Christ-follower, Husband, Dad, Pastor

promise

September 23, 2013

Faith + Patience = Promise Fulfilled

God always makes good on His promises. God promises; faith believes it, hope anticipates it, and patience awaits it.

The writer of Hebrews coupled patience with faith as a requirement for receiving God’s promises. “We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised” (Hebrews 6:12 NIV). Eugene Peterson paraphases, “Don’t drag your feet. Be like those who stay the course with committed faith and then get everything promised to them” (MSG).

Abraham is lifted up as an example of sticking it out to the end, “And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised” (Hebrews 6:15 NIV). Wait patiently. An old Alabama chicken farmer quipped, “you get the chicken by hatching the egg, not by smashing it open.” We can’t hurry God, but we can wait expectantly for what He has promised.

To get what is promised, we need:

  • Faith – To believe God’s Word, speak God’s Word, and act in agreement with God’s Word.
  • Patience – To remain the same from beginning to end, to calmly hold on until the end of the matter, and to be steadfast.

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Patience added to faith yields God’s promised fulfillment.

September 20, 2013

Promises Propel Purity

Have you seen the the Sister Carol Style clip (search youtube “Sister Carol Style Josh Laster) that was shown at the Valley Fellowship Christmas 2011 Banquet? Josh, Brock, and Jorge’s parody still makes me smile. At Kimberlyn’s sixteen birthday party, Mom joined in in the Wii room – but I don’t think she thought about all the phones with cameras. Mom is a “holy lady” whose lifestyle was certainly inspired by God’s Word.

God’s Word helped my mom and will help you, too. God’s promises offer you powerful tools to withstand temptation. Read the fourth chapter of Matthew and see how Jesus quoted Scripture – God’s promises – to win over satan’s temptation. In the wilderness, Jesus wasn’t carrying a scroll of the Book of Deuteronomy. How did He know the verses – the promises – that were needed for each challenge?

I bet He spent time memorizing God’s Word. His memorization and meditation before the battle equipped Jesus for victory. Notice that Jesus spoke the promise aloud. There is something significant about speaking God’s Word. We are strengthened by our confession and agreement with God’s promises.

Do you have enough Scripture stored within your heart and mind to be successful in the face of temptation, or fear, or rejection, or persecution, or hardship, or sickness, or what-ever-is-attacking-you? Do you have Scriptures hidden in your heart that bolster your faith to flee from sexual sin? Have you meditated God’s promises of His presence, His protection, and His provision to the point that when you are tested – you ace the test?

The apostle Paul reminds the readers of his letter to Corinth of several promises.

For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said:

“I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.” Therefore, “Come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.” And, “I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.”

Therefore, since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God. (2 Corinthians 6:16b-7:1 NIV)

God’s wonderful promises should motivate our forward pursuit. As we hold on to His promises, His Word pushes us toward Christlike holiness and purity.

More than three hundred fifty years ago, Puritan pastor Thomas Watson expounded upon 2 Corinthians 7:1 in an afternoon sermon (August 17, 1662), wisely advising believers:

Trade much in the promises. The promises are great supports to faith. Faith lives in a promise, as the fish lives in the water. The promises are both comforting and quickening …. The promises of God are bladders [flotation devices/lifesavers!] to keep us from sinking when we come to the waters of affliction. The promises are sweet clusters of grapes that grow upon Christ the true vine. O! trade much in the promises; there is no condition that you can be in, but you have a promise. (Farewell Sermons, p. 200)

Let God’s promises propel your purity.

September 19, 2013

Need a Promise?

God is faithful to fulfill everything He has promised. God never lies, and His Word is reliable. 

“God is the great reality. His resources are available and endless. His promises are real and glorious, beyond our wildest dreams.”  (J.B. Phillips)

When you think you have got a promise picked out, ask yourself the following:

  • To whom is the promise given (what is the context of the promise)?
  • Does the promise apply to me under the New Covenant?
  • Is the promise conditional or unconditional?
  • Is the promise (qualified) limited or modified or balanced by other parts of Scripture?

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“God’s promise is present in His Word, which speaks of the blessings He intends to give to His people…. God also continues to be the one who gives promises concerning the blessings He will bestow on His people, such as the promise of release from the power of sin and the promise of the Spirit.” (Eerdmans Bible Dictionary, p. 852)

Have you taken advantage the great promise of salvation through Jesus Christ? “Anyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved.” (Romans 10:13 TLB) If so, avail yourself to the benefits of membership in God’s family. Pick a promise to meditate – ponder it, think about it over and over – and let faith arise in your heart. Say the verse aloud. Be loud enough that your ears hear it!

  • Promise of Jesus’ Presence Now and Forever: “Be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20 NLT)
  • Promise of the Holy Spirit: “As bad as you are, you know how to give good things to your children. How much more, then, will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (Luke 11:13 GNT)
  • Promise that God Works for Good: “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28 NASB)
  • Promise that Nothing can Separate us from God’s Love: “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? …. No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”(Romans 8:35-39 NIV)
  • Promise that God will Meet Needs: “And my God will liberally supply (fill to the full) your every need according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:19 AMP)
  • Promise that God will Renew Strength: “But those who wait for the Lord [who expect, look for, and hope in Him] shall change and renew their strength and power; they shall lift their wings and mount up [close to God] as eagles [mount up to the sun]; they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint or become tired.” (Isaiah 40:31 AMP)

“God is the God of promise. He keeps His word, even when that seems impossible; even when the circumstances seem to point to the opposite.”  (Colin Urquhart)

Here are a few tips for finding promises to meditate, to hold in your heart, and to buoy your spirit.

  • Read your Bible every single day.
  • Take good notes while you are listening to sermons.
  • Ask another believer what Scriptures he/she is meditating.
  • Buy a study Bible with notes and reference suggestions.
  • Do a search for a particular word at Biblegateway.com.
  • Use a concordance and look up each verse.
  • Buy a compilation book such as God’s Promise for Your Every Need  that has verses arranged topically.
  • For a deeper study of God’s promises, pick up a copy of Larry Richard’s Every Promise in the Bible.

Why not take God at His Word? You will discover yourself worshiping like the psalmist, “Your promises have been thoroughly tested; that is why I love them so much.” (Psalm 119:140 NLT) Trust God’s Promises!

September 18, 2013

Promise? YES & AMEN!

Trust God’s promises! When the Lord pledges to fulfill a specified act, you can rest assured that He certainly will fulfill it. I want you read the following passages and let the reality of truth sink deep within your spirit. Yes and Amen!

“Whatever God has promised gets stamped with the Yes of Jesus. In him, this is what we preach and pray, the great Amen, God’s Yes and our Yes together, gloriously evident. God affirms us, making us a sure thing in Christ, putting his Yes within us. By his Spirit he has stamped us with his eternal pledge—a sure beginning of what he is destined to complete.” (2 Corinthians 1:20-22 MSG)

“His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.” (2 Peter 1:3-4 NIV)

“God made great and marvelous promises, so that his nature would become part of us.” (2 Peter 1:4a CEV)

Many songs have been written lifting up this wonderful assurance and several are playing inside my head right now. I can hear those trumpets in the background of Russell Fragar’s “Yes & Amen” (1997 HillSong Music). I can imagine the harmonica that the Brownsville Revival worship team accented for “All Your Promises” (Andrew Smith, 1995 Mercy/Vineyard). Jared Anderson’s voice is ringing out, “All Your promises won’t let go of me” (“Promises,” 2006 Vertical Worship). You could probably find versions of all those songs on youtube. I bet you can think of more songs extolling God’s promises.

Can any of you remember singing the hymn “Standing on the Promises“? When I was about eleven years old, I was intrigued by the added bass melody on the chorus. One of the older men in the choir had a deep bass voice that would rumble through each time we sang it at church. I recall trying to get my voice to sing as LOW as I could go, “Standing on the promises, standing on the promises!” I tried! I really did, but I never could get my voice down to that register. However, all my private attempts to sing “bass” ended up giving me a reminder of where I can rest my faith.

Even in a world of doubt and uncertainty, the Bible remains a steadfast foundation. The promises of God’s Word are worth celebrating! If my Grandma Martin was alive, I bet she would say, “Let’s stand and sing the first, second and fourth verses!”

Standing on the promises of Christ my King; Thro’ eternal ages let His praises ring
Glory in the highest I will shout and sing – Standing on the promises of God
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Standing on the promises that cannot fail; When the howling storms of doubt and fear assail
By the living Word of God I shall prevail – Standing on the promises of God

Standing on the promises of Christ the Lord; Bound to Him eternally by love’s strong cord
Overcoming daily with the Spirit’s Sword – Standing on the promises of God

Standing (standing on the promises) [Come on sing out! Basses, let me hear you.]
Standing (standing on the promises)
Standing on the promises of God my Savior
Standing (standing on the promises)
Standing (standing on the promises)
I’m standing on the promises of God. [Russell Kelso Carter, public domain, 1886]

I wonder if my nephew Garrison knows this hymn. Hey, Garrison, were God’s promises on your mind when this picture was taken?

September 17, 2013

God Doesn’t Lie

For their last gift on Christmas day 2008,  Rozy and Kimberlyn opened a box with a mostly-empty Disney scrapbook with Mickey’s face on the cover. When the girls first opened the package, they looked a bit bewildered, because usually give the best gift LAST. Their faces seem to ask “What’s this?”

Our reservation information was attached on the first page of the book (along with a picture of our family taped to a picture of the Cinderella’s Castle), but the girls still didn’t get it. Still puzzled, Patti and I finally announced aloud, “Spring break, we are going to Disney World!” And, the shouting started! Rozy and Kimberlyn immediately started counting days. They had asked (many, many times) to go, and they joyfully anticipated that family vacation.

One of the reasons that felt free to express such joy is the fact that Patti and I do our best to NOT lie to our children. Because we have tried to be honest with them, Rozy and Kimberlyn believed what we said. I am not perfect; yes, I have misspoken and failed to deliver on a number of occasions, but my daughters trusted that Disney was on the way. Before that Christmas morning, Patti and I had followed through with what we had promised enough times, that the girls were quite sure they would soon be seeing Minnie Mouse.

Simple pictures cannot capture how happy Rozy and Kimberlyn were to enter the Magic Kingdom and actually see Cinderella’s castle.

One reason so many of us have such difficulty in trusting God’s promises is because of the pain we have all suffered from people who did not stay true to their word. Unfaithful spouses, backstabbing friends, lying politicians, misleading infomercials, too-busy parents, broken promises – all wound us. We don’t trust for we have learned not to trust. We witness heartbreak, hear disappointing stories, and expect broken promises.
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However, God always keeps His promises.“God is not a human being, and He will not lie.”  (Numbers 23:19 NCV) God doesn’t lie, so we can certainly trust His promises. A promise is an assurance that one will do something or that something will happen, and what God has promised – He certainly will get done. We can read hundreds of promises that God has issued in the Bible. Some of the promises are specific to a particular circumstance or a particular individual, but many are available for any believer. Often promises are conditional – demanding an action or response by the individual in order to enjoy the promise. Many require nothing but a personal relationship with Christ Jesus. Some require nothing at all; God is faithful to Himself, so He will accomplish what He as spoken.

The importance of people trusting and acting God’s promise is an overarching theme of the Patriarchs of Genesis – Abraham, Issac, Jacob, and even Joseph. God’s promise kick-starts each of their stories. Their response to God’s promise is a decisive ingredient for success. The New Testament writers regularly lift up Abraham  as an example of faith, faithfulness, and trust in God’s promise. Paul writes, “Yet he [Abraham] did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what He had promised.” (Romans 4:20-21 NIV)

“True faith is essentially reasonable because it trusts in the character and the promises of God. A believing Christian is one whose mind reflects and rests on these certitudes.”  (John R.W. Stott)

The Psalmist enlightens us as to the reasons the Israelis of Exodus were unable to enter the Promised Land. Guess what makes the list? “They did not believe His promise” (Psalm 106:24b NIV) The great reformer Martin Luther pondered, “What greater rebellion, impiety, or insult to God can there be than not to believe His promises?”

I don’t want to insult God. I bet you don’t either! God doesn’t lie. It’s time for us to trust His promises.

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