Character of Dependability — The "Ds"

As I was studying Galatians 5;22, 23, I decided to see what other verses used the same words.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. Galatians 5:22-23 (NKJV)

Faithfulness: character of dependability

I thank my God, making mention of you always in my prayers, hearing of your love and faith which you have toward the Lord Jesus and toward all the saints, that the sharing of your faith may become effective by the acknowledgment of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus. Philemon 1:4-6 (NKJV)

Faithfulness is Directional

• hearing of your love and faith which you have toward
• Toward: motion towards to interface with; literally, moving toward a goal or destination

Faithfulness is Definite

• toward the Lord Jesus and toward all the saints
• It's not a random goal, rather it's specific — to the Lord Jesus and then the saints. 

Faithfulness is to be Dispersed

• sharing of your faith
• Sharing: something in which one has participation
• Faithfulness is active and because you have taken part in God's salvation, a natural progression is to share that faith with others. 

Character of Dependability. Faithfulness toward Christ, then followed toward the saints, all with the underlying understanding of what God did for me — His gift of salvation. 

“Fun-Good”

This year, I'm sharing my "Treasures" of my study of my "Ponder the Morsels" book. I've picked 31 Psalms to study throughout 2013. Today I studied Psalm 13. Here is what I learned.

I will sing the Lord’s praise, for he has been good to me. Psalm 13:6 (NIV) 

I sing to the Lord because he has ·taken care of [been good to] me. Psalm 13:6 (EXB)

Been Good: A primitive root; to treat a person (well), i.e. Benefit; by implication (of toil), to ripen, i.e. (specifically) to wean -- bestow on, deal bountifully, do (good), recompense, requite, reward, ripen, + serve, mean, yield. 

I find that sometimes, my definition of “good” might not be the same as God’s definition. When I think of “good”, I think if joy, happy, exciting, ease, excellent, super... etc. I like it when all things go as I plan and are filled with fun! 

However, God in His wisdom, knows that sometimes “good” requires some hard, unpleasant things at least from my perspective. 

If life were always “good” by my definition, I’d always be having fun! I wouldn’t want to work to grow and learn. Remember your elementary days? Recess was the highlight of the day! Running around, swinging, playing kickball, etc. Who wanted to go back inside and study History, or English, or Math? Yet, those times of study were “good” in that it was needed to grow in knowledge and wisdom. 

To create a positive day, I need to make sure that I’m seeing defining “good” as God does, and not just expecting “fun-good” all the time.