TRUST and OBEY...NO OTHER WAY...HAPPY IN JESUS

I grew up going to church at least 3 times a week.  Sometimes 4.

Sunday morning.
Sunday night.
And once mid-week.

Some weeks, throw in a Saturday morning.

Sunday night worship services were given to singing the hymns of the Protestant faith.  Even today, I can sing many of the hymns' verses without cracking open the hymnal.

One we sang often was "Trust and Obey."

When we walk with the Lord
In the Light of His Word
What a Glory He sheds on our way.
When we do His good will,
He abides with us still,
and for all who will trust and obey.

Trust and obey, for there's no other way
To be happy in Jesus
But to trust and obey.

When I was young, having to sing that song over and over again, it came to sound trite in my mouth and to my ears.  Familiarity can breed contempt.

But frankly, it shouldn't.  The hymn speaks of the essence of truly walking with God through the years He gives us.

TRUST

"Without faith, it is impossible to please God.  For He who comes to God must believe that He exists, and that He is a rewarder of those who pursue Him" (Hebrews 11:6).

Faith is trust.  It is not a leap in the dark or a choice against reason.  It is a confidence that the chair you sit in will hold you up, and so you let your weight fall into the chair.  It is a confidence that when you put your money in a local bank's saving account, that it will be there tomorrow, and so you make a deposit.

Faith is a confidence that behind the creation there is a Creator powerful enough to bring all this about, and so you use your capability to develop a relationship to in fact develop one with that Creator -- The God who has made his existence clear and revealed He wants a wonderful relationship with Him every moment of every day.

Trust motivates you to pursue that God  When you do, you find that He rewards the hunt.

AND OBEY

"If you love me," Jesus observed, "you will do what I command" (John 14:15).  "If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him" (John 14:23).

What an amazing promise!!  There is a special intimacy afforded to those who trust Jesus without question and obey his directions without hesitation.  Such a person truly loves the Lord Jesus, and if Jesus' word is accurate here, He and His Father love to be close to that kind of person.

When we do His good will, He abides with us still...

A SIMPLE "HAPPY" BOTTOM LINE

How would someone describe your walk with God?   Would someone say, "Elizabeth really trusts and obeys her Lord!"   "Shane without shame believes the Scripture, and puts into practice what God has shown him!"

Here's how the 4th and 5th verses of that hymn go -- enjoy!

But we never can prove
The delights of His love
Until all on the altar we lay
For the favor He shows
And the love He bestows
Are for those who will trust and obey

Then in fellowship sweet
We will sit at His feet
Or we'll walk by His side in the way
What He says we will do
Where He sends we will go
Never fear, only trust and obey.