Faithfulness

Faithfulness

Greetings Wakulla Citizens! As we wake each day that the LORD gives us, “Faithfulness” should automatically come into play in our day. As Christians, God has made promises to us that through obedience to His Word we receive without asking for them. Just to name a few; Proverbs 4:10 “Hear, my son, and accept My sayings, And the years of your life will be many.” Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans that I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.” Romans 8:2 “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.” These are promises from our Father that through the Cross, our Salvation, through the Blood of the Lamb through faith are made to us!

The words that always seem to go together are ‘Obedience, Faith, Believe and Receive’. Everything stems from”obedience”! God does give us instructions such as studying His Word, at the same time we are being blessed by being obedient as His Word says to do! Proverbs 4:20-22 My son, give attention to my words; Incline your ear to my sayings. Do not let them depart from your sight; Keep them in the midst of your heart. For they are life to those who find them, And health to all their whole body. As we study His Word, in obedience, He begins a work in us that will show through us, in our actions. Therefore Faith, Believe and Receive will happen. We can not have Faith without studying His Word! In Romans 10:17 “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the Word of Christ.” Therefore we are able to Believe in His Word, because our faith will begin to grow due to our obedience in studying His Word. Because of all this we will start receiving His promises! In Romans 15:4 “For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.” ***Obedience/ John 14:23 “Jesus answered and said to him, ‘If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him,and We will come to him, and make Our abode with him.” ***Faith/ Hebrews 11:6 “And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.”

***Believe/ Mark 11:24 “Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they shall be granted you.”

***Receive/ Matthew 7:7 “ Ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you. 8 ‘For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it shall be opened.” (this is an important part of “asking”, James 4:3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures.)

As we wake up each day He gives us, we are taken care of, automatically blessed!!! Knowing this causes us to get up each day He has given us with a pep in our step and a smile on our faces! For those that are going through challenging times, Jesus wants to help! He is waiting for you to reach out to Him! Whatever your situation is, go to His Word on the subject of your situation and do as He instructs. A place I would start is Matthew 11:28-30 “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and YOU SHALL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. “For My yoke is easy, and My load is light.” This is when the Jewish people were being put under a lot of persecution pertaining to the Jewish (Mosaic) Law and Jesus was telling them to lean on Him. Here are just a few Scriptures to study and meditate on.

***Nahum 1:7 “The LORD is good, A stronghold in the day of trouble, And He knows those who take refuge in Him.”

***Hebrews 4:16 “Let us therefore draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and may find grace to help in time of need.”

***Psalm 50:15 “And call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me.”

Unrepentance and unforgiveness are HUGE barriers to receiving/hearing from God. Here are a few examples of what He says about them.

***James 2:13 “For judgment will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment.”

***Revelation 3:3 “Remember therefore how you have received and heard and keep it, and repent. If therefore you will not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come upon you.”

To be forgiving and to have a heart of repentance for others and ourselves will cause God to bless us always because we choose to obey His commands! These are they;

***Mark 12:29-31 Jesus answered, “The foremost is, “HEAR, O ISRAEL! THE LORD OUR GOD IS ONE LORD; “AND YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH.” “THE SECOND IS THIS, “YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

***James 1:25 mentions: “But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man shall be blessed in his doing.”

So, is God “Faithful” to His Word? I can honestly say He is, through my experiences. We are building a relationship with God! Like any friendship, it takes time, spending time together, learning of Who He really is! He already knows all about you! Every hair on your head has been counted, every thought you have…He knows! Good and bad! He loves you no matter what! Be encouraged, seek Him out! You won’t regret it!!

If you do not know Jesus as your LORD and Savior, say this out loud; In Romans 10:13, God, Your Word says “for “WHOEVER WILL CALL UPON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.” Jesus I am a sinner I know, I repent and choose to turn from my wicked ways and do them no more, I choose to follow You! I believe God that You sent Your Son to become my sin on the Cross to pay the debt I could not pay and by Grace through faith I receive Salvation through His Death, Burial and on the 3rd day His Resurrection! I am now Born Again through Christ my LORD and Savior! Thank YOU God!

The next step to take is Baptism in water, to bury your old self, forever to be changed and receive the Holy Spirit as Scripture says to do. Scripture says in John 3:5 “Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” What a WONDERFUL world we choose to be born into as He first chose us!!