When i got married, i told my wife i would bring her coffee in bed, and that i would never lie or steal from her. i vowed i would always be where i said i was, and that if she had any questions of me, if she was brave enough to ask, i would be brave enough to tell… above all, i said i was good for my word now and tomorrow, faithfully so until i died. Even after i was dead, she could still believe the reports of my character by whomsoever reported the deeds and considerations of my life.
To say someone is consistent and repeatable means not only can you count on them but they also have good habits and character which are also believable and can be counted on.
We as Christians should not only be the most honest and truthful people on the planet but also the most reliable… entirely because our God and King is, ever was, ever will be the most honest and reliable person in the universe. Jesus IS the very definition of truth, honesty and reliability. Our yes should be yes today, reliably tomorrow and every day after. If i say i will be there, i want to be someone you can rely on… and if i say i will bring you coffee, i will honor you and bring you coffee just as i said, and if i can’t, i will be honest and tell the truth, being careful to not promise something i cannot do…it is my responsibility to do what i say and your responsibility to not take advantage of me. Doing what we say should be one of our particular Godly traits and a personal honor that is the same today and tomorrow…..being consistent and repeatable. This time in history is no time for confused loyalties.
This is Outposts, a semi-live broadcast from the beautiful cascading banks of the Ockluhwahha River which passes with ease, casts no shadows, and runs on silent and deep into the distance to points and places beyond our sight.
In the nine fruits of the Spirit, one element of commonality between them all is our being consistent and repeatable.
James 5:12, “But above all, my brothers, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your “yes” be yes and your “no” be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation.”
We know, at least i hope we do, that we are all human and we get our times and dates turned around, obligations mysteriously fall off the calendar’s with no fault of our own, we just forget things sometimes. If we can’t accomplish what we have given our word to do, we notify the other party of our failing and try again next time, and do our best to be there. If we can’t keep our promises, then maybe we ought to promise less, or maybe even learn to simply say…. “no, that’s not something i’m able to do.” When we tell others we’ll do such-and-such and then we don’t, it is giving false hope, and as you know, false hope is far more cruel than the truth ever thought of being.
Stick with me, sit back in your big arm chair, relax and breath, and let’s get into the necessity of being consistent and repeatable…..
How long would God be trustworthy if He didn’t keep His word? Worse, what kind of righteous King would He be if He was only reliable most of the time, or if His promises were not “Yes” but merely “probably”? Of course, that is not true of Him in the slightest, but let’s play “what if” for a moment.
Can you imagine how some of His promises would sound if He were not consistent and repeatable? Let’s plug in words of “fluctuating reliability” in place of the ultimate words God uses… Psalm 50:15, Call upon Me at the time of your trouble; I might deliver you, and you, more or less, will glorify Me.” Can you imagine the tragedy that would follow that lame restatement of God’s promise? How would it go with you if while you were sinking at sea in a terrible storm, your rescuer, if they were in a good mood, would help you to safety? That would be terrible! And how much less do you appear to those who depend on you when you make similar conditional statements?
Or, let’s do this one, Isaiah 61:1, The Spirit of the Lord GOD is pretty much upon Me, Because the LORD has probably anointed Me To preach some good tidings to the poor; maybe he will send Me to heal the brokenhearted, To, in so many words, passively make mention of liberty to the captives, And, i think it might be a good time to open the prison to those who are sort of bound.”
Our marital commitments are often acted out just like that sounds…it may not be what was intended at first, but many seem to re-think their vows to eventually becoming unreliable. Is that who God has called us to be?
Sounds real attractive doesn’t it? The promises of men sound like that, but God says in 2 Corinthians 1:20, “For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us.”
Let’s play what if with John 8:36, Therefore if the Son, for the most part, makes you free, you’ll probably be free, pretty much.
Who would want to rely on that? It’s a promise which is no promise. The truth is God said, “Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.” That is a solid promise, and the Lord does not break His word to us. Ever.
Flexible words built into promises sound more like our leadership in government than it does our God and King who is consistent and repeatable. No one follows anyone who passes out promises and are not actually promising anything.
i wonder how many of us hear someone making “promises which are no promises” and we want there to be something solid in their words so bad we are often willing to ignore the lack of character or sincerity… a promise is only as good as the person behind it. We hear people in leadership say, “more or less” or “probably” and we re-think it into a big “yes” or “no” when that’s not what they said. We want it all to work out so bad we are willing to imagine the other person saying things they never said, nor are they actually able to fulfill our illusion of them.
i have met so so many women at safe houses who have broken fingers, busted teeth, and wired up cheekbones who still tell themselves, “Oh, he was just having a bad day”, or “He’s not really like that. i’m sure i’ve irritated him beyond his ability to control himself.”
i actually heard a man say, after having beaten his wife AND kids, “Sometimes, when she runs her mouth, it just pulls the slaps out of my hand.” Man! You can’t make up stuff like that. And do you know… she stayed with the man, telling herself his promises would make good someday, even though in the last 10 years they never had. He was consistent and repeatable in a bad way for sure. Someday she may become disillusioned with the man, but then, we must have had an illusion to begin with in order to become dis-illusioned.
Friends, we must break the illusion of relying on the promises of men, and know only God Himself is reliable, and He means what He says every time, consistent and repeatable in all His ways.
When i first moved from the east coast to the pacific north west, one of the first things the Lord told me to do was to be consistent and repeatable… not being on the jazz and being proud of never playing the same thing twice. He told me He was consistent and repeatable, i was to be consistent and repeatable, and His people needed to learn, by example, how to be consistent and repeatable.
Oswald Chambers said (my paraphrase here), “It is a faithful person who truly believes that God sovereignly controls their circumstances. We take our circumstances for granted, saying God is in control, but often don’t act like we really believe it. We act as if the things that happen were completely controlled by people. To be faithful in our circumstance means that we have only one loyalty, the Lord, Jesus Christ. God may allow our circumstances to suddenly fall apart, yet we never saw what He was accomplishing. This is where the test of our faithfulness comes. If we will learn to worship God even during the difficult circumstances, He will change them for the better very quickly. Friends, remember, it isn’t a test so God can know what we’re , but so we can know what we’re made of.
Being faithful to Jesus Christ is one of the most difficult things we try to do today. We will be faithful to our work, to serving others, or to a myriad of other things; just don’t ask us to be faithful to Jesus Christ.
Many believers get all squirmy and impatient when the discussion of faithfulness to Jesus comes up. i firmly believe the Lord is degraded in the eyes of others more deliberately by Christian workers than by the world. We treat God as if He were a machine designed only to bless us, and of Jesus as just another one of the workers.
The goal of faithfulness is not that we will do work for God, but that He will be free to do His work through us. God calls us to His service and gives us Kingdom responsibilities. He expects no complaining, although He gracefully endures our disgruntledness, and offers no explanation on His part. i think it would serve us well to understand God owes no man an explanation….He allows us to inquire of Him asking whatever we will, but He holds no debt of explanation of His actions….1Tim6:15-16, “….He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.”
We expect the Lord to be consistent and repeatable, yet we allow ourselves off the hook of responsibility when we waver, doubt, and change our minds to suit our agendas, and then simply never deal with our inconsistencies. Don’t misunderstand me here, i’m not saying don’t be human, but i am saying let’s get better at what we do. Jesus set the precedence by being the first to love, hope, be courageous and endure … similarly, Jesus was consistent and repeatable first so we would be empowered to be the same.
When we consistently set our minds on Christ, who is seated at the right hand of the Father, we are whole and complete and lack nothing. Our sins are forgiven and we rest in the finished work of Jesus, the Christ of God. Being consistent and repeatable is dependent on God, not our performance or rule keeping. He is our solid rock and never fails us. When we rest in him, we have no fear and we are secure in him. While understanding is a gift of God, it does not come automatically. The possession of it requires a persistent diligence. It is more than IQ; it speaks directly of character.
The fact that God saves us as an act of grace on His part is not a license to live any way we want to. 1Cor6:11, “… but you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.” It is the truth, we stand before Him justified, free, and blameless because of faith in the sacrifice of Christ, but, and “but” means “with exception”, but we also are now a part of His family.1Peter2:9-10, “But as for you, you are a race chosen out, kings and priests, a set-apart nation, a people formed for God’s own possession, in order that you might proclaim abroad the excellencies of the One who called you out of darkness into participation in His marvelous light, who at one time were not a people but now are God’s people; who were not subjects of mercy, but now have become objects of mercy…”
Friends, we belong to Him, the Lord almighty, washed in the blood of the Lamb, first born blood relatives to the Son of God… we who are believers in Christ are supposed to act like it.
Let us be Consistent and repeatable in a good way, never growing weary while doing good. This all becomes an issue not just for you, but especially for me. Only in the last few years do i think i have even begun to be consistent and repeatable. Probably, for a large part of my walk as a Christian, many times, it seems, i was no better than a wild animal, with no thought for how i acted or what i said. It wasn’t that i was malicious, but i truly didn’t see myself and my actions. Oh, sure, i thought i was walking the straight and narrow, and i thought i was just acting like the believers around me whom i admired… i prided myself on almost always having insight and a word from the Lord. It wasn’t that i was not consistent, but more my taking note if others weren’t, i tended to look down my long religious nose at them, subtly sneering at their slackness… and if they tried to apologize, i quickly said they had nothing to apologize for, shutting them down and out before they ever had the opportunity to offer their palms up confessions, thereby leaving them with no recourse but to hold their fault to their chest. Oh, i was consistent and repeatable alright, but more like a Pharisee.
i find it difficult to talk about this subject… partly because i know my own failings, and how many times i’ve had a falling out with God in my life. Another reason is i don’t think we need any more lists of laws to imprison believers, corralling them for handy shearing, or to help put anyone on even more spiritually depressing and false guilt trips. i think we do a good job of that all by ourselves and really don’t need any help.
Often, people teaching, preaching, or writing on the subject of practical behavior have strong opinions about cultural patterns where their opinion eventually becomes the rule… many times those cultural patterns are ones which the Bible leaves as personal judgment… but when their opinion becomes the rule it tends to create a totally false standard.
Legalism, the adding of human requirements to the gospel, is a grace-killer…..it causes, what i call, something like spiritual-brain-freeze, people are just doing the rules and their brain gets thrown out of gear. However, in opposition to the law makers there are many who also teach standards of behavior that are far below those of Biblical standards… what the Bible calls “sin,” some modern teachers just excuse, or ignore. Ecclesiastes 9:10, “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might”, meaning, do what you do as unto the Lord, and be consistent and repeatable with all your heart, not because it’s a rule but in honor of God.
Psalm 29:1, “Give unto the LORD, O you mighty ones, Give unto the LORD glory and strength.” When you give, don’t be erratic but set in your heart and mind to be steady. Don’t exceed, in your zeal, your ability to give, but consider carefully what is within your realm of possibilities in order that you can keep your devotion.
Proverbs 16:3, “Commit your works to the LORD, And your thoughts will be established.” In all that we do, let us do with the consistency of one who intends to be in this walk of faith for the long haul. In your zeal, which is a wonderful thing, take a pause to play the whole movie about what you’re about to declare before the Lord. For people who have real anxiety problems, i practice a standard rule which are three letters, “S.B.T.” which stands for Stop, Breath, and Think. We often, in a moment of passion, declare loudly, “Lord i will NEVER do such-and-such”, or “I will ALWAYS do this-and-that”. Then when it doesn’t work out, we slam ourselves with an emotional hammer, curse ourselves in the mirror, and renew, with tears, our vows, swearing again and again to the Lord about how we’ll always or never. Over and over again we play this scenario out, and over and over again we aren’t able to toe the line we’ve declared for ourselves. C’mon friends, a little grace please, and a little careful thinking. There is nothing wrong with making a vow, but consider carefully the feasibility of your ability to do what you declare. When the vow doesn’t exactly work out, before you hit the wall of feeling defeated, Stop… Breath… and Think. Learn this practice and be consistent and repeatable.
If we’re having trouble keeping our promises, maybe we should promise less and be consistent and repeatable more in the few we have made. It is better to keep two promises and disappoint someone about the other eight they were hoping for, than it is to promise ten and only keep two.
Let us not work to be spectacular… spectacular is rarely consistent nor repeatable. Learn to set goals so you can be successful, low enough to be attainable, and high enough to be challenging yet reachable. i can’t possibly go through all the angles of practical behavior which need to be steadied out, rethought, and made into something do able, but i do believe there are a lot of us who set goals so high, we are a perpetual failure in our own eyes. Start again, but this time, pick things to be consistent and repeatable about which you can do, thereby helping to set the stage to see yourself as a success. Start small if you have to, but remember, no way no how does the Lord ever hope we fail. That is not His heart. He wants us to trust Him, and for us to see ourselves as a continual success in Christ. Jesus is consistent in His appointments for us and we can be consistent in our commitments to follow Him where He leads.
Be consistent and repeatable. Consistently sober, setting the stage to repeat todays sobriety tomorrow, regardless of whatever we struggle with. Sobriety doesn’t just mean beating an addiction…sobriety also means repeatedly employing rigorous honesty, being in the room to listen to the hearts of others, persistently praying to the Lord and telling Him all the truth of ourselves and letting Him make adjustments in our character. Being consistent and repeatable in our faith, even if only small steps, sets the stage for success in all the future steps of faith to come, teaching our children how to live life in Christ, consistent and repeatable. Think about it.
In “Twisted Thinking Transformed” by Jerry Price, he writes, “With closed thinking there is an unwillingness to be self-critical about any irresponsible thinking or behavior: it comes from an emotionally vacant person who really doesn’t care how they hurt others. It results in a decision to withhold information by not telling the whole story, because the exposure would mean full accountability.”
To be consistent and repeatable, mature and accountable Christians, means we are open and unconcealed before the Lord and others. People love to speak of being in a culture of honor, but yet the rigorous honesty required to be people of honor is oddly elusive. A culture of honor contains an expectation of reciprocation for many people. Friends, a one way street only runs just so far. No one can be a culture of honor by themselves. “Culture” speaks of a “community”, and there is no such thing as a community of one.
Exacting faithfulness is not so simple, but it can be done in Christ, and one of the first steps is to let grace train us to be consistent and repeatable. Everyone is being trained, every day, in something, and if we’re not being trained by grace, let’s have the courage to ask who are our trainers?
When we hear it thunder nearby, and lightning strikes around us, let us hold our ground, keep putting one foot in front of the other, being consistent and repeatable in our devotion to Jesus, our prayer time, honesty, joy, patience, and faith. As the captain gives instructions to the helmsman, the word of the Lord is to us all, “hold your course” lads, steady on.
Pray for your neighbors, consistently practice kindness, and let your love be repeatable day after day. Steady on friends, steady on. Amen.