FAITH

I saw this acronym the other day.  I wrote it on a post-it note and stuck it on my desk where I would always see it.

Faith   

Always. 

Intently 

Trusting

Him.    

It is a reminder.  A reminder that saying you have faith isn't enough.  Exploring your faith through the challenges of life as well as the celebrations is work.  To have faith is to trust.  I have faith that I am going to wake up tomorrow morning.   But I have no guarantee.  The trust has to be full of purpose.  I also personally think that you should be intense in your trust of God.  I am intense in my trust.  I love God and know that through everything my young life has gone through, my faith has always been there, intent on the purpose of living a life pleasing to Him and trusting that He knows what He is doing in my life.  I trust Him with that.

Psalm 146

¹Praise the LORD!
  Praise the LORD, O my soul!
 ²I will praise the LORD while I live;
   I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.
  ³Do not trust in princes,
    In mortal man, in whom there is no salvation.
   ⁴His spirit departs, he returns to the earth;
     In that very day his thoughts perish.
   ⁵How blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob,
     Whose hope is in the LORD his God,
   ⁶Who made heaven and earth,
     The sea and all that is in them;
     Who keeps faith forever;
   ⁷Who executes justice for the oppressed;
     Who gives food to the hungry
     The LORD sets the prisoners free.
    ⁸The LORD opens the eyes of the blind;
     The LORD raises up those who are bowed down;
     The LORD loves the righteous;
    ⁹The LORD protects the strangers;
     He supports the fatherless and the widow,
     But He thwarts the way of the wicked.
   ¹⁰The LORD will reign forever,
      Your God, O Zion, to all generations.
       Praise the LORD!

 Psalm 115
 ¹Not to us, O LORD, not to us,
   But to Your name give glory
   Because of Your lovingkindness, because of Your truth.
  ²Why should the nations say,
   "Where, now, is their God?"
   ³But our God is in the heavens;
    He does whatever He pleases.
   ⁴Their idols are silver and gold,
     The work of man's hands.
    ⁵They have mouths, but they cannot speak;
      They have eyes, but they cannot see;
    ⁶They have ears, but they cannot hear;
      They have noses, but they cannot smell;
    ⁷They have hands, but they cannot feel;
      They have feet, but they cannot walk;
      They cannot make a sound with their throat.
    ⁸Those who make them will become like them,
      Everyone who trusts in them.
    ⁹O Israel, trust in the LORD;
      He is their help and their shield.
    ¹⁰O house of Aaron, trust in the LORD;
       He is their help and their shield.
    ¹¹You who fear the LORD, trust in the LORD;
       He is their help and their shield.
    ¹²The LORD has been mindful of us; He will bless us;
       He will bless the house of Israel;
       He will bless the house of Aaron.
    ¹³He will bless those who fear the LORD,
       The small together with the great.
    ¹⁴May the LORD give you increase,
       You and your children.
    ¹⁵May you be blessed of the LORD,
       Maker of heaven and earth.
    ¹⁶The heavens are the heavens of the LORD,
       But the earth He has given to the sons of men.
    ¹⁷The dead do not praise the LORD,
       Nor do any who go down into silence;
    ¹⁸But as for us, we will bless the LORD
       From this time forth and forever.
       Praise the LORD!

Trust me....

First off, I apologize for not sending out devotions the past two days. Things around work have been crazy and our home computer is just not up to the task! My father, bless his heart, told me that I better start back or everyone would be upset with me. Ha, ha!

Trust is a crazy thing. When you trust someone whole-heartedly, then there is never a doubt that enters your mind. But if someone says something or if they do something that just seems the bit outside the box, then your mind goes completely crazy! You imagine that everything they are doing has a motive, or everything they say is a lie. You can't relax around them and you just don't know what is right or wrong.

Trust with God does not have to be like that. God wrote in His love letter a lot on trust. The one I hold close to my heart is John 14:1 "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God ; trust also in me." I like that Jesus comes right out and said that he can be trusted and that we do not need to doubt Him.

Psalms is full of verses that tell us how to trust. Here are a few for you to ponder today...

Psalms 31:14 'But I trust in you, O LORD; I say, "You are my God."'

Psalms 40:4 "Blessed is the man who makes the LORD his trust, who does not look to the proud, to those who turn aside to false gods."

Psalm 118:8 "It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in man."

Psalm 143:8 "Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul."

So as you can see, trust is a big issue with God. It is with me too. I hope that each of you have those you trust, but more importantly, you have a continual trust in God.