God's Faithfulness

 

God's faithfulness isn't fragile. It's unshakable. In this message, we explore the promise that the One who calls you is faithful and will surely do it. When you feel weak, tempted, or inconsistent, scripture reminds us that the Lord is faithful to strengthen and guard you. Faithful to have forgiven you, and faithful even when we are faithless.

Resources:

Grace of God 

livinggodministries.net/living_god_ministries/radio_archive/audio_files/first_corinthians_002_1_1_9_grace_of_god.mp3

Whistling Past The Graveyard

"You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance." Psalm 32:7-8

History records that "The RMS Titanic sank in the early morning hours of 15 April 1912 in the North Atlantic Ocean, four days into the ship's maiden voyage from Southampton to New York City. The largest ocean liner in service at the time, Titanic had an estimated 2,224 people on board when she struck an iceberg at around 23:40 (ship's time) on Sunday, 14 April 1912. Her sinking two hours and forty minutes later at 02:20 (ship's time; 05:18 GMT) on Monday, 15 April, resulted in the deaths of more than 1,500 people, making it one of the deadliest peacetime marine disasters in history." One of the most memorable stories of the sinking of the Titanic is the story of the 8 bandmembers who continued to play music as the "unsinkable" ship descended into the depths of the ocean. It is not clear as to why the band members continued to play, but Titanic Survivor, Charlotte Collyer, provides a clue. “They kept it up to the very end. Only the engulfing ocean had power to drown them into silence. The band was playing ‘Nearer, My God, to Thee.’ I could hear it distinctly. The end was very close.” The song, Nearer, My God, to Thee, is a 19th-century hymn said to be written in reference to Genesis 28, where Jacob had a dream in which God spoke to him. In the dream, God tells Jacob, "I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you (Genesis 28:15)." One might surmise that the band members had a faith in God that led them to continue playing music to the point of it costing them their lives, perhaps in order to calm themselves and the passengers in a traumatic situation. Could it be that the song they played was their way of showing their trust in God as they played for the last time? There is an old saying that describes this type of circumstance. It is called "Whistling past the graveyard." To whistle past the graveyard means "to attempt to stay cheerful in a dire situation; to proceed with a task, ignoring an upcoming hazard, hoping for a good outcome. To enter a situation with little or no understanding of the possible consequences." Graveyards can be scary places to the average person. They conjure up fears of death, ghost stories, zombies rising from the dead, monsters, and a host of other things that go bump in the night. The image of somebody whistling past the graveyard is that of a person trying to calm their fears through whistling a comforting tune.

In scripture, we see numerous examples of God delivering His people from times of trouble. Whether it was Noah being saved in the Ark from the Flood, God turning evil meant towards Joseph into good, a young David being handed victory against the giant Goliath, Daniel not being consumed by the man-eating Lions, Shadrach, Meschach, and Abednego being saved through the fire, or a host of other situations of God's faithfulness to His people. However, God's faithfulness doesn't require His children to be rescued from death. There are times that we are rescued through it. The death of Jesus Christ resulted in all of mankind having the chance to be reconciled to God through faith in the Lord. Peter was showed the type of death He would suffer for his proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The author of Hebrews reminds us of those who "were put to death by stoning; they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. they went about in sheepskin and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated--the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground (Hebrews 11:37-38)." Going to be with God in heaven is the ultimate form of deliverance. In many instances, those facing tribulation would praise the Lord in songs and hymns. In Acts 16:25, the apostle Paul is in prison. The Bible records that "About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them (Acts 16:25)." Paul and Silas knew that God was with them and this knowledge resulted in a peace in their hearts that manifested in them signing hymns to God. Furthermore, did you know that the Old Testament book of Psalms is composed of songs and poems meant to be sung to the accompaniment of a stringed instrument? Tribulation in life is as guaranteed as the rising and setting of the sun. There is no way around it. In fact, Jesus Christ promised that in this world we would have tribulation. Therefore, do not be surprised when it comes your way. And when it does, let it remind you that regardless of the outcome God is with you through it and will be with you forever. Through our faith in Jesus Christ, we can be assured that God is our hiding place. With Him, you can rest from your troubles and in that, be surrounded with songs of deliverance that will burst forth in praise for our mighty God. Even when your ship is sinking you can whistle past the graveyard because "He is the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them— he remains faithful forever (Psalm 146:6)."

The Promises of God

"...But take heart! I have overcome the world." John 16:33

The Bible is full of the promises of God to provide for and take care of His people. Some estimates have put the number of promises in the neighborhood of 3,000 or more. Regardless, God's promises are what bring Christians hope and stability in times of trouble. As one Christian author puts it, "From Genesis to Revelation we read of normal people that received the promises of God. These promises are sealed by the highest authority, God's word. In Hebrews 6:13 it says, "For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself."
When God makes a promise to his people, it will come to pass. What is a promise? A promise is a covenant or declaration that one will do exactly what they say or something will happen just as pledged." A promise is only as good as the one who makes it. Unfortunately, when we as humans make promises to each other there is always a risk associated with that promise because we are flawed human beings. There is not a person alive who hasn't had a promise broken or who hasn't broken a promise they have made to someone. How many times have you even made a promise knowing you were going to break it? You only made the promise to put off the consequences of telling somebody "No" when they asked you for something. These personal experiences have conditioned us to superimpose our experiences onto God and His promises. After all, what are some of the promises of God that we are most familiar with from the Bible? There is Jeremiah 29:11 which says, "For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Then there is Malachi 3:10 that reads, "Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it."" Lastly, we have 2 Chronicles 7:14 where God promises that "if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land." Now, we could go into whether or not these promises were made to Christians or if we can meet the conditions these promises hinged on in order for God to fulfill them. Regardless, they are promises God has made and many Christians claim to find hope and comfort in them. However, if we are honest, many of these same people do not experience the realization of these promises in their life. Despite holding on to these promises, their lives don't seem to resemble what God has promised. They are suffering and struggling through life and are not sure what to believe.

If this is your experience, there is hope for you. God has promised many things in the Bible. However, there are some promises that we often skip over or ignore completely because they are not the kind of promises that we want to cling to or trust God for in our lives. Promises like 1 Peter 4:12-13 that says, "Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed."  Then there is this reminder from Paul in Philippians 1:29. "For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him." Lastly, there are the words of Jesus Christ who said, "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble (John 16:33)." The broken promises we experience often lead to our suffering. If they do not, suffering will find us soon enough from the world we live in. However, rather than look at our sufferings as evidence that God's promises are somehow not for us, let us look at them as proof that they are for us. God promised we would suffer whether because of our faith as a Christian or simply from living in a fallen, sinful world. What did Jesus say about these times? He said for us to have peace in the midst of them because He has overcome the world. "Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God (1 John 5:5)." It is because of your faith in Jesus Christ that you have overcome the world because He has overcome the world through His death and resurrection. Therefore, when you experience suffering do not get down on yourself as if it is a sign of your failure in the eyes of God and that His promises are not for you. Look at it as an opportunity to discover more about your God and who you are in Him because His promises have come true in your life. As was said earlier, a promise is only as good as the one making it. When we rest in the promises of God never lose sight of the God who made those promises. He is the ultimate promise we have had fulfilled through our faith. While it is great to experience the positive promises of God instead of the ones pertaining to suffering, the one constant is our God. He is the one that promised, "If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself (2 Timothy 2:13)." It doesn't matter what promises of God you are experiencing, what matters is that the God who made those promises has given Himself to you through your faith in Jesus Christ. Amen.

Battling with our Giants

"Today the LORD will conquer you, and I will kill you and cut off your head. And then I will give the dead bodies of your men to the birds and wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel!" 1 Samuel 17:46

The Bible is an excellent tool to apply to our life circumstances. All throughout scripture, especially in the Old Testament, we see story after story of God's faithfulness to His people. However, sometimes, in the midst of trying to find stories to use as metaphors for life, we can lose what the original intent was of the story or give a wrong impression about our God. For example, say your pastor begins their message with this: "I suppose I could begin my message today by asking, 'How many of you have giants in your life? How many of you are facing problems of such a magnitude that they seem gigantic as you see them loom before you out on the horizon? I need to remind you that the God who helped David defeat the giant of his day is the same God that lives today and whom we serve. And the principles of victory that are found in this chapter for David are transferable concepts to your life and to mine." The pastor is referring to David versus Goliath. What are the "giants" in your life? Honestly, there is no definition. These "giants," as the pastor refers to them, aren't 9 foot, 6 inch tall, champions of the Philistine army, who are standing against Israel and God. No, in this example the "giants" are whatever you want them to be and, of course, you are David. The "giants" could be a health crisis like a diagnosis of cancer. They could be financial problems like bankruptcy. Relationship problems like divorce could be a "giant." It is the same philosophy behind the "faith enough to move mountains" teaching, where the "giants" in our lives become "mountains." The problem with all of this is that the "giants" in our lives, unlike Goliath against David, sometimes win! Christians all over the world, each and every day, succumb to the "giants" in their lives. This doesn't mean that God doesn't see them through these troubles, but when we don't teach the truth, not only do we struggle in our relationship with the Lord, but God looks bad as well. Just think about it. Let's say that David ran out onto the battlefield to face Goliath and was slaughtered. God would not have been glorified, Israel may have been destroyed and God's plan of salvation would have taken a major hit because Jesus Christ was in the line of David. So, what does it say about God when the "giants" in our lives win? Not only is He not glorified, our faith can be destroyed and those that need Jesus Christ the most, unbelievers, see no need to believe in a God who let's His people down when they are battling their "giants."

But, when David ran out to face the giant, what was his stated purpose in fighting Goliath? It was that, "the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel!" Therefore, if he had lost the battle, it was God who looks bad. Now, I believe that even if David had lost to Goliath, God would have found some way to make it work to His benefit as well as to Israel's. But, this historical event was not put in the Bible so we can use it as a metaphor for our life. It was put in the Bible to show, primarily, that God is faithful to His people. What did the Apostle Paul say about his "giant"? "But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly in my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest on me. That is why, for the sake of Christ, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong (2 Corinthians 12:9-10)." The Apostle Paul's "giant" was a "thorn in the flesh." We don't know what it was, exactly, but that's beside the point. The point is we know he begged God to remove it and God said, "no." In other words, you could say that Paul lost the battle to his "giant."  In fact, he goes on to say that he delights in his weaknesses; he delights in losing to his "giants." Whether it be his "thorn," insults, hardships, persecutions or difficulties, he delights in them. Why? He delights in them because through his suffering and weakness the strength of God is revealed. His God, my God, our God, is glorified because the power of Christ is His strength. When nothing else remains, all that is left is Jesus Christ, our God. And that is enough. Is it not those times when you are going through the fire, through the valley of the shadow of death and sinking below the waves that you realize that God is revealing Himself to you and those around you? Is not that what most of our testimonies of our God are about; His faithfulness to us when our world's fell apart? There have been plenty of times in the lives of Christians that we have picked up our rocks and slingshot and ran out to slay the "giants" in our lives. But, there are plenty more times when that "giant" has defeated us, even to the point of death. Yet, through it all, there was never a moment He wasn't with us or wasn't glorified in some way. And, yes, even in the worst moments in life, the world will know there is a God, not only in Israel, but inside those of us who have come to faith in Jesus Christ. Amen!

God Winks

"If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.” Daniel 3:17-18

Recently, I was listening to people give praise to God for events that had occurred in their lives. There were a few stories surrounding the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, and how people were spared being involved. A man missed going into work that morning because his son started kindergarten. Another person was charged with bringing donuts to work and was running late. An alarm clock didn't go off on time. Another person missed their bus. A lady spilled food on her clothes and had to change. A car that didn't start. Someone else had to go back to answer the telephone. A man who was wearing new shoes and developed a blister on his foot, stopped to buy a bandage. Then there were other stories. A son who survived cancer. Another child who fell 40 feet from a tree and survived. A woman narrowly escaping death after being hit by a taxi cab. All these stories and similar ones were said to be "God Winks;" God protecting you and keeping you from being harmed or killed during a time when you are caught up in the hustle and bustle of life. These are great anecdotal stories which for those involved remind them of what they believe was God's protection in their lives. That may be the case and praise God for it. Yet we all know that over 3,000 people died during the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. We also know that people die from cancer, being hit by cars, from falls and many sorts of other things every day that have their own strange stories attached to them. Did God not "wink" at them? In Hebrews 11, there is a list of people given who one may say experienced a "God Wink." They were those "who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. Women received back their dead, raised to life again (Hebrews 11:33-35a)." But, the author of Hebrews goes one step further. "There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were put to death by stoning; they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated—  the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground (Hebrews 11:35b-38)." Did God forget to "wink" at them so they would have avoided all this suffering? No, they were commended for their faith along with those who did not suffer. That brings me to my point.

In Daniel 3, we have Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who refused to serve the gods of Nebuchadnezzar or worship the image of gold that he set up. Nebuchadnezzar gave them one last chance to worship his golden image or be thrown into the fiery furnace. The three didn't deny the charges against them and even went so far as to not defend themselves. Why? Because they knew their God was able to deliver them from the furnace. However, they say one thing that I believe often goes unnoticed in much of Christianity today. They say, "But even if he does not deliver us." They knew God could deliver them, but that He had not promised He would nor was He obligated to do so. We often here it taught that because of our faith in Jesus Christ we are somehow promised not to suffer at all, much less be thrown into a fiery furnace. Sometimes there is a condition tied to it such as having "faith to move Mountains". But, as Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego knew all too well, it isn't about having faith to move mountains, but knowing that the object of their faith was the God who created the Mountains! When it comes to the story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, God illustrates His brilliance. Did He prevent them from being thrown in the fire? No, they were thrown into the furnace. But, what happened next? "Then King Nebuchadnezzar leaped to his feet in amazement and asked his advisers, “Weren’t there three men that we tied up and threw into the fire?” They replied, “Certainly, Your Majesty.” He said, “Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods (Daniel 3:24-25).” The fire did not harm them and, even better, God was visibly seen with them in the fire! That is the promise of God; that He goes through the fire with us. Sometimes we survive unscathed, but even if we do not He is still with us. So, while we can glorify God when He protects us from harm, He is still with us when we do experience harm. Perhaps, as was the case with Nebuchadnezzar, our suffering or avoidance of it can be used by God so others will glorify Him. After Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego came out of the furnace, Nebuchadnezzar exclaimed, "for no other god can save in this way (Daniel 3:29)." No truer words have ever been spoken. Who knows? Maybe Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego went through all of that so Nebuchadnezzar could experience a "God Wink."

Convert, Pay a Tax, Flee or Die!

I get an email that asks me to "Stand with your brothers and sisters in northern Iraq who have been told to convert to Islam, pay a high tax, leave their homes — or die." The email goes on to say, "Imagine waking up one morning to find a red spray-painted symbol on the front of your house identifying you as a Christian. The Arabic letter “N” (nun), from the Arabic word nasara (meaning “Nazarene” to indicate Christians), was recently painted on homes of Christians in the city of Mosul, Iraq, by an organized terrorist group called IS (Islamic State) to identify Christians. Then on July 17, the terrorists gave area Christians an ultimatum: convert to Islam, pay a high tax, leave the area or die." If you're a Christian and found this letter "N" spray painted on your home, "What would you do?" I have to ask myself, "What would I do?" Anybody aware of the beheading of James Foley, the reporter, knows what kind of people are behind all of this. What a terrible choice to have to make. For those who have chosen to pay a tax, leave the area or die, praise the Lord. To be able to stand for your faith in Jesus in the midst of such a terrible situation is an honorable thing. But, what about those who chose to convert in order to save their lives. To them I say, "I understand." I say this for two reasons. The first is that, "For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart (1 Samuel 16:7)." It is easy to say that a person who denies his Christianity and "converts" to Islam rather than suffer the consequences was not truly a Christian. Maybe they weren't, but God knows their heart. If they were truly saved, they are still saved. I believe that eventually their faith will be hard to contain, but regardless we must remember that, "if we are faithless, he remains faithful— for he cannot deny himself (2 Timothy 2:13)." The second reason is that we have the testimony of the Apostle Peter. Jesus Christ told Peter that he would deny Him three times and Peter responded to the Lord by saying, "Even if I must die with you, I will not deny you (Matthew 26:35)!” But, after Jesus was betrayed and arrested, what was Peter's response when he was being associated with the Lord? "I do not know the man (Matthew 26:74)!” Now, in his defense, Peter was not born again of the Spirit of God because the Holy Spirit had not yet been restored to him. However, consistent with God's faithfulness, what did the angel say after Jesus' resurrection? "But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee (Mark 16:7)." Peter is singled out as one to be told about the Resurrection. I believe it is because of Peter's denial that the Lord wanted him to know that he was still loved by the Lord and still part of His plan. We know that Peter was used mightily by the Lord and would later become a martyr for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. While I hope this present manifestation of evil is stopped in its tracks long before it touches anybody reading this post, if you are in Christ rest assured God is faithful to you and your sins are forgiven.May God be glorified in all the decisions and actions we make as His children through faith in Jesus Christ.