“I will praise the Lord while I live;
I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.
Do not trust in princes,
In mortal man, in whom there is no salvation.
His spirit departs, he returns to the earth;
In that very day his thoughts perish.
How blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob,
Whose hope is in the Lord his God.” (Psalm 146:2-5 NASB1995)
There is a very good reason why the Scriptures, Old
Testament and New Testament, warn us to not put our trust in human beings, particularly
in people of prominence, wealth, and importance in the world, some of whom are
leaders of nations, newscasters, or well-liked preachers and evangelists, etc. And
that is because we are all human. And not all humans can be trusted, because
not all humans tell the truth about who they are, and what they are doing, and of
their motivations for why they do what they do.
Liars, deceivers, manipulators, tricksters, clowns,
entertainers, and actors abound, playing their tricks on the human race, lying
to them, deceiving them, and convincing people to trust them unequivocally. And
some of this is ingrained in us from childhood on up, such as I was brought up
to put my hand over heart and to pledge (vow) my allegiance (fidelity) to my
government, and to sing patriotic songs of worship of my government, and to
treat our military as though they are our “saviors” who keep us safe.
And I also grew up on television, beginning in the early
1950’s, and so my mind was programmed with all sorts of stuff that I believed
because I had no reason to think that any of them were lying to me. I was very naïve
and trusting, even when I had very good reasons not to trust other human
beings. I didn’t believe everything they told me, but a lot of it, I did. And
it did partially shape my thinking about things early on in my life, and into
adulthood. And so the Lord had to reprogram my mind to see the truth.
As Christians, our trust needs to be in the Lord, and in his
Word (taught in context), and not in human flesh. And just because someone
claims to be a Christian, it doesn’t necessitate that they are Christians,
biblically defined. For there are a lot of “wolves in sheep’s clothing” who are
among us, passing themselves off as followers of Jesus Christ who are just
using that to deceive Christians into trusting them and believing them and
putting their faith in them, believing that they are the “good guys” who are on
our side.
But remember that the Scriptures warn us against those who
pretend to be Christians, who disguise themselves as servants of righteousness,
but who are of the devil, and whose intent it is to destroy us and our faith in
Jesus Christ so that we will believe the liars and the manipulators who charm the
people into thinking that they are of God, and therefore that they are to be
trusted. And the Scriptures instruct us to be on the lookout for those who
pretend to be of God but who are workers of iniquity, instead. Test them!
And don’t raise any human up to God-like status. Too many
people are putting politicians and newscasters and preachers on pedestals that
they are bound to fall off of. And they are believing whatever these people
tell them, and then they are regurgitating whatever those people tell them, as
though it is absolute truth, when they don’t even know if it is truth, or not.
We who believe in Jesus need to be seekers of truth who do not put our trust in
human beings, but in God, and in his word taught in the proper context.
Learn to be those who question everything but God, who ask
questions, and who seek answers, and who are students of the Scriptures who
study them in the correct context, under the guidance and direction of the Holy
Spirit, and then who obey the teachings intended for the church, Christ’s body.
And know what the Scriptures teach when they are taught in the right context.
For many lies stem from Scriptures being taught deliberately out of context to
make them say what they do not say if taught in the right context. For..
By God-gifted faith in Jesus Christ, which is not of our own
doing, we are crucified with Christ in death to sin and raised with Christ to
walk in newness of life in him, no longer to live as slaves to sin but as
slaves to righteousness in walks of obedience to God’s commands. We are no
longer to permit sin to reign in our mortal bodies to make us obey its desires.
For if sin is what we obey, it results in death. But if obedience to God is
what we obey, it results in sanctification, and its end is eternal life with
God (see Romans 6:1-23).
[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 1:12-13; John
6:44; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 2:6-8; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; 1
Corinthians 10:1-22; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32;
Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; Hebrews 12:1-2;
1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:5-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10]
Seek the Lord
Based off Isaiah 55
Musical Instrumentation by Mark Bradley
An Original Work / July 20, 2012
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love
“Come to Me all you who thirst; come to waters.
Listen to Me, and eat what’s good today,
And your soul will delight in richest of fare.
Give ear to Me, and you will live.
I have made an eternal covenant with you.
Wash in the blood of the Lamb.”
Seek the Lord while He may be found; call on Him.
Let the wicked forsake his way, in truth.
Let him turn to the Lord, and he will receive mercy.
Freely, God pardons him.
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways,”
declares the Lord, our God.
“My word that goes out of My mouth is truthful.
It will not return to Me unfulfilled.
My word will accomplish all that I desire,
And achieve the goal I intend.
You will go in joy and be led forth in peace.
The mountains will burst into song… before you,
And all of the trees clap their hands.”
Put Your Hope in God
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