I've been considering the ways in which God is faithful to me. I can reflect back and see the path he scored for me even in the wandering and questioning. God is so faithful.
In our culture definition Faith is:
Adhering firmly and devotedly, as to a person, cause, or idea; loyal..
In II Timothy 3:1-5, the apostle Paul describes the spirit of people at the end of the age:
But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!
This blows my mind. Our God is so faithful to US how can we be so quick to turn on Him? Then I realize...this is what I see in my children. Not intentional wickedness but RAW! They are naturally unthankful, unloving, unforgiving, without self control, headstrong, disobedient to parents, lovers of themselves...the list continues.
They seem to be a picture of what all mankind will be like in the last days...a foreshadowing of how raw and simply broken we are.
In the same way we train our children, draw out of them the sin and pour into them the Love of Jesus and the fruit of His spirit so they might shed this exact list of sin above...Christ too pours into us. Drawing out of us our sinful nature and replacing it, little by little sometimes, with Him.
He is FAITHFUL!
I found these comments upon faithfulness:
Paul lists nineteen characteristics, with "lovers of themselves" and "lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God" serving as bookends containing the others within them. How can a person be faithful to God when he loves himself more than God? How can a person be faithful to God when his own gratification means more to him than pleasing God? How can a person be faithful if he is a headstrong, haughty slanderer and traitor who is disobedient to parents, greedy, unloving and without self-control?
When counseling a person for baptism, the ministry almost always takes him through Luke 14:26, where Jesus states unequivocally,
If anyone comes to Me and does not hate [love less] his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple.
Faithfulness hinges upon what we value as important combined with commitment. Humans have a powerful tendency to be faithful to what they think is truly important, be it a family name, spouse, friendship, employer, school, athletic team or even certain things like a make of automobile.
Faithfulness hinges upon what we value as important combined with commitment....WOW! This is amazing.
God loves me so much and has such an awesome plan for me that He has been committed to me even when my heart is far and my sin is raw, like a child. His value for me is high.
When something is of value to us it becomes worthy of our time, efforts, affection, and pursuit. We, like God being made in His image, are maneuvered by those things of value to us.
The meaning to us is clear. We must love Christ supremely, or we do not love Him much if at all. If we are not willing to give up all earthly possessions, forsake all earthly friends, and obey Him above all others—including our own carnal desires—to be faithful to Him, our attachment to Him is tenuous at best.
Through our steadfast devotion, faithfulness, to Christ we will then be a foreshadowing of His love for us to others. To be men who are reliable, faithful.
In his commentary on Galatians, William Barclay writes, "This word (pistis) is common in secular Greek for trustworthiness. It is the characteristic of the man who is reliable" (p. 51).
Other synonyms include dedicated, steadfast, devoted, dependable, accurate, true, conscientious, dutiful, careful, scrupulous and thorough.
Prayer:
Lord, help me to see your faithfulness to me. To see that you value me above all things that you would be mindful of my life, its coarse and your will in it. Help me to follow your footsteps and be a person of faithfulness. To be reliable, steadfast, dependable, true...that I then might too draw people to you. That I might also draw my children to you. That I might show them your faithfulness so they in turn would know of your unfailing vlue on their lives. That they would follow you with a steadfast love. That they would not fall victim to those sinful natures above but rather put them off to put you on!
Amen
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