Wholeness: Faithfulness /#4

Proverbs 16:6. “Through love and Faithfulness sin is atoned for; through the fear of the LORD a man avoids evil.”(NIV)

Prov. 10:17. “He who heed discipline shows the way to Life, but whoever ignores correction leads others astray.”(NIV)

Psalms 111:7-8. “All that he has done is done in faithfulness and justice, in all ways his precepts are dependable.” (TJB)

Faithfulness is a the word that is given to those who adhere to the Word in their hearts. As God is faithful to us we are in return to be faithful to him. Often we have looked at faithfulness as a spiritual thing, a Gift of the Holy Spirit. There are times that we are to perceive it as an action of man to God in response to HIS presence and patience with us. Faithfulness is a sign of loyalty to God and His Promise. Proverbs deals Wisdom and Faithfulness in this way. Most of the Old Testament deals with the unfaithfulness of God’s Chosen People. It was not the Spiritual Gift but the lack of endurance that the people had in keeping with the covenant of God. Psalm 101 leads with;“I will sing of thy Lovingkindness and Justice;To Thee, O LORD I will sing praises. I will give heed to the blameless way. When wilt Thou come to me?”(NAS) Proverbs 12:17 reads” A truthful witness gives honest testimony, but a false witness lies.” Which are we then, when we spread rumors and innuendos about other Christians? Which are we, the lovers of justice or the spreaders of lies? Are we the ones who live blameless lives as told of us in Ephesians, or are we the natural man who forgets his own face in the mirror as told in James?

If I am to see peace and righteousness, then I must be Lovingkindness and Faithfulness in every aspect of my Walk with Jesus. I can not see how these can be separated. Love and Peace go hand in hand with Righteousness and Faithfulness.

Jesus told the pharisees, “You have neglected the more important matters of the Law (Justice), mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.”

Paul states in Gal 5; the fruit of the Holy Spirit is Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Goodness and Faithfulness. 2 Peter 1:3-9 reads; “Seeing that His divine power has been granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own Glory and Excellence. For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, in order that by them you might become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped corruption that is in the world by lust. Now for the very reason also, applying all diligence(now see where I’m going with this, all caps are my own)in your FAITH supply moral EXCELLENCE, and in moral EXCELLENCE, KNOWLEDGE; and in your KNOWLEDGE, SELF CONTROL;and in your SELF CONTROL, PERSEVERANCE; and in your PERSEVERANCE, GODLINESS; and in our GODLINESS, BROTHERLY KINDNESS; and in your BROTHERLY KINDNESS, LOVE! for IF THESE QUALITIES ARE YOURS AND ARE INCREASING,they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Christ. For he who LACKS these qualities is blind or shortsighted, having FORGOTTEN his purification from his former sins.”

We must look at Faithfulness as a Godly gift and a Call to action. As God is Faithful to us, he has every reason to aspect us to be faithful to Him. We need to express the Spirit of Faithfulness as a part of the Joy that we have in Christ. Self control and gentleness are as much a part of our godliness as is Peace and goodness. The Holy Spirit feeds us grace so that we can bare good fruit, but if we block out the blessings by tying off the grace through ungodly actions toward the brethren (hatred, spite, rumors, slander and mistrust), we choke the fruit of peace, joy and brotherly kindness. Have you ever tried to be happy and cheerful when you are angry with someone? Do you feel like having fun when someone has said something to hurt you or called you a liar? God has a hard time responding to us when we pray against or act against one of the body of Christ. We are to respond to His Love by acting in Faithfulness to His will with right living. We are to respond to trust by allowing Him to work in the lives of others as He has worked in our lives.

We need to focus as the Body of Christian the words of the Psalmist; “Your Faithfulness continues through all generations; You established the earth, and it endures. Your laws endure to this day, all things serve You.” Psalm 119:90-91.(NIV)God’s Faithfulness is Forever, His Loyalty to us is a gift that we have continuously disregarded. Paul warned Timothy of those who would seek out teachings that would “Tease the ears” and bring conflict and discord into the fragile church. Even today we see that happening as churches condone what is clearly sin in scripture. We have sought out dreamers that have led us into accepting the ways of the flesh and away from the guidance of the Spirit of God. If we are to be loyal to God and to Christ, we are to find the will of God in our course of life. The Psalmist cries out with: “I will never forget your Precept’s., for by them, you have preserved my life.” Let the Word of God, the Lovingkindness of Jesus lead into a path of preservation. Be a doer of the Love of the law of God and seek to share the reconciliation that comes with becoming a lover of Law of Jesus. John 6:27 asks us not to work for food that spoils, but to seek food that endures to eternal life, which the Servant of Man will give to us. The food that endures is the Spirit of Lovingkindness that will give us rejoicing and peach among each other.

Paul tells us that we are called into fellowship with God’s Son, Jesus Christ, and that God is faithful. We are to recognize that it is required to be loyal to the Word and to serve Him with trust. Not only are we to trust God but we are to be trustworthy. So that we can be called good and faithful servants, we share the same Trust that Jesus has had in us. Faithfulness to the Word of God and to each other is not a restriction but so that you may live in a right way in undivided devotion to Christ.
When we allow the mistrust of the body of Christ to enter into our prayers and our worship, we divide our devotion and enter into contemp for the others who are still of the Body. We then have created a separation of loyalty to the Whole Body of Christ.

It is hard to see that we create an area of insincerity when we cast out “sinner”, but we are instead to bring others into loyalty and trust by encouragement to enable, uplift, encourage and behold the Lamb of God. We are to prepare God’s sheep and many have gone astray. We are to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the Body of Christ may be built up. Jesus said that what you do for the least of His, you do for Him.

If we are truly faithful to Christ, then we are to treat the brethren as distant relatives of the same family, with a measure of trust that Christ extends toward us. I know that in many areas of the world, pagan rituals, superstitions and outright lies have penetrated the churches. I know that try as they might, Church leadership has worked to expel this primitive afflictions. Let the True Love of Jesus work in these areas and pray hard that God will cleanse the churches. Don’t think that your church is immune, I have seen some strange ideas creep into the most diligent of churches. We strive to remain faithful and worthy of the Word, and we seek to resolve the differences between the brethren t establish the Lovingkindness of Christ to all.

Hebrews 10:23,“Let us keep firm in the hope we profess, because the one who made the promise is faithful”(TJB) Hebrews 3:6“But Christ is faithful as a son over God’s house. And we are His House, if we hold onto our courage and to the hope of which we boast”Hebrews 2:7,(NIV)“Thou madest him a little lower than the angels; thou crownest him with glory and honor and didst set him over all the works of thy hands;”(KJV)

Through Christ we have authority, so through Christ we have responsibility to Faithfulness. As a final word regarding loyalty, I would like to remind you that although Jesus did say that those who were not for him where against him, he also said to James and to John that those who cast out demons and heal the sick in HIS NAME were to be left alone even if they were not counted among the disciples. In Luke 9:50 Jesus said:“Do not hinder him for he who is not against you is for you.’ (NAS) All Churches that seek to serve the LORD are for you (or should be) and you should for be supporting them. Even if you disagree on how it is to be done, Faithfulness to God is the key to servant hood. If I who can do wonders and miracles in Jesus’ Name (and I have), yet I do not have the Love for my brother, Then I have nothing. But, If I have nothing but the Love of Jesus for my brethren and for the non-believers, then I have gained all. Faithfulness is the giving of the lovingkindness to all in the Name and the Hope of the Lord Jesus.

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