It still hangs in our family cabin — a plaque depicting a photograph of a sparrow perched on the fingertips of a hand containing birdseed. Underneath the picture are these words:
“Faith is not hope without proof, but trust without reservations.”
A few months ago, the theme of these devotionals was hope, and hope in God is a worthy thing. It boosts our faith, surely. But it doesn’t provide our reason to have faith. Trust does.
Until we trust what someone is saying, we don’t have any faith in their words. Let’s look at some familiar words from the Bible:
Jesus said, “Lo I am with you always, even unto the end of the age.”
Matthew 20:28
Do you trust that God will never leave you?
“Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners….” 1 Timothy 1:15
Do you trust He can save us from our sins?
“I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die .…” John 11:25
Do you trust that Jesus Christ really offers eternal life?
Trust is the gasoline that fuels our faith along this journey called life. If our trust begins to diminish, our faith cannot function as well. We begin to sputter and slow down.
We need to fill up again and again. How do we do that? We study the Word and see how God has helped those written about in the Bible. We recall the times God has been there in the past, for us and our loved ones. We remember prayers answered and others’ testimonies. We think back to the times He felt as close as our breath. We declare our dependence on His Spirit.
Then, once again, we have no reservations. Our trust is renewed. Full speed ahead!
Heavenly Father, You are trustworthy. Help us to never have reservations when it comes to our faith in You, knowing that You did provide the proof of your unfailing love through the sacrifice of Your Son, our Savior on the cross and His ascent into glory. Amen.
“But God showed His great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners” Romans 5:8
A dear friend and Christian leader from another country hated and resented his father, who was an alcoholic. Through the years, my friend had been humiliated and embarrassed by his father’s conduct. He wanted nothing to do with him.
As he grew more and more mature in his faith, and the Christlike qualities began to develop in his life, he began to realize that his attitude toward his father was wrong. He knew well that God’s Word commanded him to love and honor his mother and father, with no conditions.
Then he began to comprehend and experience the truth of loving by faith after a message which he had heard me give. As a result, he went to his father and, as an act of the will, by faith – because at that point he did not honestly feel like doing so – he expressed his love.
He was amazed to discover that his father had been hurt for years because he had sensed that his son despised and rejected him.
When the son began to demonstrate love for him – to assure him that he cared for him, whether he drank or did not drink – it prompted the father to commit his life to Christ and to trust Him to help him overcome the problem which had plagued him most of his life.
Through this new relationship with the Lord, my friend’s father became a new creature and was able to gain victory over the addiction to alcohol several years before he died – a dramatic example of the power of love.
Bible Reading: Romans 5:9-15 (scroll down)
Action Point: Knowing Christ’s great love for me, I will claim His supernatural love for others today.
