TRUST

"Jesus answered and said to him, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God'" (John 3:3).

 

There is only one way into the Kingdom of God--birth.  You have to born a Kingdom citizen.  There is just no other way.  Nicodemus (the conqueror) had to give up his self-willed, self-directed, self-controlled ways and he had to become a helpless baby.  God is not interested in our wisdom and our ability, rather he has His eye on our dependency.  Jesus says the same thing with different words in Matthew 5:3, "Blessed are the poor in spirit (the spiritually bankrupt), for theirs is the kingdom of heaven".  God wants us to move from "me" to "He".  It's not so much about trying as it is trusting.

 

Today, God is not counting on you to get it right--you usually don't.  He is not looking for what you will do, but rather He is looking just for you.  It's a great day to be born again!

TRUST

"But as for me, I trust in You, O Lord" (Psalm 31:14).

 

The Bible uses the word "trust" 149 times.  The overwhelming majority of these uses declare that we should, "trust in the Lord".  The second most common use of the word is that we should NOT put our trust in men.  Thirdly, we should NOT trust ourselves.  Trust God--not each other--not ourselves!  "Not trusting" is not some cynical and unloving attitude that we might immediately think of.  "Not trusting" means that we understand, as Jesus did, the frailty of the human heart and our tendency to fail to live up to each other's expectations.  It is to understand that we most often act more like Judas than we do Jesus.  So, we are to put our trust in God and simply love each other, warts and all.

 

Today, put your trust completely in the God who never fails and resist the urge to entrust yourself and your emotions to lesser beings.  You will then be free to truly love and to truly forgive as Jesus does.

TRUST

"And because he did not need anyone to testify concerning man, for He Himself knew what was in man" (John 2:25).

 

Jesus did not need anyone to tell Him how untrustworthy people really are.  He knew because He had watched human history play out from the very beginning.  He had seen every sin, every act of betrayal, every disappointing failure.  Now this should actually be encouraging to you--it should take some of the pressure to perform away.  You see, if Jesus knows that you are going to blow it, and yet He still chooses to call you, to choose you, and to love you--then you can afford to just be you--a work in progress.  Jesus isn't holding His breath, hoping that you will get it right this time.  He knows you.  He is pulling for you and yet He understands that you will strike out, maybe as often as you get a big hit.

 

Today, understand that God loves you.  It's not based on your performance.  He just loves you--plain and simple!

TRUST

"Now Jesus, on His part, was not entrusting Himself to them, for He knew all men" (John 2:24).

 

The word translated "entrusting" is the Greek word "pisteuo" which comes from the root "pistis". It's the same word that is translated as "faith" or "belief" in other New Testament passages.  Jesus did not trust (put his faith in) men because he knew the hearts of men.

 

If you think about it, most of our relational conflicts, come out of a sense of disappointment.  We trust someone and they fail us.  People (friends, family, coworkers, churches) don't live up to our expectations and we feel let down.  Our faith in them is destroyed.  We might do better to follow Jesus example and to just love each other expecting that failure will eventually happen.  That way, love is not conditioned on performance--but rather it is an expression of value.

 

Today, let's practice loving simply because because people are valuable.  And when they fail us (and they will)--let's practice grace.