GREAT IS THY FAITHFULNESS


GREAT IS THY FAITHFULNESS



                “Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father… There is no shadow of turning with Thee…Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not…. As Thou hast been, Thou forever will be.

                Summer and winter and springtime and harvest…Sun, moon and stars in their courses above… Join with all nature in manifold witness…To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.

                Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth… Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide… Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow… blessings all mind and ten thousand beside

                Great is Thy faithfulness… great is Thy faithfulness… Morning by morning new mercies I see…All I have needed thy hand hath provided… Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord unto me.”



                I am currently finishing the orchestrations for a CD called “The Majestic Hymns.” I suppose that of the five CDs I am putting out of songs that I have written, this one CD, "Majestic Hymns" will be the one that I actually listen to myself. I love the majestic hymns in the Hymnbook. Many have been written in times of persecution, or war, or poverty, or tragedy or revival by faithful and godly saints of the past. Their words ring out in steadfast faith. They speak to us of faithfulness to God and His faithfulness to us in all kinds of circumstances.



                God’s faith hall of fame is not made up of model Christians who never had doubts or fears or struggles. It is not made up of people cloistered in pious security. As we review the men and women of faith that God said He was not ashamed to be called their God, we see prophets and kings Paupers and poets… along with ordinary people who ended up doing extraordinary things and even as we list off their names, their stories come to mind demonstrating the faithfulness of God in all sorts of circumstances and with all sorts of people:



                Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Rahab, Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel , Elijah, Elisha, the Major and minor prophets, the disciples of Jesus and the apostle Paul.



                We know something of their histories, their struggles, their victories, their coming out of darkness and into light, their great and heroic feats… and the one thing they have in common is that they learned how to put their faith and their trust in God.



                Hebrews 11:13, 16 tells us that all of the Old Testament saints died in faith without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. ..But as it is they desired a better country that is a heavenly one Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for He has prepared a city for them.



                Sometimes it is hard to see in our own lives that we are part of an epic struggle in which we are writing history. Sometimes it is easy to forget that our own story is an eternal one. It is a story in which we must have faith and endurance…. We must make wise choices… live by the promises… learn how to live by the Spirit in a world of flesh. Sometimes we face fears within and dangers without. We live in a world of cataclysm and epic battles that are raging as the antichrist system is being built in defiance of God.



                We have our own Babylon, our own Tower of Babel… our own Days of Noah and of Sodom. We live in days of the constant threat of war even as our world is rocked by cataclysms of every sort… of mighty storms and floods and droughts, of pestilence and disease, of hatred on every side, of earthquakes and volcanoes and extinction of animals, birds and fish and resources… in a world of 7.7 billion people and diminishing food and water supplies… we wonder what comes next.



                Still, in spite of the nail biting events we see in our world every day, it is easy to get caught up in the routine of life, even amidst all of this and to feel that we have mundane and purposeless lives. We can’t somehow see our lives within the context of Hebrews 11. We can’t see that we are God’s heroes in the making.  Not liking what we see in the world we tend to shut it out and to desperately focus on things of little consequence, like sports and entertainment… material possessions and short term goals. Sometimes it is too painful to look at the big picture. To open our eyes is to see something unthinkable.



                Human trafficking, child abductions and abuse, twisted perversions that are now called good, poverty, drugs, the unprecedented rise of occult powers and influence…satanic conspiracies that threaten to change our world forever… technologies that give us ominous hints of human slavery to come. We are in a conflagration such as the world has never seen. Even the heavens are shaking as the rich prepare shelters for themselves. (As if we don’t count in the grand scheme of things)… And yet, In God’s perspective His eyes are on the faithful, the overcomers… those who learn to love in a world of hate.



                David was one of those rare types that could somehow step back and to see His struggles in light of the big picture. No matter what was going on, there was something…Someone, bigger than all of this       and he wrote it down for us who live in these last days saying:



                “The Lord is gracious and full of compassion; slow to anger and of great mercy. The Lord is good to all, and His tender mercies are over all his works. All thy works shall praise Thee, O Lord; and thy saints shall bless thee. They shall speak of the glory of thy kingdom and talk of thy power. ..To make known to the sons of men his mighty acts and the glorious majesty of his kingdom. Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom and thy dominion endureth throughout all generations. The Lord upholdeth all that fall and raiseth up all those that be bowed down.” Psalms 145:8-14



                Today let us remember that we are part of a very big picture. It is a picture in which we feel like we are insignificant and unknown. But he eyes of the Lord are on those who trust Him. Sinners are a dime a dozen, but those that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They will mount up with wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint. Isa. 40:31



                The Lord preserveth all them that love him: but all the wicked will he destroy. My mouth shall speak the praise of the Lord; and let all flesh bless his holy name forever and ever. Ps. 145:20-21



                The world may look the other way, but God’s eyes are on you. Give Him praise.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

ONE OF THOSE THINGS PART 2

ONE OF THOSE THINGS (PART 2)                 I guess I shouldn’t keep you in suspense. The Colonoscopy was a success. It was by far the easiest part of my 4 day ordeal.                 I, along with those who now know me more than most, watched the whole procedure on the screen in full HD color. Doc told me that my colon was in good health. I had two little polyps which they removed painlessly and it was all over in about 20 minutes.                 To ally some of your fears, they weren’t staring at my caboose. They were all watching the screen along with me. I was covered with a pre-warmed blanket, festooned with 5 heart monitors, an oxygen measurer on my finger, and an IV pouring comfort and ease into my veins.       ...
Read more

THE CHURCH AS A LIVING ORGANISM

THE CHURCH AS A LIVING ORGANISM                 So often we have a myopic view of church. There is a pastoral staff that does what they are supposed to do. We come, we listen and we leave.                 I spent many years being on stage in churches of all kinds and I want to tell you that there is no lonelier place in the entire world than being up front in a dead church. If there is to be a smile, you are going to have to provide it. If there is to be a positive atmosphere, you are going to have to provide it. IF there is to be any inspiration or excitement or conviction, you are going to have to produce it, even as the entire congregation sits glumly staring at their laps.                 In a living congregation, when you pray the congregations pra...
Read more

THE SAVING OF OUR SOUL

THE SAVING OF OUR SOULS                 “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus.” 1 Thess. 5:23.                 I grew up in a prophetic church, so we knew prophecy quite well and a part of that included a fairly thorough understanding of the Sanctuary.   (The Tabernacle of Moses)   We knew all of the furniture and the compartments and how they represented justification, sanctification and glorification, but what I was never taught is that the Tabernacle displayed the three parts of man. In other words, man is made up of three individual parts... spirit, soul and body. Even less did we realize that these three parts are saved separately and that each part must be saved complete, as this text in 1 T...
Read more