Who can you trust?

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When I was a young lad financial institutions were so secure that we thought that it was impossible for one to "go bust". That is probably why I joined one at the age of 20, but here we are in the 21st century and we cannot even trust a financial institution. What is left that is dependable? What worries me is that we are told one day that everything is fine by the very people, who then have to admit that everything has gone wrong so soon afterwards.

Truth seems to disappear, all for the sake of public confidence in something that is already destined to fail. Well those of you who have been reading these messages for any length of time, will know that I believe that God can be trusted. The Bible affirms that 'God cannot lie' and that the things that He says are 'true and faithful' i.e. they are to be trusted.

What would you give for a Sports Car?

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A young man was getting ready to graduate from college. For many months he had admired a beautiful sports car in a dealer's showroom, and knowing his father could well afford it, he told him that was all he wanted.

As Graduation Day approached, the young man awaited signs that his father had purchased the car. Finally, on the morning of his graduation, his father called him into his private study. His father told him how proud he was to have such a fine son, and told him how much he loved him. He handed his son a beautiful wrapped gift box. Curious, but somewhat disappointed, the young man opened the box and found a lovely, leather-bound Bible, with the young man's name embossed in gold. Angrily, he raised his voice to his father and said, "With all your money you give me a Bible?" He then stormed out of the house, leaving the Bible on his father’s desk.

Many years passed and the young man was very successful in business. He had a beautiful home and a wonderful family, but realizing his father was very old, he thought perhaps he should go to see him. He had not seen him since that graduation day. Before he could make the arrangements, he received a telegram telling him his father had passed away, and willed all of his possessions to his son. He needed to come home immediately and take care of things.

When he arrived at his father's house, sudden sadness and regret filled his heart. He began to search through his father's important papers and saw the still new Bible, just as he had left it years ago. With tears, he opened the Bible and began to turn the pages. As he was reading, a car key dropped from the back of the Bible. It had a tag with the dealer's name, the same dealer who had the sports car he had desired. On the tag was the date of his graduation, and the words... "PAID IN FULL".

Sometimes the packaging can be deceptive. Every year in December we commemorate the birth of a child who came in humility – born into a working class family and laid in a manger.

To the religious and influential of His day, this child was unacceptable because, in their eyes, He came packaged wrongly.  In their judgement He was from the wrong place, brought up in the wrong family, and taught things that clashed with their traditions. They wanted a king born in a palace to become their Messiah and they could not accept a humble servant as their king.

Sadly even today people find the servant heart of the Lord Jesus Christ unacceptable. He just does not fit in with their expectations. 

On the other hand, the ones who discover His true worth discover the reality of the words, “To those who received Him, to them gave He the authority to become the children of God.”

Written by Stephen Treseder For Messages with Meaning (18/04/21) and Your542Day

Who can you trust?

All photos courtesy of Unsplash

We are promised much in life by so many. These promises do not always come to fruition. Would it not be wonderful if you knew who you could trust and to know that someone you trusted was 100% reliable?

The prophet Zechariah wrote, directed by God's Spirit, 500 years before the Lord Jesus was here. He wrote about a king coming in a lowly way and being transported unusually. The Bible predicted that the Lord Jesus would ride into Jerusalem on a donkey’s foal and join several Bible prophecies together. The Bible even predicted the day.

Right on that day, the Lord Jesus rode into Jerusalem on the foal of a donkey. It is astounding how accurate the predictions are and the period of time between the prophecy and its fulfilment.

Really though, we should not be surprised; we should be reassured! The Bible is God’s Word, it is true, and as such, it will be accurate, and we can trust each and every word.

When the Lord Jesus entered the city, the people recognised the prophecy and hailed Jesus as king. They threw their coats on the road for the donkey to ride over and waved palm branches and shouted ‘Hosanna’, which means ‘save us!’

They had their own idea about how that should be done. They wanted Jesus to recruit an army and rise up to overthrow what they saw as the biggest problem that they had, the Romans!

They wanted Him to be their king and to wear the crown of the king of Israel.

The people failed to see their biggest problem; they failed to see that the God who ensured the prophecy was fulfilled would meet their need in His own way. They thought they knew best; they failed to trust God.

There would be a crown, but a very different one than the one they envisaged.

The prophet Isaiah said that each of us is like a straying sheep; we wander away from God and go our own way. Rather than following God’s way, we take the crown and put it on our own head, and thinking we know best, we rebel against God’s way, which is sin. We deserve to face the punishment of our sin.

But God so loved us and sent His Son for us. The Lord Jesus Christ was sent by the Father God to be the Saviour of the world. For this, He had to go to the cross. He wore a crown, not one of gold and rubies, but one of the thick eastern thorns. He should have had an orb and sceptre, objects of power in His hands, but He took nails through them. He should have had the finest royal robes, but He was crucified in shame on a cross. He should have been surrounded by His people adoring Him, but the crowds cried for Him to be crucified.

Why did He choose this? So, we as sinners could be forgiven! So, we could escape the punishment of sin, so we could enter Heaven.

How is this all possible? It is possible because the sinless Son of God bore our sin in His body on the cross. He died for us, and we can be forgiven by trusting in Him. The Bible makes a simple but profound statement ‘Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved!’

To be saved from sin, we must trust in the Son of God.  Is it not wonderful that the One we must trust has proved to us His trustworthiness in the accuracy of the Bible. Do you trust in Him?

Messages with Meaning (03/03/21)

Written by Stuart Scammell for Your542Day