Be stayed upon the Lord

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will direct your paths." Proverbs 3: 5,6

Corey,

Countless times I have dismissed this passage from my mind, especially in stressful situations. When a problem arises, my first instinct is to worry, looking with anxiety into the unforeseeable future to try to see the outcome. Suddenly, my whole world revolves around this one complication, and I desperately strive to fix it or set it right with all the speed that my frustrated self can muster. Afterwards, I find myself reflecting back on my reactions and I ask myself, "Was that a biblical response to trouble?"

In Proverbs 3, Solomon gives an answer; a very famous answer known and repeated by so many believers; so much so that at times we have lost the real comfort that lies in these words. "We are to trust in the Lord," he says, and not to rely on what we can see. To put our confidence in our Lord is to rest in the assurance that He has reasons for everything He does and that sooner or later, somehow, He will set it right. This means we have nothing to worry about. We are being led down the road of life by the hands of a glorious creator who has planned our life down to the tiniest detail, and we need to remember this wonderful truth in times of worry or trial. What a relief it should be to us to know that our all-knowing God will direct our paths.

Judges 7 is a good example of this. Gideon, with three hundred men armed with only pitchers and trumpets defeated the huge army of the Midianites and Amalekites. Gideon had faith in God's promise, the promise that He would deliver Gideon's enemies into his hands.

I understand that some problems are bigger than others, and I am not suggesting that you can't pray for the outcome to be favorable. On the contrary, the Bible encourages such supplication. But whether it's an upcoming CLEP test, or the misplacement of a certain item, or the decisions of the government, or the salvation of your relatives or friends, in every circumstance, no matter how trying or painful, our faith and trust should always be in the Lord who knows the results of our problems before the foundations of the world. "We have a strong city; He sets up salvation as walls and bulwarks. Open the gates that the righteous nation that keeps faith may enter in. You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord is an everlasting rock." Isaiah 26: 3,4

Your Brother in Christ,
Tru

Trust in the Lord's strength, and His alone

Dear Corey,

“No king is saved by the multitude of an army; a mighty man is not delivered by the strength. A horse is a vain hope for safety; neither shall it deliver any by its great strength.” ~Ps. 33:16-17

Our strength is not in any material thing. Not armies, not in strength, not in knowledge, not in anything except the Lord. We cannot trust in ourselves. We can trust in God; He is our only hope of salvation. Our sins are forgiven and we are saved by the grace of God.

“Our soul waits for the Lord; He is our help and our shield.” ~Ps. 33:20

Just remember, our strength is not in any possession that we own. It is only in God.

Your BIC,

Nick

Trust in the Lord

Dear Corey,

This week when I was reading my Bible, I came across this verse, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.” (Prov. 3:5) Sometimes we can believe in God, but still trust ourselves to be able to do the job. Whatever comes we need to trust in the Lord and not in ourselves. I don’t know about you, but sometimes I find myself thinking, “I can do this.” (Note the “I”) But then later I will realize that I had the wrong attitude. We need to not lean on our own understanding, but realize that even what we know is from God.

Your brother in Christ,

Nicholas

God's Absolute Authority

"In You, O Lord, I put my trust..." ~ Psalm 71:1

Nick,
One of the greatest temptations we suffer is to disregard God's authority. I don't mean a flagrant violation of the laws He has put in place. What I'm talking about is a much more general category. When I say, "disregard God's authority" I'm also saying, "substitute man's foolishness for God's authority." God's laws are perfect, just, and wise; they are the first thing we should look at in any type of situtation, whether it is an argument at a discussion or edification. In contrast man's laws, though often based off God's laws, are often twisted a little bit. The laws of man, when they are against what God says in the Bible, are foolish and have no goodness in them.

Now I'm not saying that we should disregard the authority of man. I'm just saying we should check it agianst Scripture, which we should be doing with everything. The best way to do this is to have God's law written on your heart and your soul wholly given over to the Lord. Why is this the best way? Because we can check things against Scripture if we know what the Word says. However, we must also have our trust be fully in the Lord. We can only do things because the Lord allows us.

So put your trust in the Lord and "lean not on your own understanding." Let us make God's standards our standards and His law our law. Do not give 90% of your heart to God; give him 100%. You may have to give it to Him several times, because you have taken your heart back for yourself. Daily, even hourly, reaffirm that your heart is the Lord's.

"As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." (Joshua 24:15) Let that be your motto.

Think about all the things God did to make it so that you could enjoy His creation. Though we constantly rely on our own foolishness, He does not impute the punishement of our iniquity upon us. No, He sent His Son, His own, only begotten Son, perfect, blameless, just, merciful Son. Jesus was present before the world began and will exist forever. Yet He became flesh and took on the full punishment of our sins. He suffered the wrath of God, so that we might gain eternal life. He was willing to be made a curse for His people. He was willing to be separated from the Father, because as a result, you would be joined to the Father. If the Lord was willing to make such great sacrifices for you, why shouldn't you give your life to Him?

Your Brother in Christ,
our Savior and Lord,
Corey