Archive for the ‘God’s Promises’ Category

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HIS TIMING

Sunday, April 11th, 2010

Day 53

“There is a time for everything, and
a season for every activity under heaven”
Ecclesiastes 3:1

Some people believe that God had to change His original plans because man rebelled against God and sinned at the beginning of our history. This is not true. It was determined before the foundation of the world that Christ would die for us. It was also determined whose names would be written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the earth [Revelation 13:8]. So, before the world and humanity were created God had already made his provision for us.

God’s provision also has been made for our lives. There is no luck, chance, fortune or other happening that determines what happens in our lives. Everything, every detail, every good or bad event that would happen in our lives was known before time began. Every day of our lives was written in His book before one of them came to be [Psalm 139:16].

God’s time and timing are sovereign. He is in complete control; everything is predetermined. He knows what is around the corner. There are no surprises for Him. He has appointed a time for everything in our lives. Even the deepest trials and tribulations of our lives occur in His time and the answer to our problems lies in His timing. For those who love Him, everything turns to the good. His timing will bring His glory to every situation. We will find comfort and peace by resting in Him.

“How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them! Were I to
count them, they would outnumber the
grains of sand. When I awake,
I am still with you”
Psalm 139:17-18

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FEAR NOT

Friday, April 9th, 2010

Day 51

“Fear not”
Isaiah 41:10

Have you ever really considered God’s command to “fear not?” When it comes to difficult and trying circumstances, somehow that “fear not” doesn’t always seem to cut it. Yes, we pray, we believe, but when it gets down to the reality of what we are facing, there is fear. Fear comes in many forms; apprehension, anxiety, alarm, dismay, dread, fright, panic, to mention a few. Apprehension of future circumstances is a big one with many. Constant worry over other people or circumstances is another.

Why, as Christians, do we “fear not?” Good question. The easy route would be to say you don’t have faith. But while that could be true, there may be a much bigger reason; you don’t know your Father. And it is the Fatherhood of God that tells us to “fear not”. He loves us. He pursues us. He covers us. He died for us. He encourages us. Even when we fail to have faith or believe enough to “fear not”, He is still saying “there is nothing to fear.” This is a tender Father speaking to His children.

Do you want to be free of fear in every form? Get to know your Father, who says “I will hold your right hand.” Christ said we are to “become like little children.” A child overcomes his fear because his father holds his hand and protects him. Our Father encourages us, He says “fear not,” for He will strengthen us and even harden us to difficulties so we may continually walk through them. He will help us and even hold us up and keep us with His victorious right hand of rightness and justice! What a glorious Father we have. Rest in him.

“Even to your old age and gray hairs,
I am He, I am He who will sustain you”
Isaiah 46:4

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OUR HEDGE

Thursday, April 1st, 2010

Day 45

“Have you not put a hedge around him and
his household and everything he has?”
Job 1:10

In a rare glimpse of the happenings in God’s heavenly kingdom, we read of a conversation between the Lord and Satan. The Lord points to Job as a righteous person honoring Him. Satan snaps back that the reason for this is because God protects Job, his household and everything he has. He calls it a “hedge” around Job.

That glimpse tells us how God provides a hedge around His children. Those who are committed to the Lord enjoy a divine protection. This is His promise: “not a hair of your head will perish” [Luke 21:18]. He is the God of our battles, so that we may rest in Him while He fights for us. He will cause our enemies to flee. So then, what can man do to us? The Lord is our defense and helper. We need not be afraid.

A good father’s care goes beyond what his children expect, and he protects them even when they are not showing an attitude of trust. How much greater is our Father’s love and care for us! We do not realize the depth of his covering for us. We are being kept safe by God our Father, like a fort garrisoned against enemy attacks ["the Lord is faithful, and He will strengthen and protect you from the evil one" 2 Thessalonians 3:3].

“who through faith are shielded by God’s power
until the coming of the salvation that is
ready to be revealed in the last time”
1 Peter 1:5

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GOD WITH US

Wednesday, March 31st, 2010

Day 44

“Because He is at my right hand,
I will not be shaken”
Psalm 16:8

It is amazing how often we believe God has gone on vacation, or for some reason doesn’t hear us. We worry that we didn’t exercise enough faith to warrant an answer; that God turns a deaf ear to us because we screwed up one too many times, or because we are not worthy. And then there are the times we just don’t “sense” His presence and assume He’s somewhere else. And then there are those who know God is “here”, but not “near”. We pray to Him “up there”.

All of the above ideas represent a false understanding of God our Father. It was announced at the birth of Christ that His name shall be called Emmanuel, meaning “God with us”. When Christ’s work was completed on earth, He gave us the Holy Spirit as a seal of our inheritance. This is an assurance of His presence and His guarantee that He dwells in us. He not only dwells with us, but His salvation is working in us to keep and make us complete in Him. And He declared that “I will be with you always, to the very end of the age” [Matthew 28:20].

What kind of a Father would God be if He were to leave us alone, abandoned, ignored, and left to our own devices? No, He has continually pursued us and sent His own Son to die on a cross for us – all to reconcile us back to Him. He loved us first. And now that we are His children, we are gathered under His covering and His presence is with us always.

“and they shall call his name Emmanuel,
which being interpreted is, God with us.”
Matthew 1:23

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GOD IS WITH US IN ADVERSITY

Thursday, March 25th, 2010

Day 39

“The LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before”
Job 42:10b

Many perceptions of God are skewed; often these cause us to see Him in ways that hinder our understanding of Him. Our sinful nature does not help us much in this area. Sin produces fear, self-reliance and rebellion. Add in our particular religious history (or lack of) and experience that may lead to more false coloring of who God is as a Person. When all is said and done, we have a picture of God that determines our thoughts, beliefs, attitude and behavior towards Him.

What are some of these preconceptions and beliefs that many have formed? God is up there and we’re down here, leading to dichotomic thinking; we separate God from our worldly life and restrict him to ‘church’ and ‘religious’ times. We see God out of fear, having been taught he is a punisher of sin; no balance with grace, mercy and compassion or chastising in love. When we screw up, we deserve what we get. We are not acceptable to God until we can prove ourselves ‘good enough.’ There are endless erroneous ways we look and believe God to be, and none are true.

Let us forever put to rest this false picture of God our Father. Do you believe that God, the perfect Father, would do that to you, His child? God does not change because of our circumstances. Whatever the reason for our adversity, whether it comes by our own hand, from life’s circumstances, or even if God has specifically allowed it (as He did with Job), He is sovereign. Nothing happens to us that He does not see or permit. He stays with us during our tribulations, regardless of our fears to the contrary. He is our Father and Jesus declared not one of us will be lost.

Job’s adversity was severe, but in the end the Lord gave him twice as much. Will he not do the same for his own children saved by his Son’s life?

“Who is this coming up from the
desert leaning on her lover”
Song of Songs 8:5

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HIS PRESENCE

Wednesday, March 24th, 2010

Day 38

“I am with you always”
Matthew 28:20

God’s presence was known by a cloud during the day and a pillar of fire at night [Nehemiah 9:19] when His people were journeying through the wilderness. His Presence guided them, giving them direction. At one point, because of the peoples’ sin, Moses pled with God about His presence, indicating he would not go on without it. God, although angry at the sin, said, “My presence shall go with you” [Exodus 33:14].

His Presence was more in the physical realm then, but today He dwells in us. He not only is present with each of us individually, but also corporately as the body of Christ, the church. He emphatically states that “No one less than I myself am with you.” He is with us each day, all the days, and forever. Each morning His grace, mercy and compassion are new to us.

Each day brings its own trials, troubles, and difficulties, but Christ says not to worry about them. Don’t be anxious, Jesus said, for His grace is sufficient for you; and He will be with you always. With His presence come His help, strength, guidance, and protection.

“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
and when you pass through the rivers, they will
not sweep over you. When you walk through
the fire, you will not be burned; the
flames will not set you ablaze”
Isaiah 43:2

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WE SHALL SEE THE KING

Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010

Day 36

“But we know that when he appears,
we shall be like him, for
we shall see him as he is”
1 John 3:2

What a day it will be when we come face to face with our Lord and King! We often lose sight of who we really are and forget our ultimate position in life’s difficulties. We focus on earthly things and self instead of Him. Yet, we are being prepared for our future home. Paul said, “We know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands” [2 Corinthians 5:1].

Paul’s writing about Abraham in Romans 4 is a great revelation of how God works in us. He says that God gives life to the dead, and calls things that are not as though they were. He calls into being things that do not exist. God brought forth a nation of people as His own through Abraham. Abraham accepted it by faith, but over the years he struggled and even lost sight of it in difficult times.

It is clear to us what we shall be in eternity; John says we know this, when Jesus comes, we shall be like Him. God is working in us to complete and fulfill His purposes. He works within us as if we are already completed sons and daughters in Him, and will carry His work to completion until the day of Christ Jesus [Philippians 1:6]. We will then say with David, “I will see Your face when I awake. I will be satisfied with seeing your likeness” [Psalm 17:15].

“They will see His face, and His Name
will be on their foreheads”
Revelation 22:4

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BRINGING SONS TO GLORY

Saturday, March 20th, 2010

Day 34

“When Christ, who is your life, appears,
then you also will appear with Him in glory”
Colossians 3:4

There is no romantic idealism in Christianity.

Jesus told us of this reality, that the kingdom of God is taken by violence and anyone who follows Jesus must deny himself and take up His cross. He that loves father, mother, brother and sister more than Christ is not worthy of Him.

We are chosen as His sons and daughters and will be glorified in Him. Bringing us to glory begins with our walk in Him. When we are born into His family, we must pass through stages of growth in the spirit as we do in the natural. Each of these stages has a direction, a destination, and problems along the way. At salvation we face not only leaving the world, but having the world taken out of our heart as well. When we begin growing in Christ, we reach the stage where we must lose our life to gain His life. Here, the self-life must die. When we come to maturity and the fullness of Christ, we must drive the enemies of our soul out.

But, the good news is that we did not choose Him, He chose us. It is His faithfulness that will see us through this journey and He will accomplish His purposes in us. God’s word says in Hebrews that He will save us to the uttermost. We will be glorified in Him!

“And so we will be with the Lord forever”
1 Thessalonians 4:17b

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POSSESSING THE LAND

Saturday, March 13th, 2010

Day 27

“I will give you every place
where you set your foot”
Joshua 1:3

Our journey in this life can be both exciting and challenging. Predestined to glory, we share and serve in His kingdom during our time on earth.

Serving in the kingdom is to take possession of what God has given us. Joshua is an example. Leading God’s people to the Promised Land, he received the promise that every place he set his feet, it would be given to him. He was a warrior, and was to drive the enemy out of the Promised Land. It was God’s land; set aside for His people and here they were promised they would find rest. God told Joshua that “no man will be able to stand before you all the days of your life . . . I will be with you: I will not fail or forsake you” (Joshua 1:5).

The same promise is ours today.

God has given us everything pertaining to life and godliness. If we seek the Kingdom of God first and His righteousness, then all these things shall be added to us (2 Peter 1:3; Matthew 6:33). Imagine, the whole Kingdom is before us, and everywhere we set our feet, we will possess it.

“Not one of all the Lord’s good promises
to the house of Israel failed;
everyone was fulfilled.”
Joshua 21:43

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