MIND OF CHRIST MINISTRIES, INC.
PASTOR THOMAS E. OGLESBY
P.O. BOX 85
NUTLEY, NEW JERSEY 07110
Website: mindofchristministries.net
Phone: 973-818-2750
e-mail:mindofchrist@verizon.net
February 2021
“Let us trust the lord”
Dear Believer(s):
If I ask you to day, do you trust the Lord, could you answer yes spiritually?
If you looked back over your life, could you say definitely that you have trusted God?
I cannot say that I have definitely trusted the Lord either even after I was saved or after I totally committed my life to His work. There have been many times I have doubted and was afraid to trust God. There have been times I have worried about what other people thought, even individuals in the church. I have gone against God’s way of doing things because I wanted to do things my way. I have not obeyed and trusted God because I did not know His Word. I am being honest; there have been times that I have been disobedient because of not putting God first, and because of self-righteous.
If it had not been for God’s love, mercy and forgiveness, I would have been destroyed by satan. The Bible tells us, “Where in times past ye walked according to the course of this world, ACCORDING TO PRINCE OF THE POWER OF THE AIR, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience” (Ephesians 2:2)
Before I was saved, I was serving and living for the devil and did not even know it. I was blinded by satan. I was fooled by him and I thought I was doing the right thing. The scripture Ephesians 2:2 tells us, that people today who are not saved, live in darkness and serve the devil, and are not even aware of it.
Let’s look at what Paul tells us in Titus 3:3, “All unbelievers walk as the devil leads them. We( as unbelievers) ourselves also were sometimes FOOLISH, DISOBEDIENT, DECEIVED, serving divers LUSTS and PLEASURES (that is, we were servants, slaves to lust and pleasure, led of the devil to serve these things), living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another” Look at how we were, before God delivered us and came into our lives. We were sinful, living in sin, even hating the truth of God. We did not know how to TRUST GOD. WE DID NOT EVEN KNOW GOD.
Before I could trust God, He had to deliver me from sin. He loved me so much He did not want to see me perish. The Bible tells us, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”(John 3:16) God loved those of us so much, when we were lost in darkness, controlled by the devil and destroying ourselves, that He had His Son Jesus to rescue and save us. The Spirit of Jesus drew us to His Father so that we could become children of God. We needed a Heavenly Father. We needed someone to Trust, someone to spiritually take care of us. We needed someone to Trust in our times of trouble as we live this life. We needed a Savior, a Deliverer, a Healer, a Protector, a Burden Bearer, a Provider and a Friend. We needed someone who is merciful, forgiving, and loving. The answer to all of our needs is God. We did not know this. Amen!
How could we trust God if we did not know Him? God’s Son made it possible for us to know God. Not only to know Him but He enables us to trust God. The Spirit of Jesus in us teaches us to trust, obey and love God. Jesus’ Spirit in us enables us to have a personal relationship with God.
I had to come to know God before I was able to trust Him. I first had to be saved. I had to be saved from sin, saved from the desire in me to serve the devil, and saved from darkness by being transformed from darkness to light. I had to be saved from the captivity of satan.
Trusting God is a process. It does not happen right away. The first step is salvation. We believe in Jesus and accept His Father. We must believe and have faith in God. (Hebrews 11:6) Next we must have a renewing of the mind. (Romans 12:2) We must go from worldly, fleshly, and human thinking to spiritual thinking. Having faith in God, and having a spiritual mind, leads to obeying God. Obeying God shows that we love Him.
Walking with God and being transformed by Him is a lifelong process. I was lost, He had to deliver me. I had to come to know that I needed Him. I had to be taught and learn that I could trust God. This is where the eternal love, mercy, and forgiving nature of God helped me and brought me to know that not only could I trust God but I needed to trust Him.
My second question to you today is Do you trust God? I believe that you do. I believe that as you walk with Him, you are learning to trust Him more. Walking with God and learning to put your trust in Him is a process. Let me be clear about this. When the Spirit of God brings you into the spiritual knowing that you want to serve God with all of your heart, and you make a commitment to do this, then all hell will break loose. The devil will attack you in every way that he can. The devil does not want you to become a yielded vessel for God. satan does not want God to channel His Power through you.
The devil knows that once you commit to the obedience of God, once you commit to trusting God, his strongholds in your life and in the lives of others will be torn down. He will bring every demonic force that he can against you. He will fight you in every area of your life. He will attack you in your mind. You cannot do the work of God. You are not good enough, look at your past mistakes; no one is going to believe you. You do not know the Bible. Nobody wants to hear about Jesus. You will lose all of your family and friends. You are going to fail. Is God telling you to share His Word?
The enemy will attack your body with sickness. You cannot serve God and you are experiencing so much pain. You are not going to get healed. You will always be sick.
The devil will lie and lie to you. But here is how the devil causes many of God’s people to give up. He comes against them financially. He attacks their finances. The person loses their job. Their bills get behind. They do not have monies for their basic needs. The person starts to believe I was doing better when I was not serving God. I had money. I could pay my bills. I have got to get another job. I don’t have time to serve God. I can no longer give to the work of God because I don’t have any money. If you are going to prosper in God’s Kingdom, giving to Him is necessary. The Bible tells us in Malachi 3:8, “ Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offering.” Many Christians give God left over’s, others give emotionally, other give when they have, and some give foolishly, giving without using wisdom. If you want to be blessed financially, give to God regularly. But Pastor Oglesby, I cannot afford it. I do not have any money. Give what you have! Give of your time, your talents, and knowledge. Oh but I cannot trust God. He does not care for me. I must put all of my efforts into getting another job. This will solve all of my problems. I believe that when Christians have financial problems, most of them give up on God.
Once you totally commit to trusting God, all hell breaks loose. The devil is out to destroy you. It is a time of testing. God will put you in a situation where you must learn to trust Him because He is the only One who can bring you out of the problem or trouble. God allows it to happen in order to prepare you to do His work, to do His will, to trust Him totally, and to let you know that in Him you have more power than the devil.
Learning to trust God and becoming obedient to Him shows that we love Him. Today many people trust the media, trust politicians, trust money, their jobs and people. We are living in difficult times, racial problems, division among politicians, and the many concerns, deaths, and uncertainties regarding Covid-19. These are Trusting Times. We need to trust God.
We are learning to Trust God. Moses did not start out fully Trusting God. When God told him to go to Egypt to deliver the Israelites, Moses replied, “I have never been a good speaker. I wasn’t one before you spoke to me, and I’m not one now. I am slow at speaking, and I can never think of what to say.” Moses begged, “Lord, please send someone else to do it.”(Exodus 4:10, 13) But Moses learned to trust God and became a great prophet who spoke with God face-to face.
Peter had to learn to Trust Jesus. He denied Jesus three times but later sick people was laid beside the road and as Peter passed by, they were healed by his shadow. (Acts 5:14)
Saul of Tarsus tried to killed all of the followers of Jesus and destroy the Church. But on the road to Damascus, he heard the voice of Jesus calling him. He was transformed and became an apostle. He wrote three-forths of the New Testament and he trusted Jesus, and was willing to die for Him.
In Luke 1:31-34, this is what it says, “And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end. Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? Mary’s question was answered and she trusted God.
Jesus never doubted God. He trusted His Father. The Holy Spirit allows and enables you and me to Trust God. Let Us Learn to Trust Him.
Please join me in prayer; “Dear God, we live in uncertain times but You are not only with us, You want to guide us. Father, bring our spirits into agreement with You, so that we manifest Your love, peace, joy, and wisdom. Following Your will enables us to have spiritual peace in all that we do and in every area of our lives. Father God, we need Your divine help in dealing with the coronavirus and all of the other problems we face as individuals and as a nation and world. Teach us to trust You and obey. We pray this prayer in the Name of the Father, son and Holy Spirit. Amen!”
Thank you so much for your financial help and prayers. This is a critical time that people really need to know about the love and power of God. So many people need to hear the Truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
We Can Trust God,
Pastor Thomas Oglesby
Pastor Thomas Oglesby
