by David Brenneman
"I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul will make its boast in the Lord; The humble will hear it and rejoice. O magnify the Lord with me, And let us exalt His name together. I sought the Lord, and He answered me, And delivered me from all my fears. They looked to Him and were radiant, And their faces will never be ashamed. This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him And saved him out of all his troubles. The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him, And rescues them. O taste and see that the Lord is good; How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him! O fear the Lord, you His saints; For to those who fear Him there is no want. The young lions do lack and suffer hunger; But they who seek the Lord shall not be in want of any good thing. Come, you children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord. Who is the man who desires life And loves length of days that he may see good? Keep your tongue from evil And your lips from speaking deceit. Depart from evil and do good; Seek peace and pursue it. The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous And His ears are open to their cry. The face of the Lord is against evildoers, To cut off the memory of them from the earth. The righteous cry, and the Lord hears And delivers them out of all their troubles. The Lord is near to the brokenhearted And saves those who are crushed in spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, But the Lord delivers him out of them all. He keeps all his bones, Not one of them is broken. Evil shall slay the wicked, And those who hate the righteous will be condemned. The Lord redeems the soul of His servants, And none of those who take refuge in Him will be condemned." Psalms 34:1-22
Trust in God - Elevation Worship 2023
Blessed Assurance, Jesus is mine
He's been my fourth man in the fire, time after time
Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood
And what He did for me on Calvary is more than enough
I trust in God, my Savior
The one who will never fail
He will never fail
I trust in God, my Savior
The one who will never fail
He will never fail
Perfect submission, all is at rest
I know the author of tomorrow has ordered my steps
So this is my story and this is my song
I'm praising my risen King and Savior all the day long
I trust in God, my Savior
The one who will never fail
He will never fail
I trust in God, my Savior
The one who will never fail
He will never fail
He didn't fail you then
He won't fail you now
I sought the Lord and He heard and He answered
I sought the Lord and He heard and He answered
I sought the Lord and He heard and He answered
That's why I trust Him, that's why I trust Him.
What we do when things go sideways, what we think first, what plans we attempt to make, speaks volumes as to where our hearts are. Are we trusting ourselves or our Shepherd?
"The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You have anointed my head with oil; My cup overflows. Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life, And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever." Psalms 23:1-6.
Seeing isn't believing. Jesus said of the children of Israel that the Jews seek for a sign but no sign will be given them but the sign of Jonah. That just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the whale so the Son of Man would be three days and three nights in the heart of the Earth. They saw the Lord of all Creation performing sign after sign. They still rejected Him. They were more worried about their status in life. The people would stop revering them, the secular world government would take away their place and their nation. That happened anyway around 70 AD.
We indeed should use the brains we were given by God to live out life, however not to the detriment of our relationship with Jesus. We shouldn't be so self-reliant that we don't come to Christ in prayer for our daily life.
"So teach us to number our days, That we may present to You a heart of wisdom." Psalms 90:12.
“Pray, then, in this way: ‘Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.' For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions." Matthew 6:9-15.
Given an option between paying attention to a storm or being in the Word of God during that storm, I personally choose to stay in the Word of God. Preparing is one thing but obsessing over the preparation isn't healthy.
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight." Proverbs 3:5-6.
Do you see how that passage that Solomon wrote ties in perfectly and personally to Psalms 23?
Where is your heart? Who has access to your heart? Are you intentionally making time in your life for your discipleship training with the Spirit of God? School is always in session until the day that you die or the Rapture of the Church. You are either paying attention in class or you're daydreaming or some other such thing. Sheep are fully interdependent upon their Shepherd. Sheep that don't face terrors and dangers that they cannot get out of on their own.
We must look in the mirror and be real with ourselves about trusting God. Is the Lord your Shepherd? If you claim the Name of Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord He certainly should be considered to be your Shepherd. He's that and more. He's the Father scanning the horizon for His long lost son or daughter to come home. He's the Shepherd of our souls. He's the Good Samaritan who saw us in our sorry state, picked us up, took us in to care for us and to save us. He's our comfort in times of disappointment and distress. He's our protector. He's...well you fill in the blank.
You really won't miss what you leave behind of this world while you are alive and instead turn your attention to growing in Christ. I would easily say that hundreds of television shows, streaming shows, movies, books, have come out in these days of my life where I have mostly turned my back on and I don't miss any of it. Spending an hour or so with the Spirit of God, with Jesus, by far outweighs anything that this world has to offer.
Life will go up and down for everyone. For you, for me, for everyone. What cannot go up and down, what is impossible to go up and down, is the presence of God in Christ Jesus in anyone's life. He isn't there some days and not others. He's not paying attention only when He's got time. He's not more obligated to someone else than us. He's not sleeping. He's not anything that the world says that He is that's contrary to what the Bible says that He is.
It wasn't just obedience that sent Jesus to the cross. It was, but it was His love for us that held Him there. I cannot fathom the strength of will, the sheer focus, the absolute determination that Jesus still had after being whipped, beaten, scourged, nailed to the cross. Do you really really contemplate that all it would take the Creator of all things to do in a split second of a loss of all that to wipe out all of His enemies?
The heart of Jesus Christ has always been about loving His children. It's His children who chose themselves. It took His perfect sacrifice to make a way where there was no way to restore our relationship with Jesus.
Where your treasure is there your heart will be also.
Where your mind and heart give their attention to shows just what's more important when push comes to shove.
Stop and think about what you have made a priority of over your relationship with Jesus. It's not too late to turn back to Him. His arms are open wide to welcome you home.
All New American Standard Bible Scripture Excerpts used by permission. (C) 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by the Lockman Foundation. A corporation not for profit.
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