Persuaded Of God’s Faithfulness
10/15/06
If you don’t understand the
faithfulness of God or you are not persuaded that He is faithful, how can you
trust Him?
God wants a people who will
trust Him no matter what happens!
Deut.
1:21 See, the LORD your God has given you the land.
Go up and take possession of it as the LORD, the God of your fathers, told you.
Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”
22Then all of you came to me and said, “Let
us send men ahead to spy out the land for us and bring back a report about the
route we are to take and the towns we will come to.”
23The idea seemed good to me; so I selected
twelve of you, one man from each tribe. 24They left and
went up into the hill country, and came to the Valley of Eshcol and explored
it. 25Taking with them some of the fruit of the
land, they brought it down to us and reported, “It is a good land that the LORD
our God is giving us.”
26But you were unwilling to go up; you
rebelled against the command of the LORD your God. 27You grumbled in your tents and said, “The LORD hates us;
so he brought us out of Egypt to deliver us into the hands of the Amorites to
destroy us. 28Where can we go? Our brothers have made us
lose heart. They say, ‘The people are stronger and taller than we are; the
cities are large, with walls up to the sky. We even saw the Anakites there.’”
29Then I said to you, “Do not be terrified;
do not be afraid of them. 30The LORD your God, who is going before
you, will fight for you, as he did for you in Egypt, before your very eyes, 31and in the desert. There you saw how the LORD your God carried
you, as a father carries his son, all the way you went until you reached this
place.”
32In spite of this, you did not trust in the
LORD your God, 33who went ahead of you on your journey, in
fire by night and in a cloud by day, to search out places for you to camp and
to show you the way you should go.
34When the LORD heard what you said, he was
angry and solemnly swore: 35“Not a man of this evil generation shall
see the good land I swore to give your forefathers, 36except Caleb son of Jephunneh. He will see it, and I will give him
and his descendants the land he set his feet on, because he followed the LORD
wholeheartedly.”
Over and over in the Psalms
we read about the faithfulness of God!
Ps. 36:5 Your love, O LORD,
reaches to the heavens,
your faithfulness to the skies.
6 Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains,
your justice like the great deep.
O LORD, you preserve both man and beast.
7 How priceless is your unfailing love!
Both high and low among men
find refuge in the shadow of your wings.
8 They feast on the abundance of your house;
you give them drink from your river of delights.
9 For with you is the fountain of life;
in
your light we see light.
We need to be persuaded about
the faithfulness of God.
“I am persuaded”
1. I am persuaded that Jesus is faithful and loves me as much as the
Father loves Jesus.
Jo.
15:9 "As the Father has loved me,
so have I loved you. Now remain in my love.
Ps. 86:11 (David) Teach
me your way, O LORD,
and I will walk in your truth;
give me an undivided heart,
that I may fear your name.
12 I will praise you, O Lord my God, with all my heart;
I will glorify your name forever.
13 For great is your love toward me;
you have delivered me from the depths of
the grave.
14 The arrogant are attacking me, O God;
a band of ruthless men seeks my life—
men without regard for you.
15 But you, O Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God,
slow to anger, abounding in love and
faithfulness.
2. I am persuaded that Jesus is faithful and that I am completely
forgiven because I have asked for His forgiveness and trust in His cleansing
power.
1
Jo. 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our
sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10If we claim we have
not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our
lives.
3. I am persuaded that God is faithful and the He is for me and not
against me.
Jer.
29:11 For I know the plans I have for
you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you,
plans to give you hope and a future.
4. I am persuaded that Jesus is faithful and that He loves me so
much that if something happens in my life that I don’t understand I will rest
in His unfailing love and trust Him for the outcome--regardless of what it is.
1
Pet. 4:12 Dear friends, do not be
surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange
were happening to you.
13 But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of
Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.
14 If you are insulted because of the name of Christ,
you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.
15 If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or
thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler.
16 However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be
ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name.
17 For it is time for judgment to begin with the family
of God; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not
obey the gospel of God?
18 And, "If it is hard for the righteous to be
saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?"
19 So then, those who suffer according to God's will
should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.
5. I am persuaded that God is faithful and that He is working all
things together for the good in my life because He said He would.
Rom.
8:28 And we know that in all things God
works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his
purpose.
6. I am persuaded that Jesus is faithful and that He will never
leave me, He is always with me.
Mat.
28:20 ...And surely I am with you
always, to the very end of the age.
7. I am persuaded that Jesus is faithful and that He will not put on
me more than what I am capable of handling.
1
Cor. 10:13 No temptation has seized you
except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be
tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also
provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.
8. I am persuaded that Jesus is faithful and that He will complete
in me what He desires until my purpose is finished on this earth.
Phil.
1:6 being confident of this, that he
who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of
Christ Jesus.
1
Thess. 5:24 The one who calls you is
faithful and he will do it.
Jude
24 To him who is able to keep you from
falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with
great joy--
25 to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power
and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and
forevermore! Amen.
9. I am persuaded that Jesus is faithful and He will meet every need
I have.
Phil.
4:19 And my God will meet all your needs according to
his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.
10. I am persuaded that God is faithful to all of His promises.
Ps. 145:13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
and your dominion endures through all generations.
The LORD is faithful to all his promises
and loving toward all he has made.
2
Cor. 1:20 For no matter how many promises God has
made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us
to the glory of God.
Because of God’s great
faithfulness, we are compelled to be faithful!
Ps. 18:25 To the
faithful you show yourself faithful,
to the blameless you show yourself blameless,
26 to the pure you show yourself pure,
but to the crooked you show yourself shrewd.
27 You save the humble
but bring low those whose eyes are haughty.
28 You, O LORD, keep my lamp burning;
my God turns my darkness into light.
29 With your help I can advance against a troop;
with
my God I can scale a wall.
2
Tim. 2:11 Here is a trustworthy saying:
If we died with him,
we will also live with him;
12 if we
endure,
we will also reign with him.
If we disown him,
he will also disown us;
13 if we
are faithless,
he will remain faithful,
for
he cannot disown himself.