The Special of the Day… From the Orange Moon Cafe…
"Knowledge and Trust"
For our faith to "grow exceedingly," as did the Thessalonians, we must "grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ" (II Thessalonians 1:3; II Peter 3:18).
We trust someone to the degree we know them. The life of faith calls us to a trust based on remembrance and affirmation of how faithful we have found God to be in His Word, by His Spirit, in our hearts, and in the lives of others. Faith does not arise within us by focusing on ourselves, but rather by "looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith" (Hebrews 12:2). Is He who He declares Himself to be? Is His Word true? Have we found our Lord to be faithful in our lives? Proper answers to these questions result in proportionate trust in the One we increasingly discover to be trustworthy.
"Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God" (Romans 10:17).
We must seek to know our Heavenly Father as well as we possibly can. Believers "live by faith" (Romans 1:17). That is, we experience the life of Christ as as we trust Him along the pathways of our lives. If we do not well know our Lord, we will find growing and consistent faith a greater challenge than it should be. Of course, we presently "see through a glass darkly," and we will always in this lifetime require growth and strengthening in faith (I Corinthians 13:12). Thus, we consistently read and ponder the Scriptures. We pray in confidence that communion will God results in His becoming personal to us, and we to Him. We fellowship with other believers for the mutual strengthening of faith we find in each other. We determine that nothing in our lives matters more than knowing our Lord well enough to trust Him. To live by faith involves progressive discovery of the God who "cannot lie," and whose "faithfulness reacheth unto the clouds" (Titus 1:2; Psalm 36:5). Thereby, we trust Him because we know Him.
When our youngest daughter Emmie was a baby, my mother enjoyed taking her for walks in her stroller. I trusted my mother completely, knowing her well enough to realize she would take good care of Emmie. Conversely, had a stranger approached me to volunteer for taking my daughter on walks, I would have turned him down instantly. I would have had no basis for trust because I would have had no knowledge of trustworthiness. Indeed, knowledge and trust go hand in hand, heart in heart. "Thou hast been a shelter for me, and a strong tower from the enemy…. I will trust in the covert of Thy wings" (Psalm 61:3; 4).
The grace that began our relationship with God by faith perpetuates and enhances our confidence and trust. "As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in Him" (Colossians 2:6). Our role involves consistent exposure to the gifts our Father gives whereby trusting Him flows as a sparkling current from the wellspring of His faithfulness known and experienced. We must therefore grow in God's grace, knowing we will trust Him more as we know Him better. Growing faith results, based on better and better knowledge of our Heavenly Father's perfect faithfulness.
"Grace and peace be multiplied to you, through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord."
(II Peter 1:2)
Weekly Memory Verse
Before honor is humility.
(Proverbs 15:33)
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