What does it take to be Dependable, Committed, Reliable, AND FAITHFUL?
Bulldogs and Poodles “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you” James 4:8 NKJV The story is told of a bulldog and a poodle who were arguing one day. The bulldog was making fun of the poodle, calling him a weak little runt who couldn’t do anything. The bulldog said, “I challenge you to a contest. Let’s see who can open the back door of their house the fastest and get inside.” The bulldog was thinking he would turn the doorknob with his powerful jaws, while the poodle was too small to even reach the knob of his back door. But to the bulldog’s surprise the poodle said, “I can get inside my house faster than you can. I accept the challenge.” So with the poodle watching, the bulldog ran to the back door of his house and jumped up to the doorknob. He got his teeth and paws around it and tried to turn it, but he couldn’t get enough grip on the knob to do it, so he finally quit in exhaustion. Now it was the poodle’s turn. He just did what he’d been doing every day for the last several years. He went up to the door and scratched a couple of times, then waited patiently. Within a few seconds, his master not only opened the door, but also picked him up in his arms, patted him on the head affectionately and carried him inside. The difference was in the relationship. Some of us are bulldog Christians. It’s all grunting, growling and trying to please God. Give it up! All God asks us to do is, “Draw near to Me and I will draw near to you.” from The Word for Today.
I start with a very important question, can God depend on you? As we have been speaking on the fruit of the Spirit we need to keep in mind that fruit is something that grows and is in different stages. We need not give up on the development of the fruit in us because God is not finished with us yet. I have given you many steps to follow as we have gone through Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness and Goodness. I trust that you have put some of them into practice and your fruit is becoming more mature. Today we come to the fruit of faithfulness. What do you see inyour life that others would consider you a faithful person? Are you reliable, trustworthy, dependable and one that others can count on? PR. 20:6 “Most men will proclaim every one his own goodness: but a faithful man who can find?” Do you find that there are people who tell you they will do something but do not follow through? I would like us to see two reasons we need to be faithful and then follow up with eight ways to build up our faithfulness.
1. We need to be faithful because God is. DT 7:9 "Know therefore that the LORD your God, He is God, the faithful God, who keeps His covenant and His loving-kindness to a thousandth generation with those who love Him and keep His commandments; Ps 36:5 ‘Your mercy, O LORD, is in the heavens; and thy faithfulness reaches unto the clouds. 1 COR 1:9 “God is faithful.” 2 TH 3:3But the Lord is faithful. HB 10:23 For he is faithful that promised. Our main goal is to be like Him. When we are faithful life is more enjoyable. If we fail then life is miserable. PR 25:19 “Putting confidence in an unreliable person is like chewing with a toothache or walking on a broken foot.” Being unfaithful only makes life frustrating. Think of what you depend on? News reporting, telephone, mail, police, bank, alarm clock and car. There is geyser that is not the biggest one or the most powerful one but it is one you can depend on. I have seen it and you can set your clock by it. It is Montana and called Old Faithful. 2. The 2nd reason is that God rewards faithfulness. In this parable we read that one day Jesus is going to judge us on what He has given us and what we did with it. We will not be judged by the intentions we had to do something but if we actually did it. Our reward in heaven comes form our being faithful with what God has given us. Let us look closely at ways to become more faithful with what God has given us.
1. Being faithful means to keep the promises you made. PR 25:14 People who promise things that they never give are like clouds and wind that bring no rain. We are going to be held accountable for the promises we have made. Some people are known for saying they will promise something just to get others to quit bothering them. I promise to come to church is one I have heard. PR 20:25 It is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not pay. It you do not intend to do something it is better not to say any thing. I think the biggest challenge in being a pastor is to keep people motivated to be what God wants them to be. It seems to me that it is so easy for people to slack off in their spiritual life. The things that lead us to into not being faithful are laziness, boredom, waiting for someone else and dryness in our spiritual life. Only I can change that. A man named Pascal prayed, “Lord, help me to do great things as though they were little, since I do them with your power; and little things as though they were great, since I do them in Your name.” God gives us the ability to do all that we need to do. It is dependable people that get the job done. They make others around them work with confidence. God is keeping track of your faithfulness.
2. Being faithful means blessing the one God has given you. How are you treating your wife or your husband? Some have ruined what should be great because they have not been faithful to the one that they have vowed to love for the rest of their lives. Some marriages are still together because they have kept their vows to stay together but things have divided the love that should be there. In Revelation it says, “You have left your first love.” That verse as I read it says that who you should have first love for has taken a backseat. Other things have become more important. In marriage it could be a job, pleasures, TV shows, sports or what I want that takes away from I will love you first. How much do we honor our loved one? Things like open the car door sit them at the dinner table, open the door for them, holding hands or saying what can I do to make life easier for you today. Being lovable and dependable means to give 100% no matter what your loved one does. That is the way God has treated us. Would your love one say you are faithful?
3. Being faithful means to use the talents God has blessed you with. Everyone has talents, gifts and abilities we can use. Even children can do things to help. God has made an investment in you and expects a return. 1 PT 4:10 “God has given gifts to each of you from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Manage them well so that God’s generosity can flow through you.” When we fail to use what God has given us we cheat others from receiving a blessing. Little things count. Remember the “O” ring on the space shuttle that blew up. It is not the spectacular things that will be required of us but the things that we have the ability to do. I have been called on often to do things as a pastor that others could have done like empty trash, clean the church, lead singing, take down folding chairs, pass out bulletins and even take up the offering. When you think of great preachers do you read about doing things like that? We can all do something. We will stand before God and give an answer for what we could have done that He gave us the ability to do. What has God given you and are you using it to the best of your power?
4. Being faithful means using your time wisely. We all have 168 hours a week to spend. What if it was required that we tithe our time. That would be 16.8 hours a week. I would include 4 hours if you came to S. S. and the church services. Then if you spent and hour a day in Bible reading and prayer that would be 7 more hours. That would leave you with 5 more hours to do something for God. That to me would be a works salvation that many of us would fail. To use our time wisely then would be to give all our time to God. Whether we are work, sleeping, playing, and watching TV we can do everything in the Name of the Lord. Mark Lowery named his bed the Word so if people called him when he was sleeping and asked where he was he could say, “I am in the Word.” The two time wasters are grumbling and distress. We can go around grumbling about the failure of our past which is a waste of time. We can be distressed about what is coming. We need to give up on what I call the when and then thinking. God is in control and knows what is best for us in the right time. We go back to the fruit of patience here. May we invest using our time wisely?
5. Being faithful means standing by your friend. PR 17:17 “A friend is always loyal, and a brother is born to help in time of need.” This means being one that others can count on. You show up when you are supposed to. You do the job that you are asked to do. You do not complain about what others are doing. Friends know that you will be there for them. I had a call from a friend this week who I just listened too. I did not solve his problem but he said I just needed to talk to someone who cares. Do others know you will stand by them?
6. Being faithful means wise use of our money. Luke 16:11 “And if you are untrustworthy about worldly wealth, who will trust you with the true riches of heaven?” Do you pay your bills on time? Are you careful not to overspend on things you do not really need? When making a purchase that is big can you walk away and pray about it for 24hours? Shopping for cars are one thing that we have had to learn not just to buy the first one we look at. Let me tell you the story of when we bought a brand new car. Let me tell you about the time we bought from the first car dealer we went too. Are you faithful in tithing? I have heard stories about some of you here and how you have been so faithful in giving a tithe on all that God has increased you with. We can tell a person’s spiritual life by looking at their check book. Would you like yours checked today? In 1 COR 16:2 We find three rules for giving for all who want to be blessed of God. Our giving should be regular (1st day of the week), Planned (save it for this offering), and Proportional (in relation to what you have earned). When giving we need to be committed to giving to a local church and not just too all the charity places that ask for money?
7. Being faithful means doing our best at our work. This means being dependable, trustworthy, punctual, reliable, consistent and cheerful in our work. Would that change your work place? Luke 16:10 "Unless you are faithful in small matters, you won’t be faithful in large ones. If you cheat even a little, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities.” One needs to be faithful in the little things. This means having a daily time of Bible reading and prayer, being good and honest. How do we handle things that do not belong to us? Luke 16:12 “And if you are not faithful with other people’s money, why should you be trusted with money of your own?” I have seen people take things from work like paper, paper clips, pens and take long coffee breaks. God is always watching us. Do you have reputation that others enjoy working with you?
8. Being faithful means being committed to worship at a local church. The local church is the best place for worship. As we become familiar with the people, songs and way of worship it helps us worship God in the way we should. RM 12:5 “so it is with Christ’s body. We are all parts of his one body, and each of us has different work to do. And since we are all one body in Christ, we belong to each other, and each of us needs all the others.” We find in the Christian life we are fight, conquer, battle, overcome and have victory. It is the local church we do this. That is why you have permission to share any time a blessing that God has given you or share a battle you need help with. 2 TM 2:3 “Endure suffering along with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.” We need each other and we meet each week to go out to battle the enemy. America is the land of freedom and we can choose to go to church or not. Do you ever think what happens when you are not in church? Let me tell you the story about church that used lanterns for lighting the church. How bright is our church because of you?
WHEN THERE’S NO LOGICAL EXPLANATION “[God] rides across the skies to...help us. DT 33:26 When Steve Anderson’s mother-in-law developed cancer; his wife flew out to see her. Steve wanted to go too, but money was tight, so he prayed and his friend Joe offered to fly him in his two-seater Cessna airplane. Approaching their destination, they encountered thick fog, and after contacting the tower they learned that the airport was closed. The controller recommended they turn back, but fuel was low, so Steve prayed again. Finally a voice said, "Okay, we’re readying the ground crew. Come in on emergency landing." Then as they descended the controller shouted, "Pull it up! Pull it up!" Through a break in the fog they saw that instead of approaching the airport they were over a busy highway and had narrowly missed an overpass! The controller continued, "Listen to me and I’ll get you down," and calmly issued instructions till they landed safely. Picking up the radio, Joe told the tower, "We’d never have made it without you. Thanks, you saved our lives." The controller replied, "What’re you talking about? We lost contact with you right after we told you to turn back. In fact, we were stunned when you broke through the clouds over the runway for a perfect landing! "So, if the controller didn’t guide them in, who did? There’s no natural explanation, but on a supernatural level, "[God]...rides across the skies to...help us...He carries us in His arms!" DT 33:26, 27. The Psalmist wrote, "God will command His angels to protect you wherever you go" Ps 91:11. Steve Anderson agrees, "I believe God sent an angel to bring us in safely." And He’ll do the same for you!
