Knowing, Appreciating & Embracing God’s Faithfulness | Bibe Study |Mike Prah
Feb 19, 2025 | by Mike Prah
Knowing, Appreciating & Embracing God’s Faithfulness | Bibe Study |Mike Prah
INTRODUCTION:
• Our painful memories come from the fact that we do not know how to manage the pain or know who to turn to help.
• When we are relieved, we may recall the sadness caused, but we appreciate the victory. The tough experience no longer bothers us; instead, we rejoice in the end because of God's faithfulness..
• Knowing, appreciating, and embracing God’s faithfulness is the key to living a confident, victorious life, now and in the future, even in seasons of hardship.
Your faith in God today has much to do with your belief in God’s faithfulness.
• DEFINITION: GOD'S FAITHFULNESS
God’s faithfulness refers to His self-loyalty and to His loyalty to His entire creation. He will not (indeed, He cannot) change his character nor fail to perform all He has promised.
“If we are faithless, God remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.” 2 Timothy 2:13 (ESV)
“God is no mere human! He doesn't tell lies or change his mind. God always keeps his promises.” Numbers 23:19 (CEV)
I. God’s Faithfulness Precludes Worry
“Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful” Hebrews 10:23 (ESV)
“Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood 6and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen” Revelation 1:5-6 (ESV)
“Forever, O Lord, your word is firmly fixed in the heavens. Your faithfulness endures to all generations; you have established the earth, and it stands fast.” Psalm 119:89-90 (ESV)
II. God’s Faithfulness Promises Answers to our Prayers
“Hear my prayer, O Lord; give ear to my pleas for mercy! In your faithfulness answer me, in your righteousness!” Psalm 143:1 (ESV)
“Call to Me and I will answer you, and I will show you great and mighty things, which you do not know” Jeremiah 33:3 (NKJV)
III. God’s Faithfulness Protects from Evil
“Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.” Matthew 6:13 (ESV)
“I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one.” John 17:15 (ESV)
“The Lord is faithful, and He will strengthen and protect you from the evil one.” 2 Thessalonians 3:3 (ESV)
IV. God's Faithfulness Provides Pardon for Sins
“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9 (ESV)
“Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord” Acts 3:19 (NASB)
“As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us. Just as a father has compassion on his children, So the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him. For He Himself knows our frame; He is mindful that we are but dust.” Psalm 103:12-14 (ESV)
V. God’s Faithfulness Promotes Praise
“1I will sing of the lovingkindness of the Lord forever; To all generations, I will make known Your faithfulness with my mouth. 5The heavens will praise Your wonders, O Lord; Your faithfulness also in the assembly of the holy ones. 8 O Lord God of hosts, who is like You, O mighty Lord? Your faithfulness also surrounds You.” Psalm 89:1, 5, 8 (ESV)
“It is good to give thanks to the Lord And to sing praises to Your name, O Most High; To declare Your lovingkindness in the morning And Your faithfulness by night” Psalm 92:1-2 (ESV)
VI. God’s Faithfulness Provides Encouragement
In Lamentations 3, Jeremiah the prophet stood on the outskirts of Jerusalem, with tears running down his cheeks, watching the beloved city being burned and destroyed by the Babylonian soldiers. His pain and agony seemed almost unendurable.
• The hopelessness of Jeremiah” (Lamentations 3:1-21, NIV)
“I am the man who has seen affliction by the rod of the LORD’s wrath. He has driven me away and made me walk in darkness rather than light; indeed, he has turned his hand against me again and again, all day long. He has made my skin and my flesh grow old and has broken my bones. He has besieged me and surrounded me with bitterness and hardship. He has made me dwell in darkness like those long dead. He has walled me in so I cannot escape; he has weighed me down with chains. Even when I call out or cry for help, He shuts out my prayer. He has barred my way with blocks of stone; He has made my paths crooked. Like a bear lying in wait, like a lion in hiding, He dragged me from the path and mangled me and left me without help. He drew his bow and made me the target for his arrows. He pierced my heart with arrows from his quiver. I became the laughingstock of all my people; they mock me in song all day long. He has filled me with bitter herbs and given me gall to drink. He has broken my teeth with gravel; He has trampled me in the dust. I have been deprived of peace; I have forgotten what prosperity is. So I say, ‘My splendor is gone and all that I had hoped from the LORD.’ I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall. I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me. Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope” (Lamentations 3:1-21, NIV).
• The faithfulness of Jehovah
“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.’ The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him” (Lam. 3:22-27, NIV).