Trust in the Lord! – By Pastor Kobus Massyn
14-07-2024
Key scripture:
Luke 17:5-6
1 And [Jesus] said to His disciples, Temptations (snares, traps set to entice to sin) are sure to come, but woe to him by or through whom they come!
2 It would be more profitable for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were hurled into the sea than that he should cause to sin or be a snare to one of these little ones [lowly in rank or influence].
3 Pay attention and always be on your guard [looking out for one another]. If your brother sins (misses the mark), solemnly tell him so and reprove him, and if he repents (feels sorry for having sinned), forgive him.
4 And even if he sins against you seven times in a day, and turns to you seven times and says, I repent [I am sorry], you must forgive him (give up resentment and consider the offense as recalled and annulled).
5The apostles said to the Lord, Increase our faith (that trust and confidence that spring from our belief in God). 6And the Lord answered, If you had faith (trust and confidence in God) even [so small] like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, Be pulled up by the roots, and be planted in the sea, and it would obey you.’
Faith vs Trust
Faith – pístis (from 3982/peithô, “persuade, be persuaded”) – properly, persuasion (be persuaded, come to trust); faith.
Faith – pistis (“faith”) for the believer is “God’s divine persuasion”
Trust- pepoíthēsis (a feminine noun derived from /peíthō, “persuade, be persuaded”) – properly, persuasion; used of human confidence (deluded self-persuasion in Phil 3:4)
Trust – mental assessment / sense and knowledge
Trust- peíthō(the root of pístis, “faith”) – to persuade; (passive) be persuaded of what is trustworthy.
Trust that God is Sovereign!
Colossians 1:16-17
‘For it was in Him that all things were created, in heaven and on earth, things seen and things unseen, whether thrones, dominions, rulers, or authorities;
all things were created and exist through Him [by His service, intervention] and in and for Him. And He Himself existed before all things, and in Him all things consist (cohere, are held together).
Trust that God knows best!
Rom 8:28
‘ We are assured and know that [God being a partner in their labor] all things work together and are [fitting into a plan] for good to and for those who love God and are called according to [His] design and purpose.’
Trust is bracing yourself!
Ephesians 6:11
‘ Put on God’s whole armor [the armor of a heavy-armed soldier which God supplies], that you may be able successfully to stand up against [all] the strategies and the deceits of the devil.’
Exercise to trust
Galatians 6:7-9
Do not be deceived and deluded and misled; God will not allow Himself to be sneered at (scorned, disdained, or mocked by mere pretensions or professions, or by His precepts being set aside.) [He inevitably deludes himself who attempts to delude God.] For whatever a man sows, that and that only is what he will reap. For he who sows to his own flesh (lower nature, sensuality) will from the flesh reap decay and ruin and destruction, but he who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. And let us not lose heart and grow weary and faint in acting nobly and doing right, for in due time and at the appointed season we shall reap, if we do not loosen and relax our courage and faint.’