I love how well this “sermon in a song” packs so much loving counsel and encouragement into a sweet, memorable bundle that can lighten our load and bubble up from our hearts to compliment — or counter — what our days bring. Please give it a sing-along listen, then come back and we’ll talk about drifting down a lazy river and how to take open-book tests.

Who is steering this boat?

Our song begins:
“♫♪ God is faithful, ever faithful;
He will surely keep His word;
To the uttermost fulfilling
Ev’ry promise I have heard. ♫♪”

The last line startled me.

I might have thought the song would say that God would fulfill every promise He made, which I believe is a true saying. But here the song writer tosses us a challenge and narrows the field to God fulfilling “every promise I have heard.”

Every promise I have heard?!? How large — or how small — is that field? And what difference does that make?

Is God going to limit Himself to fulfilling only the promises you or I have heard? Of course not. But when life tests us, the promises we’ve heard can make all the difference between us being confident in the Lord or us feeling intimidated by the challenge.

Does God want us to know His promises?

The long answer is:
He says “Don’t be ignorant.”
He says, “Get saved and come to a knowledge of the truth.”
He says, “Be wise and understanding what My will is.”

The short answer is — of course!

I have not seen any verses in the Bible instructing God’s people to keep their heads in the sand or to remain weak and fearful.

POWER. LOVE. SOUND MINDS. That’s the stuff God likes for us.

It will be the promises we have heard that help us navigate in life. Where we don’t know the promises, the currents of life’s river will try to carry us where they want to. Many people find that living life floating down a lazy river isn’t all that much fun.

Bottom line … let’s hear lots and lots of God’s promises. Let’s put His promises to work and navigate.

Life is an open-book test

Life tests us. But there is good news! The Bible is an amazing instruction book, and life is an open-book test.

Cornell University’s web site teaches how to take open-book tests. Here are a few points:

• Open-book tests are NOT easier than closed book tests — often they are harder.
• You need to prepare and review. You don’t want the test to be the first time you are looking at the material.
• Make sure you know what you are and are not allowed to access during the test. Your notes? Your other books? The internet? Friends or parents? A tutor?

That last bullet raises an excellent point. Let’s pause a moment and think who or what we can turn to for help during life’s tests — and — Is there anything we can do now to prepare for such times?

As for me — I’ve found excellent help has sprung out of
— learning promises from the Bible
— learning to pray and
— hanging out with smart people that love the Lord

I can report such “preparation” is still a delight and has helped me too many times to count.

From storms and strife to blessing and life

Our song mentions “storms” and “strife”. We might think of
storms as challenges from outside ourselves, and
strife as challenges going on within ourselves.

Whatever the challenge, our song presents this promise, counsel and benefit:

Promise: God is faithful; He will make me more than conqueror …
Counsel: Yield wholly to His guidance
Benefit: This is blessing, this is life!

That was good instruction when the song was written over a century ago, and is still good today. No surprise there, because God is faithful.

God bless you lots!
— Dale R.

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Download music sheet free from “The Music Box” – here’s how

LYRICS: God Is Faithful (1903)
Text: E.E. Hewitt
Tune: Wm. J. Kirkpatrick

1 God is faithful, ever faithful;
He will surely keep His word;
To the uttermost fulfilling
Ev’ry promise I have heard.

Refrain:
God is faithful, ever faithful;
I will trust Him all the way;
God is faithful ever faithful,
He will keep me night and day.

2 God is faithful; He will do it;
Not my own weak heart I trust,
But His Spirit dwelling in me,
Wise and holy, kind and just.

3 God is faithful; this my refuge;
When the storms of trial rise:
Help is coming, swiftly coming
From the hills beyond the skies.

4 God is faithful; He will make me
More than conqueror in the strife;
Yielding wholly to His guidance,
This is blessing, this is life!

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