This faith talk is full of hope. I hope you know and can see that Trust is very important. And Faith is everything. A precious gift and the one way to eternal life.
I went to biblegateway.com to read this morning and this was the verse of the day.
It’s Jeremiah 17:7-8 NIV
“But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.”
Then I read the devotion I normally read and this was the last verse in it’s recommended reading.
Revelation 20:15NIV
Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.
Consistency. That is what I see.
The Bible is so very Consistent.
Only with consistent study can I see that.
Consistency
Seeing that is why I consistently read and write what speaks to me.
So when I read Revelation I saw these verses from Jeremiah confirmed with an additional promise. Let see if I can explain it to you.
Blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him.
I know Jesus has taught me trust lessons for years. You can see where I’ve needed them in the Welcome article. And wow is He faithful. He taught, he helped me succeed and I have trusted Him every day since, with every minute since.
Yet if you were with me you would see that I check this on a fairly consistent basis as well. The biggest area that I needed trust in was in scheduling: getting somewhere with my daughter that she needed to be and it was my responsibility to get her there on time.
Was He faithful? Yes. Is He still? Yes. Every single time. Though I will also tell you that it helps me keep focused on trusting when I talk to him during the trip. Do not focus on the clock. Focus on Him.
Here’s another area where Trust is important. Home. Especially now that the schools are closed for a few weeks. It’s all in my hands how much of her school work we are able to get done each day. So I have been marveling at how He’s kept me calm and even added gentle to the mix. When school was in schedule and all we had to do was homework, it was highly stressful and often included protesting and difficulty staying calm. Faithful. He is always Faithful.
Talk to Him. Tell Him what is concerning you and ask for His help. He is faithful.
The one who trusts him and has lots of confidence in Him has no worries in a year of drought (which at the moment means nearly everything is closed and some of the groceries we often purchase are unavailable) and never fails to bear fruit. Fruit, that’s what gentleness is. That’s how I know, beyond a shadow of a doubt that He has been involved in all this school work. He has handled me and every day so far gotten it all done in a short enough time to get the rest of the schedule completed too.
If you’re curious, you can find this list of the fruit in Galatians 5.
…love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control…
Now how does Revelation 20:15 relate?
It does if you can hear Jesus talking in Luke 1:20
“However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”
Or Paul writing to the church at Philippi
Philippians 4:3
Yes, and I ask you, my true companion, help these women since they have contended at my side in the cause of the gospel, along with Clement and the rest of my co-workers, whose names are in the book of life.
In Revelation 21:27 you’ll see no-one but those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life will ever enter the Holy City.
If you trust him, if your confidence is in him and what he’s done for you, you are not only like a tree planted by a stream, your name is written in the Lamb’s book of life.
Faith. Faith. Faith. You just have to have Faith. Your own relationship with Jesus is all that matters. My goal is to grow that relationship.
So please pray with me.
Dear Lord Jesus, I want to trust you with every moment of my day, with every facet of my life. I give you free and open access to everything, Lord. Would you please assure me that my trust is worthy? Would you please confirm that I am Yours and You are mine. Thank You, Lord Jesus. Your promises and Your blessings are the basis for my hope. You are the goal and the reward of my faith. In Your holy and precious name, I pray. Amen.
Talk to Him.
Tell Him what is concerning you.
Ask for His help.
He is faithful.