It is a fair saying to say that God has one basic lesson to teach us while on earth, and that is: will you trust Me?

            I can sense a spirit of urgency in church leaders as I hear them preach striving for persons to yield their entire lives to God and fully trust Him to be their good God, knowing He will help them.  At times this might come across, for example, with an overly taught perspective that God is our Father, or an overly taugh christian practice while the gospel itself is taught less and less.  This is done, with the good intention, yet in pitiful ignorance, that seeing God as our friendly Father, or friend is the best way to trust God with the fullness of our lives.  Statements like the following are made: Father is the most intimate name of the Trinity.  But is this really true?  Even if it is not true is it worth our time to make this distinction?  The answer is this statement is not true and it is very worth our time to look into.

            The really sad thing in all of this is that I know some have good intentions in why they say such ignorant things, but the stark reality is that teaching things like this is actually self-defeating toa Christians goal, if it is to trust God more.  Before they even start they have failed.  There are much common sense logic observed on earth from man to man that if applied from man to God, will cause all sorts of horrible things.  The manner in which man relates to God, by God's design, especially in the gospel, is quite frankly counter-logical to how man relates things on earth.  Man pridefully thinks that the things of this dusty earth are like the things and manners of the glorious Heaven.  We must obey and follow the scripture in how man best trusts, loves and knows God in deep fellowship and not pridefully follow earthen logic.

          So the question is this,  "what is the solution when a person or church is struggling in trusting God for the every day things in life?" 

          To answer this question we need to find out why this is happening in the first place.  Therefore, let me states this in point blank English.  A lack in trusting God for help in the common, day-to-day things of our lives, is nothing more than a discovery that there is a lack of trusting of Jesus Christ in the gospel! 

        One of the greatest proofs that a person is deficient of their trust of Jesus Christ in the gospel is a lack of trusting of God in the every day things of life.  Some at this point will say, "but its not that simple."  Yet, I am here to tell on the authority of scripture, that it is that simple.  This is why many people find loving Jesus so hard.  The simplicity of it mocks intelligent man, who insists to insert his ideas, philosophies, sociologies and wisdom.  Help in the day-to-day things in life is none other than the effects of the gospel.  An effect of the gospel is that we cry "Abba Father" and have access to "boldly" come to the "throne of grace" to find help in the time of need.[1] (See footnote)  Therefore, a lack in trusting God for the effects of the gospel (Seeing God as Father and trusting Him with every area of our lives) is directly a lack of trusting God in the gospel, first.

       Now that we know what the cause of the problem is, then how do we solve it?  Well it must be obvious now that if a lack of trusting God in the gospel of Christ will infallibly lead to a lack of trusting God in every day life, then we must turn to the gospel.  So, now I will get into a few specific aspects of this to highlight this truth better.

        John 14:8, "Philip said to Him, "Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.  Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, 'Show us the Father'?"   What our Lord Jesus Christ teaches us is if you wish to experience the pleasure and wonder of knowing God as your Father, then you do not do this by simply saying, Father, Father over and over, but instead by seeing, Jesus Christ crucified for me, in faith.  Like I said, this seems counter-logical, yet it is precisely what Jesus our lord teaches us!  Basically the less time you spend, by faith, seeing, loving, and fellowshipping with Jesus Christ crucified for your sins, every day, this then is how little you will be able to experience the reality concerning God as your Father!  By spending much time every day, in faith, seeing Jesus crucified to save you the better you will connect, in faith, to God as your Father in your every day prayers and trusting of Him.

        God the Father is all about one thing, and that is honoring His Son and giving Him the Supremacy.  Colossians 1:19,  "It pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell... that in all things He may have the preeminence [or Supremacy]."  If you spend little time daily placing your faith and love in Jesus Christ crucified to save you, then you have equated to giving little honor to God's Son, Jesus Christ.  In other words you are running in the opposite direction that God your Father is running in.  No wonder your prayers have been hindered![2]  No wonder you feel distant from God your Father, in your prayers, when you dishonor His Son, by not living hourly in faith and worship concerning Jesus Christ crucified to save you!

        As prideful little humans we do not put emphasis nor the weight on the same issues that God our Father does, such as the importance of a clean conscience. Romans 2:15,  "[They] show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them)."  How easy do we forget the truth of scripture and its truth concerning who is man and why his is they way he is.  We to little remember the serious weight and power that a guilty conscience has over a persons actions!  God has written His laws on our hearts so that every bad thing we do our conscience, with great influence over our thoughts and actions, condemns and accuses us with guilt.  I dare say that most people, even church leaders, do not understand the incredible influence this has over a person.   I know this must be the case when I see people try to draw close to God our Father in trust and communion without saturating themselves in the gospel.

       Hebrews 10:22, "Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water."   We are instructed to draw near to, God our Father, with precious assurance, because our evil consciences have been washed clean.  And where exactly does this "full assurance" come from?  We are told a few verses previously that we have "boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus."  In other words, if you find you a lacking in motivation, assurance, comfort and readiness to come to God as your Father trusting Him with our entire life, then it goes back to the fact you are not, in faith, spending enough time seeing Jesus shed His blood to save you and cleans your conscience pure white.

       The fact remains that, even as Christians, we feel guilty and ashamed, simply because we sin all the time.  This is just life until Jesus comes again a second time to renew the universe in complete holiness.  If we have sinned today and have not confessed it and experienced the refreshing Spirit of Jesus Christ forgiving us and cleaning our conscience, in His sacrifice for us, then we will find coming to God our Father for help in other things will be meet with guilt and hindered communion!  This is unavoidable, because God has designed our conscience to accuse us when we sin, this cannot be stop!  What can be stopped is prolonged guilt residing in our souls hindering our communion and prayers to our Father for help.

       1 John 1:9, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."   This might sound like counter-logic but I have discovered that I have drawn closer to, God as my Father, by being more quick to confess my sins to Him, asking in faith that He would forgive and cleans me for the sake of His Son dying for my sins and saving me!  I particularly grew in this by reading John Calvin's prayer that he commonly prayed at the end of many of his sermons.  Below are a two of these prayers.

       "Now let us fall before the majesty of our great God, acknowledging our sins, and praying that He would make us increasingly conscious of them.  May our consciences be truly pricked, that we might hate our sin and embrace His mercy, and may His grace be poured up on us ever-increasing measure.  May his hand support and sustain us in our weakness, until we are brought to holy perfection in the kingdom of heaven, which has been brought for us by our Lord Jesus Christ.  Thus we all say, Almighty God and Heavenly Father."

 

       "Now let us fall before the presence of our great God, acknowledging our sins, and praying that he would make us aware of them so that we humble ourselves before him.  At the same time, let us not lose courage, since He accepts us, and willingly deigns to listen to our petitions when we come to Him in complete trust.  May He grant us grace to overcome all problems and hindrances, and all the arguments and questions that the devil sets in our hearts, that we may know the truth of the promise, that whoever calls upon the Name of the Lord will be saved (Joe 2:32, Acts 2:21).  Thus, we all say, Almighty God, and our Heavenly Father. "[4]

       In one particular sermon Calvin went as far to say that the we need to convict ourselves not waiting for the Holy Spirit to do so 5 days later in order for us to properly confess it, seek forgiveness and refreshment form our heavenly Father.  This is why he prays over and over that God would make us more aware of our sins so that we can quickly as possible confess them in sincere repentance and sorrow, in order to find our Father wrapping us in His arms of love, because Jesus Christ has already provided our forgiveness.  What I have come to know is that the more I confess my sins, even hourly if I can help it, is that I continually find a marvelously caring Father refreshing me in His love because His Son has already paid for my sin.   Then when I ask for help, in His Son's Name, I find I do not have any guilt hindering me from drawling extremely close in trust to my Father.  Because I face up to my sin more often now, it has increased my confession to my God, which has in returned increase my fellowship with my Father.  Because every time I confess in true faith I find a loving heavenly Father always ready to forgive me and minister to my troubled soul.  This is why I have grown so close to my God in the gospel in my confession of sin.  It has served me by increasingly teaching and re-instructing me over and over that I have a wonderful Father through my Lord Jesus Christ crucified for me.  I only have to confess my sin in order to know yet again that my God is my Father who loves me, in Christ, in the deepest love imaginable.

       This is why Paul says that our "fellowship" is "in the gospel."  John tells us that our "fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ."[4]  But this is a broad statement, which can easily be forced by ignorant persons to mean all kinds of things.  This is why Paul's statement is helpful.  It helps us know more particularly how and where this fellowship happens, our faith in Jesus Christ crucified to save us.  The less time one spends here the less real their fellowship is with the Father and His glorious Son.  You cannot pretend your guilt and condemning conscience away.  But you can, every time you sin and mess up, enter into sweet "fellowship" with our Father, coming to Him by faith in His wonderful Son slaughtered for our salvation, to confess your sins immediately and then infallibly find forgiveness, a cleansed conscience and refreshing streams of His love toward you.  This is why 1 John 1:9 says God is "just" to forgive us of our sins every time we confess them in true faith in Jesus Christ.   His is giving the full assurance that there will never come a time, if we confess our sins in true faith in Jesus Christ' Name, that we will not be forgiven and ministered by the Holy Spirit.

       We are to look at Jesus slaughtered and beaten and crushed and spit upon, and mocked like a stupid criminal, with no benefit to Himself but only because He loved us so much He died in our place for our punishment.  If we truly see the horrifying and bloody picture of Jesus' love being so great toward us that He endured the cross to save us then our faith is built up the strongest.  There is no other place for our faith to grow stronger in trust for our God than surveying the wonderful cross.  If persons are hindered in seeing God as our Father and fully trusting Him, it is because they are deficient in growing their faith in the message of the cross.  If Jesus would died for us, as sinners, how much will He not be glad to hear our payers, when prayed in faith, to hear them and be our help!

       This is why Jesus again and again said if you have seen Me you have seen the Father.  Jesus Christ, the lamb[5] of God is the most intimate name of God, because it was He who lowered Himself and became a man.  It was the Person of Jesus Christ who ate with sinners and touched prostitutes.  It was the Person of Jesus who was slaughtered for our sins, as a human being.  It is the Person of Jesus Christ whom we will see face to face one day in Heaven.  Even in heaven we will not see a physical face of God our Father[6], but only through the face of Jesus Christ His Son.  God that Father was pleased to have the fullness dwell in His Son and to reveal Himself to us, in the most intimate way, through His Son, who's name is the Lord Jesus Christ. 

       One reason, even Christians, do not survey the wonderful cross of Jesus Christ is because its reveals a God who is looking at us with eyes as deep and wide as the universe, with such intimate love that it is scary to look at Him.  The cross brings God too close to us it seems, that we are content to know Him in the lesser ways to help dim the light of His burning love and mercy.  We know that we are sinners; our consciences remind us every day!  Seeing Jesus on the cross dying personally for me, with thoughts for me, brings the Supreme Divine Being so close to us that it's frightening.  Yet, let is be known, for all those who, believe on Him with joyful faith, His ever piercing glaze is that of grace and love, enough to fill the ocean over and over for all eternity.  The Name Jesus Christ crucified brings the King immortal so close to our hearts that our souls will one day be over-flooded and bursting with His comforting presence. 

       Will you my friend come to God and trust and fellowship with Him the way He marked out for us, or will you follow your foolish pride? 

Oh God, keep us from the gruesome sin of growing board or discontented at looking every day and worshiping every day Your Wonderful, Your Glorious Son crucified to save us in amazing grace!  May we grow more aware of our sins and more quickly confessing them in truest faith, the kind that pleases You our Father, coming to You in full assurance that Your Son has saved us by His precious Blood!

 [1] See Hebrews 4:14-16.  Also note, 1 Thessalonians 5:9-11,17, as Paul says, "God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,  who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him. Therefore... pray without ceasing."  Due to our faith in Christ, crucified in the gospel, our souls are to abound in praying to God for our help, in all trust.   This shows us that one effect of the gospel is we are can place all our trust in God as our Father to hear all our prayers for help.

 [2] 1 Peter 3:7, "Husbands, likewise, dwell with them with understanding, giving honor to the wife, as to the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers may not be hindered."  The point is that your prayers can be hindered and not honoring Jesus Christ by not hourly and daily living in faith and love in the gospel is one such way to cause your prayers to be hindered.  God the Father is doing everything to honor His Son.  The manner in which you join your heavenly Father in this greatest pleasure of His is by living in faith and worship in Christ crucified to save you, is how much you please Him!  How well are you doing this my friend?  How much are you running with or against, God your Father, on this greatest passion of His?

 [3]John Calvin Sermons on Galatians, by John Calvin, published by, The Banner of Truth Trust, 1997, pages 33, and 385.  The first prayer was from the sermon, The Blood that Cleanses All Our Sinful Stains.  The second is from the sermon, Crying Out to God in the Certainty of Our Adoption.

 [4] 1 John 1:3

 [5] Revelation 5:6, "I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as though it had been slain."

 [6] 1 Timothy 6:16,  " [God] alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see, to whom be honor and everlasting power. Amen."