It’s blog carnival time again!
This week’s blog carnival is on the topic of faithfulness. PLEASE go check out the other entries, you will find such diversity, talent and encouragement in them. In fact, if it’s a choice between reading mine and reading some of the others… go read them. You won’t regret it.
The carnival can be found at BridgetChumbley.com
Here are my thoughts on faithfulness:
The very first thing that comes to mind whenever I think, read or hear the word faithfulness is the wonderful hymn “Great is thy faithfulness”
I’m a sucker for old hymns. I grew up singing them and they have stuck with me all of my life. I cannot find on youtube a video of this particular hymn sung what I would call ‘well’. When I think of this song, I remember the great welsh missionary who lived near to us raising his voice and belting out the chorus – and me being only too happy to try to match him in volume (although I never could).
Great is thy faithfulness,
Great is thy faithfulness,
Morning by morning new mercies I see.
All I have needed thy hand hath provided,
GREAT IS THY FAITHFULNESS, LORD UNTO ME.
I wish I could say I was as faithful as God.
Faithful to my wife, yes I am but I struggle to find things I’m faithful to apart from that.
Faithful to my calling?… sadly no.
Faithful in my ‘quiet times’?… rarely.
A faithful friend?… I’m ashamed to answer that
What really blows me away though is that, although I am rarely faithful toward God, his faithfulness is never failing toward me.
I am blown and swayed by every wind but He is never changing.
I struggle, He is a rock.
I fail. He is unfailing.
I am human, He is God.
Great is his faithfulness – and it is not dependent on my reciprocation.
Thank you, Lord for your great faithfulness. Teach me to be more like you.
I love that old hymn as well; I think we all do. Mostly because it says just about everything that can be said about His faithfulness. Good post, Peter. Hope you are doing well.
I'm surviving… thanks, Glynn.
Strangely my wordpress has decided to mark every comment you make on my blog as spam.
It's very odd!
I'm so thankful His is not dependent on ours …
Me too!
I LOVE this song. With each passing year, and I see God respond to me in faithfulness, even when I flounder in my faithfulness — this song means more and more. It never fails to bring me tears of gratitude and thankfulness. How He loved me enough to keep choosing me. Unbelievable.
GREAT post, Peter. Always wearing your heart on your sleeve and blessing us through your sharing.
Thanks, Bonnie!
I love old hymns as well. We sang a song this past Sunday. Some of the lyrics are:
Faithfulness, faithfulness is what I long for/Faithfulness is what I need/Faithfulness, faithfulness is what you want for me.
(It continues with a request to God)
Take my heart and form it/Take my mind transform it/Take my will, conform it/To yours, to yours O Lord
It helps to remember He knows we fall short, yet we keep trying.
I love that song. It always makes me cry.
I like that song too!
I almost put this song on my blog. But then I remembered one of my Momma's faves, and went with that one.
I'll have to go see what it is!
I'm an old hymn kind of guy too, Peter. This is one of my favorites. And I LOVED that last line. So true.
I knew I liked you!
Just one word for you Peter: AMEN!!!!!!
One word for you to: THANKS!
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Elisabeth Elliot once said, 'the choruses are nice, but it's the old hymns that get us through the dark night'. Tis true.
Well said, Peter.
Elisabeth Elliot was obviously a wise woman!
Paul and Silas weren't stuck in prison singing choruses
When we are faithless, still He is faithful… In truth, He can't be anything else. God is so amazing.
Thanks for the great meditation today, Peter.
God is amazing. It's so hard not to taint the truth of how amazing he is with our human understanding
"Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide …"
That's the part I need day to day.
Amen to that!
I love the old hymns too…the church I grew up in every once in a while on a Sunday evening would have a hymn sing…you could call out the name of a hymn and the pianist would play it and we'd all sing. You were sure to get your favorite in that night. I sang hymns to my kids when they were small…I love the stories behind so many of them too.
I loved your thoughts today. God never ceases to amaze, does He?
Thanks, Joyce.
The format at our church when I was growing up gave about 20 minutes every Sunday morning for people to request songs – so the great old hymns got selected and sung week after week!
I thought of this song as soon as I started writing my post. I wondered if I'd see it used… a beautiful song with such meaning.
Thank you, Peter.
Glad I could be of service. (Anne4jc used it too, and I'm guessing I'll find others who used it
)
I miss the hymns sometimes. I really like the new stuff, but there's nothing like an organ and a classic hymn to bring clarity to my heart and settle me for worship.
Organs, trumpets, the full works for me!
You've just gone up in my estimation, if that were possible
Aw — you're too kind. I've been somewhat absent from the "blog world" for a little while, but I've still been lurking here and there… I still love reading your stuff, and I appreciate your consistent honesty. Keep it up!
Teach me to be more like you — what a wonderful thought. What a great act of faith — because He always will. Teach us. to be more like Him.
thanks for this post — it's great!
"I am human, He is God."
Recognizing that I am human, often makes me realize how faithful I need to be to Him. Because, without Him… I am nothing.
I grew up with that song and sing it often in my own quiet time…morning by morning new mercies I see!
Thanks for sharing.
Peace,
Jay