Tag Archives: faithfulness

“‘Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine [Goliath] will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.’ Saul said to David, ‘Go, and the Lord be with you.'” (1 Samuel 17:36-37, NIV)

Yesterday, we were encouraged to use our memory of God’s goodness to provoke us to be grateful.  Today’s scripture encourages us to use our memory of God’s faithfulness to provoke us to trust and faith in our heavenly Father — at all times, and in every circumstance.

David’s faith, confidence, and courage at the great, public moment of his confrontation with Goliath had as its foundation the lesser, private moments in his life when God had been equally faithful.  God’s power and faithfulness is no less when we’re facing a giant before an audience of thousands, than it is when we were confronting ordinary foes in the wilderness. 

When facing the giant (whatever or whomever it might be), recall our heavenly Father’s faithfulness and power in the less public periods of your life.  It will give you the faith, the confidence, and the courage you need to overcome!  – Luther

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“If anyone is ashamed of me and my message in these adulterous and sinful days, the Son of Man will be ashamed of that person when he returns in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.” (Mark 8:38, NLT)

Jesus illustrates for us the principal that the relationships that we value in this life are the relationships that we shall inherit in eternity. In other words: If we are ashamed of Him and all that He stands for here in “time”; we shall forfeit Him for all of “eternity” because He will be ashamed of us then as we are ashamed of Him now.

The Christian disciple’s challenge in these “adulterous and sinful days” is to be faithful to Jesus and to His message in all that we say, and in all that we do.

This means that we love our enemies — all of them.  This means that we seek reconciliation — always.  This means that we pray for those who abuse us.  This means that we live each day as if Jesus were returning before the end of it.  – Luther

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