{"id":33578,"date":"2025-02-19T16:37:29","date_gmt":"2025-02-19T21:37:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/?p=33578"},"modified":"2025-02-20T10:56:11","modified_gmt":"2025-02-20T15:56:11","slug":"worship-wednesday-faith-hope-trust-brennan-manning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/?p=33578","title":{"rendered":"Worship Wednesday – Faith + Hope = Trust – Brennan Manning"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Photo Credit: Quotefancy<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You. <\/em>– Isaiah 26:3<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.”<\/em> – Proverbs 3:5-6<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Be anxious about nothing, but in everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. <\/em>– Philippians 4:6-7<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

My word for 2025 is trust<\/strong>. It was a curious choice for me – Holy Spirit inspired – because I rarely use that word. However, just in the last few weeks, I’ve been diving into its meaning to the believer. Author, speaker Brennan Manning<\/a>, in his book Ruthless Trust: The Ragamuffin’s Path to God<\/em><\/a> has helped me understand it better. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Mid-way through the book, he proposes a single equation:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Faith + Hope = Trust. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Faith and trust are words often used interchangeably. How I see them now is this: Faith focuses on God’s character, His promises, and His power. We have faith in Him because of what He says about Himself and how we have seen Him act in history and in the lives of those around us and in our very own lives. Faith believes “He can.” Hope focuses on what’s coming in the future and how God, based on our faith and experience already, He will act. Hope is positive because we have experienced the movement of God as positive. Then trust relates to the relationship between God and me. I have faith He can do something; I have hope that He is going to do something (good), and I trust, because of His love, He will do that good thing for me. Our trust does extend to others, believing that God’s love and goodness includes others. However, trust is deeply personal and experiential. As we grow in trust, we grow in our understanding of His love. Out of that comes deep gratitude…even in our darkest of times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photo Credit: Quotefancy<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The reality of naked trust is the life of the pilgrim who leaves what is nailed down, obvious, and secure, and walks into the unknown without any rational explanation to justify the decision or guarantee the future. Why? Because God has signaled the movement and offered it his presence and his promise.\u201d<\/em>
\u2015 Brennan Manning, Ruthless Trust: The Ragamuffin’s Path to God<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We are only grateful people when we can say thank you to all that has brought us to the present moment. As long as we keep dividing our lives between events and people we would like to remember and those we would rather forget, we cannot claim the fullness of our beings as a gift of God to be grateful for. Let\u2019s not be afraid to look at everything that has brought us to where we are now and trust that we will soon see in it the guiding hand of a loving God.”<\/em> \u2015 Brennan Manning, Ruthless Trust: The Ragamuffin’s Path to God<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why is Brennan Manning lovable in the eyes of God?  Because on February 8th of 1956, in a shattering, life-changing experience, I committed my life to Jesus.  Does God love me because ever since I was ordained a priest in 1963, I roamed the country and lately all over the world proclaiming the Good News of the gospel of grace?  Does God love me because I tithe to the poor?  Does he love me because back in New Orleans I work on skid row with alcoholics, addicts, and those who suffer with AIDS?  Does God love me because I spend two hours every day in prayer?  If I believe that stuff I\u2019m a Pharisee!  Then I feel I\u2019m entitled to be comfortably close to Christ because of my good works.  The gospel of grace says, \u201cBrennan, you\u2019re lovable for one reason only\u2014because God loves you.  Period.\u201d<\/em> – Brennan Manning<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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[Some of my favorite books – Manning’s most famous book The Ragamuffin Gospel<\/em> is loaned out.]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

[The video below is 3:42 minutes of Brennan Manning’s understanding of God and His love for us. Powerful.]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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