God’s Absolute Faithfulness

A pastor was asked if temptation was a sin. He replied, “You cannot stop a bird from flying over your head, but you don’t have to let it build a nest in your hair.”

He implied that the world, the flesh, and the devil will call out to me in various ways, but I must not dwell on what they say, suggest, or how they make their appeal. I  cannot stop those suggestions nor can I block any doubts that come to me any more than I can hinder someone from saying nasty words as I walk by, yet I am not doing anything wrong by hearing the temptation. I can refuse to listen.

It is the same with doubts. I can dwell on them, join in with them, consent to them and adopt them as true — or I can turn from them and to the truth that God gives me.

The world might say, ‘Faith in God is foolish. Being a Christian has too many rules and spoils your fun.’ Do I know the truth that smacks down that line?

The flesh might say, ‘God is not in charge of your life. If He was good, this … would never be happening to you. There is no reason for you to be suffering. Escape…’ Do I know the truth about God’s power and sovereignty, about His love for me and the purpose of suffering?

The devil continually bombards me with stuff like: ‘God does not really want the best for you. This isn’t really so bad; everyone does it so it must be okay.’ Can I reply to those slanders of God with truth that hits them out of my mind?

Today’s devotional puts emphasis on the value of reading and knowing the Word of God for it also tells me what God is like and reminds me of what He has already done. It gives me answers to the subtle and not so subtle suggestions that come to me as temptations to doubt Him. While I have a choice and can believe the lies, I also know that doing so robs me of joy and the goodness of knowing my God is faithful.

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. (Hebrews 10:23)

Yet there is another ‘lie’ that is often missed. It is the lie that says, ‘You can do it, You’ve got this’ and other versions that say I am able to handle anything if I just decide to do so and try harder. The Word of God says otherwise as does my own experience. I cannot be godly or battle sin without Jesus Christ. My confidence can never be in my own strength. Instead, the victory over temptation comes with a confession of weakness, never a determination to try harder. In the battle against lies and temptations, the only way to win is by yielding to God, by looking to Jesus.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. (Hebrews 12:1–4)

Jesus is the Savior. I am not. He is faithful. I am not. He will “sustain me to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, by whom I was called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” (1 Corinthians 1:4–9) Note also the order of actions in this verse:

Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. (James 4:7)

I cannot rid myself of the devil and his lies, nor the world and its thinking, nor the flesh as it tries to resurrect itself from being dead unless I am submitted to God first, then resisting the lies of temptation. Trusting and believing is only part of the weapon; obedience is the sharpest sword to put doubts and nest-building from happening, perhaps even from showing up.

PRAY: Jesus, I need You to keep me safe from the lies that fly about me, even the lie that ‘try harder’ will work. Enable me to practice a continuous habit of believing You and having discernment against temptation and doubt. Only You can make them vanish and replace them with the glory of Your absolute faithfulness.  

After we are gone

 

This came to mind when we vacationed at our daughter’s place in the south. What will life be like for our adult children, our grandchildren, and our great grandchildren? God is involved in their lives, for the first three it is obvious. We want to be remembered, mostly for our faith. We want all of them to trust the Lord.

Today, MacArthur writes about Joseph and how his life ended. Like Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, he was an heir to the covenant promises of God. His faith was strong and he knew his people would make it to the Promised Land. I’m beginning to have the same assurance as God makes many promises to the people of faith that include their children and their children’s children.

Joseph spent all his adult life in Egypt and never saw the Promised Land for himself, but his faith never wavered. At the end of his life, he “made the sons of Israel swear, saying, ’God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here.’” (Genesis 50:25)

That request was fulfilled: Moses took the bones of Joseph with him according to that oath. The NT verifies this: “By faith Joseph, at the end of his life, made mention of the exodus of the Israelites and gave directions concerning his bones.” (Hebrews 11:22)

Joseph’s faith was more than just the future of his offspring. His whole life is noted for exceptional trust in God’s sovereignty even as he suffered evil from his brothers who sold him into slavery. He recognized God’s hand in every event and submitted to His will. Near the end of his story, Joseph said to his brothers:

And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life . . . And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors. So, it was not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt. (Genesis 45:5–8)

But Joseph reassured them again with, “Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.” (Genesis 50:19–20)

Joseph knew that God uses all things for good in the lives of those who trust Him. He could accept whatever happened because of that faith, even thinking that after he was dead, God would keep His promises concerning his children and future generations. He may not have realized that every person of faith since him can rely on the promises God made to him, but his trust is the example of faith that every Christian looks toward.

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. (Romans 8:28–30)

PRAY: Jesus, what a wonder that the faith of one man thousands of years ago would influence millions of people. I don’t know what effect my faith will have. It isn’t marked by the same strong trust as You put in Abraham, yet You keep assuring me that You are faithful to do what You promised to do. May my faith have a lasting effect on those who come after me. It seems so unlikely, yet You can do exceedingly above all I can ask or imagine.

Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen. (Ephesians 3:20–21)

PONDER: God’s promises and rejoice in His faithfulness.