Scripture
God is faithful, through whom you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
~1 Corinthians 1:9, LSB
Quote
Nothing can frustrate God’s plan. Nothing can make Him renege on a promise, and nothing can make Him change His purpose.
~Martyn Lloyd Jones
God is faithful {1 Cor.1:9,10:13, 2 Cor.1:18} but what does this mean? Have you ever tried to define the faithfulness of God? It certainly means that God is true to His word and that He keeps all of His promises. If God says it, you and I can believe it. His faithfulness means that we can absolutely depend on Him because He is completely trustworthy. It means that we can trust Him without fear or doubt because He has a perfect track record. On promises fulfilled, He is batting 1.000. He has always honored His word and kept His promises. He did not lie to Abraham, Moses or David and He will not lie to us; it is not His nature to lie. John said, If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Paul said in closing his first letter to the Thessalonians, Now may the God of peace make you holy in every way, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again. God will make this happen, for He who calls you is faithful. Martyn Lloyd Jones defines omnipotence as God’s ability to do whatever He wills. His faithfulness means–what He wills, He will do.
In Galatians 5 Paul gives us a list of the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. In other words, if we are filled with the Holy Spirit, others should see love, joy, peace, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control in our lives. If you are like me, you are wondering if other people do see these things in your life. About twenty five years ago or so, I got brave one Wednesday night and ask the congregation if they seen any of the fruits in my life. I had it fixed so they could grade me on paper and did not have to sign their name. I gathered the results and took them home with me. I will go ahead and tell you, unless you are a much better Christian than myself, it is probably not a good idea to do this. It was brutal. I did not grade well on anything except ‘faithfulness.’ My next door neighbor was a good friend and a very understanding person so I cried on his shoulder. He listened and then said, “Can you name one thing on the list more important than faithfulness?” I said, “No, not really.” He said, “Then, I think you should be thankful that you graded well in faithfulness.” In other words, faithfulness is the foundation that holds the others up. We cannot possibly be filled with love, joy, peace, kindness, goodness, gentleness and self-control if we are not faithful. I guess you might say, it is a place to begin.
Extra
It is wet at 1120 Iron Man. The garden is a mud hole. I don’t remember seeing this much rain in August. The bottoms were flooded when I went through yesterday evening. Beats a drought. Today is Friday and Big Mama’s child care is closed. I have some good news, Chloe likes school this year and has gone everyday this week. I think it is the first time she has ever gone a full week. I better be careful: she might call in a couple of hours wanting to come home. Have a great day and a great weekend.
Extra, Extra
I know some of you are hurting and the woman below can help you. Her name is Elisebeth Elliott and she can take your further than anyone I know on the subject of suffering. This is the first of a series. Elisabeth was promoted in July of 2015 at the age of 89, but you can find this entire series on suffering on YouTube. She is also featured in Blue Letter Bible.