“I will wait for the Lord, who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob. I will put my trust in him.” – Isaiah 8:17

“Commit your way to the Lord…trust in him, and he shall bring it to pass.” – Psalm 37:5 (NIV/NKJV) Trust is a key component of life. Trust is what fuels friendships, marriage, business relationships, and even the church. Trust is also the basic ingredient to faith. Without trust in God, there can be no faith.

When a baby is hungry, it cries. No amount of consoling is going to stop that constant noise except food. He (She) will continue to cry until they are given food to eat. The same is true for the soul. The soul is like a baby that needs to be fed. It will cry out until it receives the nourishment that it needs to satisfy the hunger of its heart. David declared, “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.” – Psalm 42:1-2a The desire of the soul for God demands the presence of God, for if God is not who he says he is, then we cannot trust his words. Therefore we can have no faith.

The law of social science says that two conflicting forces cannot exist within our soul. If doubt of God reigns in your mind, you cannot abide in faith. Where hatred/dislike exist in your heart, fellowship with God cannot be present. Where selfishness rules your mind, you cannot dwell in love. When worry occupies your thoughts, then trust cannot find a safe place to rest.

In the same way, God has said that you, “Shall have no other gods before me.” – Exodus 20:3 He desires his rightful place in our lives, and that place is on the throne of our heart. He cannot be there without our total faith in him and we cannot develop that faith without total trust that he is who he says he is! Yet it is so easy to allow other things, other thoughts and other habits to crowd God off the throne…that is what Satan uses to destroy our trust in God.

So today, is anything crowding God out of your heart? Don’t give first place in your mind to anything else less than Christ Jesus. “Commit your way to the Lord.” – Psalm 42:1 For the apostle Paul wrote these words to the church at Philippi, “…that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” – Philippians 2:10-11

Upcoming Events…
September 16 – Fall Festival at the Kurz’s home, 5 pm
September 16 – Pray over Iowa at Center Point Road Church of Christ, Marion Iowa, 2 pm
September 19 – Blood Drive @ the Building.
September 24-27 – Demons vs. Prayer Seminar with Steve Hemphill of Active-Faith. www.active-faith.org
October 28 – Trunk-or-Treat at the church building, 3-5 pm

Spiritual Warfare Seminar…with Steve Hemphill starts next Sunday (9/24) morning at our building. All other sessions will be at the Riverview Center downtown on Harbor Drive. There will be a lite dinner Sunday evening.
Sessions: Sunday, 9/24 @ 9:00am Our Search for the Real Heaven (at the church building)
Sunday, 9/24 @ 10:00am The Covenant (at the church building)
Sunday, 9/24 @ 3:30pm Spiritual Warfare 101 (Dinner to follow) (Riverview Ctr)
Sunday, 9/24 @ 5:45pm Biblical Demons and Symbols (Riverview Ctr)
Monday, 9/25 @ 6:30pm Spiritual Weapons (pt.1) (Riverview Ctr)
Tuesday, 9/26 @ 6:30pm Spiritual Weapons (pt.2) (Riverview Ctr)
Wednesday, 9/27 @ 6:30pm Prayer Hindrances & Land Markers in Scripture (Riverview Ctr)

Please prayerfully consider who you can invite (everyone) as this seminar is eye-opening about life today in America. The prince of darkness is destroying our communities one person at a time. I solicit your prayers, support and involvement! Invitation cards are available…please use them!

This Week at MCoC…This week we will do something a little different. I will be showing a 14 minute video on Steve Hemphill’s ministry, followed by our Shepherd’s prayer, and then a brief lesson on the topic of listening. Jesus said, “Whoever has ears let him hear,…” – Matthew 11:3 many times. That means it is important. So this week we will listen to scripture speak. I look forward to seeing you!

DJA