GREAT IS THY FAITHFULNESS

[Albert Finch]

Psalm 100:4,5 - "Enter His gates with thanksgiving And His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him, bless His name For the LORD is good; His lovingkindness is everlasting And His faithfulness to all generations."

Satan’s plan is to make us somehow accept, either through our upbringing, our experiences or through Church dogma that certain portions of the life of Christ are untrue or not valid in our case. Every battle we face in life is over the word and whether or not we can build our lives upon the faithfulness and integrity of God.

Hebrews 10:23 - "Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is FAITHFUL;"

Do not fret because of evildoers, nor be envious of the workers of iniquity. For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb. Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness. Psalm 37:1-3

In this Psalm, David is instructing the children of God not to fret when it seems like everyone around you is prospering, especially the unrighteous. The antidote given by King David for "fretting" is to feed on the Lord's faithfulness.

Like Psalm 27:13 says, "I truly would lose heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord," nevertheless, there are more times that the worries of the world knock us out. This is why it is crucial that we feed on His FAITHFULNESS.

Yet, how do we do that? One of the primary ways is to feast on His Word -- for it is written, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God" (Matthew 4:4).

In the third chapter of the Book of Lamentations - the prophet Jeremiah, was suffering through God's chastisement along with his people. As a result of his distress, Jeremiah confessed that his soul was far from any peace, that he had forgotten what happiness was, and that his strength was gone. He felt that God shut out his prayers and had lost his expectant hope in the Lord through his terrible struggle.

Despite all his feelings of being forsaken, Jeremiah prayed again! He boldly said, "Remember my affliction and roaming, the wormwood and the gall" (Lamentations 3:19). The word for "remember" doesn't imply that God forgot His children. The Hebrew word used here is "zakar" (Strong's #2142) and speaks of recalling something, meditating on it, purposefully pulling it up in your mind. Jeremiah was asking God to think on him, to focus His Divine intentions on him!

Scripture records a significant change in Jeremiah -- he was thinking on (remembering) the affliction (the roaming, wormwood, and gall) and his soul was sinking because of it: "My soul still remembers and sinks within me" (Lamentations 3:20). Yet, after praying again to God, something happened. Instead of thinking on his circumstances, he "turned to the Lord" and found hope. "This I recall to my mind, therefore I have hope" (Lamentations 3:21).

TURN TO THE LORD

"Recall" is connected to one of the primary words used for repentance, "shuwb" (Strong's #7725), and means to turn back or return. You see, Jeremiah was thinking on his distress and affliction, which was, in a sense, putting a spiritual distance between himself and God. All he had to do was turn his thoughts to the Lord, to return to Him.
"Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you..." (James 4:7-8).

Jeremiah went from thinking on his circumstances to thinking on God. -- Lamentations 3:22-26 - "The LORD’S lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, For His compassions never fail.They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness. 'The LORD is my portion,' says my soul, 'Therefore I have hope in Him.' The LORD is good to those who wait for Him, To the person who seeks Him. It is good that he waits silently For the salvation of the Lord."

He fed on God's faithfulness! God uses ALL distress and affliction for His glory to produce character in us. "...tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope" (Romans 5:3,4).

Acts 16:25,26 - And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them. And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one's bands were loosed.

GOD'S FAITHFULNESS IS TRIGGERED BY OUR FAITH, WHILE PRAISE BRINGS US INTO HIS PRESENCE. WHEN WE PRAISE GOD, HE RAISES US OUT OF OUR SITUATION.
WHEN WE FIND OURSLEVES IN TROUBLE, WE USE PRAISE AS A KEY TO UNLOCK THE "PRISON DOORS" OF OUR CIRCUMSTANCES. NO MATTER WHAT IS GOING ON IN OUR LIFE -- WE FILL OUR MOUTH WITH THE HIGH PRAISES OF GOD!

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