Place Your Trust In God's Word

We are living in diabolical times, times that are filled with hatred and violence each and every day.

You cannot go one day without hearing that some tragedy has befallen someone.

Right now there is an uptick in persecution against the Jews and the followers of Christ.

If you are not secure in God’s Word, you need to become secure in God’s Word.

Matthew 16: 13 - 20 (AMP); Peter’s Confession of Christ

13 Now when Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” 14 And they answered, “Some say John the Baptist; others, Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah, or [just] one of the prophets.” 15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed), the Son of the living God.” 17 Then Jesus answered him, “Blessed [happy, spiritually secure, favored by God] are you, Simon son of Jonah, because flesh and blood (mortal man) did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. 18 And I say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades (death) will not overpower it [by preventing the resurrection of the Christ]. 19 I will give you the keys (authority) of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind [forbid, declare to be improper and unlawful] on earth will have [already] been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose [permit, declare lawful] on earth will have [already] been loosed in heaven.” 20 Then He gave the disciples strict orders to tell no one that He was the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed).

The revelation that God gave Peter that Jesus was the Christ was the rock that Jesus was talking about.

Jesus is the firm foundation that you can always lay your head upon, you can always stand upon and nothing will stop the Word of God.

Becoming secure in the Word means that you have to have a relationship with the Word.

John 1: 1 - 5 (AMP)

1 In the beginning [before all time] was the Word (Christ), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God Himself. 2 He was [continually existing] in the beginning [co-eternally] with God. 3 All things were made and came into existence through Him; and without Him not even one thing was made that has come into being. 4 In Him was life [and the power to bestow life], and the life was the Light of men. 5 The Light shines on in the darkness, and the darkness did not understand it or overpower it or appropriate it or absorb it [and is unreceptive to it].

Your day to day existence should be in having a relationship with Christ. Christ and the Word are the same thing.

We see that the Word was with God and the Word was God Himself.

If you have a relationship with the Word then you have a relationship with God because they are one in the same.

In order for you to understand God you have to know His Word.

This knowing isn’t an intellectual pursuit. It’s a pursuit from the heart that grows through many acts of obedience.

A lot of people look at the Disciples and especially Peter and judge them, but they spent three years on earth with the living Word.

The same mistakes that they made we would make the same ones.

Why? Because of the tasks that God has called us to perform. Each of them is different and varied. We all have different backgrounds and different make ups, but God manages to deal with us all on an individual bases.

So, your experience of intimacy with the Word of God may be different than my experience with the word of God but it’s tailored for each of us.

All of the Disciples wound up going to different places, they had different strengths and weaknesses but it took the Word of God & the Spirit being alive in them for them to be changed.

They had intimacy with the Word of God and when He became intimate with them Jesus got right down to their core issue, their core problem.

In order for us to go as far as they did we must allow the Word to get down to our core issue and deal with it, permanently and forever.

The Word has to get to your core.

Hebrews 4: 12 - 13 (AMP)

12 For the word of God is living and active and full of power [making it operative, energizing, and effective]. It is sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating as far as the division of the soul and spirit [the completeness of a person], and of both joints and marrow [the deepest parts of our nature], exposing and judging the very thoughts and intentions of the heart. 13 And not a creature exists that is concealed from His sight, but all things are open and exposed, and revealed to the eyes of Him with whom we have to give account.

We have to let the Word cut all of us. We can’t hold back a little part of ourselves and tell God, “No, you can’t have that part!” We have to allow His Word to penetrate our entire being.

You will not be able to place your trust in God’s Word when the time comes because you will be too busy trying hard to get the darkness that is down inside of you out.

You have to expose yourself on this intimate level.

It’s your Adamic nature that wants to hide.

Genesis 3: 6 - 10 (AMP)

6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was delightful to look at, and a tree to be desired in order to make one wise and insightful, she took some of its fruit and ate it; and she also gave some to her husband with her, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of the two of them were opened [that is, their awareness increased], and they knew that they were naked; and they fastened fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.

8 And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool [afternoon breeze] of the day, so the man and his wife hid and kept themselves hidden from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the Lord God called to Adam, and said to him, “Where are you?” 10 He said, “I heard the sound of You [walking] in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself.”

Adam & Eve lost intimacy with the Father in the garden and that started this cycle of us running from God.

Self – awareness is a stumbling block to intimacy with God. If you look at some of the eastern religions and new age teachings that are going on out there, they are teaching people to become self-aware.

Being self-aware will keep your from being open to intimacy with God. They ran from God because of their self-awareness.

This really makes me think of people who aren’t saved or who are out on the street, they

don’t feel worthy for God to even come to them, they don’t feel worthy to enter in God’s house.

Their heart is not cold or indifferent to God. Their heart is open to Him but some of them just can’t get past how bad they think they are.

When you are in a real relationship with God, there has to be intimacy, there has to be the iron sharpening iron, that place of all of your flaws are exposed so that you see how great you are not.

We are not great. We are not smarter than God or more intelligent than Him.

When you look at the relationship between young children and their parents, they trust the parents for everything. The parents wash them, feed them, clothe them. There isn’t an expectation that the parents are gonna take care of them, there is just a knowing. They cry and the parents come running. This is what God is wanting us to understand about our relationship with Him.

Those children have total trust that everything they need is gonna be supplied by those parents.

We need to mimic this behavior. We need to just become little children again and step back into that place of intimacy with the Word.

Matthew 19: 13 - 15 (AMP); Jesus Blesses Little Children

13 Then children were brought to Jesus so that He might place His hands on them [for a blessing] and pray; but the disciples reprimanded them. 14 But He said, “Leave the children alone, and do not forbid them from coming to Me; for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” 15 After placing His hands on them [for a blessing], He went on from there.

The level of intimacy that children experience on a daily basis is high.

They are always in close proximity to the parents. They are never away from their care.

Think about this for yourself. Do you have this type of relation with the Word?

Are you able to just surrender yourself as a child to Him and let all cares go, let all frustrations and concerns go?

I watch children with parents and the ones who are being taken care of never run away from those intimate moments, they are always running up for a hug or a snuggle with the parents.

That’s what Jesus was talking about here. We have to get this mindset when it comes to our walk with God.

There are those in the Body of Christ who are childlike in their actions and deeds. They are refusing to mature, refusing to allow God to disciple them.

This is a different childlike.

Paul was not happy with these types of Christians.

1 Corinthians 3: 1 - 4 (AMP); Foundations for Living

3 However, brothers and sisters, I could not talk to you as to spiritual people, but [only] as to worldly people [dominated by human nature], mere infants [in the new life] in Christ! 2 I fed you with milk, not solid food; for you were not yet able to receive it. Even now you are still not ready. 3 You are still worldly [controlled by ordinary impulses, the sinful capacity]. For as long as there is jealousy and strife and discord among you, are you not unspiritual, and are you not walking like ordinary men [unchanged by faith]? 4 For when one of you says, “I am [a disciple] of Paul,” and another, “I am [a disciple] of Apollos,” are you not [proving yourselves unchanged, just] ordinary people?

The same childlikeness that Jesus was talking about in Matthew 19 is not the same childlikeness that Paul is talking about here.

I want to clarify this because there are some in the Body of Christ who the I Corinthians definition of childlike and God is not pleased with that.

God is looking for us in our maturity to have a healthy dependence upon Him.

He is looking for us to continue in intimacy with Him throughout the rest of our days.

Intimacy with the Word should always be in state of constant growth.

The children that God is developing us into are those who will trust in Him completely.

As you place your trust in Him this anointing for childlikeness will return. You will you’re your strength being renewed, your ability cope with the situations of life will increase.

Think about Jesus in Garden, how mature was He. He was a leader. He knew God. He gained the respect of the people. Yet, he knew when to pull away like a child and run to His Father.

Luke 22: 39 - 44 (AMP); The Garden of Gethsemane

39 And He came out and went, as was His habit, to the Mount of Olives; and the disciples followed Him. 40 When He arrived at the place [called Gethsemane], He said to them, “Pray continually that you may not fall into temptation.” 41 And He withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and knelt down and prayed, 42 saying, “Father, if You are willing, remove this cup [of divine wrath] from Me; yet not My will, but [always] Yours be done.” 43 Now an angel appeared to Him from heaven, strengthening Him. 44 And being in agony [deeply distressed and anguished; almost to the point of death], He prayed more intently; and His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down on the ground.

I like how verse 39 says as was his habit, this made me think about little Isaiah, the first thing I see him do when he has been away from Mom for an extended period of time is grabbed her by the neck and hug her. The look of satisfaction that comes across both of their faces is priceless.

God is the same way. He is satisfied when we come to him. He is satisfied when we show our affection to Him.

When Jesus was in Gethsemane, this was a habit for Him. This was standard practice between Him and the Father.

There was a level of Trust that was between Jesus and the Father that could not have come without all the previous times before.

Think about this… Do you really think that Jesus could complete his assignment here on earth without absolute Trust in the Father?

You have to imagine the absolute mental torment that Jesus went through… Is God really going to raise Me back up from the grave? Is His Word really true? Is God going to really help me through this?

Everyone of us have trials and tribulations that we go through and they are intense. Are we running to the Father in those moments when we really don’t see any way out?

Daniel 3: 12 - 18 (AMP)

12 There are certain Jews whom you have appointed over the administration of the province of Babylon, namely Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego. These men, O king, pay no attention to you; they do not serve your gods or worship the golden image which you have set up.”

13 Then Nebuchadnezzar in a furious rage gave a command to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego; and these men were brought before the king. 14 Nebuchadnezzar said to them, “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the golden image which I have set up?

15 Now if you are ready, when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, dulcimer, and all kinds of music, to fall down and worship the image which I have made, very good. But if you do not worship, you shall be thrown at once into the midst of a furnace of blazing fire; and what god is there who can rescue you out of my hands?”

16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego answered the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to answer you on this point. 17 If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to rescue us from the furnace of blazing fire, and He will rescue us from your hand, O king. 18 But even if He does not, let it be known to you, O king, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up!”

This is the level of trust in God’s Word we are going need to have.

Even if, God doesn’t rescue me, I will still serve Him over the devil.

Even if, God doesn’t give me what I ask for, I will still serve Him.

They trusted God. Why? Because they were already in a relationship with Him.

Can you imagine being the only ones not bowing to king Nebuchadnezzar’s statue?

Can you imagine seeing all those people bow down?

There are going to be more situations like this one occur in our regular lives.

Are you going to compromise your relationship with God because of what other people say or expect?

When you look at the prophets of old, they waited expectantly for God’s words to come to pass. They didn’t know how it was gonna manifest but because they were intimate with the Word, they believed it with their whole heart.

Hebrews 6:13-20 (AMP)

13 For when God made the promise to Abraham, He swore [an oath] by Himself, since He had no one greater by whom to swear, 14 saying, “I will surely bless you and I will surely multiply you.” 15 And so, having patiently waited, he realized the promise [in the miraculous birth of Isaac, as a pledge of what was to come from God]. 16 Indeed men swear [an oath] by one greater than themselves, and with them [in all disputes] the oath serves as confirmation [of what has been said] and is an end of the dispute. 17 In the same way God, in His desire to show to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable nature of His purpose, intervened and guaranteed it with an oath, 18 so that by two unchangeable things [His promise and His oath] in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled [to Him] for refuge would have strong encouragement and indwelling strength to hold tightly to the hope set before us. 19 This hope [this confident assurance] we have as an anchor of the soul [it cannot slip and it cannot break down under whatever pressure bears upon it]—a safe and steadfast hope that enters within the veil [of the heavenly temple, that most Holy Place in which the very presence of God dwells], 20 where Jesus has entered [in advance] as a forerunner for us, having become a High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.

Abraham was an excellent example of not knowing how God was gonna manifest the promise to him. Abraham just had to wait and to trust that God was gonna do what He said He was gonna do.

Intimacy reconfirms that hope that you have in God. The depth of the relationship that you have with God will determine the depth of trial and suffering that He can trust you with.

Some people have suffer small trials while others go through deep valley experiences. This is all based upon how much your trust in God has developed.

Jesus trust developed to the point of the Cross and the Bible admonishes us to take up our cross daily.

So that leads me to believe that God expects for us to get to Jesus level of carrying His cross.

Hebrews 1:1-4 (AMP); God’s Final Word in His Son

1 God, having spoken to the fathers long ago in [the voices and writings of] the prophets in many separate revelations [each of which set forth a portion of the truth], and in many ways, 2 has in these last days spoken [with finality] to us in [the person of One who is by His character and nature] His Son [namely Jesus], whom He appointed heir and lawful owner of all things, through whom also He created the universe [that is, the universe as a space-time-matter continuum].

3 The Son is the radiance and only expression of the glory of [our awesome] God [reflecting God’s Shekinah glory, the Light-being, the brilliant light of the divine], and the exact representation and perfect imprint of His [Father’s] essence, and upholding and maintaining and propelling all things [the entire physical and spiritual universe] by His powerful word [carrying the universe along to its predetermined goal]. When He [Himself and no other] had [by offering Himself on the cross as a sacrifice for sin] accomplished purification from sins and established our freedom from guilt, He sat down [revealing His completed work] at the right hand of the Majesty on high [revealing His Divine authority], 4 having become as much superior to angels, since He has inherited a more excellent and glorious name than they [that is, Son—the name above all names].