NOW THATS ASTONISHING

 JUNE 23, 2022

I can not tell you how many times in my life, this verse has been a genuine comfort and hope to me. In my view, this is an astonishing promise! What a picture of the love and kindness of God! Even when we struggle in our faith, He will remain faithful to us because we belong to him, we are God’s children and He can't deny himself. In other words the Faithful God cannot be unfaithful. The New Living Translation says ... If we are unfaithful, he remains faithful, for he cannot deny who he is.

In 1 John 4:16 we read that God is love. 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 describes for us the characteristics of love. “4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8 Love never fails.” God will remain faithful to us even when we are not faithful to Him because that is who He is. Love believes all things, hopes for the best, never gives up. If you are struggling today with your faith, don't give up because God won't give up on you! He loves you with all His heart and He has promised to be faithful even in the times when you are not. Do you understand why I say this is an astonishing promise?


Think about how we treat those around us who have done things to us that are disrespectful, or hurtful, or trust betraying. My gut reaction, and I hope yours is different, but my gut reaction is to push them away, to disconnect relationally from them. Yet, God is devoted to us, and patiently loves us through our spiritually weak times. Please, Please let the image of God that sticks in your mind be of a God who in friendship sticks close to you, not the image of “lightning bolt God” we mentioned yesterday, or a God who acts like I too often do. I read a post that other day, that said a friend is known by what they will go through with you. They don’t walk out when things get messy. God is like that, as proverbs puts it “there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother or a sister.”

My longing for all of us is that today we would know our God and Father for who He really is. God is the complete expression of love, and His longing is that we would surrender to His relentless pursuit of our hearts, and simply let God love us more today than He did yesterday. What an astonishing promise!