Worship Devotional LXXXII
Originally posted to the Facebook group on 7/24/2021.
Worship Devotional for 7/25/21
Lamentations 3:21-24:
"Yet I call this to mind, and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord's faithful love we do not perish, for His mercies never end. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness! I say: The Lord is my portion, therefore I will put my hope in Him."
The Lord our God is faithful and true. He is God, and He can only ever be faithful and true, since He is the Eternal Creator who defines by His very nature what is good and what is true. He is perfect and holy, and so He is always consistent in everything He says and does. We know from His word that His love is a faithful and steadfast love. Who can you compare with God? There is no one else on earth or in heaven or anywhere in existence whose love is always perfectly steadfast, faithful, and true. We like to think sometimes that our love is completely faithful and unshakeable and unchanging, but if we are honest then we must admit that our love quickly falls short. Our hearts wander after idols and other worthless things that promise satisfaction but fail to deliver. We give in to sin and evil so quickly and easily due to our fallen nature. But God in His faithful love made a way for us to be set free from the captivity of sin and from the claims of death on our lives through His Son, Jesus Christ. God has given us who believe in Him very great promises in His word. He is the only One whose word is always true. He has to be faithful because that's who He is. Therefore, no matter what you are going through right now, know that God will be faithful to keep His word and to bring you through as you trust in Him. He has promised to always be with us and to never leave or forsake us, to bring us through the troubles and temptations that we face in this life, and to give us eternal life in the age to come. So hold onto faith and keep trusting in the One who is faithful.
1 Corinthians 10:13:
"No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to humanity. God is faithful, and He will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation He will also provide a way of escape so that you are able to bear it."
2 Timothy 2:11-13:
"This saying is trustworthy: For if we have died with Him, we will also live with Him; if we endure, we will also reign with Him; if we deny Him, He will also deny us; if we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself."
1 Corinthians 1:4-9:
"I always thank my God for you because of God's grace given to you in Christ Jesus, that by Him you were enriched in everything — in all speech and knowledge. In this way, the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you, so that you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ. He will also strengthen you to the end, so that you will be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful; you were called by Him into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord."
Philippians 1:6:
"I am sure of this, that He who started a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."
1 Thessalonians 5:23-24:
"Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely. And may your spirit, soul, and body be kept sound and blameless for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it."
Songs:
Hebrews 13:8:
"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever."
There has never been one time where God was not with us as He promised. There may have been times where God seemed distant or where we didn't feel close to Him, but He has promised to always be with us, and He hasn't broken that promise or any other. When you feel overwhelmed by whatever struggles you face in life, there is always encouragement when we remember the faithfulness of God. There is no lie of the enemy that can stand against us, because nothing can stand against the One who is Faithful and True. No one can bring an accusation against God, or claim that He hasn't been faithful. So when your circumstances or the enemy or the confused and broken world around you try to tell you that there isn't hope, remember the faithfulness of God! There is always hope in Him, and it is untouchable and unchangeable because it depends on His faithfulness and not yours or mine. The hope we have in Christ is dependent on God and not on us, and that is why it is guaranteed to last forever and to be ultimately fulfilled and realized in the end.
Deuteronomy 7:7-9:
"The Lord was devoted to you and chose you, not because you were more numerous than all peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. But because the Lord loved you and kept the oath He sword to your fathers, He brought you out with a strong hand and redeemed you from the place of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Know that Yahweh your God is God, the faithful God who keeps His gracious covenant loyalty for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commands."
3) What A Love by Angela Pinkston
Ephesians 2:1-10:
"And you were dead in your trespasses and sins in which you previously walked according to the ways of this world, according to the ruler who exercises authority over the lower heavens, the spirit now working in the disobedient. We too all previously lived among them in our fleshly desires, carrying out the inclinations of our flesh and thoughts, and we were by nature children under wrath as the others were also. But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love that He had for us, made us alive with the Messiah even though we were dead in trespasses. You are saved by grace! Together with Christ Jesus He also raised us up and seated us in the heavens, so that in the coming ages He might display the immeasurable riches of His grace through His kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God's gift — not from works, so that no one can boast. For we are His creation, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time so that we should walk in them."
4) Christ The Sure And Steady Anchor by Matt Boswell
Hebrews 6:13-20:
"For when God made a promise to Abraham, since He had no one greater to swear by, He swore by Himself: 'I will indeed bless you, and I will greatly multiply you.' And so, after waiting patiently, Abraham obtained the promise. For men swear by something greater than themselves, and for them a confirming oath ends every dispute. Because God wanted to show His unchangeable purpose even more clearly to the heirs of the promise, He guaranteed it with an oath, so that through two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to seize the hope set before us. We have this hope as an anchor for our lives, safe and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain. Jesus has entered there on our behalf as a forerunner, because He has become a high priest forever in the order of Melchizedek."
Hebrews 10:19-25:
"Therefore, brothers, since we have boldness to enter the sanctuary through the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way He has opened up for us through the curtain (that is, His flesh), and since we have a great high priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed in pure water. Let us hold on to the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. And let us be concerned about one another in order to promote love and good works, not staying away from our worship meetings, as some habitually do, but encouraging each other, and all the more as you see the day drawing near."
1 John 4:7-16:
"Dear friends, let us love one another, because love is from God, and everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, because God is love. God's love was revealed among us in this way: God sent His One and Only Son into the world so that we might live through Him. Love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Dear friends, if God loved us in this way, we also must love one another. No one has ever seen God. If we love one another, God remains in us and His love is perfected in us.
This is how we know that we remain in Him and He in us: He has given assurance to us from His Spirit. And we have seen and we testify that the Father has sent His Son as the world's Savior. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God — God remains in him and he in God. And we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and the one who remains in love remains in God, and God remains in him."
Revelation 19:11-16:
"Then I saw heaven opened, and there was a white horse. Its rider is called Faithful and True, and He judges and makes war in righteousness. His eyes were like a fiery flame, and many crowns were on His head. He had a name written that no one knows except Himself. He wore a robe stained with blood, and His name is the Word of God. The armies that were in heaven followed Him on white horses, wearing pure white linen. A sharp sword came from His mouth, so that He might strike the nations with it. He will shepherd them with an iron scepter. He will also trample the winepress of the fierce anger of God, the Almighty. And He has a name written on His robe and on His thigh: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS."
Theme(s): God's Steadfast Love and Faithfulness
Scripture references:
Numbers 23:19-20
Deuteronomy 7:7-9, 31:6
Psalms 33, 36, 40, 57, 86, 89, 91, 92, 100, 103, 105, 107, 117, 118, 138, 143, 145
Isaiah 25
Lamentations 3:21-24
Romans 5-8
1 Corinthians 1:4-9, 10:1-14
Ephesians 1-2, 3:14-21
Philippians 1:6, 2:12-18
1 Thessalonians 5:23-24
2 Thessalonians 3:3
2 Timothy 2:11-13
Hebrews 6:13-20, 10:19-25, 13:5-8
1 John 1:5-10, 4:7-21
Revelation 1:4-8, 19:11-16