God's Way To Victory
November 2017 |
“Trust in the LORD with all your heart; and lean not unto your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.” —Proverbs 3:5-6
To trust means to rely or depend on someone or something that is judged to be faithful and trustworthy. This results in being confident, safe, secure, peaceful, and fearless as long as the trust is maintained in that entity. Since this trust is commanded, it is not optional, but it is required if the results are going to be received.
There is only one individual in whom believers are to place their trust. He is not a lord, but He is the one and only Lord. He is not Allah or Buddha, but He is the Jehovah of the Bible. As eternal, He has always existed, exists right now, and will always exist (Rev. 1:4). In a world that is constantly changing, He never changes because He is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Heb. 13:8). He is the only one who is solid and stable enough for us to build our lives on, and when we do, we can withstand the storms the enemy brings to try to destroy us (Mat. 7:24-29). He is also the only one who makes and keeps all of His promises.
The kind of trust that is required not only has to involve our bodies, desires, emotions, thoughts, and wills, but it must also include the soul and spirit. That means that the Christian must love Him with all of his heart, soul, strength, and mind (Lk. 10:27).
The heart is where the choice of the object of faith is made (Rom. 10:9-10). That controls everything we are and do. This verse indicates that we should put our trust in who Christ is and what He did on the Cross. Instead of being double-minded (James 4:8) or wavering, our trust must be with singleness of heart (Acts 2:46; Eph. 6:5). This is not just believing that Jesus exists because even demons believe that (James 2:19). It also goes beyond believing that He was a great teacher and miracle worker, and that He lived a good moral life. It means putting all of our faith in the fact that He was God in the flesh, and that He came to die on the Cross to fulfill God’s redemption plan. He did this by paying the penalty for sin, breaking the power of sin, and eventually removing the presence of sin.
It also goes beyond putting our faith just in God or the Word of God, which is too general. Our whole relationship with God is through Jesus Christ (Jn. 14:6) and what He did on the Cross, which is the message of the entire Bible. So, to be acceptable to God, our faith has to be very specific and not in anything else (Heb. 11:6).
We have to come to the realization that our best does not even come close to meeting the need, is totally inadequate, and is unacceptable to God. We cannot trust in Christ and the finished work of the Cross and still depend on who we are and what we do. We have to choose one or the other. We cannot rely on ourselves, support ourselves, and rest on our own wisdom, knowledge, and discernment and God’s at the same time because they are contrary to, oppose, and contradict each other (Gal. 5:17). If our faith is in anything other than the Cross, it makes the Cross of none effect, or negates it, and causes the loss of all of its benefits (Rom. 4:14). According to Isaiah 55:7-9, that means that we must forsake our ways, roads, and paths of life, as well as our thoughts, plans, and purposes, because His ways are higher than our ways, and His thoughts are higher than ours.
God promises that if we will submit to His leadership in the decisions of our lives, He will lead and guide us in His way, which is the only right way. Then, and only then, will we walk in the Spirit (Gal. 5:16), be led by the Spirit (Rom. 8:14; Gal. 5:18), and not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. Then, we will have victory in our lives.
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