Today I am beginning a series of posts that will give practical step by step keys into how to apply the wisdom of the scriptures to our daily life. It is significant to realise that God didn't give us His Word in the Bible just so we could read it like a novel, but it was Jesus Christ who stated in John's Gospel "The words I speak to you are spirit and they are life!"
It is therefore of vital importance that we should learn how to understand and apply these spiritually powerful words, that we might be able to access the wonderful life that God desires to give us all.
Todays Scripture Reference
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.
(Proverbs 3:5-6)
Trusting God
One of the greatest lessons we need to learn in our walk with God is how to trust Him. As we will see in this scripture from the Book of Proverbs, developing the ability to trust God opens up wonderful blessing and security to the believer.
To trust in the Lord means to rely on and depend upon Him.
We can confidently trust in God because throughout history He has proven Himself to be trustworthy! Jesus Christ lay down His own perfect life for the sins of the world so that we would never be in doubt as to whether He is worthy of our trust and devotion.
Trust Fall Object Lesson
Many of us may have either seen or taken part in a team building lesson called the trust fall.
In this lesson one person is required to close their eyes and slowly fall backwards, trusting that the person behind them will catch them. This simple object lesson helps the development of a deeper assurance of trust between the people involved.
In the same way God wants us to spiritually entrust our lives into His safe and caring hands and to consciously choose to fall confidently into His care daily. In my experience we will need to do this regularly if we are to continue trusting in God and not fall back into trusting ourselves.
With all Your heart
Developing a sensitivity to what is going on in our own heart is vital if we are to be able to trust in God fully. Trusting God 50% of the time and doubting His love and care for us the other 50% will not work effectively. We must look soberly at God's promises and His character that has been revealed over 1,000's of years and decide whether or not we are willing to yield our lives fully to His will and purpose for our life. To accomplish this effectively we must relinquish the control we have over our own lives and place the steering wheel fully into God's hands.
We must relinquish the control we have over our own lives and place the steering wheel fully into God's hands.
The Process of Releasing Control
I realise that for many of us this may be a scary thing to do, as most of us live our whole lives ensuring that we maintain a degree of control over our own choices and the direction we take in life. Some of us may have experienced things in life that make it very difficult to trust others, and for them it may take a little longer for the process to become effective, but if you continue steadfastly you also will enjoy the blessing of having God guiding your direction in life.
(Matthew 18:2-3) Then Jesus called a little child to Him, set him in the midst of them, and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.
Developing a child like faith is crucial if we are to enjoy the experience of entering the fullness of God's kingdom. Salvation does not involve merely having our sins forgiven and going to heaven, but also requires developing a wonderful and trusting personal relationship with our Heavenly Father! This process involves a daily walk of trusting God, and continually growing closer to Him by allowing Him more and more access into our heart and life.
Lean not on your own understanding
We grow up in this world relying on and depending upon ourselves, our thoughts, our experiences, our own knowledge and understanding, but when we come to Christ we no longer need to do that. We now have access to the wisdom of God, His knowledge and His understanding of what is best for our lives and so we can now begin to rely on and depend upon His choices for us, rather than continuing to try to figure it all out ourselves. This takes a huge load off our shoulders and we can truly begin to enjoy our new life in the care of our Heavenly Father.
We now have access to the wisdom of God, His knowledge and His understanding of what is best for our lives and so we can now begin to rely on and depend upon His choices for us, rather than continuing to try to figure it all out ourselves
We don't know what's going to happen tomorrow, but God does! We don't know who we should trust in life, but God does. We don't know whether we should live in this city or go to another, but God does! As we learn to lean on God's understanding rather than our own we can step into His supernatural guidance and provision for our lives.
As we learn to lean on God's understanding rather than our own we can step into His supernatural guidance and provision for our lives.
In all your ways acknowledge Him
We acknowledge God in our life by giving Him the place of honour He deserves!
God doesn't merely want us to make Him Lord of our religious ways, but He is concerned about and wanting to bless us with His fullness in every area and way of life!
(John 10:10b)
I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly
There is no area of life that God cannot improve in our human experience, but He waits for us to ask Him for His help. God never forces Himself upon anyone, He doesn't force people to receive His salvation or go to heaven, He offers it freely but then waits patiently for us to accept it.
There is no area of life that God cannot improve in our human experience, but He waits for us to ask Him for His help.
We need to ask Him to be Lord of our relationships, Lord of our family, Lord of our finances, Lord of our lifestyle, Lord of our actions, Lord of our speech, Lord of our thoughts, Lord of our past and our future..... By asking Him to be Lord of all these areas we are acknowledging Him and giving Him the honour He deserves!
And He shall direct your paths
When we give God first place in our hearts through trusting fully in His goodness and mercy, when we accept that God's wisdom and knowledge are far above our own ability to understand, when we give Him the place of honour He deserves by making Him Lord in every area of our life, then God provides what He has supernaturally determined to be the best pathway we could ever follow in accordance with His will and purpose for our lives!
God's choices are always best for us in the long run, because only He knows the end from the beginning and He maps out a pathway that leads us to become fruitful in our service to His kingdom here on earth and promises us the joys of eternal life.
God Bless
John Nolan
DadsUni
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