This week I want to look at the subject of Faithfulness. As I said in the last blog, we can not get more of the Holy Spirit. Once you have him, you have him. It is like having water in a faucet. How much water comes out depends on how wide the faucet is opened. The water stays the same. The amount of water coming out changes. To grow in Spiritual Authority is not more of the Spirit. It is more about being yielded to the Spirit, and the more you yield, the more you will see an increase of His activity in and through your life.
Another thing that can influence how much of the Spirit you can experience is faithfulness. Let’s start by saying that faithfulness is a character of God. It is also one of the fruits of the Spirit – Gal 5:22-23.
Psa. 119:90 Thy faithfulness is unto all generations: thou hast established the earth, and it abideth.
Faithfulness is one of God’s characters, and it simply means that it is who He is. We as human beings can develop our characters or learn to change our behavior; it is not so with God. God is the same yesterday, today, and forever – Heb 13:8. To help you to understand what that means, it is a fact that our actions can not change who God is. Our sin did not change God; it revealed who God is and what His character is like. God can change the way He does things, but He never changes who He is! He is faithful. For God to allow our actions to change his character, He will have to deny Himself.
2Tim. 2:13 If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself.
Because we are still growing and learning to walk in victory, we must trust His faithfulness. Sin affects us, not God. When we fail, we must know that He stays faithful to redeem us and to save us. Sin is a real struggle that we face each day. Here is God’s promise for us.
1 Cor 10:13. No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation, he will also provide the way of escape that you may be able to endure.
What happens when I sin. Again we see the very character of God displayed in full view for everyone to see!
1 John 1:8-9 If we say we have no sin, we lie, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Here is another promise from God.
2Th. 3:3 But the Lord is faithful, who shall establish you, and keep you from evil.
As you can see, faithfulness is who God is. When we display the very character of God, the Spirit is free to operate in that environment. When I act out of character as a new creation – 2 Cor 5:17, it stifles the Spirit’s activity. The reason is simple. The Holy Spirit can and never will affirm any lifestyle that is contrary to the character of God. It would be like asking God to bless our sins. When we display the character of God through the way we treat people, the Spirit of God flows more freely to bless people.
How do I know that this is even true? We have to look at the parable Jesus tells about the talents – Matt 25:14-30. In this story, there are three servants, and the master gives each one of them some talents. The first servant received five talents, the second servant received two talents, and the third servant received only one talent. Each servant received according to their own ability – Matt25:15. The master knew what each servant was capable of doing with what he handed them.
When the master leaves the servant with five talents made five more talents. So did the second servant and made two more talents. The servant who received only one talent hid the talent and did not increase what he received. The master returns and takes account of his goods. The first servant gives an account, and the master says: Well done, you faithful servant. I will make you a ruler over many things. The same happened for the servant that doubled his two talents. The master calls him faithful.
As you can see from this story, the servants’ faithfulness ushered them into a place of more abundance. When we are faithful, we are trusted with more spiritual authority because God knows that we will steward it well.
Faithfulness will always open the door for us to walk in greater levels of Spiritual Authority. What is important to remember is that we are expected to be faithful in our own walk first, but then we are also entrusted to give what we have to other faithful men. Paul admonished Timothy, a faithful servant in the Lord – 1 Cor 4:17 also to give what he has away to other faithful men.
2Tim. 2:2 And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.
How well do you steward what God has put in front of you? If we are faithful in the little things, God can trust us with the greater things.
