Trusting IN the Lord! When you understand the power of Trust and who to Trust IN, Victory is yours!

Devotional

Day 1: When Tests Feel Like Fiery Furnaces

The heat of life’s tests often makes believers question if God sees their struggle. Yet these moments are not punishments but divine exams to prove what faith has already planted within. Just as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego emerged unharmed and promoted, God uses trials to refine trust in His sovereignty. Victory isn’t earned through grit but claimed through persistent faith in Christ’s finished work. The furnace reveals not destruction but deliverance. [28:51]

“But the angel of the Lord came down into the furnace with the three young men. He pushed the flames of the fire to the side and made the inside of the furnace feel like a cool wind was blowing. The fire did not touch them or hurt them in any way.” (Daniel 3:25, ESV)

Reflection: What “fiery furnace” have you been resisting as a curse rather than embracing as a test? How might shifting your focus from the heat to the Helper change your posture today?

Day 2: Golf Clubs and the Art of Holy Resistance

Worldly solutions often glitter like new gadgets, promising shortcuts to peace or success. Yet leaning on temporary fixes—like a golfer eyeing a shiny club—distracts from trusting God’s eternal word. True security comes not from accumulating tools but surrendering desires to the Spirit’s discernment. Every “no” to fleshly cravings strengthens the “yes” to Christ’s sufficiency. [16:10]

“Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” (1 John 2:15, ESV)

Reflection: What “golf club” have you been tempted to rely on instead of God’s provision? How might delaying that purchase or decision create space for holy clarity?

Day 3: Three-Dimensional Faith in a Flat-Screen World

Digital devotionals and sermon podcasts often reduce Scripture to pixels, but true transformation requires wrestling with paper pages. A physical Bible engages hands, eyes, and spirit, making faith tactile. Just as Jesus became flesh to dwell among us, His word becomes life when held, marked, and worn through daily use. [19:46]

“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” (Psalm 119:105, ESV)

Reflection: When was the last time you physically turned Bible pages? What distraction might God replace with revelation if you prioritized paper over screens this week?

Day 4: Leaning Posts vs. The Rock

Human relationships falter under the weight of unmet expectations, but God’s shoulders bear eternal burdens. Spouses, friends, and leaders make shaky leaning posts—their humanity limits their strength. True security comes from anchoring trust in the One who never wobbles. His stability turns shared struggles into sacred ground. [25:37]

“Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock.” (Isaiah 26:4, ESV)

Reflection: Who have you unfairly expected to be your “leaning post”? How might releasing them from that role free both of you to lean harder on Christ?

Day 5: Matching Outfits and Divine Coordination

Obedience in trivial choices—like wardrobe selections—trains spiritual muscles for weightier decisions. God cares about details not because clothes matter, but because surrendered hearts do. Each small “yes” to His nudges weaves a tapestry of trust, proving His faithfulness stitch by stitch. [48:22]

“Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” (1 Corinthians 10:31, ESV)

Reflection: What seemingly insignificant choice have you been making autonomously? How might inviting God into that decision deepen your reliance on His daily guidance?

Sermon Summary

Trusting the Lord and trusting the process by faith begins with knowing the difference between the trial and the test. The trials and tribulations taught the lesson, but the test comes to see whether anything was learned. The test is not the same thing as the trouble that came before it. The test asks whether faith will stand right now.

First John 5:4 gives the answer to the open book test. Everyone born of God is victorious and overcomes the world, and the victory is continuing, persistent faith in Jesus Christ. Victory has to move from believing, to trusting, to knowing. Victory has to get in the believer’s knower before the challenge even looks finished.

The preceding word of God is not optional. Matthew 4:4 says life does not come by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. The word God is speaking right now is for actual everyday living. The word comes to elevate God’s people to overcome and empower God’s people to have victory in a defeated world.

Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life, and His word is life. Darkness cannot push out darkness, because only light can do that. The world keeps offering broken tools to fix broken people, but the word brings the light that deals with the inside first. God gives life as His people overcome, not by skipping the test, but by passing it.

Romans 12 shows where trusting the process begins. Presenting the body as a living sacrifice means obedience in relationships, finances, health, and even small choices that seem ordinary. The Holy Spirit may deal with a golf club, a suit, or a major life decision, because obedience is obedience. Small obedience trains the soul to hear God when the stakes get bigger.

Proverbs 3:5-6 brings the matter home. Trust means leaning the full weight on the Lord, not leaning on another leaning person. The heart, the mind, the will, the emotions, and even the cravings must stop leaning on their own understanding. God’s understanding sees beyond basic facts and gives spiritual insight to know right from wrong and live by truth.

The word of God is living, powerful, and sharper than any two edged sword. The word discerns thoughts and intentions, cuts through false peace, and exposes what is fleshly and what is of God. Acknowledging God in all ways means being led by the Holy Spirit in small, big, and extra large situations. Trusting the Lord means trusting His education, His skill, His ability, and His sovereignty.

Key Takeaways

1. The test is not the trial. The trial may have hurt, stretched, and exposed what needed to be taught, but the test comes afterward to reveal what has actually been learned. The believer does not pass by calling the test another attack, but by recognizing the classroom has shifted into examination. Promotion waits on the other side of tested faith, not untested desire. [01:08]
2. Victory must enter the knower. Faith cannot stay as a thought that sounds right only in church language. Victory has to settle deeper than emotion, deeper than a moment of encouragement, until the believer knows that overcoming is already rooted in Christ. The challenge may still be visible, but the answer has already been given in the Word. [03:30]
3. The Word cuts false peace. The heart can want what it wants so badly that it baptizes its own desire and calls it peace. The Holy Spirit will never give peace that contradicts the Word of God. The Word discerns the thoughts and intentions beneath the feeling, and it cuts through self-deception when the soul surrenders to truth. [23:13]
4. Small obedience trains big trust. Acknowledging God in the small things is not childish, it is practice. The believer who learns to hear God over clothes, spending, or simple daily choices is being trained for decisions that cannot be missed. Trust becomes steady when the Holy Spirit has been welcomed into the ordinary places first. [37:42]
5. Leaning belongs to the Lord. People cannot carry the full weight that belongs on God, because every human leaning post is leaning too. Marriage, friendship, and family become safer when trust is placed in the Lord in the person, not in the person as lord. God alone has the character, skill, and ability to hold the weight without breaking. [42:26]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[00:14] - Trusting the Lord by Faith
[01:08] - The Test After the Trial
[02:44] - Persistent Faith Overcomes the World
[05:25] - Living by the Proceeding Word
[08:01] - Light for a Defeated World
[10:01] - Seek First the Kingdom
[14:36] - Presenting the Body to God
[17:43] - Resisting the Ways of the World
[21:04] - The Word Discerns the Heart
[25:00] - Trust Means Leaning Fully on God
[32:11] - Fear, Doubt, and Attitude
[36:12] - Acknowledging God in All Ways
[40:44] - God’s Track Record Can Be Trusted
[49:18] - Altar Call for Surrender

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading

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 straight your paths.” [24:50]

1 John 5:4
“For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.” [02:44]

Romans 12:1-2
“I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” [14:36]

Matthew 4:4
“But he answered, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” [05:25]

Hebrews 4:12
“For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” [21:14]

Observation questions

In 1 John 5:4, what is named as the victory that overcomes the world, and how is that victory described? [03:30]
According to Romans 12:1-2, what two instructions are given about the body and the mind? [17:43]
In Proverbs 3:5-6, what are believers told not to lean on, and what are they told to do in all their ways? [36:01]
What examples were used to show that obedience can involve everyday choices and not only obviously spiritual matters? [15:47]

Interpretation questions

If the trial teaches and the test reveals what was learned, how might that change the way a believer understands a hard season they are in right now? [01:08]
1 John 5:4 says that faith is the victory that overcomes the world. What does it look like for faith to move from believing, to trusting, to knowing before the situation has visibly changed? [04:04]
Hebrews 4:12 says the Word discerns the thoughts and intentions of the heart. How does that help explain why a person can feel “peace” about something and still be wrong? [23:13]
Proverbs 3:5-6 connects trusting God with acknowledging Him in all one’s ways. Why is acknowledging God in small decisions an important part of being ready for larger ones? [37:42]

Application questions

Is there a situation right now that has been treated like another attack, when it may actually be a test of what God has already been teaching? What would it look like to respond to it by faith instead of frustration? [09:33]
Where is the greatest temptation to lean on personal understanding right now: emotions, plans, memories, fears, desires, or cravings? What would it mean to place the full weight of that area on the Lord? [27:45]
Presenting the body as a living sacrifice touches relationships, finances, health, and ordinary habits. What is one specific area of daily obedience that needs to be brought under the Lord’s direction this week? [14:47]
The world keeps offering answers that cannot give real light. What voices, habits, or promises of the world have been shaping the way life is handled lately? What would it look like to resist those voices and receive the Word as the way to think and live? [17:48]
The Word of God cuts through false peace. Has there been a time when something felt right, but when measured by Scripture it was clearly not from God? What helped, or what should have helped, bring clarity? [40:13]
Acknowledging God in all ways includes small, medium, and big decisions. What is one small decision that could become a place of practice in hearing and obeying the Holy Spirit more carefully? [38:43]
People are too weak to carry the weight that belongs on God alone. In a relationship, friendship, or family situation, has too much weight been placed on another person to provide security, peace, or stability? What would trusting the Lord in that person look like? [42:26]

Sermon Clips

84s

#LeanOnGodNow

“``And so to the singles, you you want a spouse so you can lean on them. I'm telling you upfront, there are gonna be days neither one of you gonna be able to hold each other up. So you better learn to lean on the lord now before you say I do. Are y'all with us, church? To lean is an active choice to rely on god's character and promises rather than your own strength or plans. Do y'all hear that? It is active choice to rely on God's character and promises rather than your own strength and plans. See, when it gets real tight and real tough, you know what we try to do? We try to go back to how we used to do it. We try to use the strength that didn't work then. We forget about how it didn't work then. That's why we cried out to God. And the Lord is like, listen. When you lean, he says, listen. I need you to let your strength go. I need you to let your plans go, and I need you to lean on me, and I need you to trust that I got you in this.”

63s

#WordTransformsYou

“The word of God is truth. It's real. It's powerful and practical for everyday living because, catch this, it deals with you from the inside out. It deals with me from the it does not it deals with me from the inside out. It does not deal with me from the outside in. The word of God goes to the issue. It says that it's like a two edged sword piercing even to the division of soul and spirit. My soul, my mind, my will, and my emotion, and my spirit. The word of God comes, catch this y'all, not to be a referee, but to declare the truth to tell my soul. Listen. You need to get with what the spirit is saying because the spirit is only talking about what the word is saying.”

71s

#ScriptureOverFeelings

“Because the word of God is living, it deals with the soul, the mind, the will, and emotions, and spirit. Catch what the holy spirit live. Catch this. To show what is of God and what is fleshly and of you. Because we have I've seen it in the past where people go against God's word and they say they have peace about it. Wow. ain't God's peace. It's a it's a piece of disillusionment. It's a piece, where you have been deceived and deceived yourself because because God God would would never never go go against against this this word. Word. No, sir. The holy spirit is not gonna give you peace that goes against this word y'all. So so so even though I might be feeling peace, if I don't check it with the word Yeah. I can have a false peace and be going against God's word and then wonder why it ain't working. The”

50s

#YouveAlreadyOvercome

“you already know. Catch this. You have passed the test. Lord, have mercy. My goodness. Meaning what? You have already overcome the challenge. You already have victory in the challenge. This has to get in your knower. Yeah. It has to move from your believing to trusting to knowing. It's gotta get into your knower that while I'm in the midst of this, I've overcome, and I am victorious. Catch this. Every word I teach every word I teach and preach is about how to live an overcoming life, achieving victory through faith in your actual everyday living.”

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