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Sunday 1/04/26
Title: Love, Respect, Surrender & Trust towards God
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Love, Respect, Surrender & Trust towards God
Last week was our fifth week in our new series, entitled From Faith to Faith.
In this series we are exploring Faith and expanding our understanding of how it actually works and its role in the life of God’s children.
Faith is RELATIONAL and that largely sets the pace for everything there IS to know about faith.
The past two weeks we’ve been looking at the role faith plays in our relationship with the Holy Spirit of God Who is the One member of the Godhead Who has been sent to dwell among us and within us until the Lord’s return.
Now, this is a good moment to review once more what we have learned about faith and how it works so that as I bring you back up to speed regarding what we’ve already covered about faith in our relationship with the Holy Spirit. It will make more sense.
- Faith is the foundational support for what you CAN RIGHTLY expect from God.
- Reverence for God is foundational to faith.
- Faith is NOT difficult or hard to come by.
- Faith isn’t conjured, it comes!
- Faith is automatic if your heart is open and unprotected.
- Faith’s motive is always pure.
- Primarily this truth begins with the fact that Faith is God focused not ME focused.
- Faith is always IN God as a person, not in what we know ABOUT His will.
- Faith is always IN God and not FOR a thing or outcome.
- Faith ALWAYS bears fruit – has correlating action.
- “We believe THEREFORE we speak!” – 2 Corinthians 4:13, meaning that sincere faith in the person and character of God FIRST fills the heart to the point of satiation. Once it is the abundance of the heart – the mouth WILL ALWAYS speak the truth of its inner conviction. We don’t MAKE “faith confessions”, we confess because we are replete with faith. The difference is profound! Our hearts literally cannot help but give testimony to its deep spiritual convictions and expectations of God.
- Faith doesn’t need a shield, it IS one.
Since FAITH literally is the foundational support for our HOPE… our favorable expectation – HOPE becomes a very important thing!
JESUS TEACHES US WHAT TO EXPECT
In relation to the Holy Spirit, John 14-17 showed us what Jesus told His disciples to expect in this relationship with their new parakletos.
He said, “I am going away, but I am not leaving you as orphans. I will come to you in the person and revealing work of the Holy Spirit Who will replace Me as the parakletos in your lives. He will take of Mine and reveal it to you. He will take of my words and bring them to your remembrance. Through the person of the Holy Spirit, as you walk out your love for Me, I and My Father will come to you and manifest ourselves to you!”
So that is not only what we CAN expect from the Holy Spirit, it is also what we MUST look to Him in anticipation and trust for!
Now you might ask, ‘What does faith have to do with the Holy Spirit doing what He was sent to do? Won’t He just do it, regardless of my trust?”
Well, yes… but without ongoing relational trust – without looking to Him with expectation, you will be greatly hindered in your ability to see Jesus or learn from the teaching of the Spirit.
So THAT was the focus of our teaching two weeks ago.
LAST WEEK
Then last week I began the teaching we will finish today which was about how that plays out in real life.
After I taught the message about our relationship of trust in the Holy Spirit two weeks ago, the enemy really attacked me in relation to that very expression of trust. I needed my Helper to reveal truth and wisdom to me in an area where something in the flesh was looming as a genuine threat. It was very easy to get into worry and even fear, rather than trusting my Helper.
So, what the devil intended as a test to prove I did not have genuine trust in the Holy Spirit, actually just offered me a crash course in living out what I preached.
It was both no fun at all, and redemptive all at the same time!
During that week, I had several truths reinforced and solidified in the crucible of my daily life but additionally I learned some new things. That is what last week and this week are all about.
As I was seeking God about how to share this and how to understand all that happened, He sort of outlined it for me from first principles to ending peace.
A bullet point overview of what I expected and how I came to a place of trust is this…
- I was attacked
- This turned my attention inward – anxiety, worry… even hints of fear
- This instigated my crying out to God, but NOT in faith – more in a worried, “Help me”
- The Holy Spirit gave me a passage of scripture and I had to calm my mind down enough to “listen” to what He was saying to me through it – which was mostly that He was my defense and that I’d be fine. But the road from where I was to being fine seemed pretty long!
- Then I realized – I’m not worshiping – I’m worrying! So I set my attention upon Him. I began with worshiping Him simply because He is worthy – with NO connection to my problem whatsoever. I needed clarity and “thoughts which are all about us” ONLY breeds confusion!
- In the middle of this, the words of the passage the Spirit gave me began to reveal God as my answer – even though I didn’t know HOW it was going to manifest.
- So now I began worshiping God as my answer – and I could begin to feel the tension SLOWLY ebbing.
- Then I became aware of the fact that my worry and anxiety were expressions of low respect for God. The problem was bigger in my eyes than He was. So I confessed that sin and began to worship God as worthy of my respect, my awe, my wonder and by trust even though I did not know how He was my answer.
- As soon as I did this, I was finally in a position of surrender which gave way to genuine faith!
So in that way, every step in my journey into trust was a micro-step of love for God. By the end, all these little expressions of love ended in adoration which produces surrender and trust. Just so you know, adoration at least in my mind, is love expressed through worship.
While that may not be the textbook definition, it is what I did and what I mean when I say it.
In short, what got me through the times of attack was progressions of love leading to adoration and adoration gave way to surrender and trust!
It was worship, coming again and again to the place of choosing…
- to not be anxious
- to believe the words the Lord was giving me by the Holy Spirit of being my defense and
- in the end just choosing to believe through surrender.
As I told you last week, what I found most often was surrender was the doorway to trust.
Making that decision to surrender, to quit dog paddling it – meaning trying to keep my own head above the emotional and mental encroaching waters – gave way to faith.
Faith came as a result of surrender not as a result of bible reading, confessions, or even meditation.
That isn’t to say meditation did not play a part.
I had to seek God, to hear from Him, to make my mind focus upon HIS words to me, but in the end it was loving, devoted surrender to Who I know Him to be that has helped.
So knowing all of this was the result of my having to live out what I taught I thought, well, why waste this! I’ll use it as our next teaching – a type of illustrative stepping stone from where we are to where we need to go.
This required me to analyze what happened which led me to conclude Loving the Lord with all my heart is what brought both faith and deliverance.
Now THIS IS IMPORTANT. IT WASN’T THE NEED THAT PRESSED ME TO SURRENDER!!!
Being NEED focused only breeds anxiety and fed fear. I had to become answer focus, that is to say “God focused”.
We are told at the end of Hebrews 11’s “Hall of Faith” in chapter 12 to set an expectant gaze at Jesus Who both authors and develops our faith!
So while surrender played and plays a major part, I honestly believe it was my love for God (which love is a result of knowing and believing the love He first has expressed towards me) that led me to embrace surrender by which I came to experience victory and peace.
This reminded me of Jesus’ words that in loving God, we are keeping all the law and the prophets. By extension this means we are keeping His will – which as we have learned is the beginning of Faith.
Faith begins NOT just where God’s will is known, but more precisely and intimately it begins where God makes Himself known which in the same action reveals His will.
We read where Jesus said this in…Matthew 22:36-40, and then went to Deuteronomy 6:5 which is where Jesus was quoting this from.
I then left you with the cliffhanger that in Deuteronomy, Moses was recounting to the second generation of Israelites in the wilderness, what God had spoken to him on the mountain. Only, for the life of me, I could not remember a place in all Moses had written which mentioned this commandment specifically. So I did a little digging and arrived at the only location in scripture which Moses was most likely referencing!
What we are going to read next are the events which happened to Moses not long after he first went up on the mountain to get the first set of 10 commandments 3 months into their 40 years of wandering.
So these events Moses is remembering and RE-telling the second generations about, are 40 years in his rear view mirror!
Why is this important? Because Moses has had a LONG time to contemplate this encounter with God as well as the words spoken to him.
What came out of all that reflection? Revelation!
What was that revelation? The condensed statement “Love the Lord your God with all your heart”
This revelation cut to the core of what God spoke to Moses on the mountain. It was what the Holy Spirit revealed to Moses about the heart of God behind the command.
Now THIS is something God will do with ANY of His children and it is in fact what He MUST do, in order for faith to come!
Remember, “Faith COMES by hearing and hearing by God’s word revealed.”
Jesus Himself demonstrated this in the beatitudes when He made statements like…
“You have heard it said… but I tell you.“
Was Jesus contradicting scripture? Certainly not. If He had, He would have been contradicting Himself and God does not change!
So why did Jesus‘ words sound so different from what Moses wrote?
Because Jesus had spent time with the Holy Spirit Who revealed to Him the heart of the God behind the command.
The commandment was NOT JUST about murder, but anger and hatred. If one does not allow their heart to hate his brother, they will never come to the point of murder either.
Example…
“(21) You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ (22) But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.” – Matt. 5:21-22
In traditional fashion, God is NOT about your actions but your heart. If He has your heart He will also have your actions, and this includes obedience and surrender leading to faith!
So turn with me to Exodus 34…
One thing which will, without a doubt stand out to you, is that this command as spoken by Moses to the 2nd generation in the wilderness and as quoted by Jesus in answer to that question is not actually even mentioned in this passage.
In fact, Deuteronomy 6:5 is the first place it appears in all of scripture!
MOSES ON THE MOUNTAIN
This passage as I said to you is the time when Moses was up on the mountain for 40 days and 40 nights and wrote down the law.
He had no food or water throughout this time!
Moses came to know as no other man ever has, that man lives not by bread alone… or even bread for that matter or water either for he was in the presence of God and heard His voice for 40 days and needed nothing other than the presence of God and His words spoken to sustain his life during those 40 days!
During this time God was so revealed to Moses as to make such an indelible mark on him, that it would never be fully diminished throughout his lifetime.
As such Moses understood the message behind the message. To speak frankly – he knew God’s ways whereas Israel possessed only a surface knowledge of God through His actions.
Exodus 34:1-35,
“(1) The LORD said to Moses,
“Cut for yourself two tablets of stone like the first, and I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke.
(2) Be ready by the morning, and come up in the morning to Mount Sinai, and present yourself there to Me on the top of the mountain.
(3) No one shall come up with you, and let no one be seen throughout all the mountain. Let no flocks or herds graze opposite that mountain.”
(4) So Moses cut two tablets of stone like the first. And he rose early in the morning and went up on Mount Sinai, as the LORD had commanded him, and took in his hand two tablets of stone.
(5) The LORD descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD.
(6) The LORD passed before him and proclaimed,
“The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, (7) keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.”
(8) And Moses quickly bowed his head toward the earth and worshiped. (9) And he said,
“If now I have found favor in your sight, O Lord, please let the Lord go in the midst of us, for it is a stiff-necked people, and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for your inheritance.”
(10) And He (God) said,
“Behold, I am making a covenant. Before all your people I will do marvels, such as have not been created in all the earth or in any nation. And all the people among whom you are shall see the work of the LORD, for it is an awesome thing that I will do with you. (11) “OBSERVE WHAT I COMMAND YOU THIS DAY.
Behold, I will drive out before you the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.
(12) Take care, lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land to which you go, lest it become a snare in your midst.
(13) You shall tear down their altars and break their pillars and cut down their Asherim (14) (FOR YOU SHALL WORSHIP NO OTHER GOD, FOR THE LORD, WHOSE NAME IS JEALOUS, IS A JEALOUS GOD), (15) lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and when they whore after their gods and sacrifice to their gods and you are invited, you eat of his sacrifice, (16) and you take of their daughters for your sons, and their daughters whore after their gods and make your sons whore after their gods.”
(17) “You shall not make for yourself any gods of cast metal.”
(18) “You shall keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, at the time appointed in the month Abib, for in the month Abib you came out from Egypt.
(19) All that open the womb are mine, all your male livestock, the firstborn of cow and sheep. (20) The firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb, or if you will not redeem it you shall break its neck. All the firstborn of your sons you shall redeem. And none shall appear before me empty-handed.
(21) “Six days you shall work, but on the seventh day you shall rest. In plowing time and in harvest you shall rest.
(22) You shall observe the Feast of Weeks, the firstfruits of wheat harvest, and the Feast of Ingathering at the year’s end. (23) Three times in the year shall all your males appear before the LORD God, the God of Israel. (24) For I will cast out nations before you and enlarge your borders; no one shall covet your land, when you go up to appear before the LORD your God three times in the year.
(25) “You shall not offer the blood of My sacrifice with anything leavened, or let the sacrifice of the Feast of the Passover remain until the morning.
(26) The best of the firstfruits of your ground you shall bring to the house of the LORD your God. You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.”
(27) And the LORD said to Moses,
“Write these words, for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.”
(28) So he was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights. HE NEITHER ATE BREAD NOR DRANK WATER. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments.
(29) When Moses came down from Mount Sinai, with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand as he came down from the mountain, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God.
(30) Aaron and all the people of Israel saw Moses, and behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come near him. (31) But Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the leaders of the congregation returned to him, and Moses talked with them.
(32) Afterward all the people of Israel came near, and he commanded them all that the LORD had spoken with him in Mount Sinai. (33) And when Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil over his face.
(34) Whenever Moses went in before the LORD to speak with Him, he would remove the veil, until he came out. And when he came out and told the people of Israel what He was commanded, (35) the people of Israel would see the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses‘ face was shining. And Moses would put the veil over his face again, until he went in to speak with Him.”
From this Moses understood that God desired their hearts, their worshipful adoration and loyal devotion… to love Him with all the heart.
This orients us towards God in relationship. First as His creatures who are most like Him, then as His covenant people and children.
As Moses said, we are His inheritance.
Parents with children & grandchildren – we tend to think of inheritance as something only children receive but for parents, their posterity is the inheritance of their life’s labors. And so we are for God. As such we are to look to Him as a child does their father – honor, and respect, deference, love & trust.
Now all of this also reminds me of words Paul wrote to Timothy in a different context, but which are very much in keeping with the same truths. It is found in 1 Timothy 1:5 and says,
“Now the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith.” – 1 Timothy 1:5
Again, context is important!
Paul was commanding Timothy to deal with those in the church of Ephesus who were teaching false doctrines which promoted speculations rather than stewardship before God by faith.
The word “Love” both here in 1 Timothy 1:5 and in Matthew 22:36-40 is Agape and means – Love, affectionate regard, goodwill, benevolence. With reference to God’s love, it is God’s willful direction toward man.
In Matthew 22:36-40, ἀγάπη (agápē) means a selfless, sacrificial, and unconditional love that is expressed through action and a determined act of the will, not merely an emotion.
Key characteristics of agápē in this context include:
- A matter of the will: This love is a conscious choice and commitment, rather than being solely dependent on feelings or emotional attraction.
- Seeking the highest good of others: It involves actively seeking the well-being of the one loved, regardless of their response or whether they are considered “lovable”.
- Self-sacrificial: It requires a willingness to put the needs and welfare of others above one’s own, even to the point of sacrifice.
- Unconditional: It is given without expecting anything in return and is not based on the merit or attractiveness of the person being loved.
- Divine in origin: This type of love is a supernatural attitude that originates from God and is demonstrated through the life of a believer with the help of the Holy Spirit.
It is the noun form of the same word “love” used as a verb by Jesus when He confronted Peter regarding his love for Him. It is found in John 21:15 and reads,
“…do you have a love for Me called out of your heart by My preciousness to you, a devotional love that impels you to sacrifice yourself for Me?”
Jesus embodied agápē love through His actions, ultimately demonstrated by His willingness to fulfill the purpose of the Father though He Himself, while in prayer in the garden, expressed desire for another means of accomplishing God’s will.
Jesus’ love for the Father was ultimately lived out by His becoming the sacrifice for all humanity on the cross.
So there you have it – LOVE is led, believes and obeys!
The very lessons we covered from two weeks ago in regard to being led we can expect from the Holy Spirit Who the Father sent to us in Jesus’ name.
Therefore, the command to “love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind,” and “love your neighbor as yourself“ (Matthew 22:37, 39) calls for a practical, active, and unwavering commitment to both God and others.
Now can you see how this led me from worry, anxiety and fear to trust?
- I was attacked
- This turned my attention inward – anxiety, worry… even hints of fear
- This instigated my crying out to God, but NOT in faith – more in a worried, “Help me”
- The Holy Spirit gave me a passage of scripture and I had to calm my mind down enough to “listen” to what He was saying to me through it – which was mostly that He was my defense and that I’d be fine. But the road from where I was to being fine seemed pretty long!
- Then I realized – I’m not worshiping – I’m worrying! So I set my attention upon Him. I began with worshiping Him simply because He is worthy – with NO connection to my problem whatsoever. I needed clarity and “thoughts which are all about us” ONLY breeds confusion!
- In the middle of this, the words of the passage the Spirit gave me began to reveal God as my answer – even though I didn’t know HOW it was going to manifest.
- So now I began worshiping God as my answer – and I could begin to feel the tension SLOWLY ebbing.
- Then I became aware of the fact that my worry and anxiety were expressions of low respect for God. The problem was bigger in my eyes than He was. So I confessed that sin and began to worship God as worthy of my respect, my awe, my wonder and by trust even though I did not know how He was my answer.
- As soon as I did this, I was finally in a position of surrender which gave way to genuine faith!
Now how does this connect with trusting our Helper – that He will lead, and guide us as promised?
It shows us some of the heart mechanics of this truth. How it works and why!
Love for God…
- not searching the scriptures
- not fasting and prayer as activities done to secure guidance
- not meditation
But love for God which springs from a heart in which He is held as precious and worth sacrificing everything in this natural life for!
Devotion, honor, fear, respect all lead to an embracing of surrender. Surrender not only leads TO faith, it is also one of the first expressions of faith in God!
The faith of our yesteryears was anything but surrendered!
It was more like taking up a sword and charging at the enemy, which is confusing because faith is represented amongst our God given armor not as a sword but A SHIELD! It PROTECTS us!
The surrender which leads to trust provokes not only the keeping of the law, but the sensitizing of the heart towards desiring God’s will above our own out of perfected deference towards Him.
It comes from a keen interest in being a means of accomplishing God’s will, accommodating it or at very least doing nothing that would hinder it.
In short FAITH is GOD focused, not faith focused, or being led focused or enemy focused – it is razor focused upon Jesus even as Hebrews 12 tells us “Set an expectant gaze upon Jesus, the One Who authors and develops our relational trust in God.”
Blessings!
Tri
