Free PDF eBook containing all of Year 4
Print PDF of this lesson
God not only wants us to be faithful to Him, but He wants us to know that He is faithful to us. In our relationship with God, there should be a mutual trust — He should be able to count on our faithfulness, and we should know that we can count on His. There is, of course, no doubt as to whether He will keep His end of the commitment, but we need to be more confident of His faithfulness. We need to meditate on it, cherish it, and give thanks for it. When we do that, we will be motivated to be more faithful to Him.
God’s love for us is steadfast. It does not waver. Unlike the love that we sometimes show to our fellow human beings, God’s love does not depend on the likableness of the other person. He loves us because we are His creatures, endowed with an inherent worth that comes from being made in His image. He gave us a free will, and if we use that freedom to reject Him, He will have to send us away from His presence in eternity. But as long as our lives last in this world, He will never stop loving us. Even when we stray from Him, He continues to work to win us back. When we say no to God, no one is more brokenhearted about that than God Himself.
We desperately need to know the steadfastness of God’s love. When we lose sight of His faithfulness, we are in grave danger spiritually. Satan can tempt us to do all sorts of things that we would never do if we kept in mind the steadfastness of God’s love for us. And not only that, but meditating on God’s dependability is the only way for us to keep from being discouraged in this difficult world. How could we possibly keep going if we doubted that God was going to help us?
In Phil. 2:12,13, Paul wrote that we are to “work out [our] own salvation with fear and trembling.” We certainly need to have a strong sense of responsibility concerning our obedience. If we don’t, we will be lost. But Paul also wanted us to realize that “it is God who works in [us], both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” God is to be taken with utter seriousness, but it must also be a part of our concept of God that He will help us do whatever is pleasing to Him. He loves us more than we know, and we will never be in any situation where His help is not available to us. However daunting our responsibilities may seem at times, we can be confident that God is at our side. With Paul, our attitude should be: “I can do all things through him who strengthens me” (Phil. 4:13).
Monday: Hebrews 13:5,6
Key Idea: Knowing that God will never forsake us, our present circumstances need not worry us.
Questions for Family Growth: What are we told to keep our lives free from? In this passage, what is the key to contentment? What is the main point of the quotation from Psa. 118:6? What does it mean that we can “confidently” say what this text affirms?
Wisdom for the Day: Proverbs 28:23.
Tuesday: Hebrews 10:23
Key Idea: The promises of God can be counted on dependably.
Questions for Family Growth: What does it mean to “hold fast the confession of our hope”? What would it mean to “waver” in our faith? At the end of this verse, what reason is given for us to hold fast in our faith? What are some of the promises of God that we need to put our trust in?
Wisdom for the Day: Proverbs 28:24.
Wednesday: 1 Corinthians 10:13
Key Idea: God is faithful to help us resist temptation.
Questions for Family Growth: What does it mean that temptation is “common to man”? In this text, what limitations does God place on the temptations we face? When we are tempted, what will God always provide?
Wisdom for the Day: Proverbs 28:25.
Thursday: 1 John 1:9
Key Idea: God is faithful to forgive us when we stumble.
Questions for Family Growth: According to this text, what must we be willing to do about our sins? When we do this, what can we count on God doing? In what way does this show God’s faithfulness to us? What additional point is made in v.10?
Wisdom for the Day: Proverbs 28:26.
Friday: 1 Peter 4:19
Key Idea: Because God is faithful, we can entrust ourselves to Him.
Questions for Family Growth: What does it mean to “suffer according to God’s will”? In practical terms, how do we “entrust our souls” to God? How can we be sure that God is a “faithful Creator”? As we trust God, what should we be doing, according to the last part of this verse?
Wisdom for the Day: Proverbs 28:27.
Gary Henry – WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com
