Trust and Faith Part II

Remember the parable of the lost sheep in Luke 15:4-7 (NKJV)?
4 "What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it?
5 And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing.
6 And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!
7 I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance."

Dr. Charles Stanley says this: "The Lord is neither cold-hearted nor matter-of-fact about finding His lost sheep and bringing them home. He takes great joy and feels great excitement in re-establishing a close bond with His wandering creations."

So if God will do everything in His power to save that one lost sheep, then why would we think He would leave us to wander around hopelessly lost? He is always there for us no matter the circumstances. When we feel He's not listening when our hearts are crying out and we are weary, remember He's carrying us at that time.

Remember the Poem by Mary Stevens: "Footprints in the Sand?" You can go here and read about the history of the poem and read the poem. The poem is copyrighted, plus it is more affective when seen with the scene and the words rather than typed out here.

Habakkuk 2:4 says: "Behold the proud, his soul is not upright in him; but the just shall live by his faith."

The just shall live by his faith. This right here is telling us to live by faith. He wants us to have faith and not be a prideful being which puts us in the wrong frame of mind, unable to hear him.

2 Samuel 22:2-4 (NKJV) talks about trusting the Lord our God.

2 And he said: "The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer;
3 The God of my strength, in whom I will trust; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold and my refuge; my Savior, You save me from violence.
4 I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised; so shall I be saved from my enemies."

With this verse I am going to use the Message Bible as well. It starts out by saying: "David prayed to God the words of this song after God saved him from all his enemies and from Saul."

2-3 "God is bedrock under my feet, the castle in which I live, my rescuing knight. My God--the high crag where I run for dear life, hiding behind the boulders, safe in the granite hideout; My mountaintop refuge, he saves me from ruthless men.
4 I sing to God the Praise-Lofty, and find myself safe and saved."

Now the (NLT)

2 He sang: "The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my savior;
3 my God is my rock, in whom I find protection. He is my shield, the power that saves me, and my place of safety. He is my refuge, my Savior, the one who saves me from violence.
4 I called on the Lord, who is worthy of praise, and He saved me from my enemies.

I like to use different translations at times as it can help those that are just coming to the Lord or who haven't yet. Sometimes one translation may be harder to grasp than another. Such as the original King James Version can be fun to read making it a bit intimidating. This is not say it's not good. All the Bibles are the same thing, it's the written Word of the Lord. Our book of instructions.

With this on trust, it is saying that God is going to save us from our enemies, we just need to trust in Him to do it, sing praises to Him and keep the faith!

So today I will leave you with an all time favorite. Psalm 23:1-6 (NKJV)

1 The Lord is my Shepard; I shall not want.
2 He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters.
3 He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of the righteousness for His names sake.
4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
5You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; My cup runs over.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; And I will dwell in the house of the Lord, forever!

I have to admit, I like the way it sounds from the regular KJV.

So here is the KJV

23 The Lord is my Shepard; I shall not want.
2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures; he leadeth me beside the still waters.
3 He restoreth my soul; he leadeth me in the paths of the righteousness for his name's sake.
4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies; thou annointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

I do have a tendency to be a bit nostalgic at times. Bear with me please. ;o)
I like how Dr. Charles Stanley talks about v 1. He had a remark stating that if we have the Lord, we have everything, but without Him we have nothing. In order to have Him in our lives, we need to trust in Him and have faith in Him.

Stanley also says about v 6:
"We cannot always see goodness and mercy ahead of us, but when we look behind us, we see them. That helps us to look ahead and see more clearly, where we glimpse our place at God's side forever." Again, to me this is basically reminding us to keep the faith and trust in Him.

Be Blessed. Make a ripple and watch it grow and grow and grow! And always remember to P.U.S.H. Have a beautiful day!