Proverbs 3:5, Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight.
Joshua 1:5, No one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.
1 Corinthians 2:9, However, as it is written: “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived”— the things God has prepared for those who love Him.
At Cottonwood Creek, I’ve been teaching a series about growing a strong faith. The Bible says in Proverbs 3:5, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight.” When you lean on something, you trust that it will hold you up. When you lean on God, you trust that God is strong enough to hold you up. When Joshua took over for Moses to lead the children of Israel into the promised land, God said in Joshua 1:5, “No one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life. Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
As long as Joshua trusted God and leaned on Him, he was undefeatable. Joshua accomplished the impossible because He was depending on the Lord. If you know the full story, Joshua did have some setbacks, but those set backs were always preceded by times when Joshua wasn’t leaning on or trusting God. Who or what are you leaning on for strength? Are you leaning on the approval of other people? That is a very shaky foundation. People are going to let you down. Nobody can hold you up all the time. However, God will NEVER let you down! Remember this thought today, “Faith requires trusting and leaning on God!”
Take care and have a blessed day!
John Mark Caton, Ph.D
What did you hear?
What did God say to you as you read today’s Scripture and devotion?
What do you Think?
How does it apply to your life?
What will you do?
Don’t just be a hearer of the Word. Be a doer of the Word. (James 1:22)
Now talk to God
This is where you turn your thoughts into prayer. It could be a prayer of gratitude or praise. It could be a prayer of confession or a request for God’s help. It’s up to you. Take a minute to write a prayer or response to what God said to you.
I’ve been going through a series of “God things” recently. That’s what I call them. Over about the last 10 years I’ve been going through tough times and had gotten away from trusting God at the very times I needed to the most. I have been getting back to my regular pattern from years ago when I was putting God first seeking His counsel first and listening. Two “God things” happened this week relating to you all at Cottonwood Creek, which is where I was attending before moving to Northern Arkansas and now follow you online. First, I’ve missed Scripture memory and Monday of this week decided to go to the Navigators website and print out the Scripture memory cards for all the verses I’d memorized as a part of the Navigators 2:7 home group series I attended in the early 1990’s. I decided to re-memorize those verses, one verse a day, which would have put the one they title Assurance of Guidance on Tuesday. Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and he will make your paths straight” Then John Mark posted this on Wednesday, which I just saw this morning. Then Thursday, the next day, I decided to write and email to my family of origin through which I’ve been dealing with a lot of issues dealing with boundary setting; this email was a long time coming and covered some things that have been happening especially over the past 3 years. I’d been praying about a lot of this for a long time and about how to handle it. I sent this at about 1 pm Thursday. At 3 pm Thursday, I received a video greeting from you that started “Hey John Gary, John Mark here…..” and proceeded with the greeting and asking if there was anything you all could be praying about for me. My first name is John and I go by my middle, Gary. To me getting a message within 2 hours of sending an email that was the culmination of 3 years of struggling over an issue asking if there is anything you all could be praying for me about and that this verse you wrote a devotional on the day before which I had memorized the day before that and the verse has been a key part of getting my life headed back in the right direction, is just a confirmation for me from God that not only has He been there always for me, ready to show me the way but that your Church is active and alive and being used in the purpose God intended the Church to be, like a safety net for believers encouraging, training, praying and caring for each other. I wanted to thank you and let you know how God is using Cottonwood Creek in my life. Of course, all glory, honor and praise to God. Thank you God for all the answered prayers that have been seeming to come on a daily basis about things I have been praying about for years. But, it has only been recently that I feel I have gotten back to a place of really trusting God the way I used to. That isn’t perfectly and will always be something to work on but it’s evident in my life the difference taking the emphasis off of trusting myself and trusting God.