Scripture: Psalm 40 v 1 - 5: "To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry.
2 He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings.
3 And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the LORD.
4 Blessed is that man that maketh the LORD his trust, and respecteth not the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies.
5 Many, O LORD my God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast done, and thy thoughts which are to us-ward: they cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee: if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered."
Many people have been afraid to come to Jesus because of trust issues. They had some awful, negative experiences in their lives that make trusting in God very difficult.
Some of them have blamed God, and are angry with Him, because, as God, He could have, should have protected them, or not allowed such calamities to befall them. This produces bitterness in the soul and puts up a barrier between the hurting person and the Lord. Their disappointment leads to mistrust and unbelief.
David, king of Israel, prophet, Psalmist, warrior and musician, had trusted the Lord from a young age, and even when King Saul pursued him in a jealous rage to kill the one more popular than himself, David still respected him and obeyed the Lord's will.
There was a day when David followed Saul into a cave and the king was at David's mercy, that David declared, I will not touch the Lord's anointed king. He walked away leaving Saul to ponder on why he was still alive.
So many preachers, some of them false and in it for the money, have betrayed the trust of their congregation by hiding their spiritual shortcomings under those words of David, "Do not touch the Lord's anointed"! When they have done wrong their pride and lies prevents any challenge and people are left bewildered and afraid. Their spiritual leaders have twisted scripture to protect themselves from proper censure.
We need to be strong in our faith and walk away from such as these. They are the blind leading the blind down a false pathway. We are only blind if we do not heed the warnings of the Lord in our own spirit. Do not compromise His Word, find a different place to worship and grow. It may be hard to leave friends or family and follow the Lord, but Abraham did it and left pagan idolatry behind. His trust in the Lord was absolute.
We are only blind if we do not evaluate where we are spiritually in the light of the Word. Matthew 6 v 22 - 23: "The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.
23 But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!"
If we keep our eyes on the Lord and His Word, we will be filled with His Light, truth, love, which can trust forever. If our eyes are here, there and everywhere, spiritually speaking, like we mix New Age teachings with the Word, this is wrong and evil putting us in darkness. If we think that the evil is the right thing, how great is that darkness!
For example there are Christians who believe in reincarnation, or who visit psychics for future prognostications, or worship angels, and think its worthy. There are Christians involved in ancestor worship not knowing that demons impersonate their dead relatives. People caught up in these practices are deceived and need deliverance to be free of the demons that bewitched them.
Numbers 3 v 4: "These are the names of the sons of Aaron, the priests which were anointed, whom he consecrated to minister in the priest's office.
4 And Nadab and Abihu died before the LORD, when they offered strange fire before the LORD, in the wilderness of Sinai, and they had no children: and Eleazar and Ithamar ministered in the priest's office in the sight of Aaron their father."
Even these anointed priests, sons of Aaron, brother of Moses, died when they brought in strange teachings to mislead the congregation. No doubt their brothers who replaced them feared the Lord and trusted Him to guide them. Our God is the same yesterday, today and forever. If a man of God plays with fire he will end up in it.
Those who know Jesus and have trusted Him with their lives, have begun to enjoy the abundant life. The more we let go of the world and its systems, the more we submit to the Lord, the greater our perception of Heaven. We are blessed with the fruit and gifts of the Holy Spirit that enhances our lives.
If we have been angry and bitter in our hearts towards the Lord, we need to discover if the negative experiences were not actually instigated by Satan our mortal enemy. We need to know our enemy and never trust him. He is the father of lies, the originator of evil. He hates God's creation and wants it destroyed.
Be sure we are not victims of his strategy because it plays into his hands if we blame God for things he has done. My life changed forever when I found out that the devil was a real personal foe, who had caused me much pain. I pledged to help people overcome him through the power of the Blood of Jesus, and not a day goes by that I do not honour that pledge.
We are in a war, we are soldiers in God's army, but how many are doing spiritual battle to conquer enemy territory for the Kingdom of Heaven? Only born again, Spirit-filled Christians, clothed with the Armour of God are prepared for battle. The Bible is our sword, and we defeat our enemies just as Jesus withstood him in the Wilderness. "It is written...."
We can absolutely trust in the Word of God, and He will always uphold it. Every book of the Bible is written by men who learned to trust Him through seeing what He is capable of. He expects us to fight for His Kingdom, to pray without ceasing, to love, give and walk in His ways.
Psalm 37 v 3 - 6: "Trust in the LORD, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.
4 Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.
5 Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.
6 And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday."
Let us each make a pledge today to move the enemy out of our lives and send him to Hell where he belongs. Jesus gave us His power of attorney to do all He has done and even greater things. We have power over every enemy spirit to bind, rebuke, subdue, and cast out into outer darkness. In the name of Jesus Christ.
Read books like Pigs in the Parlour by Frank and Ida Mae Hammond. A handbook on deliverance. Books on deliverance by Derek Prince are powerful. Even visit this blog's archives and study the Tree of Bitterness, Tree of Rejection, Tree of Rebellion, Tree of Pride, Tree of Occult Witchcraft, Tree of Life. Blogs on Spiritual Warfare. There is no lack of teaching available to help us become available and able warriors.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank You for loving us and giving us millions of reasons to trust You. You have opened our eyes to see good and evil, help us to defeat the bad and embrace the good. Jesus gave us His power over demons and diseases, let us be bold to deal with them as He did, to Your glory and our victory over problems. In Jesus' name. Amen.