Keidra Hobley 0:38

Hello and welcome to another episode of The One Yes At A Time Podcast. I am Keidra, here with my friend Susan, and we have been in this series on the Fruit of the Spirit.

Susan Dies 0:50

Yes. It's been so good.

Keidra Hobley 0:51

Hasn't it been so good? Yes. Oh man. I'm excited today'cause we get to discuss the fruit of faithfulness.

Susan Dies 0:58

You know, I was reading this week that faithfulness is kind of the glue that holds all the other fruit together.

Keidra Hobley 1:05

Wow. Wow.

Susan Dies 1:06

Isn't that interesting?

Keidra Hobley 1:07

That is very interesting. What, what makes it the glue?

Susan Dies 1:09

Well, because if you think about it, you can't be full of love and be unfaithful.

Keidra Hobley 1:14

Mm.

Susan Dies 1:14

You can't be full of joy and be an unfaithful person. You can't be full of peace and be unfaithful and just go down through the list of the nine characteristics.. Mm-hmm... that represent God. Yeah. I mean these are characteristics, fruit of the Spirit that He's growing in us... and so we cannot be unfaithful and be growing in the fruit of the Spirit.

Keidra Hobley 1:36

Wow. That's so good. That's so true. Isn't that good? So true. That is very good. So exactly what is faithfulness?

Susan Dies 1:42

Well, faithfulness just means to be consistent. Yeah. To be someone who is dependable, to be loyal.. Mm-hmm... to be devoted, to be someone who's reliable... to be a person that other people can count on.

Keidra Hobley 1:54

Yeah.

Susan Dies 1:55

To be someone who keeps their promises. So often people make promises and they change their mind or they make excuses. But a faithful person is someone who doesn't make promises and break them. Yeah. They only make the promises that they know they can keep.

Keidra Hobley 2:11

Mm-hmm.

Susan Dies 2:12

And so this is someone who is trustworthy. But the Faithfulness that we're talking about today on our podcast, while it is all of these things that I just said, it's not a faithfulness that we can produce in ourselves. Right. That's right. This is the fruit of the spirit that grows in the heart of every believer. And interestingly, it doesn't begin with our faithfulness. It begins with God's faithfulness to us. The original word that Paul used for faithfulness is the Greek word'pistis', and it's generally used to describe the faithfulness of God.

Keidra Hobley 2:44

Okay.

Susan Dies 2:45

The root of this word'pistis' is PIST, and it means divine persuasion. So divine persuasion implies that God is speaking, right?

Keidra Hobley 2:54

Yes.

Susan Dies 2:54

Romans 10:17, and you know this verse,"Faith comes by hearing."

Keidra Hobley 2:58

That's right.

Susan Dies 2:59

"And hearing by the word of God." And so God speaks to us through His word... and as he speaks the Holy Spirit divinely persuades us to take God at His word... and to then act on his word.. Wow. And that's faithfulness. So faith is this internal belief that we have, but faithfulness is when we act on that faith.

Keidra Hobley 3:19

Come on.

Susan Dies 3:19

Does that make sense?

Keidra Hobley 3:20

It does make sense.

Susan Dies 3:21

And it makes sense it would begin with God... because he puts his Holy Spirit in the heart of every believer and because God is faithful, we already have that seed planted in us.. through the power and the presence of the Holy Spirit. So his faithfulness to us is the foundation for both our faith and our faithfulness. You know, we sometimes confuse belief and faith and think that they're the same thing. Mm. But belief precedes faith. Mm-hmm. Faith is the gift that God gives to the believer. So if you choose not to believe, you don't get that gift of faith. So what do you think about all that?

Keidra Hobley 3:55

Ooh, I mean, that's so good. That's so rich. I love when you said it is a seed that's already been planted in us. Mm-hmm. And so it's not something we have to create for ourselves that's, or try to manufacture. As we feed on the word, that seed's gonna grow. Right. And so that to me. That spoke volumes.

Susan Dies 4:13

My dad is a United States Marine Okay. And sometimes when I'm out in public with him, he'll pass someone who's wearing a hat or a t-shirt, that says something that identifies another person as a Marine... and he'll say, and they will say back to him...

Keidra Hobley 4:28

Semper fi.

Susan Dies 4:28

Semper fi. And what does that mean? A a I have no idea. It's a Latin phrase that means always faithful. So it's a great motto. It's certainly a wonderful goal to strive for in life, to be always faithful in every area of our life, but we know that's not possible because we're human. Mm-hmm. Right? Mm-hmm. As much as we would love to be always faithful, it's just not possible.

Keidra Hobley 4:50

Mm-hmm.

Susan Dies 4:51

There's only one who is always faithful and who has always been faithful from the beginning of time, and that's God. And of course we see his faithfulness on display all throughout the Old Testament.

Keidra Hobley 5:02

Mm-hmm.

Susan Dies 5:02

And then in the New Testament, we see the faithfulness of Christ throughout the gospels all the way through the Book of Revelation that ends with Jesus' return.

Keidra Hobley 5:11

Faithfulness to return.

Susan Dies 5:12

Yeah, that's right. He was faithful unto death. Mm-hmm. Because he died on the cross, but he rose again, so his faithfulness lasts all the way through eternity. Mm-hmm. You know, think about how marriage is meant to be a picture.. Mm-hmm... of God's faithfulness to us, and we mirror that in our faithfulness to one another. Unfortunately, we know that the divorce rate is about 50%. Mm-hmm. So, one and two marriages.. Mm-hmm... end in divorce. So unfaithfulness occurs at some point. You're not faithful to your vow.. Yeah... for one reason or another. But In our marriage vows, we say until death do us part. Yes. And the reason we say that is because at the moment one spouse passes away, that covenant ends. Yes. Because remember, in heaven no one's gonna be married.. and so it is until death do us part. Only God is faithful all the way throughout eternity.

Keidra Hobley 6:02

Mm. Wow.

Susan Dies 6:02

And remember also there's gonna be a marriage supper of the lamb, right? Yes. That's the only marriage that's gonna take place in heaven... and it's gonna be when Jesus is united with his bride.. Yes... which we know is the church and all of us who make up the church for and ever. And so that faithfulness will endure.

Keidra Hobley 6:19

Right. Right. That's so good. So good. So what are some obstacles to us growing in our faithfulness?

Susan Dies 6:26

Busyness.

Keidra Hobley 6:27

That's the first one that came in my mind.

Susan Dies 6:28

The first one, because, you know, it's not sinful to be busy. Right. But it Can become a sin.. Mm-hmm... if our busyness leaves God out.

Keidra Hobley 6:37

Yes.

Susan Dies 6:37

Distractions. So many things distract us and part of that is the busyness, but sometimes we can just be in our head about a lot of things.. Mm-hmm... and instead of praying to God about those things, we let those things just ruminate and we can become anxious and just distracted by life.. Yeah... when Jesus is waiting right here for us to invite him into that.. Right... so that he can give us his peace in place of that anxiety that we might be feeling. What about constantly connected...

Keidra Hobley 7:07

with all of our devices?

Susan Dies 7:08

Yeah. Even if we're not with another person, we're constantly connected and so there's no time to just get still and quiet before the Lord.

Keidra Hobley 7:16

Mm-hmm.

Susan Dies 7:16

Relationships can sometimes crowd out time with God... work, hobbies, ministries. Where does our quiet time with God fit into all of that? Yeah. Where does our prayer time fit into all of that? Is he an afterthought or is he the priority? Because it's only when he's the priority that we're truly being faithful.

Keidra Hobley 7:37

Yeah.

Susan Dies 7:37

Right.

Keidra Hobley 7:38

That's right.

Susan Dies 7:38

And when we're not faithful to him, we're less likely to be faithful to others... and less likely to follow through on our commitments. That's another big part of faithfulness. Complacency.

Keidra Hobley 7:51

Mm. That's a big one.

Susan Dies 7:51

We don't like that word. Right. But I think a lot of times we just take God for granted.

Keidra Hobley 7:57

Mm-hmm.

Susan Dies 7:57

His goodness, his faithfulness to us. Yeah. And because he's faithful to us, even when we're not faithful to him, sometimes we just let him be the one that does all the doing.

Keidra Hobley 8:07

Yes.

Susan Dies 8:07

Also watering Down the gospel, wanting to tickle people's ears.. Yeah... as the Bible says, to make them feel good about themselves... when really we need to be speaking the truth in love.

Keidra Hobley 8:18

Yeah.

Susan Dies 8:18

I mean, truth is a big part of being faithful. Yes. Not only to God, but being faithful to other people. What about personal doubt and disappointment when God doesn't answer our prayers? Mm.

Keidra Hobley 8:29

Yeah... absolutely.

Susan Dies 8:31

When we look at other people who are not being faithful and their life seems to be better.. Yeah... than ours. They seem to be more blessed. Seemed, is the operative word there. Exactly. Exactly. What about unforgiveness? How do you think unforgiveness and bitterness, might be an obstacle to us being faithful to God and faithful to others?

Keidra Hobley 8:49

I mean, that's, it's an easy visual for marriage. I mean mm-hmm. When you're bitter towards your spouse.. Right... you're gonna be more susceptible to yielding to temptations. That's right. Um, that are outside of your marriage. So that's in the natural. But even to God, if you blame God for something that happened in your life... for something that you would've preferred the outcome have been different.. Mm-hmm... that bitterness towards God will prevent people from being faithful to him.

Susan Dies 9:17

Right. Yeah. But don't you think God blesses us in those hard places?

Keidra Hobley 9:21

Absolutely.

Susan Dies 9:22

If we're willing to remain faithful.

Keidra Hobley 9:24

Right.

Susan Dies 9:24

Let me ask you this. Do you think someone could still be considered faithful if they do the right thing, even though they don't feel like it. Is that fake?

Keidra Hobley 9:33

No, I don't think it's fake. I do it all the. I'm so glad you said... I do it all the time. Me too. Because you don't have to feel like it to be obedient to an instruction. And so I think the faithfulness is proven even more so in times when you don't feel like it or if it's something you don't want to do or don't necessarily agree with. But the fact that I'm willing to do it... even though I don't feel like it.. Mm-hmm... shows that I'm fully committed and faithful to God.

Susan Dies 9:57

That's right. Yeah. Faithfulness is not based on our feelings. Right? Yeah. And so it's not fake. And the Bible teaches that God blesses our obedience. Yes. So even when it's hard... especially when it's hard. Now, let me ask you this. Do you have some people who live lives of faithfulness that you look to that have helped you grow in faithfulness?

Keidra Hobley 10:17

Absolutely. I have a whole passage that I look to when it comes to faithfulness, if you wanna dig into that. I do. And it's gonna come from an unlikely place'cause literally the Holy Spirit showed me this and he was speaking straight to me. Exodus 18.

Susan Dies 10:31

Okay.

Keidra Hobley 10:32

And if we have time, I wanna go through this little passage, Exodus 18:13-27. And I'll just read portions of it and then comment along the way. But it starts out by saying,"The next day Moses took his seat to hear people's disputes against each other. They waited before him from morning till evening. When Moses' father-in-law saw all that Moses was doing for the people, he asked, what are you really accomplishing here? Why are you trying to do all this alone.. Mm-hmm... while everyone stands around you from morning till evening?" Moses replied,"Because the people come to me to get a ruling from God. When a dispute arises, they come to me and I am the one who settles the case between the quarreling parties. I inform the people of God's decrees and give them his instructions." So let's pause right there. Okay. Because this is an example of faithfulness, right?

Susan Dies 11:24

Mm-hmm.

Keidra Hobley 11:24

Then then why did Jethro say in the very next verse that this is not good?"

Susan Dies 11:28

Because he was doing it alone.

Keidra Hobley 11:29

Come on there. There we go. You're gonna wear yourself out. This job is too heavy a burden for you to handle by yourself. So I wanted to pause right there for just a minute, just to free some people up, because I think a lot of us, are wearing ourselves out and considering that faithfulness. Right. The intent is good. The intent is really good. I'm gonna say in most cases,'cause sometimes it could be some ill intent, but wearing yourself out is not an indicator of faithfulness in and of itself. Mm-hmm.

Susan Dies 11:55

Right?

Keidra Hobley 11:56

Right. And also that would mean the reverse is also true, that prioritizing rest is not an indication of a lack of faithfulness. Can we see that?

Susan Dies 12:05

I, I see that.

Keidra Hobley 12:05

Yeah.'cause I think sometimes we think the busier we are doing things for God, that that equals faithfulness.

Susan Dies 12:13

Right. But God created us to need rest.

Keidra Hobley 12:15

That's exactly right.

Susan Dies 12:17

And also to need other people.

Keidra Hobley 12:18

That's

Susan Dies 12:18

exactly right. Right. And so it's kind of culminating in this passage that you're talking about. Yes.

Keidra Hobley 12:22

Yes. Yes. So let's keep going. Verse 19."Now listen to me" now, this is Jethro talking,"and let me give you a word of advice and may God be with you. You should continue to be the people's representative before God bringing their disputes to him. Teach them God's decrees and give them his instructions. Show them how to conduct their lives." So, sometimes faithfulness is more about what we're doing and less about how much we're doing.

Susan Dies 12:50

Yeah.

Keidra Hobley 12:50

You see?

Susan Dies 12:51

Absolutely.

Keidra Hobley 12:52

Yeah.'cause,

Susan Dies 12:53

Quality over quantity.

Keidra Hobley 12:54

Yes. Always. And, and the quality comes in being faithful to the instruction that God gave us.

Susan Dies 13:00

Right. And we bring our best selves.. Yes... when we've had some rest.. Come on... and when we've had some help.

Keidra Hobley 13:05

Exactly. And so, the question we have to ask ourselves is, are we being faithful to what God has called us to do? Right. Instructed us to do... asked us to do? An example I thought of. If we're consistently doing, say, prison ministry every Saturday from nine to noon... you know, people would look at that and say, man, he's so faithful. Mm-hmm. She's so faithful. But if the instruction that the Lord gave us was to feed the homeless on Saturdays from 11 to 12, then is that really faithfulness? I'm not doing what God instructed me to do. I'm working really hard. A lot of hours. I'm putting in a lot of time, but I'm not being faithful to what the Lord instructed me to do. I'm doing prison ministry. Because that's where I'm getting accolades. But he asked me to feed the homeless.

Susan Dies 13:50

I see what you're saying.

Keidra Hobley 13:51

I'm, I'm doing prison ministry every Saturday for three hours when he just asked me to feed the homeless for one. Is that faithfulness?

Susan Dies 13:58

It's computing.

Keidra Hobley 13:58

Come on. Come on. Is it sinking in? And so I...

Susan Dies 14:01

wanted say sometimes just so busy doing lots of things that's that God never asked us to do. That's exactly right. Lots of good things, you know?

Keidra Hobley 14:08

Yes.

Susan Dies 14:08

It's not even a sinful thing. That's right. It's just not the thing he's called us to do.

Keidra Hobley 14:12

And that's why I wanted to point out, because when we mentioned the fact that one of the obstacles to faithfulness is busyness. Mm-hmm. We can be busy doing kingdom work that God never asked us to do.

Susan Dies 14:25

Right. Right.

Keidra Hobley 14:26

Like that's. That's big to me. And so some, sometimes we want credit for being faithful but we never ask God, is this something you want me to do?

Susan Dies 14:35

Right.

Keidra Hobley 14:35

And if it wasn't something he wanted us to do, that means that that's taking up time from doing what he really wanted us to do. We might be productive, but we're not gonna be fruitful. And like you already said, faithfulness is a fruit of the spirit. Right. And so we can't be faithful without the spirit, but we can be productive without it.

Susan Dies 14:53

Right. Okay.

Keidra Hobley 14:54

Okay. So let's, let's get back to the, the last few verses. Verse 21 says,"Select from all the people, some capable, honest men who fear God and hate bribes." So right there, capable, honest men, that's faithful.

Susan Dies 15:08

Mm-hmm.

Keidra Hobley 15:09

Those are faithful men, right?"Appoint them as leaders over groups of 1000, 100, 50, and 10. They should always be available." That sounds like faithfulness to me. Always being available, right? Yeah..."to solve the people's common disputes, but have them bring the major cases to you. Let the leaders decide the smaller matters themselves. They will help you carry the load, making the task easier for you. If you follow this advice and if God commands you to do so, then you will be able to endure the pressures and all these people will go home in peace." So not only did Moses have to be faithful. to focus on what God wanted him to do, but he needed to be able to ident ify other faithful people. Does that make sense?

Susan Dies 15:52

It does. But what stood out to me is the last word peace. So faithfulness leads to peace.

Keidra Hobley 15:58

Come on.

Susan Dies 15:59

I love that.

Keidra Hobley 15:59

Isn't that so good?

Susan Dies 16:00

Yeah. That's so good. We need to be willing to evaluate all that we're doing. Yes. Yeah. Yes. And just pray about it and ask God, Lord, show me.. Yes... where you want me to be faithful? Mm-hmm. What you want me to do?

Keidra Hobley 16:11

Yes. And what is it that I'm doing that you want me to stop doing?

Susan Dies 16:15

That's right.

Keidra Hobley 16:15

So that I can.. That's of faithfulness... be faithful to what it is that you want me to do.

Susan Dies 16:19

Right. Right. So how can we grow in faithfulness?

Keidra Hobley 16:22

I think faithfulness begets faithfulness. Mm-hmm. To make the choice to be faithful will help me see the fruit of that. Mm-hmm. Then that encourages me and that helps me to be even more faithful.

Susan Dies 16:35

And to be faithful we have to depend on the Holy Spirit, because remember, this is a fruit of his spirit. Yes. So as we submit our ways to his ways and our will to God's will... and we trust God's word.. Yeah... and we talk to him about these things, and then we act on that... our faith in God grows... and then as you said, so does our faithfulness.. Yes... to do even more faithfulness. And then looking to others, who are faithful, imitate their faithfulness. But also we can't be faithful unless we're in God's word.

Keidra Hobley 17:07

Absolutely.

Susan Dies 17:07

We have to know what he's told us. Our faith is based on his faithfulness to be exactly who he is.. Mm-hmm... and to do exactly what he says he will do. And because he's trustworthy we're gonna grow in our faith as we put his word into practice in our lives. That's the whole premise of this podcast. One Yes At A Time. Yes. What's the one thing that we can begin to do today.. Mm-hmm... to be even more faithful. Yeah. Or even to begin to be faithful if we recognize we're not being faithful. We've got to be in his word so that his Spirit can show us those things.. Yeah... and then we can align our lives with his word. That's how we grow. What about set boundaries around the things in this life that distract us and tempt us to be unfaithful?

Keidra Hobley 17:50

Mm-hmm.

Susan Dies 17:50

I think in our hearts, we know what those things are. We know who those people are.

Keidra Hobley 17:55

Well.

Susan Dies 17:55

Who are we spending time with that takes us away from God, away from Christ, that tempts us to be unfaithful in different areas of our lives? And I'm not talking necessarily about cheating on a spouse, I'm just talking about sin in general. Mm-hmm. Unfaithfulness to God and to his word and what we know he wants from us. And then I think about Psalm 37:3; it gives us this little formula regarding how we can live more faithfully. It says,"Trust God, do good. Live in the land and cultivate faithfulness." Other translations say, feed on God's faithfulness.

Keidra Hobley 18:32

Yeah.

Susan Dies 18:32

And so he's saying, trust God no matter what. Do good no matter what. Feed on God's word and think about his faithfulness in the past to you.

Keidra Hobley 18:41

Yeah.

Susan Dies 18:41

So even if you're going through a hard time now, you know he's gonna see you through it. Yes. You know, there's gonna be blessing in and through and on the other side of that. And then the last thing, keep the eyes of our heart focused on Jesus. Hebrews 12:2. It says,"Let us fix our eyes on Jesus the author and perfecter of our faith who, for the joy set before him, endured the cross and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."

Keidra Hobley 19:06

Yes.

Susan Dies 19:06

So keep our eyes on the one whose faithfulness will never end.

Keidra Hobley 19:10

That's so good.

Susan Dies 19:11

Any other thoughts about how we can grow in faithfulness? Any encouragement you might give to someone who feels like giving up. Mm-hmm. Or maybe who feels like they've messed up.

Keidra Hobley 19:20

Yeah. Well, the fact of the matter, you're gonna mess up.

Susan Dies 19:23

Uhhuh. Thank God his mercies are new every morning. Right? That's exactly... Lamentations 3:23.

Keidra Hobley 19:28

That's exactly right.

Susan Dies 19:29

Great is your faithfulness.

Keidra Hobley 19:30

Great is thy faithfulness. And so yes, we're gonna mess up and when we do, he is faithful and just to forgive if we confess our sins. So, mm-hmm... be encouraged and just know that you serve a faithful God.. That's right... who is faithful to forgive you. Just take it to him and repent and then keep moving and going forward.

Susan Dies 19:48

Amen.

Keidra Hobley 19:49

Yeah.

Susan Dies 19:49

I love that. The, last thing I wanna mention that, I think could be maybe the greatest motivator for anybody who truly wants to live a life of faithfulness is Matthew 25.

Keidra Hobley 20:00

Okay.

Susan Dies 20:00

In Matthew 25 Jesus tells a couple of parables.. Mm-hmm... a couple of stories about what the kingdom of heaven is like. Yes. And of course, at the end of his parable, are the words"Well done" good and faithful servant. You have been faithful with a few things..

Keidra Hobley 20:14

Yes...

Susan Dies 20:15

I will put you in charge of many things." And so that tells us the more faithful we are, the more opportunities God's gonna give us. That's right. But" I love what he says after this."Come and share your master's happiness." Mm. Other versions say,"Let's celebrate together" or"Enter into the joy of your master." And isn't that what we all want to hear?

Keidra Hobley 20:33

Yes.

Susan Dies 20:34

At the end of our life, when we step over into eternity and we're standing face to face with our savior.

Keidra Hobley 20:39

Yes.

Susan Dies 20:39

That's what we wanna hear. Well done good and faithful servant.. Amen. So that is my motivation..

Keidra Hobley 20:45

Yes..

Susan Dies 20:45

For living a faithful life... and just thank God for his forgiveness for times when I fail.

Keidra Hobley 20:50

Yes.

Susan Dies 20:50

And that his mercies are new every single morning.

Keidra Hobley 20:52

Amen.

Susan Dies 20:53

Alright.

Keidra Hobley 20:54

Amen.

Susan Dies 20:54

What else? Well, any anything else you wanna share?

Keidra Hobley 20:57

No, I mean, you kind of nailed it. He who is faithful with little can be trusted with much. And so I know that there are times when people desire more for their life, in their life, want to do more for the Kingdom of God even. But the Bible clearly tells us if I'm faithful with the little that God can trust me with the much. So don't focus on the more, focus on the faithfulness and the more will come.

Susan Dies 21:20

I love that.

Keidra Hobley 21:20

Well, we're outta time for today. On our episode on Faithfulness. We wanna thank you for taking the time to listen. If this has been a blessing to you, why don't you share it with somebody else... like... subscribe.... forward it to somebody. We would love to hear your comments if you wanna leave us a message. We thank you for your time. Susan, will you pray us out?

Susan Dies 21:37

I sure will. Father, thank you so much for your faithfulness to us. Thank you that every promise you make to us is true... that every word you speak we can count on, and God help us in our faith, our belief in you, to grow in faithfulness, to grow in faith... so that we can be more faithful to you, and not only to you Lord, but also to others. So, Lord, stir our hearts and show us the areas of our life where we need to become more faithful, where we need to grow in faithfulness, and we just ask your Holy Spirit to do in us what only you can do, and God will give you all the glory and all the praise in Jesus name. Amen. Jesus. Amen.

Keidra Hobley 22:18

Amen.