Heb 10:23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; NASB, NKJV, ESV
GOD IS FAITHFUL!
Read Psalm 36:5-9
5 Your lovingkindness, O Lord, extends to the heavens,
Your faithfulness reaches to the skies.
6 Your righteousness is like the mountains of God;
Your judgments are like a great deep.
O Lord, You preserve man and beast.
7 How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God!
And the children of men take refuge in the shadow of Your wings.
8 They drink their fill of the abundance of Your house;
And You give them to drink of the river of Your delights.
9 For with You is the fountain of life;
In Your light we see light. NASB
1 – GOD IS FAITHFUL
He is our covering during the day
Our light in the darkness
A hedge about us [Job 1] – a mighty bulwark [Ps 91] – a wall of fire [Zech 2]
Job 1:10 Have You not made a hedge about him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. NASB
Ps 91:4 And under His wings you may seek refuge; His faithfulness is a shield and bulwark. NASB
Zech 2:5 ‘For I,’ declares the Lord, ‘will be a wall of fire around her, and I will be the glory in her midst.’ NASB
God ordains the protection that He sets in place…He does not let go He will not lose us…We are in His Hand and no one can snatch us out!
Jesus declared:
Matt 18:12 What do you think? If any man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go and search for the one that is straying?
13 If it turns out that he finds it, truly I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine which have not gone astray.
14 So it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones perish. NASB
2 – GOD IS FAITHFUL
To provide a way of redemption for each one of us from the curse of sin…God sent Jesus, His only Son, to pay the price on the cross at Calvary for our personal redemption.
John 3:16-17 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. NKJV
1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. NASB
Ps 103:8 The Lord is compassionate and gracious, Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness. NASB
His arms of love stretch wide for the repentant soul. He is faithful to His promise of salvation and eternal hope through the new covenant Jesus established.
Ps 34:22 The Lord redeems the soul of His servants,
And none of those who take refuge in Him will be condemned. NASB
We can go to Him in repentance and know He will forgive us, restore us and set us on right paths so, we are able to once again stand before Him without shame.
3 – GOD IS FAITHFUL
God is faithful to those who would step out in living faith
Those who have chosen to…
Prov 3:5-6 Trust in the LORD with all [their] heart, And they do not lean on [their] own understanding.
And we can take a stand in living faith:
For our Savior Jesus has promised…not to leave us nor forsake us
And has declared, “I am with you always, even to the end of the age.
Consider the following…
Ps 34:4 I sought the Lord, and He answered me, And delivered me from all my fears.
To put this another way…
—> when I seek the Lord…He “will” answer me…and “deliver” me from all my fears!!!
As David wrote in…
Ps 23:4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I fear no evil, for You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
Consider the following events from the Old Testament, that should encourage each one of us. It is very much like our lives when one thing happens, and then another, and another, all adding up to “too” much to deal with…
2 Chron 20:20-23 [Jehoshephat Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir (three separate enemies coming against him all at the same time)]
20 And they rose early in the morning and went out to the wilderness of Tekoa; and when they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Listen to me, O Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem,
put your trust in the LORD your God, and you will be established. Put your trust in His prophets and succeed.
21 And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed those who sang to the LORD and those who praised Him in holy attire, as they went out before the army and said, “Give thanks to the LORD, for His lovingkindness is everlasting.”
22 And when they began singing and praising, the LORD set ambushes against the sons of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah; so they were routed.
23 For the sons of Ammon and Moab rose up against the inhabitants of Mount Seir destroying them completely, and when they had finished with the inhabitants of Seir, they helped to destroy one another.
God extended His Hand of merciful kindness and demonstrated His faithfulness to His people by destroying their enemies. He did so because He is faithful to those who worship & honor & praise & glorify His name and His ways…despite the apparent circumstances and enemies that are surrounding them.
4 – GOD IS FAITHFUL
When we are weak, He is strong!!!
And coming humble before Him…in our weakness and helplessness.
God hears us calling…Lord help me! Lord save me!
He rescues us from the pit of despair and hopelessness of the miry clay and becomes our champion, making a way where before there seemed to be no way.
Ps 34:18 The Lord is near to the brokenhearted
And saves those who are crushed in spirit.
Just as he did for Moses and the children of Israel, God will set His angelic host before us…
Ex 23:20 …to guard (us) along the way and to bring (each one) into the place which (He has) prepared. NASB
For He is a…
Ps 119:105…lamp unto [our] feet – And a light to [our] path. NASB
Consider God’s powerful eternal promise in Isaiah…
Isa 41:9 You whom I have taken from the ends of the earth,
And called from its remotest parts
And said to you, ‘You are My servant,
I have chosen you and not rejected you.
10 ‘Do not fear, for I am with you;
Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you, surely I will help you,
Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’
11 “Behold, all those who are angered at you will be shamed and dishonored;
Those who contend with you will be as nothing and will perish.
12 “You will seek those who quarrel with you, but will not find them,
Those who war with you will be as nothing and non-existent.
13 “For I am the Lord your God, who upholds your right hand,
Who says to you, ‘Do not fear, I will help you.’ NASB
5 – GOD IS FAITHFUL
To deliver us in the evil day…
The evil day? That is when satan the deceiver is pushing us, and tormenting us…and attempting to bully us into giving in to temptation.
The evil day? That is the day when our heart and mind are weighted down with fearful thoughts, or visions of hopelessness as we are consumed by inward expressions of “what if – what if – what if”
Ps 18:6 In my distress I called upon the Lord,
And cried to my God for help;
He heard my voice out of His temple,
And my cry for help before Him came into His ears.
Ps 4:3 The Lord hears when I call to Him.
2 Thess 3:3 …the Lord is faithful, and He will strengthen and protect you from the evil one.
For He is always listening and God always responds (He always responds!!!)
God is faithful to His people. Amen!
Witness His faithfulness to such ones in scripture such as Job – Peter – Shadrach, etc, – Moses at the Red Sea – Gideon against the Midianites – David battling Goliath…be aware and remember that…
1 Cor 10:13 No temptation (of any type or in any category) has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, that you may be able to endure it.
However – Be aware…You will be tempted…
Temptation (all types) is not something unusual, it is common to all people, everywhere. Even Jesus was tempted. And temptation should come as NO SURPRISE.
Temptation is as common now as it was in the past, and will be in the future, until Jesus returns and takes us away.
But even in the midst of such temptation and tribulation we can take a firm stand and can trust in the Lord God to see us through…
Eccl 1:9 …..(for) there is nothing new under the sun. NKJV
And…..satan, the devil’s allowable deceptions and temptations are still the same…They have not changed
They are just repeated again and again…
But God is faithful to deliver and…
Has given us timeless eternal Bible truths and promises we can take a stand on,
and has given us Living testimonies of the great cloud of witnesses who have gone before us…
Never ever forget the promise: God is faithful and will always provide a way of escape to those who are his
when they are tempted and bullied by the devil and sin and iniquity…
6 – GOD IS FAITHFUL
He is a sure anchor for our soul
Heb 13:5 For He (Jesus) Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” 6 So we may boldly say:
“The Lord is my helper; I will not fear…What can man do to me?” NKJV
John 17:12 While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name. Those whom You gave Me I have kept; and none of them is lost. NKJV
Matt 28:20 …I am with you always, even to the end of the age. NASB
But there is even more, for God is faithful…..and His faithfulness is demonstrated in the promise of Jesus return for us…
1 Thess 4:16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.
17 Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord.
18 Therefore comfort one another with these words. NASB
Comfort one another…building one another up in our Lord Jesus
Heb 10:35 Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward.
36 For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised.
37 For, “Yet a little while…and the coming one will come and will not delay;
38 but my righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.”
39 But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls. ESV
Neh 8:10 Do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” NASB
Heb 12:2 …fix your eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. NASB
7 – GOD IS FAITHFUL
Deut 7:9 “Know therefore that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God, who keeps His covenant and His lovingkindness to a thousandth generation with those who love Him and keep His commandments; NASB
Are we also faithful to God? What is our confession [our words & our actions] before men and angels?
Do we expect God to be faithful…when we are not?
Consider Jeremiah’s words from long ago…
Lam 3:21 This I recall to my mind,
Therefore I have hope.
22 The Lord’s lovingkindnesses indeed never cease,
For His compassions never fail.
23 They are new every morning;
Great is Your faithfulness.
24 “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
“Therefore I have hope in Him.” NASB
In the days ahead…..ask the Holy Spirit to give you the strength and power and stamina you need to live out your faith…
Heb 10:23…hold fast the confession of your hope without wavering, for He [God] who promised is faithful;
Blessings and Amen!