The Trust Initiative - No. 3

“You who [reverently] fear the Lord, trust in the Lord; He is their help and their shield.” -Psalm 115:11 ^{Amplified Bible}

            Once again, we see the reference to fearing the Lord. I’ve been using the Amplified Bible up to this point because it breaks down a word or phrases meaning in an easier to understand way. Fear of the Lord is not like being afraid. Those who should be afraid of the Lord are folks who live as they choose, without any consideration for God or his Word. Those are the people who need to take a real hard look at themselves and think about the possibility of a higher power that is far greater than themselves. Not just a higher power, but a spiritual entity that IS love in its purest and most concise form. Because of his majestic power and endless wisdom, we are to be in awe of him and treat him with reverence. Our fear of him should also lead to trust, just as our faith should. We should trust him because there has, nor will there ever be a time when he will not be our help and protector. 

When I think of the word ‘shield’, I think of the Roman shields they used in battle.  They were convex in shape and had straight sides; 4 feet tall and 2-1/2 feet wide. They were made of wood and copper and at times had a thick leather overlay that was saturated with water to douse the flames of fiery arrows shot at them by their enemies. The average height of a Roman soldier back in the day was roughly 5’7”-5’8” tall. If they crouched down their entire body from head to toe would be covered by these shields. That is what comes to mind when scripture tells us God is our shield. He protects us from the fiery darts of the enemy. Satan is powerless against a child of God, unless that child gives the devil a foothold.^[1] Do not yield to the enemy, for God is your “help and shield”. Until next time, walk with the King and be a blessing.

In His Name & for His Glory,

RL Keller

Bread of Life Ministries

 

^[1] Ephesians 4:26-27

 

“O give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; For His lovingkindness endures forever.” - Psalm 118:1 ^{Amplified Bible}

The Trust Initiative - No. 2

“Trust [rely on and have confidence] in the Lord and do good; Dwell in the land and feed [securely] on His faithfulness.”- Psalm 37:3 ^{Amplified Bible}

For this posting, I have chosen this simple verse from the Psalms. The Psalmist is King David, who had a heart after God. ^[1] No doubt thru his own experiences, David asks his readers to place their full trust in God and not in men, who are perishing like the lilies of the field that are here today and gone tomorrow. All of mankind is fading from this earth beginning on the day of their birth and are limited in what they can do. The Lord’s riches, wisdom and strength are limitless. In God we can trust both for things temporal and eternal, of the body and the soul, now and forevermore.

            David follows his pitch for trusting the Lord by saying that we should “do good”. Now since Jesus said in Mark 10:18 that no one is good except God the Father, this implies than men are inherently NOT good at their core. Hence our need for forgiveness, aka, redemption. However, since God is good and we are his children, we are to emulate his goodness as we become closer to his heart. Our fruit will reveal our faithfulness.

            Our trust in God is largely, if not exclusively, based on his faithfulness to us. We love because he first loved us. ^[2]Everything that is good and loving and kind and compassionate emanates from Almighty God. Salvation is designed to lead us to behaving like the Lord Jesus.

            The final statement, I believe, is referring not just to the land we dwell on this side of heaven, but also in the heavenly realm. As sheep in their pasture would peacefully feed, we are to feed without fear in the faithfulness and goodness of our God. Until next time, walk with the King and be a blessing.

In His Name & for His Glory,

RL Keller

Bread of Life Ministries

^[1] 1 Samuel 13:14 & Acts 13:22

^[2] 1 John 4:19

The Trust Initiative – No. 1

“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 straight your paths.”- Proverbs 3:5-6

                  Trust is an outcropping of our faith. The greater our faith in God is the more likely we are to trust him with our lives. There are some key words in these 2 verses that reveal how we should live this life. 

            One’s heart is where their soul resides. Our trust in God must come from the deepest part of our soul. Man’s ability to understand is inferior to a God who dispenses wisdom freely. If we rely on our own understanding, we are shortchanging ourselves in a big way. If we trust God we must let go of all that would encumber us and have the patience to allow his will to materialize before us.

            To acknowledge God is to accept his existence as true. This is what we are to do with every fiber of our being in every aspect of our life. If we’re going to trust the Lord for all things we certainly must accept that he is real. We must have no doubt. Doubt causes a lack of trust, which is exactly what we don’t want. Our faith and trust mustn’t be conditional, as in, if God does this or that then I will trust him. It doesn’t work that way. We must trust him FIRST, then have that faith bolstered by the answer we’ve sought.

            Life is full of crooked paths. Without the guidance and direction of our spiritual GPS, the Holy Spirit, we will not end up where we were intended to go. Trust in God spills over into trust in the Spirit. The Lord will lead us where we are to go as long as we don’t go racing off ahead of him. We must fine tune our ability to discern that which is from the Lord and that which is not. These verses are the initial step in trusting God. They are elemental in nature and fairly easy to abide by. I refer to them as ‘the gospel in a nutshell’. These are the first two verses I ever memorized. Starting here provides a launching pad, allowing you to take off into new and exciting areas of your walk with Christ. Until next time, walk with the King and be a blessing.

In His Hands & For His Glory,

RL Keller

Bread of Life Ministries

I Have a Question

What is “good” & Who Sets Its Standard?

If we are to understand God and the goodness of God, it is important that we study what the Bible teaches about this question. When we do that, we find that the varying human opinions and perspectives about “goodness” fall far short of a complete understanding.

According to the Bible, God declares His creation "very good" after completing it ^{(Genesis 1:31)}, signifying that everything He made was perfectly fashioned and functioning according to His design without sin or corruption. God Himself is the ultimate standard of goodness, as He is described as light with no darkness at all, and no one is good except God alone ^{(Mark 10:18; 1 John 1:5)}.  This inherent goodness means His nature is holy, His intentions are always right, and He cannot do anything unholy or unrighteous. 

The Bible outlines several specific aspects of goodness that God emphasizes: The goodness in creation, goodness in action as God requires people to do things justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with Him ^{(Micah 6:8)}. The goodness He demonstrated through His plan to redeem humanity, sending His Son so that people might have eternal life (John 3:16). His Goodness is that God works all things together for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose ^{(Romans 8:28).} Ultimately, God is good to all, and His mercy extends over everything He has made ^{(Psalm 145:9)}, offering a future and hope rather than evil ^{(Jeremiah 29:11)}.

Until next time, walk with the King & be a blessing.

In His Name & for His Glory,

RL Keller

Bread of Life Ministries