Prov 3:5-6 (NIV) Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight. Everything you are going to be doing in Christianity will be dependent on whether or not you trust God. There are six things that Jesus requires of you that if you won’t do, He won’t help you. These are desire, study, pray, believe, love, and take faith-action.

1. DESIRE: You won’t desire what God has to offer, if you don’t trust Him. Psa 146:3 (NIV) Do not put your trust in princes, in mortal men, who cannot save. This is a very important statement; but, it will mean nothing to you, if you don’t trust what God has to say. People could tell you things and you would accept them just as quickly as you would a word from God. Your body could want something, the world could teach you something, and the devil could offer you something, and if it sounded good to you, you would let it into your life.


2. STUDY: You may be reading your Bible; but, if you don’t trust God, you will be reading it as if they were suggestions, just information, and things you might give thought to. Gen 2:16-17 (NIV) And the LORD God COMMANDED the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.” That wasn’t a suggestion; it was a command. Since it came as a command, Adam wasn’t confused as to its importance.
   
   With God giving a command, Adam couldn’t think God was just making a suggestion and simply give it some thought. Adam couldn’t just ignore it because he thought God was just kidding. God gives commands so you will trust His words even if you don’t understand why. You may not like being commanded, But, if you are about to be hit by a car and someone commands you to get out of the street, you will either appreciate it when you obey; or, you may be dead. Adam and Eve ended up dead spiritually.


3. PRAY: If you don’t really trust God, your prayers will just be hopes or wishes. You will feel like He probably won’t do anything; but, it is worth a try. God will just be one of your many sources of possible solutions. But, if you really trust God, you will talk WITH Him and see what He wants to do. If after you have discussed it with God, He indicates that He is against what you want, trust will help you go with what God wants for your life. You trust Him so much that you know He is doing what is best for you.


4. BELIEVE: Faith enhances trust and trust inspires faith. The more your faith produces results, the more you experience God’s love and generosity. The more you experience God and His provisions in your life, the more you find yourself trusting Him. Trust is based on your experiences with God’s character and attitudes. As you get to know God through your experiences with Him, you trust Him because you found Him to be trustworthy. The more you find Him trustworthy, the more you believe in Him.


5. LOVE: Because God is love, your trust relationship with Him must be built on love. Mark 12:30-31 (NIV) Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” It would be impossible to have a love relationship with God without you first trusting Him.


6. FAITH-ACTION: It is one thing to think something is true; and, it is another thing to base your life on it. To step out and structure you behavior on God and His Word requires a lot of trust. Allowing God to remove certain behavior and replace it with things He wants there means you are trusting Him with your life.

Rom 5:12 (NIV) Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man (Adam), and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned. The world around you has been badly damaged by sin. The wars, the disease, the famines, the storms, the tyranny, the crime, and the suffering in general are the results of sin. It has ravaged God’s perfect creation. If you blame God for all these things rather than sinful man, it will make it difficult for you to trust Him. But, if you join God in fighting sin, you will learn how to resist your body, the world’s teachings, and the devil’s lures.

Rom 5:13 (NIV) For before the law was given, sin was in the world. But sin is not taken into account when there is no law. This is what brought the flood; this is what brought wars that didn’t bring “good guys” to the rescue. If EVERYTHING is legal, then no matter how wrong, bad, or evil you are treated, it is all legal. You can’t take them to court; you can’t call the law enforcement people; and, you can’t accuse anyone of not being fair--There’s no law against any of it. Now do you trust God and His laws?

Rom 5:14 (NIV) Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who was a pattern of the One to come. There was a tree in the garden of Eden called the tree of life. If Adam and Eve had chosen it, their bodies would have never got sick, got old, and died. But, No! They chose the forbidden tree of the knowledge of good and evil. So, because they didn’t trust God, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses. Do you see how important it is to trust God?

Rom 5:15 (NIV) But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man (Adam), how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the One Man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! Have you ever wondered or heard someone ask: “Why doesn’t God do something about all this?” He has! But, it wasn’t some mighty move that put the entire planet back in order. It was an offer to each, individual person. You can help ANYONE who wants the sin solution and God will give it to THEM.

Gen 1:27 (NIV) So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Why won’t God just make everyone get along? Why doesn’t He solve all these problem so we can have peace, safety, prosperity, and unity? When God made humans in His own image, that gave them a God-given free will. All the people on the planet are doing what they want to. This earth can have peace, safety, prosperity, and unity by everyone choosing to live according to the principles of the Bible.

Rom 5:16 (NIV) Again, the gift of God is not like the result of the one man’s sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. No one has to earn this gift, deserve this gift, or pay for this gift. They can be set free from the drives of their body, the addictive pressures of this world, and the evil temptations of Satan. Jesus PURCHASED this provision with His death on the cross so it would be free for everyone. You can trust a God like that!

Rom 5:17 (NIV) For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the One Man, Jesus Christ. Adam CONTAMINATED all humans; so, Jesus did what it took to provide the cure for all humans. Plus He opened the door for everyone to be born again into God’s family. Anyone who wants to can freely become a child of God. That’s the kind of generosity that can be trusted.

Rom 5:18 (NIV) Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men. Jesus had to give up His position in heaven and come down here and join us. He didn’t just feel sorry for us. He didn’t just send us some resources to help us feel better. He didn’t just sympathize with us and wish us well. He did what it took to provide you with a whole new life here and an eternal life in heaven.

Rom 5:19 (NIV) For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the One Man the many will be made righteous. If one man, Adam, could make us all sinners, then God established the rule that One Man, Jesus, would be able to make us all righteous, if we what Him to. Everyone has a God-given free will; they can go on sinning and doing horrible things to themselves and others. But, Jesus offers righteousness that does only good things to ourselves and others. That’s fair!