Tag: faithful God

Gratitude for God’s Faithfulness

On By vickleaIn Admonition, Characteristics of God, Scripture, Song, testimony4 Comments

If we started sharing all of the wonderful attributes of our God, we would be here a long time because just when we think we know God, He shows us another facet of His character. Today, I am focusing on the faithfulness of God. We know God is faithful to His Word. He is also faithful to His promises. And best of all, He is faithful to each of us, even when we forget to acknowledge all that He has done for us.

I can, and I hope that you can, too, easily come up with all of the things I have seen God do in my life. I have kept journals in which I wrote my thanksgiving down and praised God for all that He has done and is still doing for me and for my loved ones. Why, this week alone, I have testimonies! Our son-in-law Aaron had been sick for well over a month. When he finally saw a doctor and they did blood tests, his liver function was low. This week, the doctor repeated the test, and it is normal! Hallelujah! Our granddaughter Teagan fell in the yard and broke her wrist. This week, she went to Shriner’s Hospital in Erie where they told her she only has to wear the cast for two weeks and perhaps a brace after that. So, praise God! My husband had an appointment this week with his regular dentist to start the process for a dental implant. This whole thing has taken about a year, so we are both ready for it to be done, but we didn’t really know what to expect at this week’s appointment. Pain? Dietary restrictions? None of the above. The dentist took virtual photos in order to order his permanent implant and put in a temporary crown while he waits for it to arrive. Once again, a praise report!

Of course, there are the prayers that I am still praying and waiting for an answer, but I can count on God to be faithful. He was faithful before and He doesn’t change, so He will continue to be faithful. Instead of wallowing in the pain of unanswered prayers (or sometimes those not answered the way I hoped or expected), I am praising God for His faithfulness, knowing that the answer is on the way and His answer is always what is best for me.

Instead of just reading this first verse, I recommend that you read the entire Psalm 105. Read it aloud. Say it to your mind and your heart and let it sink in what God is capable of doing and what He has already done. I think the last part of the verse is very important and often overlooked. We praise God and proclaim His glorious name during our devotional time, but do we make known what He has done? Do we testify to others about this faithfulness to us, His goodness, His grace, His mercy? Others cannot know if we do not tell. To many, if they even think about God’s existence at all, He is that scary guy who could zap them at any time or He is that smiling guy who keeps blessing them in ways they don’t really appreciate. What about if we gave personal testimonies about what God has done in our lives every day? Every week? Instead of calling friends to tell them how bad the week has been, how about calling and telling them all of the good things God has done for you because He is faithful? It’s all about perspective. You can keep what God has done for you and “ponder it in your heart.” But you can also reach out to others and give them a reason to think about God and His love and faithfulness. I think the latter is a better plan, don’t you?

Faithful God-I Am They

Look What the Lord Has Done-Charity Gayle

Please keep praying for those in Texas who have lost loved ones. God is sending His comfort and peace because He is faithful. Let us be faithful to pray for them in their time of grieving unbearable loss.

Faithful God

On By vickleaIn Characteristics of God, Scripture, Song2 Comments

It has been a tough week for me, but through it all, God has shown Himself faithful. Being faithful means He keeps His promises, and it is part of who he is, not just something He does. Since it is one of the fruits of the Spirit, God wants us to develop that quality in our character, too.

As I spoke quietly with the family last evening at the funeral home, I felt the Lord’s presence surround me with His comfort and love. I saw the teen granddaughters, trying to maintain their composure and smile, but I saw the hurt in their eyes, too. So, when I got up to them, I told them how much their grandmother loved them and talked about them all the time and that she would always be with them in their hearts. That’s when they shed a few tears and I gave them a hug. God is faithful to show us what people need and how we can help them.

God is faithful all the time, in all the ways we need Him. Sometimes, I think faithfulness means that God marches to the beat of my drum, but that isn’t true. God fulfills His promises in His Word, but it is His plan that is unfolding, not mine. He is faithful to His plan for all of our lives, oftentimes in spite of my getting in His way and trying to demand changes in His plan. God remains faithful.

God is faithful when I am irritated with Him. Be honest. You get irritated at God, too. His timing isn’t working out for you. His plan is taking too long. The prayers you consistently prayed weren’t answered the way you thought they would be. But God is still faithful. He is doing what is best for us, even when we are too short-sighted to see it.

God’s faithfulness to us is part of His great love for us. He faithfully works with us, to make us more like He created us to be.

God’s faithfulness surrounds Him and when we are in His presence, it surrounds us, too. There is no one like our God!

When God is shows us His faithfulness, He wants us to share it with others so that they, too, can have hope and believe. In a world where lying, deceit and chicanery are part of the everyday habits of most people, tell others about our faithful God, the God who does not change and who is always faithful in all ways. We may disappoint Him, but He remains steadfastly faithful.

Faithful God-I Am They

God Is Waiting

On By vickleaIn Scripture2 Comments

God truly desires to show us His love and compassion, but He is waiting patiently for us to come to Him and admit that we have a need. Knowing that God is a faithful God, once we take our needs before Him, then we must wait. But we know for absolutely certain that God’s help is on the way. It may not be what we expected but it will always be just what we needed just when we needed it.

Have a blessed day, and if you are waiting for an answer to prayer, take time to thank God for the answer that He is sending.

Holding Onto Hope

On By vickleaIn Scripture5 Comments

I don’t get on scary rides at theme parks very often, but I have a couple of times, once when I was assured that it was a “mild rollercoaster.” Well, mild is not the word I would have used as the ride slung me from one side of the seat to another as I tightly grasped the bar in front of me. My hope was that the bar would hold me in my seat so that I didn’t tumble out into an unknown abyss.

Isn’t that what our hope in the Lord is all about? We hold tightly onto the hope that we have in Him, the sure knowledge that He is bigger than all our problems and that He will be with us through everything we face?

God is always faithful and always keeps His promises. We can count on Him not to move away from us and leave us hanging over the challenges that life tosses at us.

But there is another reason to hold onto hope. Others are watching us and how we react when the storms of life assail us. Do we behave like those around us, kicking and screaming about the unfairness of life? Or do we quietly pray and ask for God’s help to get through the situation or to remove it, whatever is best for us in the long run?

I want others to be glad to see me because they know that I put my hope in the Lord. How do they know that unless I have shown them through the faith that I live out daily? We are a walking testimony, either showing others the faith and hope that God has instilled in us or the fear and anger that man daily inputs into our lives. I choose faith and hope and pray that each of you does the same, knowing that others are always watching.

I screamed on the roller coaster and I even have a photo record of my terror. What would it be like if each time I face a new test in life, a photographer were to capture my reactions? That is certainly food for thought, isn’t it? May my reactions be consistently Godly, representing the Christ whom I serve!

Have a blessed day as you hope in the Lord and give those around you reason to rejoice!

Our Part Is To Hold On

On By vickleaIn Scripture4 Comments

I know that you have probably been on a roller coaster ride and your companion probably looked at you and said laughingly, “Hold on tight!” Well, that happened to me once and only once because I am not a fan of roller coasters. I hate the feeling of not being in control and hurtling around corners and down hills at a high rate of speed. My children had assured me that this particular coaster was very mild and I could check off my item on my bucket list about riding a roller coaster. (Actually, I don’t remember putting that particular item on there, but I was assured that it was there.) So, with much fanfare and hesitation, I rode the coaster, watched my husband’s eyes twinkle as he told me to hold on. I don’t remember much of the ride, just the terror and the screaming because my children’s idea of a mild ride was not the same as mine.

Sometimes I think that life can be like a roller coaster ride, with unexpected twists and turns, a slow move to the top of the hill and a death-defying plunge to the unknown at the bottom. Throughout life, God has always been there for me and never wavered, always reminding me to just hold on to Him. I may not know what is coming or how the future may affect me, but God does and He is always faithful. I don’t have to be afraid or anxious in any way because God is the one who has told me to hold on and He will do the rest!

Have a blessed and wonderful Saturday, filled with moments in which you hold on and God is faithful!