House of Hope Online

November 5,2023

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As I sought the Lord during worship, the word I received for today was “Trust in Jesus.”  It is simple advice for us but often we fail to do that when trials come.  Fear can rush in when war breaks out in the Middle East, or when cash tightens and job prospects dim.  A health issue may have you worried.  Whatever the circumstance, whatever the stress, we are called to trust in Him for all things, and the scriptures are rich with exhortations for us to do just that.

Romans 15:

 12 And again Isaiah says, “THERE SHALL COME THE ROOT OF JESSE, AND HE WHO ARISES TO RULE OVER THE GENTILES, IN HIM SHALL THE GENTILES HOPE.”

 13 ¶ Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus descended from the line of Jesse, who was King David’s Father.  King David represented the 14th generation after Abraham, and there were 28 generations from David to Jesus.  Therefore, Jesus is referred to from time to time in the scriptures as the Root of Jesse and the Son of David.

Romans 15 tells us that Jesus, as the Root of Jesse, has arisen to be our ruler.  Therefore, we are not to be ruled by our circumstances, by our jobs, by our social circles, nor by our families.  We are to be ruled by the Root of Jesse.  He is our hope, and when we trust Him, the God of hope will remove our fear and fill us with all joy and peace in believing so that we may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

I cannot overemphasize the importance of this spiritual principle.  Trusting the Root of Jesse means delighting in the Lord, and not fretting about our circumstances, no matter how dire they appear.  That is what King David, the son of Jesse, tells us in Psalms 37 and 31.

Psalms 37:

 1 ¶ ([A Psalm] of David.) Do not fret because of evildoers, Be not envious toward wrongdoers.

 2 For they will wither quickly like the grass, And fade like the green herb.

 3 Trust in the LORD, and do good; Dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness.

 4 Delight yourself in the LORD; And He will give you the desires of your heart.

 5 Commit your way to the LORD, Trust also in Him, and He will do it.

The Hebrew word for “Delight” in verse 4 means to be soft and pliable like clay as we worship before the Lord.  That means we are to allow Him to shape the desires of our heart.  Verse 5 assures us that if we trust in Him, He will do it!

Psalms 31:

 24 Be strong, and let your heart take courage, All you who hope in the LORD.

The Hebrew word for “hope” in Psalms 31:24 means to trust, to wait, and to be patient.  So, our trust in Jesus is our source of hope, and it specifically requires us to wait on Him.  Psalms 37 also goes on to reinforce this spiritual doctrine of resting and waiting on the Lord.

Psalms 37:

 7 ¶ Rest in the LORD and wait patiently for Him; Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, Because of the man who carries out wicked schemes.

 8 Cease from anger, and forsake wrath; Do not fret, [it leads] only to evildoing.

 9 For evildoers will be cut off, But those who wait for the LORD, they will inherit the land.

 10 Yet a little while and the wicked man will be no more; And you will look carefully for his place, and he will not be [there.]

When I watch or listen to the news, I admit to getting aggravated with those in our society who perpetrate evil in defiance of the word of God, and I get especially upset with government leaders whose policies represent antichrist principles.  It is easy to fret and get angry with evildoers, but David is telling us to cease from anger and fretting.  Those of us who wait and trust in Jesus express our faith.  We therefore have an inheritance and verse 10 promises that the wicked have little time left.

Romans 8 explains that our very salvation is based in trusting in Jesus, who is our hope of the unseen, which is hope despite our present circumstances.

Romans 8:

 24 For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one also hope for what he sees?

 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.

 26 ¶ And in the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for [us] with groanings too deep for words;

 27 and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to [the will of] God.

 28 And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to [His] purpose.

Our trust in Jesus for all things is hope for what we do not see, and we are to persevere in that and wait eagerly for our circumstances to come into compliance with the promises of God.  This has important implications for us, especially during trials.  In the face of job loss or health challenges, we are to hope, persevere, and wait eagerly for Jesus’ provision and healing.  We trust God to cause all things to work together for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.

In the case of job loss, we talked a few weeks ago about Jesus’ promise from Revelation 3:8 that He has placed before us an open door.  Therefore, losing a job is not a closed door, but an open one.  That is hope in the unseen, and Hebrews 11 teaches that as the definition of faith.

Hebrews 11:

 1 ¶ Now faith is the assurance of [things] hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.  The word “assurance” in the Greek means substantive, concrete confidence.  That means a firm confidence, not a shaky wish.  The Greek word for “conviction” means a convincing proof or evidence.  Therefore, trusting the Root of Jesse means being firmly confident and convinced that He will deliver us from our circumstances to a place of joy and peace and Holy Spirit power.  Our thinking and our words and our actions then follow suit because what happens in the Spirit rules our spirit which in turn rules our heart and mind.  The Root of Jesse arises to rule over the Gentiles, and in Him we hope.

In fact, without trusting the Root of Jesse as provider, healer, and ruler, it is impossible to please God.

Hebrews 11:

 6 And without faith it is impossible to please [Him], for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and [that] He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.

 7 By faith Noah, being warned [by God] about things not yet seen, in reverence prepared an ark for the salvation of his household, by which he condemned the world, and became an heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.

 8 By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he was going.

 9 By faith he lived as an alien in the land of promise, as in a foreign [land], dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, fellow heirs of the same promise;

 10 for he was looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.

Abraham was looking for a city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God!  We are to trust the Root of Jesse to lead us to that place where He is the architect and builder.

Recently, I was seeking the Lord in worship while listening to a worship song by Kevin Prosch, titled “Every Ray.”  As I worshipped, these lyrics ministered to me and stirred my spirit:

Everywhere that I go, there You are.

Everywhere that I go, there You are.

There You are, Lord, there You are…

As I worshipped, the Lord began to flash me back to events in my life when He was there.  Starting when I was an infant and my dad suffered from alcoholism to the day when I was two years old and my dad died in his sleep as I slept next to him, the Root of Jesse was there.  When I felt the touch of the Holy Spirit for the first time in St Joseph’s Church in West Aliquippa, PA through my backsliding days when I began to trust in my own abilities instead, still the Root of Jesse was there.  When I fell from the faith during my college years, He was still there to save me from a potentially fatal car accident, and He sent ministering angels to me immediately afterwards.  Even when I resisted His call early in my marriage, and our marriage suffered as a result, the Root of Jesse stepped in and drew me to Him, resulting in my salvation.  And when I left my job in obedience to Him, and was out of work for four months, there He was, calling me to a three-day fast which ended with a job offer on my son Anthony’s 14^th birthday.  Birthday cake is a wonderful way to break a fast!  And ever since, the Root of Jesse has provided for our family according to His riches in glory.

The fact is, everywhere we go, there the Root of Jesse is.  He arises to rule over our circumstances, and in Him is our hope.  Therefore, trust in the Lord, delight yourself in Him; and He will give you the desires of your heart.  Cease from anger, forsake wrath, do not fret.  Instead trust in Him, rest in Him, wait patiently, and He will do it.

Let us pray.

Father God, thank You for the Root of Jesse, who is our Architect and Builder.  Help us to trust in Him for all things in our lives, in all circumstances, that we might cease from anger and fretting.  By Your Holy Spirit, give us patience to wait on Him and to hope for that which is yet unseen.  And may You, the God of hope, fill us with all joy and peace in believing, that we may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.  In Jesus’ name, we pray.  Amen.