Faithful Keeping

Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; He is the faithful God, keeping His covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love Him and keep his commandments. ~ Deuteronomy 7:9

Another reminder from God to the Israelites.  A message delivered through Moses, who I am sure was exhausted and frustrated with these people, as he is about to lead these sometimes unruly people into Canaan.  Another message.  Moses has witnessed these people treating God as a genie; wavering back and forth in their desire for His holiness, but always pleading with Him to get them out of sticky situations.  God is faithful and always ready to help us no matter how many times we may turn from Him because faithfulness is who He IS; not just what He DOES.  Our faithfulness as humans tends to be conditional and asks others to BE faithful to us, but God IS faithful.  It’s part of His being, like blood is part of our body.  It’s not a verb for Him; it’s a noun.  God’s faithfulness is limitless and His love for us has no bounds.  Lamentations 3:22-24 says, “Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail.  They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.  I say to myself, ‘The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.’”  God grants me a clean slate every morning and His love pursues me everyday.  Pursuing us when we turn away from Him and go our own way.  Pursuing me through past mistakes and grotesque sin; all because He is the one true God who wants a relationship with each of us.  And for those of us who are followers of Jesus, we not only get His pursuing love, but we get His limitless faithfulness when we are obedient to keep His commandments.  God is always working behind the scenes for our good even when we can’t see it.  He IS faithful.  For us followers, that is the hope beyond all hope.  Praise God. ~ Amen

Past Gains

But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. ~ Philippians 3:7

To be selfish and self-centered comes easily to us; it’s in our DNA.  We were born into a sinful world with a sinful nature and our culture screams “Me! Me! Me!” so it’s no wonder we can easily become self-absorbed.  But to be Christ-centered instead of self-centered, well, that takes work, intentionality, a total surrender to our Maker.  People consider themselves holy and righteous by putting all their religious traditions and practices ahead of true, real and lasting personal relationships.  Paul listed in verses 4-6 all the reasons he was able to boost in the flesh, but after becoming a follower of Jesus, he would much rather give those accomplishments up to have more time, more fellowship and a richer relationship with Jesus Christ.  Many of us are living a life in hopes of acquiring power, money and prestige, but is it worth losing your faith, relationships and hope in Christ?  I am not saying that you can’t have it all; you can!  But we must be very aware and intentional about making sure Christ is our priority ahead of our worldly desires.  We must remember that nothing compares to knowing Him and no earthly treasure will ever be as great as our heavenly treasure.  Matthew 16:26 says, “What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?  Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?”  And in Matthew 6:24 the scriptures say, “No one can serve two masters.  Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other.  You cannot serve both God and wealth.”  Having things, or desires is not a bad thing, as we know that all good gifts come from God, but putting our worldly desires ahead of our relationship with Christ is a slippery slope.  Ask the Holy Spirit to transform your mind and heart so that you are in His alignment and will for your life and watch change happen.  Your thoughts, dreams, desires and wants will be transformed and renewed. ~ Amen