Trust is a hard thing. It’s difficult for some people to trust those closest to them, even without any fault to their name. I can see how it would feel even more difficult to trust a big God with control over everything. But it doesn’t have to be difficult if we have a relationship with God & know He is trustworthy.

Don’t get me wrong, even people that KNOW God, know His character, and know He only wants to help us can struggle to trust Him in some areas of their lives.

We get caught up in fear & worry that He doesn’t know what we want, what we need & what WE think is best. But He does. He knows all these things & more that we don’t know & can’t know right now.

I’m going to give you some tips on how to trust God with everything in your life, but before that, I want you to know WHY it’s important to trust Him with everything.

1. God Knows Everything & Has Perfect Wisdom
   1. Isaiah 40:28, “Have you never heard? Have you never understood? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of all the earth. He never grows weak or weary. No one can measure the depths of his understanding.”
2. God is the Most Faithful
   1. 2 Timothy 2:13, “If we are unfaithful, he remains faithful, for he cannot deny who he is.”
3. God Loves You the Most
   1. 1 Peter 5:7, “Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.”

Here are my 4 tips on How to Trust God With Everything in Our Lives:

1. Know Who God Is
   1. Know His character. Cultivate a relationship with Him. Understand how faithful He is, and how much He loves us.
   2. Psalm 9:10, “Those who know your names trust in you, for you, O Lord, do not abandon those who search for you.”
2. Reflect On His Faithfulness
   1. Remind yourself when He was there to protect you, to help you & to give you guidance & understanding. Even if you didn’t attribute it to God back then but KNOW it WAS Him.
   2. 2 Thessalonians 3:3, “But the Lord is faithful; he will strengthen you and guard you from the evil one.”
3. Become More Patient In His Timing
   1. God plans things better than we ever could. He knows better than us.
   2. Ecclesiastes 3:11, “Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end.”
4. Do What God & the Bible Tells You to Do
   1. Spend time in the Word to know all the things God wanted us to know & hold close to our hearts, then OBEY the principles & way of life it tells you to do.
   2. When God tells you to do something, despite how out of place it may sound to YOU, do it.
   3. Proverbs 3:5-6, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.”

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It sounds good to be in control, right? You are making sure everything is going well around you, doing your best to help others be their best and making sure you are controlling yourself, too.

Plus, people talk about how important it is to have self-control, so control MUST be a good thing. Right?

It’s really not and believing you can control everything around you is a fallacy.

Yes, it’s important to control ourselves, like our attitudes, actions & behaviors, but that’s it. We LITERALLY cannot control anything else but ourselves. And even the plans we make for ourselves, we can’t control if those things work out because it’s something outside of ourselves.

But we THINK we CAN control everything around us and that gets us in trouble.

We can be troubled emotionally and sometimes financially and with others.

You push and push and push for things to happen that you want or believe should happen but don’t realize it’s much easier to rely on God to manage things. But you’re worried God doesn’t know what you want (He does) and that it won’t happen when you want it if you leave it to Him (it might not but only because He knows the best timing), and if you DO leave it to Him, you won’t get the credit.

Here are 5 reasons why we need to let go of all ideas of control and surrender our lives to God:

1. We Don’t Know Everything
   1. The understanding we have about the world is VERY limited. We don’t know as much as we think we know.
   2. Proverbs 3:5-6, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.”
2. Feeling Anxious & Worried Isn’t Fun
   1. Wouldn’t it be nice if we didn’t have to worry anymore? That’s what can happen (for the most part) if we allow God to handle everything in our lives.
   2. 1 Peter 5:7, “Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.”
3. We Should Be Trusting God With Everything
   1. He is our Heavenly Father and we should trust Him like He is.
   2. Romans 8:28, “And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.”
4. It’s Never Us Anyway
   1. Everything that happens in life is because of God. We think it’s in our own abilities, but it’s not. And the sooner we recognize this, the easier it will be to surrender everything to God and no longer feel the need to try to control everything.
   2. Proverbs 16:9, “We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps.”
5. God Knows Everything & Controls Everything
   1. Despite what you might think, He’s got all the control. We think we have control because God allows us free will to either make the choice to surrender to Him in faith & trust, or to get in our own ways and struggle a bit more.
   2. Jeremiah 29:11, “’For I know the plans I have for you,’ says the Lord. ‘They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.’”

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I know I’m not the only one that has ever felt less than or not as great in what I do or that I don’t matter. And that’s why I am doing this episode today.

Yet another perfect moment of God telling me what I should talk about while driving home today. And it all came about on a verse I had read earlier in the day that really hit me.

1 Corinthians 12:14-22, “Yes, the body has many different parts, not just one part. If the foot says, “I am not a part of the body because I am not a hand,” that does not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear says, “I am not part of the body because I am not an eye,” would that make it any less a part of the body? If the whole body were an eye, how would you hear? Or if your whole body were an ear, how would you smell anything? But our bodies have many parts, and God has put each part just where he wants it. How strange a body would be if it had only one part! Yes, there are many parts, but only one body. The eye can never say to the hand, “I don’t need you.” The head can’t say to the feet, “I don’t need you.” In fact, some parts of the body that seem weakest and least important are actually the most necessary.”

I read it and started thinking about how so many of us need to hear this and understand why it’s bad to exclude others and how important each one of us is to God and to the community & activities He put us in.

We REALLY matter. We just need to believe this truth & trust that no matter how low we feel when measured up to others, who we are and what we do matters to the One that matters most.

Let me tell you how this is true.

Here are 5 big ways that God shows us how really important we are to Him:

1. He Created Us
   1. Genesis 1:27, “So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.”
2. He Blessed Us With Talents & Giftings to Share With Others
   1. 1 Corinthians 12: 7, “A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other.”
3. He Sent His Son to Save Us
   1. God made the ultimate sacrifice to bind us to Him forever.
   2. 1 John 4:9-10, “God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love-not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.”
   3. 2 Corinthians 5:21, “For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.”
4. He’s Always There When We Need Him
   1. Prayer is the key here. He is only a prayer away.
   2. Psalm 46:1, “God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble.”
5. He Tells Us He Loves Us All the Time
   1. Jeremiah 31:3, “Long ago the Lord said to Israel: ‘I have loved you, my people, with an everlasting love. With unfailing love I have drawn you to myself.’”
   2. Isaiah 41:10, “Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.”

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We have the opportunity to be impactful everywhere we go.

The Bible puts a big emphasis on being a positive example to others, as we are all called to be a light in the world to draw as many people as possible to Christ. As Christ-followers, we must live a life that reflects who He is, meaning His character & His love.

We must live in a way that reflects who God is, and the teachings of His word, demonstrate integrity & love to others, and lead with righteousness in our actions & reactions with others. It should be our goal to imitate Christ in everything we do.

You might want a partner who has strong faith & dependence on God but lack that in yourself. You may want more people to be kind & compassionate to you, but are you TRULY giving that to others? Maybe you want certain people to spend more time with you, but if you aren’t making an effort to be with them first, you aren’t giving what you’re asking for.

The best thing we can do is continue to cultivate a deeper relationship with Christ, to better understand what He’s calling us to do & better know His character that we are working to reflect every day.

Here are 5 tips of How to Be a Better Reflection of Christ & Positive Influence On Others:

1. Live According to God’s Word
   1. Make sure your life & everything you do is aligned with God’s will for you.
   2. James 1:22, “But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves.”
2. Serve Others with Humility
   1. Doing as Christ did, serve others with selflessness & humility while finding ways to use the talents & gifts God has blessed you with to help & uplift others.
   2. Matthew 23:11-12, “The greatest among you must be a servant. But those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”
3. Develop & Exhibit the Fruits of the Spirit
   1. Allow the Holy Spirit to fill you with: Love, Joy, Peace Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness & Self-Control.
   2. Galatians 5:22-23
4. Be Authentic & Genuine in Everything You Do
   1. Ephesians 4:23-25, “Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Put on your new nature, created to be like God-truly righteous and holy. So stop telling lies, Let us tell our neighbors the truth, for we are all parts of the same body.”
5. Lead Others to Christ
   1. 2 Corinthians 5:20, “So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, ‘Come back to God!’”
   2. Matthew 28:19-20, “’Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. An be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.’”

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I want to share some questions with you today on what to consider when evaluating your current friendships and moving into new ones. But first, please know that I am NOT saying we cannot be friends with people that aren’t at the same spiritual level or maturity that we are or even people that don’t know God yet. It’s more a matter of who you allow to INFLUENCE you in life. And often, the people we spend the most time with happen to influence who we are & how we live our lives quite a lot.

But even Jesus spent time with some unsavory people who later called Him master. But the biggest thing we need to remember with Jesus is He was STILL able to have an unwavering commitment to righteousness & NEVER compromised His own values or committed a sin. Jesus had a steady focus on what He was here to do & not get caught-up, but we as fallen people cannot match that level or righteousness. We surrender our lives to God every single day to more and more mirror the image of Christ, but we still suffer from downfalls. So we have to be more careful than Jesus needed to be.

Luke 5:31-32, “Jesus answered them, ‘Healthy people don’t need a doctor-sick people do. I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners and need to repent.’”

Here are 5 Questions I would ask myself when reviewing my current & future friendships to determine how viable they are:

1. Are Your Friends a Reflection on Who You Are Working to Be?
   1. Are your friends similarly working daily to adopt the attitude of Christ?
   2. Proverbs 13:20, “ Walk with the wise and become wise; associate with fools and get in trouble.”
2. Do Your Friends Challenge & Support You?
   1. Are you able to be yourself around them?
   2. Proverbs 27:17, “As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend.”
3. Do Your Friends Live to Please the World or God?
   1. Who are they trying to impress?
   2. Romans 12:2, “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.”
4. Are Your Friend Respectful of Your Values & Beliefs?
   1. Even if there is a difference of opinion (Christian or not), is respect still present there?
   2. Colossians 3:16-17, “Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts. And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father."
5. Are Your Friends People God Wants You to Have in Your Life?
   1. Have you prayed about it?
   2. 2 Corinthians 6:17, “Therefore, come out from among unbelievers, and separate yourselves from them, says the Lord. Don’t touch their filthy things, and I will welcome you.”
   3. 2 Cor 6:17 (GW), "The Lord says, “Get away from unbelievers. Separate yourselves from them. Have nothing to do with anything unclean. Then I will welcome you.”

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Show Notes:
I recently read a definition for repentance: “a change of mind; a turning from sin, accompanied by a turning to God”

Matthew 18:3, “The he said, “I tell you the truth, unless you turn from your sins and become like little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven.”

The point of repenting is to admit to something you know you shouldn’t have done or been involved in, ask God for forgiveness & return back to Him. But we sometimes forget about the ‘return to Him’ part & just take His forgiveness for granted & believe it will all be fine because we repented.

There needs to be GENUINE repentance & humbling from us for it to mean something.

2 Chronicles 7:14, “Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land.”

But it can feel difficult to get from under sinful behavior because our heart for God is fighting the desire to be like the world & fit in with all their foolishness.

1 John 2:15-16, “Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world.”

Here are my 4 tips on how to resist temptation less:

1. Pray About Everything
   1. There is nothing too small you could pray about. And if you pray about EVERYTHING, you will pray about this thing you are tempted to do & probably end up not doing it.
   2. James 1:5, “If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking.”
2. Read the Bible Daily
   1. Spend time in His word. Really read it & study it to truly understand the context, the nuances & the specific message being given.
   2. Psalm 119:11, “I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.”
3. Don’t Compromise Yourself
   1. If you’re in the vicinity of where temptation and sin are about to go down, you gotta leave.
   2. 1 Corinthians 10:13, “The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.”
4. Ask Yourself, “Is this Christ-like behavior?”
   1. Honestly ask yourself if what you are about to do is something Jesus would participate in. And allow the Holy Spirit, which you receive when accepting Jesus into your heart, to guide you in what you do.
   2. Galatians 5:16, “So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves.”
   3. Romans 12:2, “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.”

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Show Notes:
God wants us to surrender our lives to Him & ask for His help.

But, we often live to impress the world instead of honoring the Father of Everything.

Galatians 1:10, “Obviously, I’m not trying to win the approval of people, but of God. If pleasing people were my goal, I would not be Christ’s servant.”

We think everything needs to be perfectly planned & ready to go before we can take that next step.

Matthew 11:28-30, “Then Jesus said, ‘Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.’”

But we don’t. God is the only one that loves completely unconditionally. He wants us to come to Him, battered & broken, willing to surrender it all to Him

Romans 5:8, “But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.”

Here are 5 tips I have for you to no longer allow the need to be perfect or ready get in your way of taking the next step:

1. Stand Up to Your Insecurities
   1. 2 Corinthians 12:9-10, “Each time he said, ‘My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.’ So not I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
   2. God’s strength is seen through our vulnerabilities.
2. Practice Giving Grace & Forgiveness to Yourself & Others
   1. God calls us to forgive others & extend grace, just as He did and does every single day.
   2. Ephesians 4:32, “Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.”
3. See Your Life as a Way to Serve God & Others
   1. Give your life to God so He can use your life to save someone else.
   2. Galatians 6:9-10, “So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up.”
4. Trust God, as You Have With Other Things
   1. If you’re still stuck on how to trust Him, just ASK Him to help you trust Him.
   2. God has done SO MUCH for you already, so why not trust Him now?
   3. Proverbs 3:5-6, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding; think about Him in all your ways, and He will guide you on the right paths.”
5. Spend TONS of Time in Prayer
   1. Prayer doesn’t need to ONLY be reserved for quiet time/devotional time. You can pray any time you want.
   2. Philippians 4:6-7, “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.”

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Show Notes:
I know it’s important to be confident in who we are & to believe in ourselves, but we cannot rely on ourselves more than we rely on God because He needs to be first in our lives.

Proverbs 3:5-6, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.”

When we believe WE are all we need, we isolate ourselves from everyone else and from God. You might feel like it doesn’t matter because you FEEL like He hasn’t come through for you, but you’re probably wrong on that, too. God comes through for all of us, even when we don’t ask because he’s a loving God. But we often struggle to realize this because what we are BLESSED with doesn’t always look like what we hoped for. And that’s for the better.
How many times have other people let you down? How many times have you let yourself down?

God won’t let you down. The only reason you might THINK he will is when you have expectations of something that doesn’t end up happening. But that’s not his fault. What you wanted just happened to not align with His will and you didn’t have the faith & trust in God to believe He will ALWAYS have your best interests in mind.

Here are 5 reasons you should only rely on God:

1. God Never Changes
   1. God will ALWAYS be there for you. He is steadfast in character & promises, despite how we might be acting up & allowing our circumstances to dictate our thoughts & actions.
   2. Numbers 23:19, “God is not a man, so he does not lie. He is not human, so he does not change his mind. Has he ever spoken and failed to act? Has he ever promised and not carried it through?”
   3. Hebrews 13:8, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” NLT
2. We Can Do Nothing Significant Without God
   1. God is everything for us in life. He is the one and only source and without Him, we could do nothing of significance.
   2. Proverbs 16:3, “Commit your actions to the Lord, and your plans will succeed.”
3. He Provides Protection & Guidance
   1. He is the one you can call in times of trouble that will ALWAYS answer the call.
   2. Psalm 46:1, “God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble.”
4. He’s the Perspective We Need
   1. We can’t get caught up in believing we can be self-sufficient without God because it’s not true. We need Him more than we think. When we rely on God, we keep the perspective on what’s more important: Him.
   2. Philippians 4:13, “For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.”
5. It Creates Relationship with Him
   1. The more we rely on God & trust Him to handle things, the deeper our relationship with Him gets. We need to surrender DAILY to Him everything in our world.
   2. Psalm 55:22, “Give your burdens to the Lord, and he will take care of you. He will not permit the godly to slip and fall.”
   3. 1 Peter 5:7, “Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.”

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