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faithfulness

Compassions

by TerryLema

In a book called “Lamentations,” which contains the cries and expressions of grief of the prophet Jeremiah, there is a portion of Scripture that most Christians learn very quickly. Probably because we need to learn it very quickly.

“Because of the Lord’s faithful love we do not perish, for His mercies never end. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness! I say: The Lord is my portion, therefore I will put my hope in Him.” [3:22-24 HCSB]

In almost the direct center of that book is a reminder that God’s mercies have no end, and that they are renewed fresh each morning.

Why is the reassurance of that so important?

I think there are two reasons. The first is that we are so used to things “ending.” We come to the end of various stages of life. We come to the end of our resources, energy, money, time, even our talents. Our jobs often end. Our relationships also do so at times.

There always seems to be something drawing to a close. Except the LORD’s faithful mercies. They have no end. We can never out distance them nor run out of them.

The other reason I think we cling to this verse is that phrase, “renewed fresh” each morning. Life often compounds things. We suffer not just a loss but multiple ones. We do not have one health issue; we have a couple. When things compound, they increase our suffering, grief, and stress.

But each morning, God’s mercies come fresh, absolutely, and totally efficient for whatever or how many needs we might see that day.

It is easy to cry out along with the prophet Jeremiah, “The Lord is my portion, therefore I will put my hope in Him.”

 

Amen!

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Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah

by TerryLema

Their names were Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. (Hananiah means Yahweh Has Been Gracious. Mishael means Who is Like God. Azariah means Helped by God.)

We know them better as Shadrach, Meshack, and Abednego (pagan names given to them by their captors). They were the “Three Hebrew Children” captured along with Daniel and taken to Babylon.

They were commanded by the king to bow down and worship a golden statue when they heard the “sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, drum, and every kind of music.” To refuse to do so meant being thrown into the fiery furnace (capital punishment).

They famously responded, “If the God we serve exists, then He can rescue us from the furnace of blazing fire, and He can rescue us from the power of you, the king.  But even if He does not rescue us, we want you as king to know that we will not serve your gods or worship the gold statue you set up.” [Daniel 3:17-18 HCSB]

These three young men refused to bow down in idolatry, and God honored their response by rescuing them from the fiery furnace. They stayed faithful to JEHOVAH God, never considering what that faithfulness might require of them.

I have always considered it a shame that we remember them by the pagan names (Shadrach, Meshack, and Abednego) given to them by their captors.

Should we not remember them by their names which were prophetic of their faithfulness to God Almighty? And God Almighty’s faithfulness to them!

Yahweh Has Been Gracious (Hananiah)

Who is Like our God (Mishael)

Helped by God (Azariah)

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Perfect Faithfulness

by TerryLema

Last Friday was a discouraging day for a number of reasons. By nightfall, I was ready to withdraw from everything. My heart hurt for others going through difficult times. I was frustrated trying to make plans for the committee charged with recruiting my replacement. It was a difficult day.

When I woke up Saturday, I had a message from a friend at 5 AM asking if I was “up yet.” Messages at 5 AM are never good, and this one proved that point.

So, of course, God was already prepared for my discouragement. One of my daily verses brought me to Isaiah 25. That chapter in my Bible is titled, “Salvation and Judgment on that Day.”  That day’s verse opened the chapter.

“Yahweh, You are my God; I will exalt You. I will praise Your name, for You have accomplished wonders, plans formed long ago, with perfect faithfulness.” [25:1 HCSB]

I was struck by two phrases. The first reminded me that God’s plans for this world were “formed long ago.” They are set firmly in His unchanging nature. Nothing takes Him by surprise – not even those things that discouraged me Friday and Saturday.

The second thing that struck me is Isaiah’s reminder that God accomplishes wonders – those plans formed long ago – “with perfect faithfulness.”

I do not have any answers yet for the discouraging things that currently surround me. I am still a little frustrated and emotionally wobbly. But God … (how often we live in those two words!) … but God has plans formed long ago and I shall yet see His wonders. He will perform them with perfect faithfulness.

I need to live in the reality of His perfect faithfulness.

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New Every Morning

by TerryLema

One of the first things I do every morning is go to my kitchen and get the coffee started. It is all set up the night before, so I simply pour the water into my Bunn coffeemaker, shut the lid and in about two minutes I have a pot of steaming hot coffee. The second thing I do (during that two minutes while I am waiting for the coffee to brew) is to take the prior day’s kitchen towels and wash cloths and toss them in the laundry basket.

I like to begin the new day with fresh towels. (My husband, on the other hand, could use the same towel for a decade without it ever seeing the laundry basket.) I am very careful in my kitchen. I scrub the sink regularly, sanitize the disposer, make sure the counter tops are clean. I use a separate cutting board for raw meat. I wash my hands frequently when handling anything I think might contaminate.  We rarely get any type of stomach bug and I think my efforts in the kitchen contribute to our health.

As I took fresh towels and cloths out of the drawer this morning, I was reminded of God’s promise to us. “Through the LORD’s mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness. ‘The LORD is my portion,’ says my soul, ‘Therefore I hope in Him!’” [Lam 3:22-24 NKJV]

The LORD’s compassions and mercies are fresh every morning. No matter how used and soiled we may get by life, when we wake each morning God is there to be our “portion.” His is a “portion” that never runs out, enough for each day and refreshed again each morning.  We can be assured when we place our trust in Him that He will never disappoint, never disappear, never fail us.

“Great is Your faithfulness, O God!”

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God is Not Silent …

by TerryLema

Micah 6:8: “Mankind, He has told you what is good and what it is the Lord requires of you: to act justly, to love faithfulness, and to walk humbly with your God.” [HCSB]

I came across that verse last Monday afternoon. It is a well-known verse. I have seen it quoted often. I have heard messages on it and even preached messages on it myself. It made me consider a few things once again.

First, God is not – never has been – silent about what He expects of His creation. He has told us what is good, and He has been consistent in reminding us what is required of us. He did it in the Old Testament, and He repeated Himself through His Son in the New Testament.

It is clear. We are to act justly. We are to love faithfulness, or as the NKJV translates, we are to love mercy. We are to walk humbly with our God.

We are to act justly. As disciples of Christ Jesus, we are to act toward and treat all rightly, honorably, fairly, and honestly. Not always easy, but when have the commands of obedience from our God ever been easy! There are many in this life who have not been treated honorably or fairly. We can place whatever terminology on it we want, but the church must never be in the business of treating people dishonorably or unjustly.

We are to be a people who love faithfulness and mercy. Love it, act upon it, reflect it, give it. We know God always treats us faithfully and that His mercies are new to us every morning, but do we treat others the same way? Are we faithful to them? Are the mercies we have for them new every morning?

Last of all, we are to walk humbly with our God. If we strive to do the first two commands, we will find out just how difficult they are – then it is easy to walk humbly with our God!  There can be no arrogance, no pride, when we discover just how far removed we are from perfect obedience to a perfect, holy, wonderful, faithful, just God.

Amen & Amen

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God’s Faithful Discipline

by TerryLema

Whenever a passage of Scripture begins with that dangerous word, “therefore,” it means that you must go back to the previous passage to pick up the context of what’s coming next. This morning in Hebrews I opened to chapter 12 and found the familiar statement: “Therefore, strengthen the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees, and make straight paths for your feet.” [12:12-13 NKJV]

The writer is talking about renewing our spiritual vitality – those hands which hang down in despair and the feeble knees which may no longer hold us up or keep us praying as we should. Realizing that the exhortation began with that dangerous word “therefore,” I looked back at the previous passage.

It is all about the discipline of the LORD. It begins in verse 1 and ends with these words in verse 11. “Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.” [NKJV]

There surely is nothing joyful about discipline while it is going on. It’s downright painful. It is humiliating to be reminded that we fall short of what we should be as children of God. It is, however, absolutely necessary when we do fall short as children of the Father to respond to God’s discipline correctly.

When we receive the discipline of God as an offering of His love and allow it to train us to be what God wants us to be, it yields, or brings to life, righteousness in us.

How often we sing joyfully, “Great is Thy Faithfulness,” without realizing that one of the ways God’s faithfulness is expressed to us is in discipline.

Thank you, Father. Amen.

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