Building trust in God

In my last post, I wrote that we cannot really obey God fully and genuinely without a true trust in Him. We cannot truly trust Him if we are not convinced that God loves us.

So, love is where it all starts and ends.

Do you know that God loves you, friend?

Do you believe that God loves you?

1st John 4:9-16 declares how we are to know:

“This is how God showed His love among us: He sent His one and only Son into the world that we might live through Him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and His love is made complete in us. This is how we know that we live in Him and He is us: He has given us of His Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent His Son to be the Savior of the world. If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.”

I always tell my students that if ever they wonder if God loves them, they have one place to look: the cross. Jesus died for our sins, in our place, so that we could have a restored relationship with God. God’s love for us is proven in the fact that He gave us Jesus so that what had been broken and messed up could be resurrected.

What had been broken? Our fellowship, communion, and intimacy with God.

In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve were given the choice to obey God or to disobey Him. The presence of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, allowed Adam and Eve to express their free will and decide to love God in return through obedience. If all the trees had been good, they would have had no choice but to obey. The presence of that tree presented them with a choice to make: trust that God, as the Creator of the garden and of them, knew how His creation was to work OR trust in themselves and operate in their own wisdom. Basically, do whatever they wanted.

Unfortunately, humanity chose to trust in themselves. Eve ate the fruit and then gave it to Adam. Sin entered the world. What had once become whole was shattered through one decision.

But the decision had been so cloaked in deception! If we knew the full impact of our disobedience, we would never be disobedient. If Eve knew the full ramifications of her choice, she wouldn't have made that choice. God had said that they would surely die if they ate of the tree, but the serpent came along and said the opposite. Plus, the fruit looked good to eat. I once heard a pastor say that it’s the good part of sin that entices us, not the bad. That, of course, is what the devil emphasizes when he tempts people. Look at the GOOD that God is withholding from you. How dare He?

All the while, Satan tries to downplay the evil part of sin. It’s not that big of a deal. God doesn’t care about you so you’re entitled to do this. Take what you need. Do it yourself! Trust your heart. You know what’s best for you.

Deception is so effective because when you’re deceived you don’t know it! I’m sure if people got to see the entire picture of their lives post-disobedience, they would certainly make different choices.

I believe that most, if not all sin, originates from this same place - the desire to get what we want when we want it. The trust in our own selves over God. The belief that God is somehow withholding from us and not only that, but that He’s not enough and we need whatever it is we want to be complete.

All of that is lies.

When obedience looks boring and disobedience looks exciting, we’re on a slippery slope on the path to hell. I say this so dramatically, because if we believe that to obey God is a chore and to disobey God is freedom, we are indeed the most deceived. In reality, obeying God is the greatest freedom and disobeying Him leads to the greatest bondage.

When we come to Christ, we are coming to a Savior who willingly laid down His life for us so that we could walk in this freedom. So that we don’t have been to defined by the sins of our past, but that we can be made new by His blood and redeemed into a restored relationship with God, our Heavenly Father. We don’t have to live as orphans anymore. We don’t have to live as slaves to sin. We don’t have to fall for the devil’s lies any longer. It is for freedom that Christ has set us free (Galatians 5:1).

Following Christ doesn’t mean that we are perfect, but that we are being perfected. We aren’t perfect; we’re faithful. We are being continually transformed into His image and likeness. And that means we are learning how to continually submit to God’s will over our will. When our will and God’s will bump into each other and disagree, which one wins? With the power of the Holy Spirit, we have to allow our hearts to submit to God’s will over a circumstance, trusting that because of His love for us evidenced in the death of His Son on the cross, we know that He is fighting for His best for us. We know that we can trust Him after all that He’s done to show us how far He would go to save our souls from the pit of hell and the devil’s manipulation of our free will.

Can you look to the cross today, perhaps for the first time with fresh eyes, and see that as the place where your soul was bought? See Him hanging on that tree for you. See Christ breathing His last breath before His glorious resurrection with you on His mind. See the love of God poured out in Jesus’ passion for you to live free from the chains of hell and to fulfill the reason why you were created.

See His love. Trust His heart. Obey His voice.

Live the life you were created to live. Don’t miss it.

It’s your choice.

You’re so loved by Jesus,

Colleen

The message of my life

It’s been a while since I’ve written on here, but I’ve filled journals and journals since my last post.

I could write a book, and well, I have! That’s what I’ve been working on the past two+ years since my last post in May 2020. During the pandemic, I started writing a book and finished it around May of this year. My prayer is to see it one day published for God’s glory and to bless many lives.

What’s the book about? It’s about what I believe God has given to me to be the message of my life which is this: God speaks to us.

He really does. As Holy Spirit-filled believers, He gives us wisdom and guidance for the myriad of choices we need to make on a daily basis. We’re not left in the dark or supposed to depend on our own finite perspective and limited knowledge. God wants to help us.

But the choice is ours. God will tell what is best for us, but here’s what He’ll never do: He’ll never force us to listen. He’ll never make the choice for us. He’ll never strip our freedom to choose to obey or disobey from us.

I’ve learned all of this the hard way which is why I’m so passionate about sharing this with others.

When we don’t know what to do, we have to seek God and believe that He will show us the way to go. And when He does (not IF He does), WHEN He does, we have to do whatever it takes to heed His voice and obey Him - even if it’s not what we want to do and the opposite of our own will. We have to trust that He knows what is best for us.

God doesn’t just speak to be heard; He speaks to be obeyed. Maybe God’s told you to forgive that person. Maybe He's told you to help someone. Maybe He’s told you to befriend a neighbor on your apartment floor. Or maybe He’s told you NOT to do something. Don’t go to that event. Don’t date that person. Don’t say that. Don’t take that particular course of action.

Whatever the Holy Spirit is impressing on you, don’t take that lightly. God speaks always with our best interest in mind. He’s not keeping something good from us; He’s often keeping something awful from us. We have to remind our hearts and minds that God knows it all, sees all, and is aware of exactly where our obedience and disobedience will take us. We see only the present and the past; we anticipate where our choices can take us, but we do not have the ability to completely know exactly their entire impact on our futures and which roads they will cause us to walk.

I want to be that friend in your life that pushes you towards Christ. So, I’m going to ask you: Is God telling you to do something right now that you keep putting off? And on the other hand, is He telling you not to do something that you keep doing? Whatever God is telling you to do or not do (which will always be something that lines up with the Bible and would never contradict the commands of Scripture), I highly encourage you to obey Him.

But we can’t obey Him, if we don’t trust Him. And we can’t really trust Him if we don’t know that He loves us. We’ll explore the nature of our distrust of God and how to restore trust in Him in my next post.

Keep seeking Him, friends. He knows the way that you take and He only wants the best for you. I promise you. He only wants the best for you.

You’re so loved by Jesus,

Colleen

God's love

Sharing this blog post I first wrote when I was 23. Praying that this blesses and encourages you!

I recently read a quote where someone compared God's love to ruby slippers, those glittery red shoes Dorothy wears in The Wizard of Oz. I don't think any analogy could ever really perfectly describe something as vast and deep as God's love, but I actually liked this comparison.

Here's the quote:"Everything you long for, you've already been given. You're already loved beyond your wildest dreams. You are wearing the ruby slippers. They've been on your feet the whole time." 

For most of the movie, Dorothy searches for a way to get home, unaware that she already has what she needs. The ruby slippers she was given are the answer. All along, she's had what she needed. But it took her a while to realize it.

So often we go searching for love when the greatest love has already been given to us - all of us. We're already wearing the ruby slippers. We always have been. But we've lived like we were barefoot, always looking for what we don't know that we already have.

I do think there is a difference between God's love and love from others - and that we need both. While I do believe that God's love is complete and perfect, I also believe everyone needs love from other people too. Even God Himself, after He created man, said it wasn't good for him to be alone, and then He created woman. God wants us to be in relationships with others. To love them with the love He loves us with.

I just think the problem is when we try to substitute love from others for God's love, expecting them to love us as only God can. The greatest love in all the world is the love God has for you and me.

God loves each of us with a love so indescribable and vast and and amazing and that if we could just fathom an iota of it, it would change our lives forever.

God's love is the love every soul longs for. And I believe God designed us that way - with this longing - to draw us to Him, to seek Him, to find Him, and to discover in Him a love that sustains us and heals us and makes us whole.

God's love adds the sparkle and the beauty to our lives, makes every day an adventure and every breath a gift. It allows us to live with joy and peace, knowing that beyond the stardust and the clouds, there is a God who is our Heavenly Father, always watching over us and caring for us. It gives us confidence and strength and hope and everything we need.

And eventually, God's love changes our hearts and lives so much that we have to say something and share with as many people as we can about the greatness of His love so that they could walk through life knowing this.

So that they could take each step aware of the ruby slippers they wear and not spend another second thinking they're barefoot and unloved. So that they would forever know that God has always loved and will always love them. And that that will never change.