Faithfulness of GOD

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, His mercies never come to an end. They are new every morning, great is thy Faithfulness. (Lamentations 3:22-23)

Without question, there is some comfort that we find in the assurance that there is somebody there with us.  We feel much safer with the knowledge from an authority that assures companionship at all times.  Human beings love companionship so much that they would rather have you lie to them with words such as ‘I will be with you forever’ than to have you tell them the sad reality that you will not be with them for very long.  Companionship not only makes the journey seem shorter, but is relieves one of the fears of anything that might come their way. God know this very well; hence we find well quoted scriptures like “never will I leave you, nor forsake you” and “…I will be with you until the end of age” in the bible.  I read a quote that puts it in this way: “I would rather walk with God in the dark, than go alone, and walk in the light” and at a first glance one gets the TRUST aspect to this statement, but when I read it again; I realized the writer’s crucial need for a companion who will be there with him in his journey.

Exodus 32:23 “For they said unto me, make us gods, which shall go before us: for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we know not what is become of him.”  This happened after Moses had gone up to the mountain to speak to God.  Now in this case the Israelites not only replace a leader, they also replace a companion that they had sure hope and faith in.  They had been led out of Egypt by the Lord of hosts who was their companion, and now they wanted to replace him (the God of heaven) with an idol god.  This shows the great need that people have of a companion, whom they will trust to be their guide and lead.  They would rather have a companion that cannot help them at all than wait for Moses to come and lead them through the only true and living God, just so that they may satisfy their need for a companion.  The companionship that human beings are seeking is that of somebody of higher power than themselves. If that was not true, the Israelites would not want to make an idol which they thought would be able to lead them to their destiny; the belief was that it is powerful. 

God promises to be faithful to us, and his power and ability gives him credibility for us to trust him.  One who has a history of not being able to stay faithful is often untrusted and all attempts to assure people of his faithfulness are throw out.  God has a history of faithfulness to his children.  I learned a wonderful lesson from the eagles; it is said that they patiently wait on the wind thermals and just spread their wings and are taken away to the highest heights with total dependence on the wind.  In fact, they say that if they flap their wings; they may die because they will get tired.  This blows me away, because this then means that the eagles learn from a young age that the creator of the winds will never let them fall.  They do not have to worry about their abilities, spreading wings does not require a lot of work and God does the rest.  Imagine a life of trusting on the power of God than your own.  God will never call you and leave you alone to achieve his will on your own, in fact; he will achieve it through you. (Phi 1:6) And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ). If you don’t believe me ask Moses, The Disciples, Paul, Jonah, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. They all experienced the faithfulness of the almighty God.

God will never make you sign an indemnity form stating: “just in case something bad happens to you on this journey of taking your cross and following me, please don’t put that on me” on the contrary; he is so sure of the power that is in him that he will say: “Trust me, walk with me and I will never let you down.  Should you encounter any problem along the way please come to me, I will know exactly how to deal with that”

Jeremiah 1:19 “They will fight against you, but they shall not prevail against you, for I am with you, declares the LORD, to deliver you."

(Psalm 124:1) If it had not been the LORD who was on our side, now may Israel say; If it had not been the LORD who was on our side, when men rose up against us: Then they had swallowed us up quick, when their wrath was kindled against us: Then the waters had overwhelmed us, the stream had gone over our soul: Then the proud waters had gone over our soul. Blessed be the LORD, who hath not given us as a prey to their teeth. Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers: the snare is broken, and we are escaped. Our help is in the name of the LORD, who made heaven and earth.

Isaiah 41:10 fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

A retrospect of my life attests that I never would have made it without God; and for that I will forever be thankful to my king. 

Consistent Persistence Part II

After carefully reading my first post, I realized that I needed to continue with the same topic but address the reward of our persistence.  The Lord has a lot of promises in His word for those who are persistent and continue to the end regardless of all the circumstances (Hebrews 11:6 “… the rewarder of them who diligently seek him”). 

There is no way of getting around it, people are motivated by rewards.  This is something about human beings that God seems to understand; hence he has put so many promises in the bible.  Human beings love to be rewarded for whatever they do.  If there is a reward for a specific job, human beings will endure anything just to get to the end and receive their reward.  It is something very satisfying for us to get a reward, especially one that we had to work very hard to get. 

Galatians 6:9 “And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.”  God promises a season of reaping for those who do not give up.  Just like a farmer who sows and has to go through a phase of nurturing his seeds against parasites like grasshoppers, worms, thief’s that try to disturb his progress; he persists and in due season he reaps with songs of joy.  Jesus possesses this character and since we are called to imitate him, we need to have this character!  There are many promises in the bible like this one, where God has promised rewards to those who will endure and persistently hold on to the faith in times of hardships and struggles. I do not know of a person who will endure hardship for nothing, there is always a reward or something great to achieve.  Jesus knew that he had to get up every time he fell because he was on the verge of redeeming a fallen world to a gracious father, there was a great reward: “who has been raised and is seated at the right hand of God” Romans 8:34.  The awesome thing about this reward is that it greatly benefits the human race.  In our walk with Christ, we will have challenges that will try and stop our progress, won’t you allow him to help us to your feet so that you are able to get up and walk again because he has done it before.

Could it be that the reason why we abuse GRACE is because it is free?  Would we be more grateful for what Jesus did on the cross if we had to work hard for our faith in Jesus?  If you look at the pattern, most people who get things easy tend to be ungrateful, should they lose whatever it is they have, it can be replaced instantly. The knowledge of a reward for what you do is motivating and makes you appreciate whatever it is you have received.  Here are a couple of quotes that reiterate the reward after challenges and hard work: “Effort only fully releases its reward after a person refuses to quit” Napoleon Hill.  “There are always two choices, two paths to take. One is easy, and it’s only reward is that it is easy”. Faith is to believe what you do not see; the reward of this faith is to see what you believe” St. Augustine.  “To get a profit without a risk, experience without danger, and to get a reward without work, is as impossible as to live without being born.”  “Believe me; the reward is not as great without the struggle” Wilma Rudolph who was the first American runner to win three gold medals at a single Olympics.  It will not be worth it if we get it easy, getting a great reward for what we had to struggle for, gives us so much gratitude for what we have.

 I know that sometimes we ask ourselves the question that Asaph asked himself in Psalm 73:13 when he said: “Did I keep myself pure for nothing?  Did I keep myself innocent for no reason?” David has an answer to this question in Psalm 37:25 “I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.”

If you encounter trouble, struggles and hardship in your Christian walk, it does not mean that God does not love you. If you fall and you give up, you will never get up, but if you fall and you try to get up over and over again, you shall rise and conquer; and be sure to get your reward at the end of it all. 

Proverbs 24:16:“Even if good people fall seven times, they will get back up. But when trouble strikes the wicked, that's the end of them.”