Word of the day!

“I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day” (II Ti. 1:12).

Paul trusted Christ.  His trust was both doctrinal and experiential as he had tasted of Christ’s goodness and knew He was thoroughly good.  Paul did not merely trust his feelings about Christ, but on the frequent occasions when facing death he peered through the lens of eternal love and was delivered. He knew Christ, the power of His resurrection and Paul had fellowshipped in Christ’s sufferings (Phil. 3:10). 

Paul trusted a Whom rather than a what.  He did not trust his soul to his feelings, his friends, his works or his church.  He trusted the very God of very God, the priest after the order of Melchizedek, the image of the invisible God who is the first-born of all creation; the One who made all things and without Whom nothing was made that was made.  Paul had every confidence that if the rulers of his time had understood Christ as he did, “They would not have crucified the Lord of glory” (I Cor. 2:8). 

Paul’s trusting knowledge in his Elder Brother influenced him toward a sacred boldness that disallowed any quailing from a biblical lifestyle.  He was so convinced of the value of placing his trust in Christ that even physical danger could not dissuade him from remaining true.  Was Paul a fool or was he self-delusive? 

Jesus alone is your near Kinsman – He is the Israelite indeed in Whom there is no guile.  Paul tested Jesus when he was beaten, stoned, in prison and shipwrecked – Jesus always proved true.  You cannot know the strength of Christ until you trust His strength.  No one following Christ fully has ever experienced a single regret.

You must taste Christ before you can see that the Lord, He is good.  If you consistently shelter yourself from apparent biblical risks, you will never experience the advantages of eternal trust.  God allows no room in His Church for lacking confidence in Him.  Failing confidence assures timidity, cowardice and living in the flesh rather than the Spirit. 

God is calling you to live and speak with apostolic confidence by refusing to baptize distrust/doubt.  Lifestyle confirms confidence.  Trust may be quiet in its unveiling, but your duty is to trust that the Spirit of Christ will superintend your circumstances and life so that God will be glorified.

You should be growing in the grace and knowledge of your Lord Christ.  When this growth occurs, your assurance of His presence, power and provision increase.  If these three characteristics of biblical assurance are not increasing, you are charged with the responsibility of examining yourself to verify whether or not you are genuinely a Christian, examining the teaching you are receiving to determine its strength and examining your activities and associations to make sure none of them are damaging the hope that should have taken up residence within you.

You should possess the present trust and eternal hope of Abraham who said to his associates as he went to sacrifice Isaac, “Stay here with the donkey, and I and the lad will go yonder; and we will worship and return to you” (Gen. 22:5, italics added).

ABC News, excerpt from Gary Taubes’, “Good Calories, Bad Calories”