- Faithfulness is one of the fruit of the Spirit. Being faithful reflects God's character. He is forever faithful. We must be completely devoted to follow Jesus faithfully. Seek to please God, not men. Be faithful in living and sharing the Gospel. Be faithful in obeying God and His Word. Be faithful in prayer (Romans 12:12b). The faithful will receive all the spiritual blessings in Christ. "For the Lord loves the just and will not forsake His faithful ones." (Psalm 37:28a) "He guards the course of the just and protects the way of His faithful ones." (Proverbs 2:8) "They will wage war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will triumph over them because He is Lord of lords and King of kings--and with Him will be His called, chosen, and faithful followers." (Revelation 17:14) The parable of the talents in Matthew clearly shows that the master was pleased with faithful servants. "His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!" (Matthew 25:21) These are the words we want to hear our Lord say to us. "So then, men ought to regard us as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the secret things of God. Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful." (1 Corinthians 4:1-2) Be faithful in all things...big and small...spectacular and mundane. Be faithful to the end, come what may. "Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life...This calls for patient endurance on the part of the people of God who keep His commands and remain faithful to Jesus." (Revelation 2:10b, 14:12)
- "Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God's grace in its various forms." (1 Peter 4:10) We are called to be faithful stewards of God's grace by using whatever gift we have received to serve others. Everyone has been given some gifts. Find yours and use them to serve God & others. We should invest our time, talents, and treasures where they will make an eternal difference. We are saved to serve! The believers' gifts are not to be laid up for selves but laid out in service. And there's always a gift of grace. Do you minister to others with the grace God has given you? Do you know what your spiritual gifts are? Try this test and see if you agree: http://www.sdrock.com/giftstest/ :).
- Whoever hastens to be rich will not go unpunished. This is a warning for those who are anxious and eager to get rich....who may stop at nothing to gain wealth, including being unfaithful and unjust (such as cheating, cutting corners, stealing, taking unfair advantage of others, plotting evil schemes, doing illegal activities, etc). They will be punished. "Do not wear yourself out to get rich." (Proverbs 23:4a) It's a waste of time and energy. Beware of gambling addiction. Covetousness will bring corruption, destruction, and miseries. Moreover, those who eager to get rich can easily become victims of scams and/or foolish investments due to lack of prudence and good judgment.
Major Danger Alert: "Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs." (1 Timothy 6:9-10) Paul admonished us against striving to be rich lest the love of money and the eagerness to get rich (and richer and richer...) become our idolatry, get us into all sorts of troubles, lead us away from our faith, and stab ourselves with sorrows. "What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?" ~Jesus (Matthew 16:26a) I love what Paul said next, "But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses...To put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life." (1 Timothy 6:11-12, 17b-19) Instead of trying to get rich, we should be eager to do good (be rich in good deeds), to be kind & generous, and to share with those in need.
2 comments:
I enjoy your blog so much.. I always come across a piece of Scripture I've never read before! Thank you so very much for this.... FAITHFULNESS... something I'm working on embodying day by day.. and I think being faithful truly comes from understanding or developing an unshakable relationship with God. Most of us don't have that solid like a rock type of relationship with our Creator.
Another great post! I am going to start at day 1 and incorporate these into our daily devotion!
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