Welcome to another day the Lord has made that we should rejoice and be glad in. (Psalms 118:24)

Let’s end the week appreciating faithfulness and reliability of God.

Today’s scripture, Psalms 89:1-2 (NLT) declares…
[1] I will sing of the Lord’s unfailing love forever! Young and old will hear of your faithfulness. [2] Your unfailing love will last forever. Your faithfulness is as enduring as the heavens.

Consider…
People will let you down. No matter how much they love you and how good their intentions may be, as long as people are human, the odds of them disappointing you at sometime are high.

For example, many high profile influential pastors have experienced public falls from grace. These falls were not necessarily because the pastors were evil, but simply due to human failure. Unfortunately, some people had their faith shaken by these falls. That’s because some people misplaced their faith in God, and placed it in a fellow human.

This reminds me of the Apostle Paul’s stern reprimand of believers who were bragging on who they followed. In 1 Corinthians 3:4-6 (NLT), Paul wrote…
[4] When one of you says, “I am a follower of Paul,” and another says, “I follow Apollos,” aren’t you acting just like people of the world? [5] After all, who is Apollos? Who is Paul? We are only God’s servants through whom you believed the Good News. Each of us did the work the Lord gave us. [6] I planted the seed in your hearts, and Apollos watered it, but it was God who made it grow.

The Holy Spirit is emphasizing the fact that we should not put our trust in fellow flawed humans. Part of why trusting another person is unwise is because people change. Trusting in things that change seems like surfing the unpredictable waves of the ocean.

Isaiah 2:22 (NLT) emphasizes my point. The Prophet said…
[22] Don’t put your trust in mere humans. They are as frail as breath. What good are they?

Now don’t misunderstand me, we can trust what people say and do, if it aligns with the Truth, Jesus Christ. However, we should be mindful that only God can and will never betray our trust.

Think about it, another human is only as knowledgeable and wise as their limited experiences and exposures allow them to be. That means trusting in a limited person will limit what you can learn and achieve. Also, when the people that you trust in die, the abilities to receive wisdom and help going forward cease with the deceased.

Psalms 146:3-4 (NLT) echoes my point. It says…
[3] Don’t put your confidence in powerful people; there is no help for you there. [4] When they breathe their last, they return to the earth, and all their plans die with them.

The Holy Spirit gave me one final example to illustrate the lunacy of fully trusting fellow flawed people. Imagine seeing a broken chair, would you knowingly sit in it? Would you expect it to reliably keep you from falling? So, why would you sit your confidence in other clearly broken human beings? If you think I am being to extreme, let me remind you that Romans 3:23 (NLT) says…
[23] For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.

So, bottom-line, don’t put your full trust in people. Trust what is true from them (aligned with Jesus Christ The Lord), but don’t trust in them.

The Holy Spirit just flashed a neon message, that people includes yourself. That’s the advice Proverbs 3:5 (NLT) gives. It says…
[5] Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding.

Quickly, the Holy Spirit is also telling me to admonish us not to trust in things either.

In Matthew 6:19-20 (NLT) Jesus said…
[19] “Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. [20] Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal.

Also, Jesus shared the following story in Luke 12:16-21 (NLT) to illustrate the foolishness of trusting in your things or accomplishments. Scripture says…
[16] Then he told them a story: “A rich man had a fertile farm that produced fine crops. [17] He said to himself, ‘What should I do? I don’t have room for all my crops.’ [18] Then he said, ‘I know! I’ll tear down my barns and build bigger ones. Then I’ll have room enough to store all my wheat and other goods. [19] And I’ll sit back and say to myself, “My friend, you have enough stored away for years to come. Now take it easy! Eat, drink, and be merry!”’ [20] “But God said to him, ‘You fool! You will die this very night. Then who will get everything you worked for?’ [21] “Yes, a person is a fool to store up earthly wealth but not have a rich relationship with God.”

God isn’t against earthly success, He just never wants the resource to replace our trust in Him, the True Source.

Romans 1:25 (NLT) warns…
[25] They traded the truth about God for a lie. So they worshiped and served the things God created instead of the Creator himself, who is worthy of eternal praise! Amen.

Never trust the created, people or things, in place of the Creator!

This brings me to my favorite part of this post. Psalms 86:15 (NLT) testifies…
[15] But you, O Lord, are a God of compassion and mercy, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness.

I like this verse because it says God is FILLED with unfailing love and faithfulness.

2 Timothy 2:13 (NLT) explains God’s dependability this way…
[13] If we are unfaithful, he remains faithful, for he cannot deny who he is.

You see God is faithful to who He is, which is compassionate, merciful and slow to get angry. I hear someone saying, yes He’s that, but also just. To that person, I humbly submit 2 Peter 3:9 (NLT), which says…
[9] The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent.

The most prevalent attribute about God, and yet the most misunderstood and underappreciated, is His Grace!

It’s God’s grace that offers us life in exchange for His Son’s death.

It’s God’s grace that through Christ made us right while we were still wrong.

It’s God’s grace that made us friends with Him despite us once being enemies.

It’s God’s grace that acknowledges sin still abounds, but His grace abounds more.

Jerry Bridges says it so beautifully in his book The Discipline of Grace: “Your worst days are never so bad that you are beyond the reach of God’s grace. And your best days are never so good that you are beyond the need of God’s grace.”

God and His Grace are 💯! That means regardless of who we are or what we do, we can depend on His unfailing love and faithfulness to extend compassion and mercy. But even greater than that, we can rely on God’s Grace to be sufficient to help us in our weaknesses by giving us His strength.

So today, why would you take a chance on anyone or anything else more than God? I mean there are no better odds than trusting in a…

• 💯 Love that never fails
• 💯 Faithfulness to who He is and what He promises
• 💯 Grace that offers His best in exchange for our worst

You can’t find better odds anywhere!

Today’s Song is…
I Can Depend On God

Blessings 4HG (1 Corinthians 10:31)