God’s Promises

GOD’S PROMISES AND PROMISES AND PROMISES AND…, AND BLESSINGS

FAITH CONFESSION:

“And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpillar, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you. And ye shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the name of the Lord your God, that hath dealt wondrously with you: and my people shall never be ashamed” [Joel 2:25-26].

“I will open rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys: I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water. I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the shittah tree, and the myrtle, and the oil tree; I will set in the desert the fir tree, and the pine, and the box tree together: That they may see, and know, and consider, and understand together, that the hand of the LORD hath done this, and the Holy One of Israel hath created it” [Isaiah. 41:18-20] 

Have you made a promise and failed in the past to keep your promise to someone? Some people make promises and try to keep their word. It is a good virtue and you should improve on keeping your promises. However, if you have promised someone in the past and failed the person, maybe a loved one, do not give up trying to be noted as one who is good at fulfilling promises to others. When someone consistently faults in keeping promises, people call him a liar. Human frailty makes us to fault in keeping promises but if you are a person of your words people will consistently believe you [Psalm 15]. So keep trying to keep your promises.

Keeping a promise actually depends on the authority behind the promise. For example in financial matters we have promissory notes from the government. What if the government does not have enough reserve to meet the notes? There could be chaos and spiraling inflation or deep recession as the case may be. That is what happens in many third world economies. 

The Bible, which is God’s written word, is full of promises. Who is the authority behind the written word? God! He said, “I am the Lord, the God of all flesh: is there anything too hard for me” [Jer. 32:27]? There is no equation in your life, speaking of problems in mathematical terms that God cannot solve. God can decode the source of your problems, and give a solution at an instant, or show you the way how to get out of it. If you key into the promises of God in scriptures, hold on to it. Know that the person who has said it is God. He cannot lie. An important virtue you need in obtaining God’s promise for your life is patience.  The writer of Hebrews in the New Testament reviewing the covenant between God and Abraham said,  ¹³For when God made promise to Abraham, because He could swear by no greater, He sware by Himself, ¹⁴Saying, Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee.  ¹⁵And so, after he (Abraham) had patiently endured, he obtained the promise.  ¹⁶For men verily swear by the greater: and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife.  ¹⁷Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise (children of God) the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath:  ¹⁸That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us [Heb. 6:13-18].

From the above account, the two things that make the promises of God to be fulfilled are the infallibility [surety] of His Word and His name. Simply said, He gave assurance to Abraham saying “relax, I will do it”. Jesus met a woman by the well in Samaria. The woman did not know who Jesus was at the beginning of their discussion but Jesus knew her past, present and future life. He knew she was divorced, not once, not twice, but five times. That was a calamity the woman thought befell her but thank God she met Jesus that day.   Jesus decoded her problem, replaying her past life to her in her mind as they discussed. Jesus then told her His authority He had that made Him intrude into her past life. Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water [John 4:10]. Thereafter the woman got the message and began to perceive who Jesus was in her spirit.

Like the woman at the well in Samaria, God has the absolute authority to intrude into our problems, sort out the mess in our lives and show us the way forward. He stands by His Word to fulfill His promises. In this new year if you have believed God for something, hold on to Him. Recognize His authority to interfere in your situation and through prayers patiently watch Him fulfill His promises in your life. His blessings will be assured as you learn to trust Him.

 PRAYER OF FAITH

1 Peter 5:10 “But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.”

1. Oh Lord, perfect my life. Establish me, strengthen me and settle me in 2011 in Jesus name.
2. Speak to 2011 and command all the blessings in store for you come forth every morning as the year progresses in Jesus’ name [Job 38:12, Psalm 126:4-6, 1 Sam. 2:8].