RELYING ON GOD IN THE RIGHT WAY

RELYING ON GOD IN THE RIGHT WAY

In a religious sense to, or trust can be seriously misplaced. Jesus told the story of two men who went to the temple to pray. One of them paraded his religious pedigree before God, saying what a good and correct worshiper he was. The other confessed himself a sinner. Jesus assures us that God would favor the second, humble man. In order words, we can’t really trust in how religious we might think we are. But when we come to God, we can trust in His mercy and grace.

To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable:

“Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: “God, I thank you that I am not like all other men – robbers, evildoers, adulterers – or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get”.
”But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, “God, have mercy on me, a sinner”.
”I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. (Luke 18:9-14).

TRUSTING IN THE RIGHT PERSON

Some people think that just by coming to church they are right with God. In other words, their trust is in a building and not in the Lord Himself. This is deceptive, says the prophet Jeremiah. And Paul says we can’t trust for our salvation in anything we do, for God alone can save us – and he alone must have the glory.

This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Reform your ways and your actions, and I will let you live in this place. Do not trust in deceptive words and say, ‘This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord!’ If you really change your ways and your actions and deal with each other justly … then I will let you live in this place, in the land I gave to your forefathers forever and ever. But look, you are trusting in deceptive words that are worthless. (Jeremiah 7:3-5, 7, 8).

It is by His grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Ephesians 2:8-10).

TRUSTING FOR LIFE

Learning to trust God completely, for everything, takes time and spiritual experience. Paul, the great adventurer – a man with so much intelligence, and so many gifts – learned in the school of Christian living that God was trustworthy. And his trust in God knew no bounds.

I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learnt the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through Him who gives me strength. (Philippians 4:11-13).