February 25, 2011 … God Is Faithful To Care For Us

Passage of the Day: 1st Corinthians 1: 9 [see bold/underlined in context] … God, Who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful.

My Journal for Today: If you are reading this, I think you’d agree with me that our world and life is riddled with unfaithfulness. Think of the companies here in the 21st century, such as Enron, who have defrauded their employees. We have a divorce rate well over 50%, indicating that relational distrust in marriage is at an all time high in our country. And this involves Christian couples as well as marriages of unbelievers. Who reading this has not been “damaged” in some way by someone who was not faithful to our trust or expectations? Who among us has not been unfaithful to another person in some way, even to those with whom we’re close?

So Paul’s simple declarative, “God … is faithful” stands as a stark contrast to the world’s human record on faithfulness. God’s faithfulness is touted again and again in the Old Testament (see Deut. 7: 9; Lam. 3: 23; and Ps. 36: 5); and the New Testament teaches about the benefits of God’s faithfulness in two primary areas: PROVISION and PROTECTION. Note Peter’s words in 1st Peter 4: 19 below …

SCRIPTURE: 1st Peter 4: 19 … So then, those who suffer according to God's will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.

According to MacArthur in Strength for Today, that term “commit” (or “entrust” in other translations) in Peter’s declaration above is a term with a banking origin from the Greek (the word is “paratithami” – Strong 3908), which refers to a safe or trustworthy deposit. In other words, in more modern language, we might say that we can take our trust in God’s faithfulness, in both areas of provision and protection, “to the bank” as we turn our lives over to Him in “living sacrifice.” (see an oft-sited [by me], trustworthy scripture in Rom. 12: 1) God’s PROVISION, this first area of God’s faithfulness, tells us that all things or all circumstances are provided faithfully by God in all ways for our well being (see Phil. 4: 19 and Rom. 8: 28). And the Greek word for “all” means “ALL!” God’s provision, even when we don’t particularly like what is provided, is ALWAYS faithful.

BUT, I fully admit, it’s really tough to see God’s faithfulness in His PROVISION when things are not going well in our human circumstances. By that I mean, when things are not going the way of our own plans or desires – especially when these circumstances are painful, it’s hard for us to see our God as a “faithful” provider. 1st Cor. 10 : 13 and Hebrews 13: 5, however, tell us that God is always faithful, and He will never abandon us – even when the trials of life test our faith. Now, … we either believe God’s word and live accordingly; … or we live in constant doubt that God is faithful.

But moving on, … the second area summarized by MacArthur in his devotional about God’s faithfulness, is the area of PROTECTION. No truly believing Christian can cop-out and claim that our temporal or worldly circumstances, even the trials and tribulations, are just too much for us. No, … we can’t claim that because God promise is to FAITHFULLY help us deal with any/all such circumstances (again I cite 1st Cor. 10: 13, which, if you’re following me, you probably have memorized by now from the frequency of its citation in my devotional journal entries). And in all of our life situations, God promises from His word to give us strength and protection to deal with life – and even with the devil himself (research Phil. 4: 13; 2nd Cor. 12: 9; and 1st Thes. 3: 3).

My brothers/sisters, … again I say, “We either believe in God and His faithfulness; or we don’t!” Personally, I choose to believe … and to know that I’m covered in life – no matter how bad things get! … Now will I say that tomorrow if I I’m engulfed in painful circumstances? I hope so – no, I pray so – that I will!

My Prayer Today: You are truly faithful, O Lord! Amen