Trustworthy – Able to be relied on as honest or truthful
One day, while my son Zac and I were out in the country, climbing around in some cliffs, I heard a voice from above me yell, “Hey Dad! Catch me!” I turned around to see Zac joyfully jumping off a rock straight at me. He had jumped and then yelled “Hey Dad!” I became an instant circus act, catching him. We both fell to the ground. For a moment after I caught him I could hardly talk.
When I found my voice again I gasped in exasperation: “Zac! Can you give me one good reason why you did that???”
He responded with remarkable calmness: “Sure…because you’re my Dad.” His whole assurance was based in the fact that his father was trustworthy. He could live life to the hilt because I could be trusted. Isn’t this even more true for a Christian? (Tim Hansel)
A great story of what it means to have a trust relationship with our heavenly Father. This close, intimate relationship we access again and again becomes a relationship of trust that not only helps us through the tough times, but also leads us to new places of trust and faith in the good ones. Paul the Apostle was writing to Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:11-13, and his instruction included three great truths to hold on to.
1. verse 11 – We died to self and we live with Him. What is dying to self? Possibly crucifying the old sin nature or dying physically and being raised physically. Whichever it is, there’s one thing for certain. We are connected to God through Jesus Christ. You can believe it, heaven is rea,l and if you know Christ as your Lord and Savior, you are going there because you are connected to God through Jesus. All other things may seem to fall away but we can believe in the simple fact of God holding to His promises. The most basic one of all being, we will live with Him in eternity.
2. verse 12 – You can find a person’s truth identity when it comes to his or her relationship to Christ. Jesus told us we were going to have to endure various trials and tribulations, and that the effect of those was going to develop a stronger faith, and thus a stronger person. We don’t like to hear that though. We don’t want the tough times, the grinding times, the persecution, and we avoid these things at all costs if possible. Some people will not only avoid the troubles, they will give up and say, “That’s not what I signed up for.” Those who fall away did just that, they signed up……With disappearing ink!!! When the Lord comes for His church, and the dead rise, and we go to meet Him in the air, if we can realize what is happening at judgment day, we will be very surprised to see who is in heaven and who is in hell. If… we can realize it. That part is iffy at best. The point is this: some say I’m a Christian and they are members of a church organization, but they are not members of the Lord’s Church. Their fruit will find them out and they will be disallowed by God. They will accept (its seems) and then deny. They are not believers….
3. verse 13 – What happens when those who are truly believers lose sight of the Lord and become faithless. They worry about everything. They shut down at the thought of something risky, as in living for Christ. Does God say, “forget you.” NOPE! He remains faithful. Even when we show no faith at all. That how He rolls, and boy, am I glad. I know I sometimes I come across to the Lord as a total failure, but He…..HE remains faithful. The proof is in the proverbial pudding, and He is proven again and again, even when we fail. Why? Because when we receive Jesus Christ, we receive God. He cannot deny Himself and this only shows what is now happening in our life since Christ. We have the power to be change agents in a lost and dying world. You want to see Hope? I’ll give you hope. You want to see faith? I’ll give you faith. You want to see peace? I’ll give you peace. You want to see love? I’ll give you love!! You want to see power? I’ll give you power!! God is faithful to not only us, but to that part of Him that’s in us. This is where the faith thing gets a little muddy for us earth dwellers. We can trust God, because we KNOW Him. I mean, really KNOW HIM! He is now in control of everything we are and everything we do and our desires are now matched with His desires for us. Woh….Now that’s cool!!
Next time you spend some time with God in prayer ask HIm. God, what part of you am I depending on in my life? I think you will see that if we learn to depend on Him and trust Him and discover what it means for Him to be IN your life, you will cross a threshold that will be so affirming that you will never go back. You will have learned to trust that part of God that is in YOU. He is worthy of our trust. He is God!!
The Pilgrimage continues….
David Warren