A Faithful God

Scripture:  Deuteronomy 7:7-9 - The Lord did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people: 8 But because the Lord loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the Lord brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.9 Know therefore that the Lord thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations;

The strength of our faith is not in our ability to muster up great measures of belief in God, but it is rooted in the fact that it rests in the faithfulness of God.  Faithfulness is a proven attribute of God that has been known and seen from the beginning of creation.  The great faith chapter of Hebrews 11 shows that the faith of all of the Old Testament saints was founded on the God who proved the faithfulness of His power and word when He created the world when there was nothing.   From the beginning of recorded Scripture, it has been revealed that God’s deepest desire is to be believed by His highest creation -- and it has been His faithfulness that has been the major attribute that has enabled man to keep having faith in Him.  It is not simply that God does things to make us have faith in Him, but His faithfulness is seen when we rest in the fact that His doing is always purposeful to the glory of His own praise.

The verse for our devotional meditation unveils for us a call from the prophet Moses appealing to a generation as they prepared to move into the Promised Land. He wanted them to know that they could and needed to trust in the faithfulness of God, and that faithfulness is rooted in commitments that God has made that were rooted within Himself and not their perfect faith. His love, His choice, His oath, His covenant, and His lovingkindness, were all proof that their faith could rest in Him being faithful to them.

For us today, we can still trust even more in the faithfulness of God because we see looking back that what God said He has been faithful to even to this very day.  We trust in God’s faithfulness because of what He has predestined.   God in His authority and foreknowledge to see first, see the most and see all made choices that He has predetermined will come to past.  Just like Israel in the Old Testament, we have seen and now exist in the mystery of being among those He has chosen for purposes and reasons that have nothing to do with our perfection or greatness.  Chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4), clearly makes us have a basis for trusting Him.  What He has predestined must and will come to past is backed up by His supreme attributes of omniscience (all knowing), omnipresence (every place), omnipotence (all powerful) and a proven character that does not change (immutability).

We trust in God’s faithfulness not only because of what He has predestined, but also because of what God has promised.  One of the major pillars of God’s faithfulness is His trustworthiness in every Word He has given unto us.  Nothing is impossible for God, nor is there anything too hard for Him(Mark 10:27). With all of His authority and power, He cannot lie (Hebrews 6:18).  Sometimes we are conditioned to struggle with believing promises because of how people have failed us in keeping their word, but God is not a man that He should lie (Numbers 23:19).  His promises are guaranteed to us because we are in Christ, and God has said that all of His promises in Christ are yes and they are through Christ amen to the glory of God (2Corinthians 1:20).  Since He has fulfilled His promises concerning the gift of Christ to us, how much more can we trust His faithfulness to give us with Him freely all things (Romans 8:32).

We trust in God’s faithfulness because of what He has predestined and because of His promises, but also we trust His faithfulness because of what He will perform.  What God requires of us to obey Him He has provided the enablement to do it, but He is also actively and personally working in us and through us those things that He alone can and must do Himself (Philippians 2:13).  It is this doing beyond us in our daily lives that creates an expectation of faith that can rest in who and what He is to us who believe.  Faithful is He who has called us who will also do it (I Thessalonians 5:24).  Hallelujah, what a mighty God we serve.

Prayer: Father in Heaven, You are the strength of our lives, and Your faithfulness has kept us in and through many trials, troubles and even unseen dangers.  Of all the ways You have been there for Your people throughout the ages, we kneel in privilege, gratitude and praise, in Jesus name, amen.

(by Pastor Wayne Cockrell)