Trust Issue part 2
If you don't have trust you can't have a relationship. And that's what God wants more than anything. He wants us to have a relationship with Him. He wants to be our God and He wants us to be His people. That's why He poured out His Spirit out on all flesh. Why He gave us His Holy Spirit. Because the Holy Spirit is our love receptor. It is the Spirit of truth that leads and guides us into all truth. Without letting the mind of Christ (that's already in us) BE in us, we think unconditional love is too good to be true. We think MAYBE, if we try hard enough and behave well enough, we might be able to earn it. But that's like pulling flower petals. It's a crap shoot at best. Especially when you consider all the different interpretations of what we're "supposed to do." Most religious churches seem to preach their culture and call it the Gospel. But that's not life. And it certainly isn't abundant life! We were created to be loved, and to love one another. Period. And the Holy Spirit is what equips and empowers us to know and believe that we are loved. That's step one. We receive it. And then, as we fill ourselves to overflowing with Daddy's love, it comes out of us naturally! And that's step two, releasing it. Giving what we've got. Sharing our experience with God. See, KNOWING God trumps knowing ABOUT God. Heart knowledge beats head knowledge. A man with an experience is never at the mercy of a man with an argument. What I'm trying to say is: God gave us THE measure of faith. He gave us (on the cross) and continues to give us (every day in every way if our Spiritual eyes and ears are open to see and hear) reasons to trust Him. Seeing is believing, right? Faith isn't blind. Faith is the EVIDENCE of things not seen. The SUBSTANCE of things hoped for. Faith is the reality of the Kingdom of God (Kingdom of Love). Faith is believing the right report. Not what the world is screaming at you, but the still, small voice deep inside. Faith is believing the Word of God. Which is Jesus. Which is love. Remember yesterday I used that snippet of a verse that says, "...let God be true, but every man a liar..." (Romans 3:4)? Think about that for a minute. LET every man be a liar. LET people be who they are. Don't try to make someone fit through a hoop, or into a box. But at the same time, let God be true. If someone lies to you that makes it hard to trust them. But that doesn't have to make it hard to trust God. Because He IS the truth. He CANNOT lie. If God was to say, "The sky is brown," that would be the truth. Because Him saying it would make the sky turn brown. That's the Rock we stand on, and the foundation we build on. Jesus said, "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away" (Matthew 24:35). And Isaiah 55:11 says, "So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it." God is the truth. His Word shall not pass, and it shall not return unto Him void. Which means we can trust it. People say "I love you" in a lot of ways, for a lot of reasons. Most of them selfish. But when you're heavenly Father says it, you can trust it. Because He doesn't need anything from us. It's a pure, unselfish, trustworthy love. And that's what we're going to look at tomorrow.