Praise the Lord for this glorious day. Yesterday the mercury climbed to 100 in some areas here in New York. It broke the record for June 9. It will be another scorching day today. Praise the Lord for His faithfulness. In our times of prayer and praise, let us remember to intercede for those with whom we are linked in this life. Please remember Jerry Adams in prayer, as he is going in for surgery in Rochester, New York today. Deborah and Mike are going to welcome their first born daughter Cassidy today. We praise the Lord for His gifts of love and mercy. In a world of sadness and bad news we proclaim the Great Good News, that Jesus is Lord. "The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ".
I read a heart warming story some time ago, set in the country of Armenia. In 1988 Samuel and Danielle sent their young son, Armand, off to school. Samuel squatted before his son and looked him in the eye. “Have a good day at school, and remember, no matter what, I’ll always be there for you.” They hugged and the boy ran off to school. Hours later, a powerful earthquake rocked the area. In the midst of the pandemonium, Samuel and Danielle tried to discover what happened to their son but they couldn’t get any information. The radio announced that there were thousands of casualties. Samuel then grabbed his coat and headed for the schoolyard. When he reached the area, what he saw brought tears to his eyes. Armand’s school was a pile of debris. Other parents were standing around crying, but Samuel found the place where Armand’s classroom used to be and began pulling a broken beam off the pile of rubble. He then grabbed a rock and put it to the side, and then grabbed another one. One of the parents who was looking on asked, “What are you doing?” “Digging for my son,” Samuel answered. The man then said, “You’re just going to make things worse! The building is unstable,” and tried to pull Samuel away from his work. Samuel set his jaw and kept working. As time wore on, one by one the other parents left. Then a firefighter tried to pull Samuel away from the rubble. Samuel looked at him and said, “Won’t you help me?” The firefighter left and Samuel kept digging. All through the night and into the next day, Samuel continued digging. Parents placed flowers and pictures of their children on the ruins, but Samuel just kept working. He picked up a beam and pushed it out of the way when he heard a faint cry. “Help! Help!” Samuel listened but didn’t hear anything again. Then he heard a muffled voice, “Papa?” Samuel began to dig furiously. Finally, he could see his son. “Come on out, son”, he said with relief. “No,” Armand said. “Let the other kids come out first because I know you’ll get me.” Child after child emerged until, finally, little Armand appeared. Samuel took him in his arms and Armand said, “I told the other kids not to worry because you told me that you’d always be there for me!” Fourteen children were saved that day because one father was faithful. How much more faithful is our heavenly Father! Whether we are trapped by fallen debris or ensnared by life’s hardships and struggles, we are never cut off from God’s faithfulness. He is true to His character. He is reliable and trustworthy and can always be counted on. Here’s a simple definition, “God’s faithfulness means that everything He says and does is certain.” He is 100% reliable, 100% of the time. He does not fail, forget, falter, change, or disappoint. He says what He means and means what He says, and therefore does everything He says He will do. Let’s look at some of the key passages on God’s Faithfulness:>Exodus 34:6, “The Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.”>Deuteronomy 7:9, “Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; He is the faithful God, keeping His covenant of love to a thousand generations…”>Deuteronomy 32:4, “He is the Rock, His works are perfect, and all His ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is He.”>Joshua 21:45, “Not one of all the Lord’s good promises to the house of Israel failed; every one was fulfilled.”>Psalm 25:10, “All the ways of the Lord are loving and faithful.”>Psalm 89:8, “O Lord God Almighty, who is like you? You are mighty, O Lord, and your faithfulness surrounds you.” These verses, when taken together, establish that God’s faithfulness is not some minor or secondary part of His character. To say that God is faithful goes to the very core of who He really is. If He didn’t keep His Word, He wouldn’t be God. The late Bill Bright, the founding President of Campus Crusade for Christ, compared the attributes of God to an automobile engine. Pistons, fan belts, water pumps, and thousands of moving parts all whirl around within a small space, making power for us to drive our car. The parts all work together harmoniously as components of the whole engine. That’s similar to the way God’s attributes function, too. If you took away love, God’s character would be incomplete. God’s love works with all the other attributes, like His justice, to produce the right kind of results. We can compare God’s faithfulness to the oil in the engine that keeps the internal parts running smoothly. God’s faithfulness means that each attribute in His character is working at full capacity at all times. When does God’s love fail? Never, because He is faithful. When is God less than holy? Never, because His character is pure and He is always faithful to who He is and to what He says. A.W. Tozer puts it this way, “All of God’s acts are consistent with all of His attributes. No attribute contradicts any other, but all harmonize and blend into each other in the infinite abyss of the Godhead.” God’s faithfulness is at the core of His very nature. He is knowable, holy, the creator, omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, just, sovereign, unchanging, and loving because He is faithful to His own character. He never changes any of His attributes. Paul drew on this truth when he wrote to the Thessalonians, “the one who calls you is faithful and He will do it.” (1 Thessalonians 5:24)
Great is His Faithfulness,
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqqtyuivolA
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