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Deuteronomy 7:9 “Therefore know that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments; (NKJV)
(Previous devotionals can be found at www.seriousfaith.com)
It is my opinion, that God’s faithfulness is the single most important fact of Christianity. Why? If God were not faithful, then we have nothing to place our hope in. If God is not faithful, then we cannot trust what the Bible says about any subject, any person or any promise. We can’t trust in Jesus; we can’t hope for salvation; we can’t have peace; we can’t expect the promises to come true. If God is not faithful, we would have to live in constant fear of losing our salvation and being attacked by Satan. If God is not faithful, we would have constantly worry about what will happen the moment we die. If God is not faithful, then there truly is absolutely nothing to live for, nothing to hope in.
There is no middle ground. God is 100% faithful, or not at all. God can’t be “mostly” faithful. He cannot even be 99.9% faithful. If there is any unfaithfulness whatsoever in God, then He is a fraud by His own definition. God’s faithfulness is the foundation upon which everything about Christianity is built.
So far we have learned:
- Truth 1 – God is Faithful; the Bible declares it plainly; history proves it. We have found out that the meaning of “faithfulness” as applied to God can be summed up by saying: “God is a Person who we can absolutely depend on, find security in, and lean upon.” (Deut 7.9; 1Cor 1.9; 1Cor 10.13; 1Thess 5.24; 2Thess 3.3; 1John 1.9; Prov 14.5; Matt 24.45-46; 1Tim 1.15)
- Truth 2 – God’s faithfulness is not average; it is great and limitless; God’s faithfulness has no exceptions; whatever He promises or declares will happen. The universe would come and go a million times before one letter or breath from God was not fulfilled. You can count on God. He is faithful always, 100% of the time. (Deut 7.9; Lam 3.22-24)
- Truth 3 – God’s faithfulness reaches to the heavens and skies; God’s faithfulness reaches farther and higher than any circumstance or trial we will ever face. If God’s faithfulness reaches to the heavens, it is certainly capable of reaching every area of our life. (Deut 7.9; Psa 36.5; Psa 89.2)
- Truth 4 – Everything God does is done in faithfulness; God operates from faithfulness. There is no question about it, it is an assumed fact. Every word, every thought, every decision, every wish, every command, every declaration… all done in complete faithfulness. Whatever God purposes, WILL come to pass. (Deut 7.9; Psa 33.4)
- Truth 5 – God’s faithfulness is manifested when He stands by His people and saves them even when they are unfaithful to Him. God’s faithfulness is undeterred by man’s actions; when God promises to complete something, or make something happen, it is not dependent on anything but His will. We can have hope because our security is in God’s faithfulness, not our own abilities. (2Tim 2.13; Heb 10.23; Deut 7.9; 1Kings 8.56; Psa 89.3; Psa 119.89-90; 1Sam 12.20-22)
- Truth 6 – God’s faithfulness is manifested in His not allowing His children to be tempted beyond what they are able to endure; God has promised to keep us from temptation that we cannot endure, and to always provide a way of escape (1Cor 10.12-13). We will never face a choice to sin that is so strong we are truly unable to say no. God also protects us from Satan who prowls about seeking whom he may devour (2Thess 3.3; 2 Cor. 2:11; 11:3; Matt. 4:6; 2 Tim. 2:26; Luke 22:31; 1 Tim. 3:6; Rev. 12:12; 1 Tim. 4:1; Rev. 2:9, 24). Every day that we live that we are not suffering like Job, is a day to thank God for His protection from Satan’s persecution.
Truth 7: The faithfulness of God is shown by the fact that He calls us – then protects, preserves, and sanctifies us.
God is faithful to complete His work in us. When God calls us, and draws us to Him (John 6.44), He does not say, “welcome to the family… you’re on your own now”. Our confidence as Christians is not dependent on our personal ability to please God, to obey God or to perform for God, but in God’s faithfulness. Our future hope is sure because our present God is faithful.
1 Corinthians 1:8-9 who [Jesus Christ] will also confirm you to the end, that you may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. (NKJV; emphasis mine)
God is faithful to make sure that anyone He calls, WILL then be protected and preserved all the way to the end – the end being the day they see Christ. Now I know this will open up the whole can of “once saved, always saved” and “can you lose your salvation” worms…. that it not the point of this Devotional. We are not addressing the issue of “can someone renounce, lose or give up their salvation?” We are looking at the faithfulness of God to protect the Christian who genuinely is a Christian.
1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it. (NKJV; emphasis mine)
The Christian’s hope lies in God’s faithfulness. He will sanctify us (make us holy); He will preserve us blameless; He called us, He will see that we are faithful to the end. Whatever God starts, He finishes. He starts with us by calling us, and He is faithful to finish His work in us. If you are a Christian, take hope in the fact that God is personally taking responsibility that you will remain faithful to the end. You will struggle. You will falter. But, like a child learning to walk, the Father is there to steady you, to support you, to hold you, to pick you up when you do fall. You may fall, but God will never walk off and leave you there.
Philippians 1:6 Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ: (KJV; emphasis mine)
When God begins a work, He finishes it. Unlike us, God never quits on anything He starts; nor does He ever stop short of perfect completion. Our hope is in God who has promised to finish what He starts. If God has started a good work in you (salvation) be assured, and refreshed, that He will complete His work in you exactly as He has planned.
Lord, Help us to take hope in the fact that You have promised to see us through to the end. When we fall, when we stumble, we thank You that we do not have to despair, because You have promised to never give up on anything You start. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Contemplation: Do you believe that God finishes what He starts? Do you believe that YOU are responsible for your ultimate preservation as a Christian? Are we even capable of it, or is only God capable of sustaining us? Do you look to God every day to continue His work in you, or do you see yourself in a performance trap trying to please God?
Application: God starts His work in us and will complete it. It certainly does not mean that we have no responsiblity or no effort to make; to the contrary, our lives are to be marked by a supreme effort to obey and serve. In the end though, it is God and God alone who is able and who is responsible for keeping us from tumbling back to our sinful ways. It is much like a father teaching his young child to mow the grass. While the child pushes with all his might and tries his very best, the father is the real “power” that will ensure that mower moves ahead in the proper manner. We are to put forth our very best efforts – it is required (2Pet 1.10). But we know that God has His arms around us and is the SOLE reason we will complete what He has started in us.
James 1:22 – But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. (NKJV)
- What is the most obvious Bible truth you have learned today?
- What change in your life needs to be made concerning this truth?
- What specific thing will you do today to begin that change?
(seriesid:37)