who promised - “to love and to cherish; from this day forward, until death do us part” - has been unfaithful; that must be absolutely heart wrenching!

Our faithful LORD will never betray us and cause us such pain. His unconditional love never ends!! Even before we believed in Him, and still were hostile toward Him, He loved us. And now as believers, we have to admit that we are not always entirely reliable and trustworthy. Yet He continues to love us. Paul writes, “If we are unfaithful, he remains faithful, for he cannot deny who he is.” When we admit our shortcomings and repent, the Holy Spirit makes us aware that His faithful love has been there all the time! GREAT IS HIS FAITHFULNESS!!

In addition to our LORD’S faithful and unending love, “His mercies never cease.” If we stop to think, His mercies are really too numerous to count. Besides the mercies we can recall, there must be countless more of which we are totally unaware. All through life He has been graciously and faithfully pouring mercies on us.

Our LORD’S mercies begin afresh each morning. He never runs out. Every morning there is a new supply, perfectly designed to meet the needs of our day! Every morning when the alarm goes off and we put our feet on the floor – our LORD is ready with fresh mercies! GREAT IS HIS FAITHFULNESS!!

“Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father;
There is no shadow of turning with Thee;
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not;
As Thou hast been, Thou forever wilt be.”
T. O. Chisholm

Turn up your sound as you click on the link below –
take a moment to worship our Faithful LORD!!
GREAT IS THY FAITHFULNESS

WAITING UPON THE LORD

“Wait on the LORD:
be of good courage,
and he shall strengthen thine heart:
wait, I say, on the LORD.”
Psalm 27:14 KJV
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Lately my computer has been getting spells when it is soooo sloooow – I click on something and it takes fooor evvvver to respond. Frustrating!! All I can do is wait. Most prolonged waiting becomes annoying whether we are caught in traffic - standing in line – sitting in the doctor’s “waiting” room or staring at a computer screen that’s not responding. But the “waiting” referred to in today’s scriptures is something quite different.

The Hebrew word used here, I am told, is “qāwâ,” which does not mean to passively stand by doing nothing, but rather it implies our involvement. It means to be expecting the Lord to act – to be hopefully looking forward for his response. For us to be able to do that requires some effort on our part.

• First, waiting on the Lord requires: spending time studying his Word to get to know him better – to become aware of our shortcomings – to learn what pleases him, and to grow in faith.
• Second, waiting on the Lord requires: spending time in prayer honoring and praising him for who he is and all he has done – bringing all our needs to him and believing he will grant us what he knows will be best for us.
• Third, waiting on the Lord requires: spending time meditating on his limitless power – his absolute holiness – the endless wonder of his creation – his unconditional love that sacrificed his only son for our salvation.

The results of this kind of “waiting” is “he shall strengthen our heart.” The same truth is found in Isaiah 40:31 which many of us sang during the Charismatic Renewal in the 70’s - “They that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”

As we study the Word and put it into practice – pray in harmony with his will – fill our minds with the awesomeness of our God – "he will renew our strength" to faithfully walk with him – have the endurance we need to victoriously run the race of life, and have the incredible ability to fly above the storm.


Turn up your sound - click on the link below and be encouraged!

THEY THAT WAIT UPON THE LORD