Trust and Obey

There is so much going on in this world today that upsets us, scares us and tries to rob us of hope. People of faith, and those without faith, are all affected. Everyone wants to have hope.

Our country is under attack, our morals are under attack and our everyday lives are under attack. We don't see hope, feel hope or share hope with others.

The question associated with this problem is interesting. Do we trust and obey God? Where do we put our trust and who do we obey? Even if we are Christians, professing Christians or non-Christians, the question remains the same. Do we lack hope because we do not trust God? Do we lack hope because we do not obey God? As a person, as a faith, and as a nation - do we see hope, feel hope or share hope with others? The answer is lukewarm. The answer is maybe, a little bit, and sometimes. We are lukewarm.

When we are lukewarm, we do not trust and obey. And we lack hope. When we lack hope we do not share our faith, and we experience life through a mind, eyes and heart without hope. We are doing something wrong.

Jesus tells us what he thinks of being lukewarm when He spoke about the Laodiceans:

Rev 3:14 And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;
Rev 3:15 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.
Rev 3:16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth.
Rev 3:17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
Rev 3:18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
Rev 3:19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
Rev 3:20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
Rev 3:21 To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.
Rev 3:22 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

Everyone must study the scriptures on their own, to understand what God wishes you to learn. It is clear that God does not wish for us to be lukewarm, that He wants us to have hope and He wants us to trust and obey.

What helps us trust, obey and have hope? When we wake up each day we should be thankful. Thankful to breathe and know that God gives us that very breath. There is no guarantee we will be here to wake up tomorrow. This day, we are thankful and we pray to God. If we don't like talking to God then maybe there is something wrong in our lives that we feel guilt for or we feel we might have to change something in our lives. That's ok - have comfort in the fact there are no perfect people. Jesus Christ was the only perfect man - because He is God as man. We just can't be perfect so forget the guilt of not being perfect. Ask God for forgiveness and repent of sin! Know that He has a plan for salvation - as a gift for you. He gave His son, Jesus, to pay for your sins on the cross. If you repent and ask God for forgiveness and to come into your heart, you are forgiven and He comes into your heart. Jesus left us with the Comforter before He rose to heaven, promising to come back.

So! We are forgiven, we're not perfect, the Holy Spirit lives in us and Jesus is coming back! In a nutshell, that is pretty awesome and amazing!

Should we therefore be lukewarm in anything we do? Certainly not! We should be fired up - we see the end times - we see the signs - and this is no time to be fooling around. We need to be serious about our lives. Jesus told us not to be lukewarm and He told us to share the gospel! If we do as He asked, we will see hope, feel hope and share hope. Others will see our lives as an example!

Every problem and care in this world will melt away and become insignificant. God will handle everything for us! If we trust and obey His word, have faith and share hope, we will be living as He intended. When we let God rule our lives, our problems are still there - the fallen world still tries to affect us, but it has no power over us! We can relax, knowing God uses all to work good for His glory! If our road is hard now, it is because we are headed for higher ground! The message preached by Jentezen Franklin says its ok to be between a rock and a hard place - we will get through it - and we are headed to higher ground where God can use us! Having faith we know one door closes and another one opens. - Maybe we're in the hallway - and no door has opened. It will. We trust and obey, we have faith and we therefore have hope.

We can't focus on the world and the gloom and doom and the things that upset us. We are bigger than that - we have an important role to fulfill. We need to know God, to share the gospel, to realize the Holy Spirit lives in us and to realize our focus in life is to be on God - not on the world. God loves us and wants to use us in a mighty way. To bring honor and Glory to God! We are each special in our own way and we are each being formed into a person who can do great things for God! With this knowledge, we need to stop being lukewarm! We need to stop seeing "gray", "sitting on the fence" and being "politically correct"! We need to choose. We are for God or we are against God. No more lukewarm. When we choose to be living for God, we have hope. We trust Him and obey Him. The pressure of the world will not have power over us. God will use us to do His work and we will see His power over our lives!

http://www.faithfulwatchmen.com/obedience.html
http://www.faithfulwatchmen.com/holyspirit.html
http://www.faithfulwatchmen.com