Grace - It's Really About Trust

Hello All,

God doesn't love you because you're obedient.  If he did, His love for you would fluctuate on a daily basis.  We've been taught by religion to demonstrate to God how much we love Him so that He will love us in return.  Why is this a problem?  Because it takes our eyes off of Him and His permanent, everlasting love and puts them onto us.  Looking at your performance will drive you insane, because you can never earn God's love or even His blessing, nor can you prove your love of Him to Him by your obedience.  John 16:9 says that He loves you before you ever did anything.  Remain in that love.  And since you will naturally trust someone you know loves you, obedience becomes a fruit, not a root.

The person who has an obedience problem simply hasn't seen that God is good and is the perfect provider.  That means that we never really have an obedience problem, but rather a trust problem.  Action point:  wherever you are not trusting God and therefore having obedience problems, simply ask God to help you see His active love for you in that area.

Distrust says one of two things to God:

1.  "I know better", and then we disregard God; or,

2.  "God, tell me what I have to do to be blessed by you and I'll do it."

In both cases, distrust reveals that the person has more faith in themselves than in God.  Many people search for keys, principles, guidelines, and strategies, but they refuse to see God's goodness right in front of them.  It's as if Jesus never came.  The saddest part, however, is that after a time of playing by the rules so they will be blessed by God, the exhausted person will give up completely and default to option #1 above: "I know better than God", and they shut the door to His ways.

All the while, God remains un-offended because of Jesus' sacrifice and He continues to bless the person while they refuse to acknowledge Him.  Such a being deserves our total trust because of His complete love.

Grace=Peace,

Jeremy