July 12, 2026 – Trust
Max – John 1:29 NKJV – Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! I love how Max uses a worldly example to help us understand and deeply appreciate God’s greatest gift and sacrifice. He tells about being out to supper with his wife and that a church member came up to speak just after the bill had been left at the table: “After we chatted for a moment, he reached down and took our bill and said,’ I’ll take this.’ When he took it, guess what I did? I just let him do what he wanted to do: I let him take it away. Someday we will all stand before God…. to give an account for our lives…. Were it not for the grace of Christ, I would find this to be a terrifying thought…. When I my list of sins is produced, I will gesture toward [Christ] and say, ‘He took it.’ Let him take yours.”
Power – 1 Corinthians 1:9 – God is faithful (reliable, trustworthy, and therefor ever true to His promise, and He can be depended on); by Him you were called into companionship and participation with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Joyce point out that, in addition to being able to look to Jesus’ provision on judgment day, we don’t have to worry about our day to day lives. “Worry is failing to trust God to take care of the various situations in our lives. When we worry, we are actually acting on the thought If I try hard enough, I can find a solution to my problem, which is the opposite of trusting God.” That is an important reality we need to wake up to.
She continues, “Most of us have spent our lives trying to take care of ourselves, and it takes time to learn how to trust God in every situation. But we learn by doing. We have to step out in faith, and as we do, we will experience the faithfulness of God, which makes it easier to trust Him the next time.”
JC – “Whenever you feel distant from Me, whisper My Name in loving trust. This simple prayer can restore your awareness of My Presence…. The grating rancor of the world’s blasphemies cannot compete with a trusting child’s utterance: ‘Jesus.’ [Parents for sure understand how a child’s voice can soothe the soul.] The power of My Name to bless both you and Me is beyond your understanding.”
Streams – Job 23:10 – He knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold. Cowman offers this reminder that is definitely worth hearing again, “Faith grows during storms…. The strongest trees are found not in the thick shelter of the forest but out in the open, where winds from every direction bear down upon them…. These are the trees that toolmakers seek for handles for their tools, because of the wood’s great strength. It is the same in the spiritual world…. The path of faith is one of sorrow and joy, suffering and healing comfort, tears and smiles, trials and victories, conflicts and triumphs, and also hardships, dangers, beatings, persecutions, misunderstanding, trouble, and distress. Yet ‘in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us’ (Rom. 8:37).
Cowman has E. A. Kilbourne conclude her message today, “You may be tempted to run from the ordeal of a fierce storm of testing, but head straight for it! God is there to meet you in the center of each trial. And He will whisper to you His secrets, which will bring you out with a radiant face and such an invincible faith that all the demons of hell will never be able to shake it.”
Utmost – Ephesians 4:13 – Till we all come…unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ. Chambers offers this wake up call, “It will be a big humiliation to realise that I have not been concerned about realising Jesus Christ, but only about realising what He has done for me.”
JA – “I WANT YOU TO DRAW WATER from the springs of salvation with Joy. These wells are unfathomably deep, and they are filled to the brim with My blessings.
JL – “My Jesus, Help me to be joyful always and pray continually…. In Your joyous Name, Amen.”
