{"id":362,"date":"2015-04-19T20:18:25","date_gmt":"2015-04-19T19:18:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pbthomas.com\/blog\/?p=362"},"modified":"2015-04-19T20:18:25","modified_gmt":"2015-04-19T19:18:25","slug":"god-is-faithful-a-reflection","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/pbthomas.com\/blog\/?p=362","title":{"rendered":"God is faithful – a reflection"},"content":{"rendered":"

What images do the words \u2018faithful\u2019 and \u2018faithfulness\u2019 bring to our minds? We might think of an ancient butler, \u2018the faithful retainer\u2019, the good and faithful servant. Or we might think of \u2018a faithful friend\u2019 who sticks with us through thick and thin. As examples of faithfulness other people might think first about a pet dog, or a \u2018faithful wife\/husband\u2019. Sermons on faithfulness usually focus on a call for us to be faithful to God. Tonight I want us to think not about us being faithful, but about God being faithful. I want us to reflect on the faithfulness of God.<\/p>\n

What do the words \u2018faithful\u2019 and \u2018faithfulness\u2019 actually mean? If somebody is faithful, it means we can trust them. We can rely on them. They will keep their promises to us. And God is truly faithful, more trustworthy, more reliable than any human being we may know. God will keep His promises to us.<\/p>\n

God\u2019s faithfulness is an expression of His eternal nature and His unchanging character. God revealed Himself as the faithful God to Moses on Mount Sinai.<\/p>\n

Exodus 34: 5 Then the LORD came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, the LORD. 6 And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, \u201cThe LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, 7 maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Deuteronomy 7 6 For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession.
\n7 The LORD did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. 8 But it was because the LORD loved you and kept the oath he swore to your forefathers that he brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the land of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt. 9 Know therefore that the LORD your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands. 10 But
\nthose who hate him he will repay to their face by destruction;
\nhe will not be slow to repay to their face those who hate him.
\n11 Therefore, take care to follow the commands, decrees and laws I give you today.<\/p>\n

Psalm 145 13\tYour kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
\nand your dominion endures through all generations.
\nThe LORD is faithful to all his promises
\nand loving toward all he has made.
\n14\tThe LORD upholds all those who fall
\nand lifts up all who are bowed down. <\/p>\n

So the people of God respond to His faithfulness in prayer and worship.
\nPsalm 71:22 \tI will praise you with the harp
\nfor your faithfulness, O my God;
\nI will sing praise to you with the lyre,
\nO Holy One of Israel.<\/p>\n

Psalm 89:5-8 5\tThe heavens praise your wonders, O LORD,
\nyour faithfulness too, in the assembly of the holy ones.
\n6\tFor who in the skies above can compare with the LORD?
\nWho is like the LORD among the heavenly beings?
\n7\tIn the council of the holy ones God is greatly feared;
\nhe is more awesome than all who surround him.
\n8\tO LORD God Almighty, who is like you?
\nYou are mighty, O LORD, and your faithfulness surrounds you.<\/p>\n

Psalm 98: 1\tSing to the LORD a new song,
\nfor he has done marvelous things;
\nhis right hand and his holy arm
\nhave worked salvation for him.
\n2\tThe LORD has made his salvation known
\nand revealed his righteousness to the nations.
\n3\tHe has remembered his love
\nand his faithfulness to the house of Israel;
\nall the ends of the earth have seen
\nthe salvation of our God.
\nPsa 100: 4\tEnter his gates with thanksgiving
\nand his courts with praise;
\ngive thanks to him and praise his name.
\n5\tFor the LORD is good and his love endures forever;
\nhis faithfulness continues through all generations.
\nPsa 117 1\tPraise the LORD, all you nations;
\nextol him, all you peoples.
\n2\tFor great is his love toward us,
\nand the faithfulness of the LORD endures forever.
\nPraise the LORD
\nGod is always faithful. So we need never fear that God will let us down. God\u2019s love will never run out!<\/p>\n

We experience God\u2019s faithfulness in a variety of ways.
\n1 Cor 1 7 Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. 8 He will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful.<\/p>\n

1 Corinthians 10 13 No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it<\/p>\n

1 Thessalonians 33 But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen and protect you from the evil one.<\/p>\n

Psalm 143 1\tO LORD, hear my prayer,
\nlisten to my cry for mercy;
\nin your faithfulness and righteousness
\ncome to my relief. <\/p>\n

Psa 146 5\tBlessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob,
\nwhose hope is in the LORD his God,
\n6\tthe Maker of heaven and earth,
\nthe sea, and everything in them\u2014
\nthe LORD, who remains faithful forever.
\n7\tHe upholds the cause of the oppressed
\nand gives food to the hungry.
\nThe LORD sets prisoners free,
\n8\tthe LORD gives sight to the blind,
\nthe LORD lifts up those who are bowed down,
\nthe LORD loves the righteous.
\n9\tThe LORD watches over the alien
\nand sustains the fatherless and the widow,
\nbut he frustrates the ways of the wicked.
\n10\tThe LORD reigns forever,
\nyour God, O Zion, for all generations.<\/p>\n

We experience God\u2019s faithfulness from day to day!<\/p>\n

Great Is Thy Faithfulness O God my Father!
\nThere is no shadow of turning with thee; Thou changest not, Thy compassions,
\nthey fail not: As Thou hast been Thou forever wilt be.
\nSummer and winter, and springtime and harvest, Sun, moon, and stars in their
\ncourse above, Join with all nature in manifold witness To Thy great
\nfaithfulness, mercy, and love.
\nPardon for sin and a peace that endureth, Thine own dear presence to cheer
\nand to guide, Strength for today and bright hope foe tomorrow- Blessings all
\nmine, with ten thousand beside!<\/p>\n

We may not be as aware of God\u2019s faithfulness as Christians who serve him in more difficult and challenging circumstances. Overseas missionaries depend on God\u2019s faithfulness.
\nMissionary statesman Hudson Taylor had complete trust in God\u2019s faithfulness. In his journal he wrote: \u201cOur heavenly Father is a very experienced One. He knows very well that His children wake up with a good appetite every morning \u2026 He sustained 3 million Israelites in the wilderness for 40 years. We do not expect He will send 3 million missionaries to China; but if He did, He would have ample means to sustain them all \u2026 Depend on it, God\u2019s work done in God\u2019s way will never lack God\u2019s supply.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2022 \u201cHe is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does not wrong, upright and just is he\u201d (Deuteronomy 32:4).<\/p>\n

\tLamentations 3
\n19 I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall.
\n20 I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me.
\n21 Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope:
\n22 Because of the LORD\u2019s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.
\n23 They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
\n24 I say to myself, \u201cThe LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.\u201d
\n25 The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him,to the one who seeks him;<\/p>\n

So now spend some time responding to God, the Faithful God, in reflection, praise and prayer!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What images do the words \u2018faithful\u2019 and \u2018faithfulness\u2019 bring to our minds? We might think of an ancient butler, \u2018the faithful retainer\u2019, the good…<\/span><\/p>\n

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