Where Is Your Trust?

“32 God is my protection. He makes my way free from fault. 33 He makes me like a deer that does not stumble; he helps me stand on the steep mountains. (Psalm 18:32-33 NCV).

What are you facing today? What or whom are you counting on to get you through the day? Anything or anyone less than God is risky. Is it not wiser to put your trust in the God who can do anything, the God who will never fail, the God who holds the universe and every molecule of it in His all-powerful hand? Think of the absolute security of being able to declare with confidence, “God is my protection.”

Now, look at that next phrase. God’s protection is not only from those things that can harm us from the outside, His protection keeps us from those things that can harm us from the inside! “He makes my way free from fault.” Couple this with the next phrase, “He makes me like a deer that does not stumble,” and you have the complete idea: God protects us from going the wrong way!

When we respond to God through faith in Jesus Christ a number of marvelous things happen. First, all our sins are removed–placed on the wounded shoulders of Christ. (See 1 John 2:1-2). Second, all Christ’s righteousness is placed on us. Amazing. Third, God Himself comes to dwell in the believer in the person of the Holy Spirit and it is that leading (when we respond to it) that can keep our ways “free from fault.”

Understand, this is not a one time deal. Too many believers today are resting on some past decision but not living daily for Christ. Such people do not have a testimony they have a history. True Christianity is not a “done deal” in the sense that we make a one time decision, live any way we please and not worry about it again until we get to heaven. No! True Christianity is not a past decision it is a present life based upon that past decision! The Apostle John put it this way: “Whoever claims to life in Him must walk as Jesus did.” (1 John 2:6 NIV). Let me be clear, this command by John (given under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit) is not an option for the believer.

There are two passages of Scripture that scare me to death (actually three but the third is another passage for another time). The two that apply to this discussion are James 2:19 and Matthew 7:21-23. James 2:19 reminds us, “Even the demons believe and tremble.” Demons know without question who Jesus is; they have no doubts about it like you and I sometime have. They know all the facts, but they are not saved. There are a boat-load of professing people who know all the facts about Jesus, but they’ve never really met him personally. How do we know that? Because they talk about Jesus but they don’t walk like Jesus. John tells us those who talk is true will walk a walk that is true.

Now Matthew 7:21-23 tells us that there are going to be many people who will stand before God and claim that they did all sorts of wonderful things for Christ; they taught Sunday School, they were pastors and some will have even performed great miracles in the name of Jesus, but when judgment falls they will hear, “I never knew you. Away from me you evildoers!” (Matthew 7:23). Why? The answer is found back in verse 21: “Not all people who sound religious are really godly. They may refer to me as ‘Lord,’ but they still won’t enter the Kingdom of Heaven. The decisive issue is whether they obey my Father in heaven.” Matthew 7:21 NLT–emphasis mine).

Back to our original text. Who can truly count on God’s protection? The one whose walk is made faultless by faith and obedience. As James reminds us, “Faith, if that all there is, is dead. True faith reveals itself by how you live.” (James 2:17 Pearrell Loose Translation).