Banquet With The King: Faithful

Prayer – Lord, Your saints are faithful followers.

All Your works shall praise You, O LORD, And Your saints shall bless You. They shall speak of the glory of Your kingdom, And talk of Your power, To make known to the sons of men His mighty acts, And the glorious majesty of His kingdom. Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, And Your dominion endures throughout all generations. Psalm 145:10-13 NKJV

Meditate. Consider the word “faithful.”

The Eleventh Day of Christmas
Eleven Pipers Piping depict the eleven faithful apostles: Peter, James, John, Andrew, Phillip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James, Jude, and Simon (though there were twelve, Judas is excluded due to his betrayal of Christ)

Being a “faithful follower” was important in Jesus’ time…and it is still important today.

Most men will proclaim each his own goodness, But who can find a faithful man? Proverbs 20:6 NKJV

A lot of verses focus on God and how He is faithful—but we need to be faithful to Him! Only those who are pure and faithful will one day stand in the presence of God the Father and serve with Jesus for eternity. Faith is believing in what we can’t see. Faithful—those who believe in Jesus as their Savior, are worthy of the trust He puts in them as He guides their lives, and live in a way that is pleasing to God. An example of this is Lydia—a faithful follower who Paul met and converted on his missionary journey through Philippi.

And on the Sabbath day we went out of the city to the riverside, where prayer was customarily made; and we sat down and spoke to the women who met there. Now a certain woman named Lydia heard us. She was a seller of purple from the city of Thyatira, who worshiped God. The Lord opened her heart to heed the things spoken by Paul. And when she and her household were baptized, she begged us, saying, "If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay." So she persuaded us. Acts 16:13-15 NKJV

God promises that He will reward those, as those of the church at Smyrna, who are faithful to Him.

Do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer. Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life. Revelation 2:10 NKJV (Underlined for emphasis.)

There you go. Faithful until death. Those who are faithful will be rewarded. Do we need to exist with that as a carrot leading us so that we stay faithful all of our lives? Why should we want to be “faithful?” The reason I choose to be faithful to God is that He is faithful to all of mankind. He loves us…so I want to love Him. To love and be loved is the most important thing in life. It is what makes living worthwhile.

Therefore know that the LORD your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments; "and He repays those who hate Him to their face, to destroy them. He will not be slack with him who hates Him; He will repay him to his face. Therefore you shall keep the commandment, the statutes, and the judgments which I command you today, to observe them. Deuteronomy 7:9-11

The choice is up to each person. Be loved and love. Be faithful to the One who is faithful to you.

Verse of Salvation ~ Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise: "For yet a little while, And He who is coming will come and will not tarry. Now the just shall live by faith; But if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him." But we are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul. Hebrews 10:35-39 NKJV

Friday’s Feast at the King’s Table

What is the sweetest thing on earth? Is it God’s love? Well, that may be for spiritual things, but for our taste buds, the sweetest thing is the protein thaumatin found in katemfe fruits of West African. It is 2000 times sweeter than sucrose. For more familiar fruits you might pick the caribou mango found in the Philippines. Right in your own home you may choose honey.

Honey is not only tasty in tea and on toast, but as an all-around antioxidant, it can assist in many ways. It has been found to relieve allergies, suppress coughs, promote sleep, and provide energy. Since it is a natural antibiotic, it can be used to treat burns and wounds, help acid reflux, and strength the gut. Feel good, tastes great. God has provided a wonderful liquid energy source through the bees.

Keep the bees healthy, to keep us healthy. That is an issue now. Bees and pollination. They are hibernating now--but when its warmer will there be enough bees living to pollinate the crops?

All scripture quoted from the New King James Version (NKJV) unless otherwise noted.

Biblical search from Blue Letter Bible - http://v3.blueletterbible.org/search.cfm.

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Banquet With The King

Friday, January 5, 2024

Faithful

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