"Living Trust" ~ Author Charles L. Robinson Jr.

ECP family and whoever reads this teaching, this teaching serves as our weekly devotion for your edification and exhortation and God's due increase and glory. I spoke the following words at Battle Focus Ministries in Danville IL at a speaking engagement (conference) on Saturday May 10, 2025 (the original intent was to provide this in video format, however, due to technical difficulties it's provided in written format.)

First and foremost, I would like to publicly acknowledge honor towards the (my) Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Jesus, a linguistic derivation of Joshua, Joshua being an equivalent of Jesus in another language meaning Jehovah is salvation, God is salvation or Savior. Jesus, "The Christ- the anointed one" - that Christ. Jesus, "The Son of God" - that Christ. Jesus, the Savior of the World" - that Jesus. Jesus, "The Messiah" - that Jesus. Jesus, "The Lamb of God" - that Jesus. Jesus, "The king of kings and lord of lords", that Jesus. Jesus, "The righteous branch" - that Jesus. Honoring Jesus- that Jesus for the purpose of identifying the deity and personage of the Jesus I'm honoring. Honor to my parents Charles L. Robinson Sr. and Joan Robinson and my children Chuckie III, Caleb, Aireale, Adrian, and Maya. Honor to the under-shepherd (the angel) of this house Bishop Bournes, to all the ministers present and afar, and to all the believers and servants of our Lord and Savior that's physically present today and afar. You are to be commended (praised) for being here today. Pat yourself on the back, it's a good thing that you came today for the purpose of encouraging yourself in the Lord. Remember to continue to pat yourself on the back day by day. It's not sacrilegious (irreverent or blasphemous) or self-centeredness, it's self-encouragement. It's written "But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in God's love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you eternal life". Now look at your neighbor and say "keep the faith". Now, this might be awkward but say "I need thee, Oh I need thee". These words come from a song writer whereby the "I" is the worshipper and the "Oh I need thee" refers to God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. This too is not sacrilegious or not taking credit from the original writer's intent. It's also written to "Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing" so we need each other to encourage each other. Do yourself a favor besides patting yourself on your own back, surround yourself around others that will pat you on your back and encourage you in the Lord - that Jesus.

When conversing with Bishop Bournes attempting to gain an understanding regarding God's heartbeat transmitted in the form of "vision" regarding today's hoped for and believed for fruit bearing of edification and exhortation for our lives and God's due increase and glory, it was relayed that the vision was any topic that helps us in our day to day walk with Christ. Today my friends, I would like to talk to you briefly from the topic "Living Trust" that has a supporting-subordinate proposition of "Constant securance in all circumstances-concerns of life" aided by an idiom of " I can't view myself as an unbeliever". Another way of saying this to better ensure clarity and understanding because "In all thy getting, get an understanding" and "communication that is good for edifying ministering grace unto hearers" is: Not talking today about your Living Trust that is defined as an inter-vivos whereby there has been a grantor, trustor or donor who has created a legal document having a trustee to manage assets to be transferred to heirs with tax advantages established while the grantor, trustor, or donor is not physically dead but living. We are going to talk about your Living Trust defined as you not while you are physically dead but right now as you are alive day to day possessing a staid reliance-dependency on a person and that person being Jesus - that Jesus. When I say your "living Trust", your reliance-dependency on Jesus has a supporting-subordinate proposition of "Constant Securance in all concerns-circumstances of life" that means your "Living Trust" looks like, exemplifies, actually is, what the bible identifies as substance that helps you maintain consistent confidence and inner-ease in all concerns of life that helps identify your personal acceptance of God's grace given to you regarding remaining united with God through Christ Jesus (not separated from God) away from the eternal wrath of God. When I say your personal reliance-dependance on Jesus (Living Trust) exemplifies you possessing an inner confidence-ease in all concerns of life has an idiom "I can't view myself as an unbeliever", keep in mind that an idiom is a combination of words that doesn't directly define the topic (Living Trust) and proposition (Constant Securance) but is directly related to the topic and proposition for the purpose of keeping you conscious-mindful of the topic and proposition. Therefore, you saying "I can't view myself as an unbeliever" helps remind you to not be or not carryout the characteristics and functioning of an unbeliever. The more you think of what not to be guards you from not being what you are not to be so you can be what you are suppose to be. Watch this, to view yourself as something and to be actually that something can be two different things, however, it all about how you view yourself because you will eventually be what you think you are. Why? It's written, "So a man thinketh, so is he". It's the unbeliever who doesn't have a Living Trust (personal reliance-dependency on Jesus) whereby you as a believer do not deny the power thereof having a Living Trust and only a form of it, you as a believer are a doer of a Living Trust and not only a hearer of it, you as a believer understand that it is impossible to please God without a Living Trust, you as a believer want to be personally pleased and you understand that you being personally pleased comes from your personal peace with God that creates a hope in your life that does not make you ashamed as God pours his love in your hearts while you are waiting for Jesus to bring you eternal life, it's written. I can't view myself as an unbeliever, it's the unbeliever who does not possess the Living Trust in the form of a reliance-dependency on Jesus which keep unitedness with God away from God's eternal wrath living day to day in confidence and inner ease. The unbeliever only possesses the inter-vivos Living Trust and you as a believer can possess the inter-vivos Living Trust and do possess the Living Trust that represents being united with God through Christ Jesus away from the eternal wrath of God living now in inner confidence and ease in all circumstances-concerns of life.

God articulates your Living Trust (not talking about your inter-vivos Living Trust here) in many different ways so you can see it, be reminded of it, and greater learn of it. Here is one way God communicates your Living Trust to you: At this point as I was speaking, I communicated non-verbally liken to a praise dance then I said, here's the interpretation - Matthew is looking up to heaven and heaven represents the presence of God, Jesus at God's right hand, and revelation from God; then Matthew looking at his heart is the revelation from God entering into Matthews heart; then the wiggling on Matthew's finger is the revelation of God that's in his heart being transferred to his hand producing a writing; then Matthew takes the writing and hands the writing to the people. This represents the Book of Matthew written by Matthew inspired by God that entails words regarding Jesus's life and ministry that was spoken to Jesus's audience, available to Matthew's audience, and now handed down to us today. How do we know this? Because it's written that "ALL scripture is useful for teaching, reproach, correction, and training in righteousness to equip man for good works". The Book of Matthew teaches you about your Living Trust. The Book of Matthew show you reproach (disapproval) about your Living Trust. The Book of Matthew identifies correction about your Living Trust. The Book of Matthew trains you about the correct conformity about your Living Trust. The Book of Matthew chapter 6 and verse 33 specifically identifies your Living Trust which says, "But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all things will be added unto you". Another translation says, "But seek his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you". Another translation says, "But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be given unto you as well". Another translation says, "But seek the kingdom of God above all else and live righteously and he will give you everything you need". It's good to look at your Living Trust in different translations because it helps you to better understand your Living Trust through various wording that does not compromise the original intent of the meaning of your Living trust. Seek means to desire or strive for; ye means you; first means foremost or most importantly; the kingdom of God (his kingdom) refers to the sovereign rulership of God through Christ Jesus resting, ruling, and abiding in your heart; his righteousness refers to the correctness deemed to be ultimately determined by God and his (God's) conformity; the all things being added unto to refers to all concerns- circumstances in life after desiring-striving for God's sovereign rulership in your heart and after desiring-striving for God's correctness and God's conformity in your life. So, "But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all things will be added unto you" means you are to desire-strive for foremost-most importantly God through Christ Jesus to have sovereign rulership, correctness, and conformity in your life then afterwards divinely all your circumstances-concerns in life are properly put in place due to you keeping God first and foremost in your life. It's the way to get yourself out of the way regarding your concerns of life and allow God to get in the way (handle for you) your concerns in life while you are walking in life day to day in confidence and inner ease given to you by God in the midst of the concerns which biblically defines your Living Trust located in Matthew chapter 6 verse 33. Here is another interesting yet appropriate perspective reading makeup of your Living Trust: Matthew writes in his synoptic the saying of Jesus "But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all things will be added unto you". Luke writes in his synoptic "if you seek to find your life you will lose it, but if you lose your life for my sake (Jesus sake) you will find it". Jesus literally says to seek and says who to seek (him) in both pericopes. However, in Luke he (Jesus) uses the word "lose" and in Matthew Jesus "does not say lose". Both have the same foundational meaning of being united with God through Christ Jesus. Being that Matthew only implies to lose (because the word "lose" is not literally labeled in Matthew 6:33), you have to see lose-surrender with your spiritual eye when you read about your Living Trust (seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness) in Matthew. What am I trying to relay to you? Your Living Trust does not only consist of you desiring-striving for God's sovereign rulership in your heart and his (God's) conformity in your life, your Living Trust consist of you surrendering for Christ sake. Although it's not labeled in word form in Matthew 6:33, it's self-explanatory from the perspective of you can't desire God's sovereign rulership in your heart if you have someone or something else having sovereign rulership in your heart. You can't desire-strive for correctness and conformity to be deemed by what God deems as correct and conforming if you have someone else influence you of what's correct or conforming (unless their influence is godly.) So, to repeat this for emphasis not redundancy, your Living Trust consist of you desiring and striving for GOD'S SOVEREIGN RULERSHIP IN YOUR HEART WHICH REQUIRES SURRENDERING TO CHRIST (to lose is to gain and in order to gain Christ, it requires you to lose some dependencies and ways.)

Now that we have illustrated biblically (Matthew 6:33) where you can look for, be reminded of, and learn more about your Living Trust defined as you being united with God due to your personal reliant-dependent relation with Jesus - that Jesus in which you are given the ability to live day to day in confidence and inner ease regarding all or any concern-circumstance that in your life, let's look at how your Living Trust is relatable to you today in real life day to day by looking at how Jesus's and Mathews audience Living Trust was relatable to them. Most scholars believe that Matthew wrote the about the life and ministry of Jesus Christ (The Book of Matthew) between 70-90A.D. The importance of the time period a period of time whereby several societal and personal experiences were going on in society (communities.) This is important because various societal and personal issues present concerns that trigger temptations that can develop certain heart conditions. One fact about Matthew's writing is that it's Markan (meaning of Mark) which means Matthew had a dependency on Mark's writing to write Mathew which is debated from the perspective of why would Matthew depend on Mark to write about the life and ministry of Jesus when Matthew was an eyewitness of Jesus just as Mark. This doesn't necessarily identify concern for temptations to develop heart conditions, however, it does provide more reiteration regarding Matthew being the one who wrote these words (seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added unto you) irrelevant if it's Markan or not. More directly issues regarding triggering temptations to develop certain heart conditions at the time of Matthew's writing to label just some are: When Jesus was talking to his audience and Matthew writing to his audience regarding Jesus talking to his (Jesus's) audience, the first converts to follow Christ were predominantly Jews (the audience was Jewish followers of Christ, Jewish non-followers of Christ, and Gentiles.) Jewish converted followers of Christ and Jewish non-followers of Christ were still worshipping in the same place whereby they worshipped together before any were followers of Christ (the Temple.) In time, the difference in doctrines became a concern fellowshipping amongst each other and there eventually became a total breakup in the Temple. Jewish followers of Christ started to fellowship just amongst each other (like-mindedness, one mind-same judgement) which was the development of Followers of Christ to The Way to Christianity and Jewish non-followers of Christ remain in the temple fellowshipping amongst each other (Judaism.) This was not only a concern from the perspective of faith but also a concern regarding personal relationships that became broken up after several of years being developed (liken to relationships today being hindered due to concerns birthed from faith such as doctrine and other issues.) The historical-foundational faith of Judaism began to see numbers decrease as a new movement in faith starts to rise becomes a concern (just how today losing numbers in faiths creates concerns.) Roman authority appointed some religious leaders (predominately in Judaism - Sanhedrin) and allowed all faiths to freely practice their perspective faiths (Jewish followers of Christ, Jewish non-followers of Christ 'Judaism', and Gentile worshipping pagan Gods), however, there was still concerns with worshippers regarding Roman authorities agendas although they were given the freedom to worship and Roman authorities adamant about their agendas. Therefore, there was concerns between Roman authorities and people within the society-communities which led to Roman authorities burning down the temple in 70AD (Liken today, in the United States of America worshippers are given the freedom to worship their perspective faiths, however, there are concerns between government(s) agendas and society-communities.) In the midst of followers of Christ within themselves, although they worshipped Jesus as the Son of God acknowledging him as the Messiah (that Jesus), they still had concerns amongst each other due to cultural issues. Some followers of Christ adhered to Hellenistic ways (Greek ways) and some followers of Christ adhered to Traditional Jewish ways. We see this later in bible text regarding the concern between the widows which is a circumstance that births deacons (Greek ways verse Traditional Jewish ways) and we see this later in biblical text regarding the Council at Jerusalem (Traditional Jewish ways of Jewish converts as Jesus followers verse learning and conformed to follower of Christ ways not applicable to traditional Jewish-Judaism ways.) Just like today there are cultural concerns between people of faith amongst themselves, cultural concerns between people of faith and people of non-faith, and cultural concerns between different faiths. Sporting events was major entertainment at the time which triggered concerns. The Olympia, Isthmian, Gladiator, and other games honored pagan Roman and Greek Gods strategically allowed by Roman authorities for mass mind control. Sporting participants (athletes) did not have private locker rooms, they washed in public bathing stations which were a concern (not appropriate by many, liken to going to a city council meeting today expressing concerns within the community.) These concerns are only a few personal concerns within society not including the surficial concern that Matthew writes about in chapter 6 regarding food, drink, and clothing. There is not to learn about why there would be a concern for food, drink, and clothing at the time. The does not imply a lack of supply in food and drink (such as a famine, etc.) like other texts identify. The concern for food, drink, and clothing seems to be a concern from the perspective of being able to purchase food, drink, or clothing. Matthew does refer to personal treasures (money) in the text and the ability of losing money. Just like today, if there is a loss in income it can create the temptation of being concerned about buying food to eat, drink, and clothing. Each concern had a desired outcome.

Lastly, in the midst of all the concerns in society and personally (just to name some) that could trigger temptations of concerns to create heart conditions for the people at the time, Jesus talks to his audience and Matthew writes to his audience using Jesus and his audience as an example. An example to "desire and strive foremost-most importantly for God through Christ Jesus to sovereignly reign in their hearts (not allowing the concerns and outcomes to consume hearts) and desire and strive foremost-most importantly to deem what's correct and conforming to what God ultimately deems as correct and conforming remaining united with God away from his eternal wrath while subsequently (afterwards) all-any concerns-circumstances of life divinely will be put in proper place being that God has been placed first in the midst of all-any concerns. Some people at the time needed to change in order to keep Jesus first in their lives. Before Matthew records Jesus's Sermon on the Mount and after the genealogy-linage from Abraham to Jesus leading up to the inauguration of Jesus's ministry (which starts the foundational - primary theme of the Book of Matthew regarding the Messiah and Savior of the world has arrived - Jesus, that Jesus), Jesus says "repent". In other words, Jesus told a society (some) that they need to change before he went into teaching his sermon about what the changes are to reflect (seeking first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added to you being one of numerous reflections.) Then after he teaches his Sermon, at the end of Matthew Chapter 6 the bible says the people were astonished of his teachings moving into chapter 7 saying the multitude followed him. As the bible continues to provide revelation in the other synoptics, John, Act, The Epistles, to Revealtions, we see that some took possession of their Loving Trusts, some took possession of their Living Trusts but walked away from it (which theologically is challenged by they never really possessed it if they walked away from it - Peter said there was no other place to go being Jesus held all the words of eternal life while some that were following Jesus left Jesus), and some never took possession of it. The fact of the matter is this, in the midst of everyone's free will choice, everyone had and has a Living Trust to be possessed which reflects a life of being consumed with the concerns of life which hinders God's sovereign rulership in hearts or a life not being consumed with concerns of life (allowing them to be put in proper place as God handles them) and foremost - most importantly desiring and seeking for God's sovereign rulership in hearts. I pray that you choose the later.

In Christ,

Charles L. Robinson Jr.

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