God is faithful!

So, a friend of mine is struggling with trusting God right now.  She's going through some pretty major issues and rather than tell her "oh, it'll be alright," which I don't actually know, I have been trying to encourage her with what I know is TRUE.  This is truth we can rely on, cling to, take to the bank!  I hope it is also encouraging to you - feel free to share this list of scripture with anyone.  

Quotes are taken from New International Version and this is by no means (!) an exhaustive list... just what the Holy Spirit brought to mind this morning as I was writing her a card.

Acts 4:12

Salvation is found in no one else [Jesus], for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.

Romans 6:22-23

But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life.  For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 5:1-3

Therefore, since we [believers in Christ] have been justified [sins paid for by Christ] through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God.  Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;

 (Compare the Romans 5:1-3 (written through Paul) passage with 2 Corinthians 11:23-12:12 (list of Paul's sufferings). Always gives me both perspective on my sufferings and hope of God's goodness and faithfulness through them!)

John 6:37
All those the Father gives me [Jesus] will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.

 

Lamentations 3:22-24

(note: in scripture LORD - all caps - means God’s actual name, not just the title ‘lord’)

Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed,
   for his compassions never fail.
They are new every morning;
   great is your [God’s] faithfulness.
I say to myself, “The LORD is my portion;
   therefore I will wait for him.”

Romans 3:3-4a

What if some were unfaithful? Will their unfaithfulness nullify God’s faithfulness? Not at all!

Philippians 1: 6, 9-11

He who began a good work in you [God] will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus [second coming, still in our future]. … And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.

John 10:10-11, 27-29

I [Jesus] have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep [believers]. … My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.  I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand.  My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand.  I and the Father are one.

John 5:24

Very truly I [Jesus] tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life.

Eph 1:13

And you [believers] also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.

Jeremiah 29:11

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

Psalm 36:5
Your love, LORD, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies.

Psalm 57:10
For great is your love, reaching to the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies.

Psalm 40:11
Do not withhold your mercy from me, LORD; may your love and faithfulness always protect me.

Psalm 86:11
Teach me your way, LORD, that I may rely on your faithfulness; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name.

Psalm 86:15
But you, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.

Psalm 100:5
For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.

Psalm 108:4
For great is your love, higher than the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies.

Scars

An excerpt from last week's Bible study:

"Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me." (Isaiah 49: 15-16, ESV)

"God is aware of His people and their situation. God's love for Jerusalem and His people goes beyond the love of a mother for her nursing baby. A nursing mother is aware of her totally dependent baby at her breast and feels compassion on the child. But God says, "Though she may forget, I will not forget you!" (vs. 15). God will never abandon His children! He will not forget them and their needs.

"As though He is holding up His hand for them to see, He says, "See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me" (vs. 16). The words "engraved" and "ever" carry the idea of permanence, for nothing can separate God's people and their city Jerusalem from His mind and heart. (Romans 8:35-39)." (Bible Study Fellowship International, Lesson 23, Series VI)

"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written,

'For your sake we are being killed all the day long;
we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.'

"No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:35-39, ESV)

I've never thought about Christ's scars very much. I sing the lyrics "my name is graven on his hands, I know that while in Heaven he stands **(side note, although this rhymes it's incorrect: he's not standing, he's sitting... see Isaiah 6:1)** no tongue can bid me thence depart," and love that reminder. And I have certainly reflected on Christ's obedient and righteous life, fulfilling all Scripture, his death, resurrection, and ascension. Praise God for Christ's righteousness! And that his righteousness is imputed to me while my sin is imputed to him for God's glory and my salvation!

But I've never thought about the scars.

Our names are engraved on God's hands. Not written, not tattooed; engraved. Engraving is permanent. It is impossible for God to forget us or his love for us.

"[Jesus] bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed." (1 Peter 2:24)

Wounds leave scars. Scars are only from wounds. I have a 7 inch scar on my belly. I can't see the majority of the scarring left from my C-section, but I know it's there. I know it's there every time I take a shower, get dressed, or try to do a sit up. I know other women who have major scars elsewhere from the trauma of their children's births, and they're reminded of them every time they have to go to the bathroom. We can't forget that experience - we have the scars as a reminder.

Scars.

Scars that mean my son is alive and breathing.

My son, by the grace of God moving through modern medicine, is alive and I bear the scars instead of him. He is physically healthy and bears no reminder of the trauma of the birth process. I, on the other hand, was completely incapacitated for a few days and had over a month long recovery from a major surgery I didn't anticipate after a hard labor for over 14 hours.

And I would do it all over again. I will, actually, with baby #2 (whenever God blesses us with another) and #3, and however many children God gives us.

This scripture pointed out to me that my scars, instead of making me self conscious or regretful that I didn't have the natural childbirth that I planned, should remind me of the grace of God and the miracle of my son's birth. He is a brand new person who is alive and well... what do a few scars on me matter?

And when I see my son living and growing and learning I am reminded that I live and grow and learn because of Christ's scars. Physically my son has life because of mine. Spiritually I have life because of Christ's. Were it not for his scars, I would be dead in my trespasses, overwhelmed by my iniquity, and without hope.

My scar means my son is alive and I will not forget him. Christ's scars (John 20:24-29) and the scars on God's hands from our names being engraved there mean he will never forget me, never lose me, never stop loving me. It seems impossible for me to forget my son - how much more impossible it is for God to forget those he has chosen and saved.


So... is your name engraved on God's hand? If you don't know, know it's not, or just need somewhere to start in scripture, I recommend starting with John. It's the fourth book in the New Testament. Then go to Acts, which is right after John. They are narratives and are pretty straight forward. Not scary. Take time to read the cross references... even the ones in the Old Testament :) (The cross references are usually printed in the center margin of a study Bible or along the bottom of the page of a scripture-only Bible). All scripture works together... if something is unclear, clarify it with other scripture and pray for the Holy Spirit to illuminate it to you.

Oh, your name IS engraved on God's hand... Praise the LORD! Read John and Acts anyway :) And definitely Isaiah... wow, Isaiah... there's so much there... Do you have a scar (physical or not)? What has God given you in your life to remind you that he will not forget or forsake you?


"Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?" She said to him, "Yes, Lord: I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world." (John 11: 25-26, ESV)