How many times have we been faithful to someone, a project or a pledge?
How many times have we been unfaithful at the same things?
This got me thinking this week as I struggled in my faithfulness to God! - Many times we come back to Him again and again, pledging to be faithful - pledging our allegiance our undying love yet...
It only takes us a second for us to change - we change our minds - we change our direction in life - we change our jobs - our Churches - and so the list goes on.
People all over the world suffer significant losses in their life and sometimes the world seems to be spinning out of control - so we change.
Sometimes we change our beliefs - things don't go our way - we find it hard to believe that if there is a God why didn't this happen the way I wanted etc. - we are always on the change!Your know - Our Lord is always faithful - He is changeless - he never turns away from the path of truth and justice - His love and mercy never fail us no matter what we do, think or say.
Even though we don't ever really understand everything that happens in the world or in our immediate circumstances - God is still LOVE- His great love reaches us no matter where we are or what we have done.
Romans 8 tells us this amazing truth:-
"Who then shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness or danger, or sword?"
Now that's a RIPPER of a verse - how plain is that - NOTHING can separate us from His Love - because???
GOD IS CHANGELESS!
His mercies and faithfulness are eternal along with His love which makes our Heavenly father so so special - His forgiveness to our seemingly never-ending sins sometimes overwhelms me.
As God is now - that is how He was in the beginning and as He is now is how He will be for eternity.
Generation after generation - constantly the same - yesterday, today and forever.
Where we fail Him constantly - he never fails us - He loves us so much He made a plan to bring us to Him so that our sins would be forgiven - that plan 2000 years ago sent Jesus to Calvary to die as our punishment - so Jesus took our punishment so that we can live forever with Him.
When I dare think of what Jesus went through for me - when I think of those nails in His hands - it makes me weep - My sin virtually held Him there - My sins hammered in those nails - My voice can be heard among that crowd to "crucify Him."
And yet, I can so easily turn away - turn away from the one who saved me - turn away, knowing what He did for me that day - I can be so sinful and yet...
He calls me back - which is so awesome.
Stuart Townend wrote a ripper of a song called "How Deep the Fathers Love for us" - It expresses my own question so well - How come I got to gain from Jesus' horrendous death? - to be honest I don't know but Praise God I do get to share Jesus' reward! - How awesome is that!
The song in part says this:-
"Why should I gain from His reward?
I cannot give an answer
But this I know with all my heart
His wounds have paid my ransom"
Sin died that day along with Jesus - Satan was defeated - death is dead - the clincher of course was Jesus' resurrection - when He rose again, He vanquished death, never to reign again.
Oh yes! I know - we still sin! - Of course we do - whether unwittingly or deliberately, we sin! - The thing is that we know when we do - Jesus' Holy Spirit is there prompting us and bringing us back to true repentance.
We need to claim the forgiveness that Jesus is offering and also be prepared to give everything to God.
Way back in the late 19th and early 20th century there was a young man called Judson W. VanDeVenter. He had given his life to Christ when he was 17 years old and he was a pretty solid musician and became quite famous.
Life for him was looking on the up and up but inside he knew things weren't quite right - He knew he hadn't handed everything over to God - his music came first.
That knowledge hit him one night when he was conducting a choir - That night he surrendered his life entirely to God and wrote the hymn "I Surrender All" - the words say it all - "All to Jesus I surrender - All to Him I freely give."
He went on to become an amazing full time evangelist and continued to hand over all of his desires to God.
God is ever Faithful - his mercies are new every morning - His love is eternal - His compassion's never fail.
He has promised that He will never leave us - (Hebrews 13.)
God is eternally, just, wise, gracious, faithful and tender.
So don't go banging your head up against a brick wall - repent of your sins - surrender all to Jesus - Yes! Satan will still come knocking sometimes with a gentle little whisper showing you all his bag of sweet temptations then sometimes he comes with a battering ram slamming into your door, regardless....
Keep your eyes on the goal, don't dwell on the past, keep looking to Jesus - and He in His grace and glory will take care of all the rest!
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