Recent events at Bethel and receiving unwelcome analysis of such stirred me to write down something about my hope and trust. I am particularly referring to the last 10 days at Bethel.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvR7JJhWVPE

I'm in circumstances I don't want to be in. I don't have what I want, when I want it, how I want it, where I want it - but God is good. The goodness of God is embarrassing, I have what I don't deserve.

Some years ago(wish I knew the date!) I recall taking the microphone at church and saying something along the following lines (loosely based on Revelation 12:11):

• Saved by the blood of the lamb - a done legal deal, all I have to do is pick it up.
• The word of testimony - declaring the goodness of God, the answer to Satan's slur on God's character in Genesis 3:4
• Declaring the goodness of God in the face of 'apparent evidence' to the contrary.
  Not giving into FEAR - False Evidence Appearing Real.

Proverbs 3:5-6 Lean on, trust in, and be confident in the LORD with all your heart and mind; do not rely on your own insight or understanding.

Job 13:13 Though he slay me, yet will I trust him.

There is a trust that goes deeper than exercising faith for specific things.

In Acts 12 we have James being executed and Peter escaping from prison with the aid of an angel. In Acts 9:32-42 we have the healing of a bedridden man and the raising of a dead woman. In Acts 5:12-16 crowds of sick gathered for healing - were these the same crowds who went to John (Matthew 21:32)? Jealousy kept many away (Matthew 3:7-10; Acts 5:17). In the middle of a shipwreck Paul held onto the promises of God (Acts 27:22-26,34-35).

Luke when writing the book of Acts refers to his earlier work, the book of Luke, with the comment "all that Jesus began to do and to teach". Is Jesus alive today? Did Jesus give us another equal companion (the Holy Spirit) as he promised, or are his promises empty?