What does Faithfulness Look Like to You Today, Lord?
Lisa Cooke

This question rose from my heart the first day of June this year. I meant it from a personal position as opposed to the general definition of faithfulness. I meant it as “what does me being faithful to You, look like to You, for today?” I had the sense that faithfulness is to be both general and specific, and what I’m about to share are the things He spoke to me that day.

The first thing that came to my heart was “Look not at the seen, but the unseen, where God dwells.”

I have written about this many times, have counseled others to do this when facing tough circumstances, and know it in my own heart, yet I’m still pressing toward walking in the fullness of this. I am asked to be faithful to focus my attention on the eternal, not the temporary. He asks me to be loyal to His Kingdom realm, to see things from my vantage point on earth as it is in Heaven.

The better I know Him, the easier this gets. Life’s experience has often taught me that the things that are so easy to see are usually temporary, so why would I give so much of my attention to something that will pass away? Time after time His faithfulness has trumped my circumstance to the point that I now have many memorials in my heart to His trustworthiness. I am to reflect on those memorials as I seek to see what He has in His eternal mind for whatever the day brings.

Psalm 145:3 in the Passion Translation says “For there is no end to the discovery of the greatness that surrounds You.” Verse 5 beautifully declares “Your magnificent splendor and the miracles of your majesty are my constant meditation.” If I am going to fix my eyes on anything in faithfulness to Him, it will be on the greatness, splendor, and majesty that surrounds Him. Everything else is mere distraction.

The second thing that came to my heart is that in my faithfulness to Him, I will nurture confidence in Scripture–birthed convictions.

Young’s Literal Translation of Hebrews 11:1 says “And faith is of things hoped for—a confidence. Of matters not seen—a conviction.” The word “nurture” is such a buzzword in today’s world, yet nurturing confidence in what God has spoken is vital for the support of that conviction of His Word. Meditation nurtures confidence, and Paul encourages us to “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.” The Amplified Version has this verse as “Let the [spoken] word of Christ have its home within you [dwelling in your heart and mind—permeating every aspect of your being]…

Nurturing faith is an important work we do daily, not that we are perfect in faith, but knowing our faith pleases Him, we create a fertile environment for our faith to thrive and mature. Hearing or reading testimonies of the goodness of God in other people’s lives is another way to nurture our confidence in the Lord. I sensed the Lord was encouraging me to be intentional each day in cultivating a faith that pleases Him, a faith that helps others, and that demonstrates His presence in my life. I know I want to be faithful to Him daily in my faith walk.

The third thing that came to my heart was to live life today as one who belongs to another realm. Scripture is jam packed with references to this idea, such as the following.

1 Peter 2:9 TPT “But you are God’s chosen treasure—priests who are kings, a spiritual ‘nation’ set apart as God’s devoted ones.”

Romans 8:2 TPT “Stop imitating the ideals and opinions of the culture around you, but be inwardly transformed by the Holy Spirit through a total reformation of how you think. This will empower you to discern God’s will as you live a beautiful life, satisfying and perfect in His eyes.”

Colossians 3:2 TPT “Yes, feast on all the treasures of the heavenly realm and fill your thoughts with heavenly realities, and not with the distractions of the natural realm.”

1 John 2:15-17 TPT “Don’t set the affections of your heart on this world or in loving the things of the world. The love of the Father and the love of the world are incompatible. For all that the world can offer us—the gratification of our flesh, the allurement of the things of the world, and the obsession with status and importance—none of these things come from the Father but from the world. This world and its desires are in the process of passing away, but those who love to do  the will of God live forever.

2 Corinthians 5:17 TPT “Now, if anyone is enfolded into Christ, He has become an entirely new person. All that is related to the old order has vanished. Behold, everything is fresh and new.”

John Newton said “A soul disengaged from the world is a heavenly one; and then are we ready for Heaven when our heart is there before us.” In our faithfulness to God, training our hearts to “love not the world, neither the things that are in the world”(1 John 2:15 KVJ) is a daily discipline that renews our thinking toward a Kingdom culture instead of the dark environment of this world.

One of my favorite verses to ponder lately has been John 1:5,“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” Our calling to be light in this world has everything to do with our revealed comprehension of the fact that we are in this world, but not of it. Hebrews 11:13, speaking of the heroes of faith, says “They all lived their lives on earth as those who belonged to another realm.”

Through Christ, we have the wonderful privilege of disengaging from the cares and distractions of this world and living now as a citizen of Heaven. Looking at the unseen, nurturing confidence in what God has said, and living life as belonging to Heaven—these are just three of the many ways we can express faithfulness to the God who is ever faithful to us.