WITHOUT TRUST LIFE IS INOPERABLE

I got home from an afternoon of grocery shopping and discoveed I had two bags of sugar although I had puchased only one bag. I knew what happened. While checking out, the checker decided my sugar bag was leaking and therefore torn and she sent the Grocery Sacker for a new and untorn bag of sugar. Obviously, I had arrived home with both bags, so promptly the next morning I returned to Kroger Customer Service and showed my ticket.

I gave my explanation and informed the lady if that error was not in my favor, I would be there claiming my money back. However, the error seemed to be their error, and in my favor; therefore, I was there to pay what I owed Kroger. She listened then allowed me to pay, which I did--$1.99 for a bag of sugar I arrived home with that I did not pay for.

I know many people would have let that go by the board ... an error ... in my favor ... so much the better for me. NO! That is not how I operate. I am a Jesus Follower but I am also an honest man.

I try to live by moral and ethical principles of obvious integrity. However, I practice honesty because I am an honest man and NOT because I believe in God, NOT because The bible prescribes honest living, NOT even because God tells me to live honestly.

I personally practice honesty because without trust, life does not work. Without trust, there is no reaal life and we have no basis for a safe social network. Without trust, we have no society, in which we can safely participate. 

When I get into my car, I put a level of trust in my ability to arrive where I want to go. When I drive on the street, I put a level of trust in my car to function properly, plus I have great trust in Leonard and Rob, my mechanics, and their ability and integrity to maintain my car and protect my safety. When I arrive at Kroger, I have interacted with dozens of drivers that I trusted to some degree to abide by traffic rules that allowed me to arrive safely at the Kroger parking lot. When I enter Kroger, I encounter dozens of people that I put some trust in--to interact kindly and safely with me.

I trust them not to abuse me, cheat me, kill me, or in any way harm me. I put a cetain degree of trust now in hundreds of products and producers of all kinds as I survey their products as helpful to my health and guaranteed not to poison or kill me.

Do I exaggerate this? NO. My life is built on trust: in myself, my circumstances,  and the people I encounter. Without trust, I have no real existence. Even with trust, my life is at risk at all times from any of many unknown factors. I literally live via trust. I personally put my trust in theism; eg, I trust that there is a Supreme Being that I recognize as God Almighty, Jehovah God of the bible. 

I trust God as a better rationale for life than a-theism and building my life on chance that offers a predictable future of non-trust. Because I trust, 

    I take time to live - it is the secret of success.

    I take time to think - it is the source of power.

    I take time to play - it is the secret of youth.

    I take time to read - it is the foundation of knowledge.

    I take time for friendship - it is the source of happiness.

    I take time to laugh - it helps lift life's load.

    I take time to dream -  it hitches the soul to the stars.

    I take time for God - it is life's only lasting investment.

From Warner's World, I am walkingwithwarner.blogspot.com - investing in trust because without it, life is inoperable.

A WORD ABOUT EASTER

Easter is God’s Wellspring of Grace spanning that great gulf that separates life and eternity. Like a loving father, God stands at the door of His House and watches for his children to wander home. He yearns to wrap his loving arms of acceptance around us, each and all, and fortify us with his faith and amazing grace. He invites us to join His Family, assured we will find acceptance through the resurrection power of Jesus on the cross.

People spend fortunes having their fears, failures, and frustrations, analyzed. We look for explanations for perceived problems and we receive well-documented and correctly labeled diagnoses. Yet, many remain without any hint of recovery, while others endure an unending paralysis of analysis.

God’s Kingdom is a present reality lived under the personal sovereignty of an ever-present Jesus. Saying “yes” to God activates God’s power and delivers new life--the same life-transforming dynamic that delivered Jesus from death on the cross to resurrected life.

To transform human life was the great single purpose that brought Jesus to earth. That passion carried him through the hell of death that consumed him on a Roman cross and called him from the grave on Easter Sunday.

Today He invites each of us to drink from his wellspring of grace. However, for me to transfer this message into my computer, I need the power of electricity so that when I enter my office and flip on the switch, the electricity does what it alone can do: light my room and energize my computer.

When I say “yes” to God, I connect to that resurrection power that transforms my life and energizes me like the lighted bulb in the lamp, like my energized computer, like the wellspring of grace that  that my life dispenses into the lives of others.

From Warner’s World,

By means of prayer and discipline, I am able to live not more than a prayer away from God’s Power. My ”yes” to Him means I can live so that no failure need ever be final, and I can live at all times within active access of a well of Living Water that never runs dry!

This is walkingwithwarner.blogspot.com

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