WEBVTT 00:00:01.199 --> 00:00:05.000 Are you down today? Discouraged? Maybe even really, 00:00:05.120 --> 00:00:07.400 really depressed? Something happened to your 00:00:07.400 --> 00:00:09.779 life that you just feel like, I can't go on and 00:00:09.779 --> 00:00:12.759 I don't know where to go from here? If that's 00:00:12.759 --> 00:00:15.640 you, stay with me. God has a word of encouragement 00:00:15.640 --> 00:00:23.980 for you today. Welcome to this edition of Living 00:00:23.980 --> 00:00:26.899 on the Edge with Chip Ingram. Our mission is 00:00:26.899 --> 00:00:29.500 to inspire Christians to be genuine followers 00:00:29.500 --> 00:00:32.649 of Jesus. and to empower them to be active disciple 00:00:32.649 --> 00:00:35.270 -makers in our world. Thanks for being with us 00:00:35.270 --> 00:00:37.810 as we begin to wind down our series, The Real 00:00:37.810 --> 00:00:40.829 God, How He Longs for You to See Him. For these 00:00:40.829 --> 00:00:43.130 last couple of programs, Chip dives into the 00:00:43.130 --> 00:00:45.689 seventh foundational characteristic of our great 00:00:45.689 --> 00:00:48.829 God, His faithfulness. Today, we'll learn how 00:00:48.829 --> 00:00:51.429 we can not only know about this attribute, but 00:00:51.429 --> 00:00:54.250 genuinely experience it in our everyday lives. 00:00:54.609 --> 00:00:57.049 So with that, grab your Bible and notes as we 00:00:57.049 --> 00:00:59.780 join Chip for his message, The Faithfulness of 00:00:59.780 --> 00:01:04.379 God. If you would come into my home, we have 00:01:04.379 --> 00:01:08.260 a foyer. And at the very end, before you go anywhere, 00:01:08.500 --> 00:01:13.439 there is a picture that hangs. And as you get 00:01:13.439 --> 00:01:15.540 a close -up, we happen to take a good one. It's 00:01:15.540 --> 00:01:18.859 about a year old. The pastor's family, everyone 00:01:18.859 --> 00:01:23.129 looks nice and happy. You know, each one of my 00:01:23.129 --> 00:01:25.569 sons and daughter, they've married well and they're 00:01:25.569 --> 00:01:28.269 all walking with God and they're raising these 00:01:28.269 --> 00:01:30.530 kids. And you would just kind of think that, 00:01:30.530 --> 00:01:34.930 you know, that stereotypical, you know, God must 00:01:34.930 --> 00:01:37.769 bless pastors and their lives are kind of pretty 00:01:37.769 --> 00:01:40.209 easy and wonderful and things just turn out right. 00:01:42.269 --> 00:01:45.629 That's not why it's at the hall. It's not so 00:01:45.629 --> 00:01:48.170 much for other people, but every day I have to 00:01:48.170 --> 00:01:52.879 walk past it. And this picture for me, is a reminder 00:01:52.879 --> 00:01:56.799 of the greatest trophy of God's grace is what 00:01:56.799 --> 00:02:00.900 he did in that group of people. My wife and I 00:02:00.900 --> 00:02:03.859 neither grew up knowing God. We both came to 00:02:03.859 --> 00:02:07.019 Christ as adults. Both of us came from alcoholic 00:02:07.019 --> 00:02:09.360 families with fathers that were deeply wounded 00:02:09.360 --> 00:02:12.400 from World War II, and it produced some very 00:02:12.400 --> 00:02:16.680 unhealthy things. We came to Christ, and by God's 00:02:16.680 --> 00:02:19.180 faithfulness, Some people came into our life 00:02:19.180 --> 00:02:21.379 and helped us get into the scriptures and gave 00:02:21.379 --> 00:02:23.620 us good counseling. And we did life and community. 00:02:23.719 --> 00:02:26.319 And little by little, we changed. And we grew. 00:02:26.479 --> 00:02:27.819 And then we got married. And we thought, wow, 00:02:27.879 --> 00:02:29.719 this is going to be great. I love God. You love 00:02:29.719 --> 00:02:33.340 God. First generation. And then after about six 00:02:33.340 --> 00:02:35.300 months, we realized that we couldn't communicate. 00:02:35.400 --> 00:02:37.039 We didn't know how to resolve conflict. And we 00:02:37.039 --> 00:02:39.340 both had boatloads of baggage from alcoholic 00:02:39.340 --> 00:02:43.400 families. By God's grace, he brought a professor 00:02:43.400 --> 00:02:46.419 and a counselor into our life. And we started 00:02:46.419 --> 00:02:48.159 going to marriage counseling, and he began to 00:02:48.159 --> 00:02:53.219 heal us. Well, Teresa had been married before 00:02:53.219 --> 00:02:57.840 she was a Christian. And when he found out that 00:02:57.840 --> 00:03:00.020 she was pregnant, he left with another woman 00:03:00.020 --> 00:03:03.180 that he'd been seeing. And I just couldn't figure 00:03:03.180 --> 00:03:05.979 out how to love my wife because it was like BBs 00:03:05.979 --> 00:03:08.719 off of a tank. The way she saw herself from her 00:03:08.719 --> 00:03:11.020 background and being rejected and abandoned. 00:03:12.030 --> 00:03:14.250 is that she saw herself so negatively, and I 00:03:14.250 --> 00:03:18.050 saw her as beautiful and godly. And then I saw 00:03:18.050 --> 00:03:20.610 God's faithfulness where, again, we got some 00:03:20.610 --> 00:03:23.729 help, and we dug into some books together, and 00:03:23.729 --> 00:03:27.250 I watched God begin to heal her. Well, then these 00:03:27.250 --> 00:03:30.250 poor, you know, these were twin boys, you know. 00:03:30.289 --> 00:03:33.370 I got to adopt them, great privilege, when they 00:03:33.370 --> 00:03:36.270 were five and a half. And so they had this overachieving, 00:03:36.270 --> 00:03:39.669 workaholic, over -the -top dad who was way too 00:03:39.669 --> 00:03:44.030 hard on them. And my one son was, just because 00:03:44.030 --> 00:03:46.330 of his early background, very fearful. I had 00:03:46.330 --> 00:03:50.210 to make him learn to ride a bike. The other had 00:03:50.210 --> 00:03:53.310 a four -year rebellion that was the biggest heartbreak 00:03:53.310 --> 00:03:56.770 of our life. And the one that was afraid of people 00:03:56.770 --> 00:03:59.370 is now a physical therapist and has the best 00:03:59.370 --> 00:04:01.449 people skills in our family of loving people. 00:04:01.610 --> 00:04:05.069 And the one that we thought, will he ever come 00:04:05.069 --> 00:04:07.189 back to the Lord, is now writing music that the 00:04:07.189 --> 00:04:10.189 world sings. My other son, his senior year, he 00:04:10.189 --> 00:04:14.810 had a pornography problem, and it happened, quote, 00:04:14.870 --> 00:04:17.810 by accident. It really did, and it was hidden 00:04:17.810 --> 00:04:23.649 for a year, and he took some major steps, and 00:04:23.649 --> 00:04:28.589 still all the passwords his wife keeps. He's 00:04:28.589 --> 00:04:31.350 a pastor now. My daughter was a lot younger. 00:04:31.430 --> 00:04:33.050 She's six years younger than my youngest son, 00:04:33.089 --> 00:04:34.610 who's six years younger than the older boys, 00:04:34.709 --> 00:04:37.920 and she kind of grew up with these sort of You 00:04:37.920 --> 00:04:41.660 know, psycho dad who's really intense and a very 00:04:41.660 --> 00:04:45.480 loving mom. And so she got a little bit perfectionistic. 00:04:45.519 --> 00:04:48.120 And so my one son didn't like school, and then 00:04:48.120 --> 00:04:51.860 he lied about it most of the time. And does this 00:04:51.860 --> 00:04:54.040 ring true? Anybody else has families like this? 00:04:55.720 --> 00:05:02.600 He's a pastor now. And my daughter. somehow got 00:05:02.600 --> 00:05:04.639 thinking that she probably needed to do really, 00:05:04.680 --> 00:05:07.959 really well. So when my one son got a B, I took 00:05:07.959 --> 00:05:09.879 him out to dinner to celebrate. And when my daughter 00:05:09.879 --> 00:05:12.319 got a B, I took her out to celebrate for a different 00:05:12.319 --> 00:05:14.600 reason. It was like the first one in like nine 00:05:14.600 --> 00:05:17.839 years, all A's. I said, you need to lighten up. 00:05:18.920 --> 00:05:21.199 In a word, our family and our family picture 00:05:21.199 --> 00:05:26.139 are nothing more or nothing less than the faithfulness 00:05:26.139 --> 00:05:31.560 of God. This is what God does with people who 00:05:31.560 --> 00:05:34.740 have messed up backgrounds, who make big mistakes, 00:05:35.160 --> 00:05:38.620 who struggled with sin, who had problems in their 00:05:38.620 --> 00:05:41.199 marriage, who really wanted to do it right but 00:05:41.199 --> 00:05:43.680 often found they didn't do it right, but had 00:05:43.680 --> 00:05:47.160 one passion. In the midst of it all, to say, 00:05:47.199 --> 00:05:49.339 Lord, we don't know how life works, but we want 00:05:49.339 --> 00:05:52.399 to break the cycle of our backgrounds, and we 00:05:52.399 --> 00:05:54.600 want to pursue you with all of our heart, and 00:05:54.600 --> 00:05:57.920 we experience forgiveness and healing and restoration, 00:05:57.980 --> 00:06:01.139 and often three steps forward and two steps backward, 00:06:01.259 --> 00:06:06.560 because God is faithful. The Lord's mercies, 00:06:06.560 --> 00:06:11.180 his kindness never ceases. His compassions, his 00:06:11.180 --> 00:06:14.949 heart, his tenderness never fails. Great is his 00:06:14.949 --> 00:06:18.050 faithfulness. Three observations that you already 00:06:18.050 --> 00:06:20.709 know, but because I like to be logical, I wanted 00:06:20.709 --> 00:06:23.129 to give them to you. Observation number one is 00:06:23.129 --> 00:06:25.970 all of us depend on something or someone to hold 00:06:25.970 --> 00:06:29.810 us up inside. We all do. For some, it's your 00:06:29.810 --> 00:06:32.750 mate or a relationship, a job. For some, it's 00:06:32.750 --> 00:06:36.050 how you look or how much money you make or how 00:06:36.050 --> 00:06:38.930 successful your kids are. But we all have something 00:06:38.930 --> 00:06:42.509 or someone, can be money, can be fame, that hold 00:06:42.509 --> 00:06:45.019 us up inside. then what we know is when that 00:06:45.019 --> 00:06:48.240 something or someone is coming through for us, 00:06:48.300 --> 00:06:50.860 we have a sense of satisfaction and optimism 00:06:50.860 --> 00:06:54.500 and things are going well. When that something 00:06:54.500 --> 00:06:58.899 or someone doesn't come through for us, we have 00:06:58.899 --> 00:07:05.680 anxiety. We have no peace. We have fear and often 00:07:05.680 --> 00:07:10.160 despair. And all I want you to know is that there 00:07:10.160 --> 00:07:13.319 is no one And there is nothing that can come 00:07:13.319 --> 00:07:17.060 through for you 100 % of the time except the 00:07:17.060 --> 00:07:20.779 Lord Jesus Christ. So if you put your hope in 00:07:20.779 --> 00:07:24.259 a job or in a mate or in kids or in money or 00:07:24.259 --> 00:07:27.199 how you look or whatever it is, I mean, you're 00:07:27.199 --> 00:07:30.860 a blink away from that completely changing. And 00:07:30.860 --> 00:07:33.759 so your life goes up and down with circumstances 00:07:33.759 --> 00:07:38.660 and relationships. And so the key or the secret 00:07:38.660 --> 00:07:42.079 to life is to find someone who will come through 00:07:42.079 --> 00:07:46.500 for you 100 % of the time in any and every circumstance. 00:07:47.000 --> 00:07:50.480 And I just want to tell you, the real God, His 00:07:50.480 --> 00:07:54.680 faithfulness is, that's what He'll do. His mercies 00:07:54.680 --> 00:07:59.480 are new. His loyal love for you. In the midst 00:07:59.480 --> 00:08:01.819 of your hurt, your pain, your weakness, your 00:08:01.819 --> 00:08:04.819 sin, your failure, if you would, out of this 00:08:04.819 --> 00:08:07.639 study, say, I'm going to pursue. I want to make 00:08:07.639 --> 00:08:10.379 knowing God the most important thing. I want 00:08:10.379 --> 00:08:13.459 to get close to Christ. I want my life to revolve 00:08:13.459 --> 00:08:16.060 around what his word says. I want to be wise 00:08:16.060 --> 00:08:19.379 and do life his way. I will tell you, there is 00:08:19.379 --> 00:08:22.459 a friend with supernatural power who is fully 00:08:22.459 --> 00:08:25.560 God and fully man, who rose from the dead, who'll 00:08:25.560 --> 00:08:29.779 never, ever let you down. As you open your notes, 00:08:29.819 --> 00:08:31.800 let's define faithfulness so we're all on the 00:08:31.800 --> 00:08:35.799 same page. Dictionary says it's steadfast in 00:08:35.799 --> 00:08:40.039 affection. I like that. Steadfast in affection. 00:08:41.340 --> 00:08:46.799 He's in love with you. Allegiance, loyalty. When 00:08:46.799 --> 00:08:49.139 we say God is faithful, we mean he's dependable, 00:08:49.220 --> 00:08:52.100 trustworthy, staunch, resolute, constant, reliable, 00:08:52.539 --> 00:08:55.919 true to one's word, keeps his promises, always 00:08:55.919 --> 00:08:58.590 comes through. And then you ask yourself, well, 00:08:58.610 --> 00:09:01.769 how can God be faithful all the time? And it 00:09:01.769 --> 00:09:04.190 kind of allows us to do something that's really 00:09:04.190 --> 00:09:06.090 important because if you're not careful, you 00:09:06.090 --> 00:09:07.730 can think of, okay, we talked about his holiness 00:09:07.730 --> 00:09:10.190 and we've talked about his love and we've talked 00:09:10.190 --> 00:09:13.850 about his justice, but those things operate all 00:09:13.850 --> 00:09:17.830 together in unity, simultaneously in harmony 00:09:17.830 --> 00:09:21.190 with one another. God can come through for you 00:09:21.190 --> 00:09:24.850 and me. 100 % of the time because he's all powerful. 00:09:25.049 --> 00:09:27.509 He never encounters anything that can thwart 00:09:27.509 --> 00:09:29.750 his plan or his purpose. He can come through 00:09:29.750 --> 00:09:32.309 because he's holy. He's pure. He's full of integrity. 00:09:32.590 --> 00:09:36.750 He's unable to lie. He's absolutely unapproachable 00:09:36.750 --> 00:09:40.509 light. He always does the right thing. He can 00:09:40.509 --> 00:09:42.950 come through because he's eternal. He's not affected 00:09:42.950 --> 00:09:46.169 by space or time. He sees the end from the beginning 00:09:46.169 --> 00:09:48.830 and the beginning from the end. He can come through 00:09:48.830 --> 00:09:51.669 because he's omnipresent. Nothing can ever happen 00:09:51.669 --> 00:09:54.049 outside this sphere of his influence. And finally, 00:09:54.049 --> 00:09:56.769 he can come through for you because he's immutable. 00:09:57.330 --> 00:10:01.190 He never changes. He's consistent. God never 00:10:01.190 --> 00:10:03.509 has a bad day. You never go to him and pray and 00:10:03.509 --> 00:10:05.289 he goes, you know, maybe later. I'm having a 00:10:05.289 --> 00:10:10.190 really rough day. He's love, his justice, his 00:10:10.190 --> 00:10:14.549 kindness, his compassion 100 % of the time. A 00:10:14.549 --> 00:10:16.450 .W. Tozer writes in his book, The Knowledge of 00:10:16.450 --> 00:10:18.830 the Holy, all of God's acts are consistent with 00:10:18.830 --> 00:10:21.389 all of his attributes. And then I put in bold 00:10:21.389 --> 00:10:24.149 because this is one of those sentences that it's 00:10:24.149 --> 00:10:28.490 so profound it hurts my head. No attribute contradicts 00:10:28.490 --> 00:10:32.350 any other, but all harmonize and blend into each 00:10:32.350 --> 00:10:39.059 other in the infinite abyss of the Godhead. the 00:10:39.059 --> 00:10:42.740 infinite abyss, his love, his majesty, his power, 00:10:42.799 --> 00:10:46.200 his goodness, his holiness. In the infinite abyss, 00:10:46.240 --> 00:10:50.580 this God who spoke and galaxies, billions of 00:10:50.580 --> 00:10:53.379 them come into existence and yet says to you 00:10:53.379 --> 00:10:57.240 and me, I want to be your friend and I will never, 00:10:57.259 --> 00:11:00.460 ever leave you and I'll never let you down. And 00:11:00.460 --> 00:11:03.779 anything that I have ever said, any promise I've 00:11:03.779 --> 00:11:07.470 ever made, I will guarantee based on my character 00:11:07.470 --> 00:11:10.490 and my track record that I'll be with you. It's 00:11:10.490 --> 00:11:14.269 absolutely amazing. You're listening to Living 00:11:14.269 --> 00:11:17.049 on the Edge. We'll return you to today's message 00:11:17.049 --> 00:11:19.850 in just a second. But let me quickly ask you, 00:11:19.929 --> 00:11:22.570 do you often find it difficult to read and understand 00:11:22.570 --> 00:11:25.690 God's Word? If so, join us after today's program 00:11:25.690 --> 00:11:28.710 as Chip talks about our useful resource, Daily 00:11:28.710 --> 00:11:31.720 Discipleship with Chip. This tool has helped 00:11:31.720 --> 00:11:34.679 tens of thousands of people study the Bible and 00:11:34.679 --> 00:11:37.379 develop a deeper connection to God. Stick around 00:11:37.379 --> 00:11:39.840 to learn how to sign up. Well, with that, let's 00:11:39.840 --> 00:11:41.960 rejoin Chip for the remainder of his message. 00:11:42.879 --> 00:11:45.039 So what I want to do in our time is talk a little 00:11:45.039 --> 00:11:47.600 bit about intellectually and biblically, well, 00:11:47.659 --> 00:11:50.299 how has God revealed that? But I want to spend 00:11:50.299 --> 00:11:55.659 the great majority of our time on how that faithfulness 00:11:55.659 --> 00:11:58.379 impacts the deepest struggles and challenges 00:11:58.379 --> 00:12:01.110 of our life. So let's talk about how has he revealed 00:12:01.110 --> 00:12:04.350 his faithfulness first? By creation. Psalm 119, 00:12:04.529 --> 00:12:08.269 89, and 90 says, Forever, O Lord, your word is 00:12:08.269 --> 00:12:10.730 settled in the heavens. Your faithfulness continues 00:12:10.730 --> 00:12:13.450 throughout all generations. You establish the 00:12:13.450 --> 00:12:16.830 earth and it stands. My dad was a science teacher 00:12:16.830 --> 00:12:19.269 and I had many majors in college and science 00:12:19.269 --> 00:12:21.649 was one of them. And I liked the physical sciences 00:12:21.649 --> 00:12:23.730 and, you know, you learn about the planets and 00:12:23.730 --> 00:12:26.029 you realize this. This planet of ours is going 00:12:26.029 --> 00:12:27.929 around the sun. I mean, I think it's like 24 00:12:27.929 --> 00:12:30.549 ,000, 25 ,000 miles an hour. It's crazy. And 00:12:30.549 --> 00:12:35.549 we're spinning around very fast. And yet, year 00:12:35.549 --> 00:12:37.789 after year, thousands of years after thousands 00:12:37.789 --> 00:12:40.590 of years, we go around the sun within a fraction 00:12:40.590 --> 00:12:44.549 of a few seconds exactly the same. Exactly the 00:12:44.549 --> 00:12:48.009 same. When our atomic submarines, because of 00:12:48.009 --> 00:12:50.649 the magnetic pulls of the earth, want to come 00:12:50.649 --> 00:12:53.759 up and they've got those really powerful rockets 00:12:53.759 --> 00:12:56.379 inside of them and they can't be off. They have 00:12:56.379 --> 00:12:58.740 to surface every 90 days and they put up an antenna 00:12:58.740 --> 00:13:01.860 and what do they do? Lock onto the North Star 00:13:01.860 --> 00:13:05.840 because the North Star is more accurate. We call 00:13:05.840 --> 00:13:08.100 it science because what we have learned is these 00:13:08.100 --> 00:13:10.179 things are predictable. They're the same. And 00:13:10.179 --> 00:13:12.340 so we say, oh, that's mother nature. That's the 00:13:12.340 --> 00:13:14.580 first or second law of thermodynamics. And we 00:13:14.580 --> 00:13:17.460 observe all this consistency and God would say, 00:13:17.500 --> 00:13:20.320 well, you can observe it, but it's there and 00:13:20.320 --> 00:13:23.210 it's consistent. Because I hold it together by 00:13:23.210 --> 00:13:25.929 the word of my power. I am the creator and the 00:13:25.929 --> 00:13:28.789 sustainer of all life. Second, it's through people. 00:13:29.809 --> 00:13:32.450 God shows his faithfulness through. He made promises 00:13:32.450 --> 00:13:35.250 to Abraham and the patriarchs. Abraham, he said, 00:13:35.289 --> 00:13:37.450 I'm going to make you a great nation. Now, can 00:13:37.450 --> 00:13:40.129 you imagine this one little nomad guy running 00:13:40.129 --> 00:13:44.389 around in a tent 4 ,000 plus years later? The 00:13:44.389 --> 00:13:49.620 nation of Israel, it's endured. Jesus said, I'll 00:13:49.620 --> 00:13:51.960 build my church and the gates of hell can't prevent 00:13:51.960 --> 00:13:55.299 against it. And so you've got 12 little followers 00:13:55.299 --> 00:13:58.460 and one betrays you. And you start this big movement 00:13:58.460 --> 00:14:00.340 with 120 people and you're going to change the 00:14:00.340 --> 00:14:04.159 world. You'd never travel 40, 50 miles beyond 00:14:04.159 --> 00:14:07.159 where you were born. And you're living in a world 00:14:07.159 --> 00:14:10.399 where there's 2 billion followers of Christ and 00:14:10.399 --> 00:14:14.360 law and culture and all of history is defined 00:14:14.360 --> 00:14:17.940 by the God man, the Lord Jesus Christ. I could 00:14:17.940 --> 00:14:19.500 tell you of a time when I prayed for one of my 00:14:19.500 --> 00:14:22.220 sons in the ICU just before he went into surgery 00:14:22.220 --> 00:14:24.559 and God healed him. I could tell you about times 00:14:24.559 --> 00:14:26.980 in my marriage when I thought there's no way 00:14:26.980 --> 00:14:28.860 this isn't going to work and crying out to God 00:14:28.860 --> 00:14:31.840 and the light's coming on. God's faithful to 00:14:31.840 --> 00:14:35.879 his people. Third, he's faithful by virtue of 00:14:35.879 --> 00:14:38.860 his character. I mean, if you want to know what 00:14:38.860 --> 00:14:41.100 the father's like, the son is like, the scripture 00:14:41.100 --> 00:14:43.720 is absolutely clear. The Old Testament picture 00:14:43.720 --> 00:14:47.240 of God the father, classic verse. Numbers 23, 00:14:47.379 --> 00:14:50.360 19, God is not a man that he should lie or the 00:14:50.360 --> 00:14:52.399 son of man that he should repent or change his 00:14:52.399 --> 00:14:55.799 mind. Has he spoken and will he not do it or 00:14:55.799 --> 00:14:57.840 has he said it and will he not bring it to pass? 00:14:58.519 --> 00:15:01.399 In other words, God is always consistent and 00:15:01.399 --> 00:15:04.580 faithful. If he speaks, if he promises, 100%, 00:15:04.580 --> 00:15:07.759 he does it. The spirit, we talk about the fruit 00:15:07.759 --> 00:15:10.500 of the spirit in Galatians 5. Love, joy, peace, 00:15:10.580 --> 00:15:15.399 patience, goodness, kindness, faithfulness, self 00:15:15.399 --> 00:15:18.600 -control. The character, the Holy Spirit develops 00:15:18.600 --> 00:15:21.100 faithfulness because it's the very character, 00:15:21.179 --> 00:15:25.980 it's the fruit of God the Spirit. Or Jesus. You 00:15:25.980 --> 00:15:28.100 could read the entire New Testament, and you 00:15:28.100 --> 00:15:30.620 get to the end, and he came as the Savior, but 00:15:30.620 --> 00:15:32.299 the whole book of Revelation, the theme is he's 00:15:32.299 --> 00:15:35.500 going to come back and judge righteously. He's 00:15:35.500 --> 00:15:37.840 going to make things right. And at the very end 00:15:37.840 --> 00:15:40.659 of history, we have the conqueror, the righteous 00:15:40.659 --> 00:15:43.240 judge on a white horse, and he has a robe, and 00:15:43.240 --> 00:15:45.379 on his robe has two words, and on his thigh, 00:15:45.519 --> 00:15:49.299 you ready for the words? Faithful and true. He 00:15:49.299 --> 00:15:51.840 could have chosen any words. He wants you to 00:15:51.840 --> 00:15:55.559 know, you can depend on me. And finally, I don't 00:15:55.559 --> 00:15:58.259 know about you, but I did not grow up ever reading 00:15:58.259 --> 00:16:01.440 the Bible. I didn't understand it. But his word 00:16:01.440 --> 00:16:05.259 is true. You can depend on the promises in Scripture. 00:16:05.960 --> 00:16:09.000 On the last night, Jesus prayed in John 17, Father, 00:16:09.200 --> 00:16:12.840 sanctify them or set them apart or make them 00:16:12.840 --> 00:16:15.899 holy. These followers now and followers in the 00:16:15.899 --> 00:16:19.320 future, make them holy by your truth. Your word 00:16:19.320 --> 00:16:24.100 is truth. In Deuteronomy, it says, God, or is 00:16:24.100 --> 00:16:26.480 faithful to the covenants that he makes with 00:16:26.480 --> 00:16:29.879 us to a thousand generations. In Hebrews it says, 00:16:29.980 --> 00:16:33.919 let us not sway or swerve or fall away for he 00:16:33.919 --> 00:16:38.779 who promised is faithful to us. And then we have 00:16:38.779 --> 00:16:42.559 in Christ's first coming hundreds of very specific 00:16:42.559 --> 00:16:47.639 predictions. I mean, 700 years before Christ 00:16:47.639 --> 00:16:52.120 was born, he'll be born Bethlehem of a virgin. 00:16:52.669 --> 00:16:56.169 This is what will happen. I mean, hundreds of 00:16:56.169 --> 00:16:59.049 specific prophecies all for you to say and to 00:16:59.049 --> 00:17:03.090 learn. God's faithful to his word. So that's 00:17:03.090 --> 00:17:05.930 the intellectual biblical basis for trusting 00:17:05.930 --> 00:17:08.730 God's faithfulness. What I want to do now is 00:17:08.730 --> 00:17:12.950 talk about when it really matters. I mean, I've 00:17:12.950 --> 00:17:15.049 got to have that because I'm not going to throw 00:17:15.049 --> 00:17:18.170 my brains in the trash. But the fact of the matter, 00:17:18.170 --> 00:17:21.150 the final one I think is most important to digest 00:17:21.150 --> 00:17:25.269 and to apply. God shows us his faithfulness in 00:17:25.269 --> 00:17:29.009 the way that he shapes our life. The way he intervenes 00:17:29.009 --> 00:17:31.950 in our life when we're weak, when we're tempted, 00:17:32.210 --> 00:17:35.890 when we sin, and when we utterly, utterly fail. 00:17:36.509 --> 00:17:38.910 It's when you feel like you don't deserve it. 00:17:38.930 --> 00:17:41.329 When I feel like I could go back to this picture 00:17:41.329 --> 00:17:45.140 and I could go through seasons. Where my wife 00:17:45.140 --> 00:17:47.299 and I just sat up in bed and cried over one of 00:17:47.299 --> 00:17:48.940 our kids and thought this was never going to 00:17:48.940 --> 00:17:51.319 work. I've had seasons where I've been so mad 00:17:51.319 --> 00:17:53.519 at her and thought this marriage will never work. 00:17:53.579 --> 00:17:55.160 And oh, I'm going to hang on to your promise 00:17:55.160 --> 00:17:57.140 because I don't have any other option. And God 00:17:57.140 --> 00:18:01.859 worked in our life. The Apostle Paul was having 00:18:01.859 --> 00:18:03.960 a conversation with God in a moment of weakness. 00:18:04.700 --> 00:18:07.700 He had some physical issue that God allowed him 00:18:07.700 --> 00:18:09.880 to have. A thorn in his flesh, he called it. 00:18:09.960 --> 00:18:11.940 Some people think malaria. Some people think 00:18:11.940 --> 00:18:13.480 an eye disease. Personally, I think it was a 00:18:13.480 --> 00:18:21.539 bad back. Constant pain. And God speaks to Paul. 00:18:22.319 --> 00:18:25.279 After Paul asks, God says no. Paul asks, God 00:18:25.279 --> 00:18:28.259 says no. Third time, God says, my grace is sufficient 00:18:28.259 --> 00:18:31.319 for you. For power is perfected in weakness. 00:18:31.579 --> 00:18:34.059 Most gladly, therefore, I'll rather boast about 00:18:34.059 --> 00:18:37.339 my weakness so that the power of Christ may dwell 00:18:37.339 --> 00:18:39.720 in me. And then look at this crazy application. 00:18:40.200 --> 00:18:42.539 Therefore, I am well content. Literally, the 00:18:42.539 --> 00:18:45.039 word is I will delight in. It's a choice. With 00:18:45.039 --> 00:18:47.940 weaknesses, plural. With insults, plural. With 00:18:47.940 --> 00:18:50.640 distresses, plural. With persecutions and difficulties. 00:18:50.740 --> 00:18:53.880 Why? For Christ's sake. For when I'm weak, then 00:18:53.880 --> 00:18:59.009 I'm strong. What you need to know, and the reason 00:18:59.009 --> 00:19:02.170 I showed you that picture, is this is a testimony 00:19:02.170 --> 00:19:05.950 not of a family or of a marriage or of a man. 00:19:06.029 --> 00:19:09.349 This is a testimony of struggling people that 00:19:09.349 --> 00:19:11.930 didn't know anything. God was faithful in our 00:19:11.930 --> 00:19:14.269 weakness. In my weakness, I wanted to bail out 00:19:14.269 --> 00:19:16.549 of my marriage. In my weakness, I wanted to knock 00:19:16.549 --> 00:19:18.390 one of my kids' heads off because he made me 00:19:18.390 --> 00:19:21.710 so crazy. In my weakness, as I struggled with 00:19:21.710 --> 00:19:24.470 lust, there wasn't even the internet back then. 00:19:24.549 --> 00:19:28.099 Praise God. Praise God. But there were four girls 00:19:28.099 --> 00:19:30.960 to every guy. And I struggled and struggled and 00:19:30.960 --> 00:19:37.099 struggled. In my weakness, God met me. See, when 00:19:37.099 --> 00:19:39.460 we're weak, we tend to run and we want a silver 00:19:39.460 --> 00:19:42.059 bullet or we'll find that person or we go eat 00:19:42.059 --> 00:19:45.500 or we open the refrigerator and put something 00:19:45.500 --> 00:19:47.380 into us that we know is not good for us. In our 00:19:47.380 --> 00:19:51.170 weakness, we try and fill the holes. And here's 00:19:51.170 --> 00:19:54.609 the deal. God is faithful if in your weakness, 00:19:54.630 --> 00:19:59.309 rather than running to shopping or to work or 00:19:59.309 --> 00:20:02.190 to prescription drugs or to focusing on your 00:20:02.190 --> 00:20:05.869 kids or focusing on your work, defining who you're 00:20:05.869 --> 00:20:10.970 going to be. In your weakness, say, God, here's 00:20:10.970 --> 00:20:15.269 his promise. I'll sustain you. My power is perfected 00:20:15.269 --> 00:20:17.950 in weakness. And your prayers are, I can't do 00:20:17.950 --> 00:20:22.819 this. I remember a little rhyme that my wife 00:20:22.819 --> 00:20:26.240 learned from some lady. It goes something like, 00:20:26.359 --> 00:20:30.319 when you say, I can't do this, God says, I never 00:20:30.319 --> 00:20:34.660 said you could. And then he says, but by my strength, 00:20:34.799 --> 00:20:38.980 I promise you always can. And God wants to meet 00:20:38.980 --> 00:20:41.279 you in your weakness. He wants to shape you. 00:20:41.380 --> 00:20:44.680 He wants to change you. Your character gets changed 00:20:44.680 --> 00:20:50.950 in weakness. This is Living on the Edge with 00:20:50.950 --> 00:20:53.289 Chip Ingram. And you've been listening to part 00:20:53.289 --> 00:20:55.829 one of Chip's message, The Faithfulness of God, 00:20:55.990 --> 00:20:59.049 from our series, The Real God. Chip will be back 00:20:59.049 --> 00:21:01.250 shortly to share some helpful application for 00:21:01.250 --> 00:21:04.670 us to think about. You know, we've all unintentionally 00:21:04.670 --> 00:21:07.049 projected some of humanity's worst qualities 00:21:07.049 --> 00:21:10.809 into our Creator. Many view God as moody, weak, 00:21:11.029 --> 00:21:14.589 unfair, impatient, and merciless. But those ideas 00:21:14.589 --> 00:21:17.509 couldn't be further from the truth. Through this 00:21:17.509 --> 00:21:20.470 series, Chip explores key Bible passages to reveal 00:21:20.470 --> 00:21:23.210 seven fundamental characteristics of our Heavenly 00:21:23.210 --> 00:21:26.269 Father, attributes that reflect the very essence 00:21:26.269 --> 00:21:29.329 of His divine nature. Join Chip on this journey 00:21:29.329 --> 00:21:32.190 to reshape your perspective toward God, which 00:21:32.190 --> 00:21:34.450 will deepen your relationship with Him like never 00:21:34.450 --> 00:21:37.150 before. You won't want to miss a single part 00:21:37.150 --> 00:21:39.940 of this study. Well, our Bible teacher, Chip 00:21:39.940 --> 00:21:42.660 Ingram, joins me in studio now, and Chip James 00:21:42.660 --> 00:21:46.619 1 tells us to consider it pure joy when we endure 00:21:46.619 --> 00:21:50.119 trials. For many of us, we believe that in theory, 00:21:50.259 --> 00:21:53.480 but it can feel impossible to live it out. We'll 00:21:53.480 --> 00:21:54.960 take a minute, if you would, and talk about a 00:21:54.960 --> 00:21:57.240 resource we have that's helping Christians put 00:21:57.240 --> 00:22:00.509 this difficult lesson into practice. Super excited 00:22:00.509 --> 00:22:03.150 to do that, Dave, because it's one of the daily 00:22:03.150 --> 00:22:05.630 discipleship series that I think has had the 00:22:05.630 --> 00:22:08.390 most impact of anything that we've done. We live 00:22:08.390 --> 00:22:10.950 in a world that is more broken and more hostile 00:22:10.950 --> 00:22:13.190 and more difficult to live in as a Christian 00:22:13.190 --> 00:22:16.269 than ever before. And so the issue is, how do 00:22:16.269 --> 00:22:19.109 you endure? Because as we endure, that's how 00:22:19.109 --> 00:22:22.130 God changes us. And so let me invite those that 00:22:22.130 --> 00:22:24.789 are listening right now to join me for the daily 00:22:24.789 --> 00:22:27.930 discipleship series, The Art of Survival, based 00:22:27.930 --> 00:22:35.619 on James Chapman. As we walk through this passage, 00:22:35.759 --> 00:22:37.759 we'll better understand the Bible's perspective 00:22:37.759 --> 00:22:41.000 on adversity and how to actually be victorious 00:22:41.000 --> 00:22:44.119 rather than see ourselves as victims. If you're 00:22:44.119 --> 00:22:47.119 ready to learn not just how to survive, but to 00:22:47.119 --> 00:22:50.099 thrive in a culture that's very, very challenging, 00:22:50.359 --> 00:22:53.460 join me for Daily Discipleship, The Art of Survival. 00:22:53.930 --> 00:22:56.710 Great word, Chip. Well, to sign up for this study 00:22:56.710 --> 00:23:00.289 in James chapter 1, visit livingontheedge .org. 00:23:00.509 --> 00:23:03.410 As you walk through this passage with Chip, you'll 00:23:03.410 --> 00:23:05.970 learn about the attitude God wants us to embrace, 00:23:06.250 --> 00:23:09.430 a resource we can ask for, and an encouraging 00:23:09.430 --> 00:23:12.789 theology to believe in. Again, for complete details 00:23:12.789 --> 00:23:16.029 about our daily discipleship series, The Art 00:23:16.029 --> 00:23:20.970 of Survival, go to livingontheedge .org. App 00:23:20.970 --> 00:23:23.960 listeners, tap Discipleship. We'll hear again 00:23:23.960 --> 00:23:25.940 as Chip to share some insightful application 00:23:25.940 --> 00:23:30.160 as we wrap up. We began today's program by making 00:23:30.160 --> 00:23:33.339 three observations about the human species. You 00:23:33.339 --> 00:23:36.019 know, regular people like you and me. We said, 00:23:36.039 --> 00:23:38.740 number one, that we all depend on something or 00:23:38.740 --> 00:23:42.259 someone to hold us up inside. Now think about 00:23:42.259 --> 00:23:44.759 that and then ask yourself, what is that for 00:23:44.759 --> 00:23:48.019 you? Second, we said that when that something 00:23:48.019 --> 00:23:51.339 or someone is coming through for us, we experience 00:23:51.339 --> 00:23:54.859 a sense of peace. satisfaction, and optimism 00:23:54.859 --> 00:23:58.640 about the future. Third, we said that when that 00:23:58.640 --> 00:24:00.799 something or someone fails to come through for 00:24:00.799 --> 00:24:04.319 us, we experience a sense of anxiety, dissatisfaction, 00:24:04.400 --> 00:24:07.660 and ultimately despair. And I walk through this 00:24:07.660 --> 00:24:09.759 rather quickly, but I want you to process it 00:24:09.759 --> 00:24:12.799 now in light of what you've just heard. And my 00:24:12.799 --> 00:24:15.599 conclusion in the introduction was that it seems, 00:24:15.819 --> 00:24:18.039 and I think this is accurate, that the secret 00:24:18.039 --> 00:24:22.549 to a life of unending joy and genuine peace is 00:24:22.549 --> 00:24:25.710 to find something or someone who will come through 00:24:25.710 --> 00:24:29.910 for you 100 % of the time in every situation. 00:24:30.549 --> 00:24:33.410 And what we learn today is that's who God is. 00:24:33.990 --> 00:24:36.650 Often we think that God is a lot like us, that 00:24:36.650 --> 00:24:39.589 he has mood swings and he has good days and bad 00:24:39.589 --> 00:24:42.069 days. And we get this feeling that when we're 00:24:42.069 --> 00:24:43.930 good, God will be there and come through. And 00:24:43.930 --> 00:24:46.150 when we're bad, well, you know, we're on our 00:24:46.150 --> 00:24:50.059 own. Did you listen to the teaching today? Did 00:24:50.059 --> 00:24:53.019 you hear the definition that God in and of himself, 00:24:53.220 --> 00:24:56.819 his innate essence, his character, he's faithful. 00:24:57.160 --> 00:24:59.960 He's faithful to his people. He's faithful to 00:24:59.960 --> 00:25:03.519 his word. He's loving 100 % of the time. He's 00:25:03.519 --> 00:25:07.220 just 100 % of the time. He's holy 100 % of the 00:25:07.220 --> 00:25:10.839 time. He's compassionate 100 % of the time. And 00:25:10.839 --> 00:25:14.240 God has revealed this faithfulness through creation 00:25:14.240 --> 00:25:17.910 and through his people. And I'd like to suggest 00:25:17.910 --> 00:25:20.470 that he's also revealed it to you in your life. 00:25:20.630 --> 00:25:24.230 And so what I would like you to do is to literally 00:25:24.230 --> 00:25:28.289 out loud before God recall in the last week or 00:25:28.289 --> 00:25:32.069 two or even the last month, two or three or four 00:25:32.069 --> 00:25:35.730 specific things where you can say, God came through 00:25:35.730 --> 00:25:40.650 for me. He loves me. He's for me. And then as 00:25:40.650 --> 00:25:42.390 you do that, here's what I want you to do this 00:25:42.390 --> 00:25:45.079 day, this hour. Then I want you to think of the 00:25:45.079 --> 00:25:48.220 most difficult thing you're facing and then say 00:25:48.220 --> 00:25:51.460 to the Lord, Lord, if you came through in those 00:25:51.460 --> 00:25:55.240 areas because you're faithful, I'm going to choose 00:25:55.240 --> 00:25:59.539 to trust you in what seems so hard and so difficult 00:25:59.539 --> 00:26:03.640 to face today. He is faithful. He is for you. 00:26:03.779 --> 00:26:08.220 He loves you. And he will see you through. Powerful 00:26:08.220 --> 00:26:11.339 reminder, Chip. Thanks. As we wrap up this program, 00:26:11.640 --> 00:26:14.039 Living on the Edge depends on listeners like 00:26:14.039 --> 00:26:16.579 you to help us continue encouraging Christians 00:26:16.579 --> 00:26:19.490 to live like Christians. So would you consider 00:26:19.490 --> 00:26:22.109 becoming a monthly partner to help others benefit 00:26:22.109 --> 00:26:24.710 from this ministry? You can set up a recurring 00:26:24.710 --> 00:26:28.490 donation at livingontheedge .org or by calling 00:26:28.490 --> 00:26:37.069 888 -333 -6003. That's 888 -333 -6003 or visit 00:26:37.069 --> 00:26:41.529 livingontheedge .org. App listeners tap donate. 00:26:42.000 --> 00:26:44.119 And thanks for doing whatever the Lord leads 00:26:44.119 --> 00:26:46.839 you to do. We'll listen to next time as Chip 00:26:46.839 --> 00:26:49.880 wraps up his series, The Real God. Until then, 00:26:49.880 --> 00:26:52.039 this is Dave Drewy saying thanks for joining 00:26:52.039 --> 00:26:54.880 us for this edition of Living on the Edge.