A CHRISTIAN’S LIFE REST IN A GOD WHO IS TRUTHFUL

“God is not a man, that He should lie; hath He said, and shall He not do it?  Or hath He spoken, and shall He not make it good.”—Numbers 23:19

 

I want to encourage you to gain a deeper understanding of truth and God’s truthfulness.  Our heavenly Father is truthful, faithful, loving and all-powerful.  You can base your entire life on His promises, secure in the knowledge that He will do just as He has said.

 

Did you know that the Christian’s life rests on the premise that God is truth?  God is truth itself.  In Psalm 31:5, He is called the God of truth.  Jeremiah said that He is the true God in chapter 10 verse 10.  Jesus Christ Himself is the incarnation of truth.  In John 14:6 He said, “I am the truth.”  All truth is God’s truth.  God is truth, speaks truth and defines truth.  Because the Bible is God’s word, it is the “Word of Truth.”  That is why my goal is to encourage you to read your Bible more and to help you to believe in and take advantage of the wonderful array of promise found throughout the Word of God.  You can trust everything that our Heavenly Father has said because His Word shows Him to be truthful.

 

Our Scripture reading for today tells us that God does not lie and when He speaks something He stands behind what He says. We as humans are pretty weak-willed.  Sometimes out of fear we will make an impulsive promise, even though we know we cannot keep it.  But God does not do that.  For one thing, He never feels threatened or pressured.  But most importantly, the Bible says He simply cannot lie, “That by two immutable things, with which it is impossible for God to lie…” (Hebrews 6:18).  Titus 1:2, “In hope of eternal life which God who cannot lie, promised before time.”  You see God’s promises are based on His infinite knowledge and truthfulness. 

 

So what does it mean to be truthful?  Webster’s dictionary tells us that to be truthful means to be honest, to be correct, and to be reliable.  As a Christian, it is important for you to understand that God is honest, He is correct, He is truthful and reliable.  We can say it like this, you can count on him.  In a world, where few things can be counted upon—relied upon— YOU can count on him because He is truthful.

 

Prayer—Heavenly Father, thank You that I can rely upon You and Your promises to me.  Help me to develop my root system into You and Your truthfulness so that when the winds of adversity blow I am able to stand, in Jesus’ Name.  Amen.

 

LET YOUR ACTIONS BE CONSISTENT WITH YOUR CHARACTER

“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”—Hebrews 13:8

 

Being consistent can be challenging, God wants us to be people of consistency, full of faith and truthfulness.  Consistent means to be reliable, to be steady to be dependable.  One of the greatest testimonies I have every heard was concerning a prayer group.  They never failed to come together to pray for the needs of their community and their church body.  Week after week this group of believers would lay aside the necessities of their own lives to pray for the needs of others.  This prayer group recognized the priority of Christ’s character—love lays down its life for another.  Our actions should be consistent with our character.

Society as a whole is sending the message that it is acceptable to say one thing and to then act a different way. This is contrary to God’s word.  John 3:16 is a good example that God does not act differently than His character.  God is love (1 John 4:8) now compare this with John 3:16:  “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal live.  Loved laid down its life for those who believe. 

You see God is consistent and He expects His children to be like Him.  We can pray or even expect others to treat us with a Christ-like attitude, but that does not exempt us from our individual responsibility of being Christ-like.  Does this require discipline?  Yes. Can we do it?  Yes.  Joyce Meyers gave an excellent example of being consistent. “Treat your family, partner or friends the same way that you would treat or speak to your pastor, or your teacher or anyone else that you have deep respect for. Be the same for everyone.”  It is simple, do something, do a little but just do.  And as you begin to make that adjustment in your life, you will be gratified to see the change in your own attitude towards yourself and towards others.  There is nothing better than having the peace, righteousness, joy and satisfaction of seeing yourself grow and mature as your actions consistently portray Christ in a hurting world.

 

Prayer—Heavenly Father I repent, and I ask You to forgive me for not representing You consistently with my actions, and for allowing the influence of the world’s system to be my standard of conduct.  Help me Lord to be consistent in my actions as I represent You to a hurting world, in Jesus’ name.  Amen.