Tag: God’s Promises

I feel so out of control, and that’s a good thing!

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My life lately has been like a roller coaster. There have been many changes going on. Some, quite dramatic. Some, quite honestly, I didn’t feel ready for, and yet, here I am.

Some days, I feel strong and confident. Other days, not so much.

Each day is taken on a literal day-by-day basis. It is, whatever it is going to be.

With that, the day may have tears. Or, it may come with much rejoicing in the heart. But no matter what is on the menu of the day, I have had to make a conscious effort to take a step back and trust God in this (and not just talk about it).

I am reminded of the words I wrote in Learning to Let Go!:

“A lot of times we face difficulties and challenges in life, things that stretch us way out of where we are used to being.  Then, we are asked to trust God; to just step out and depend on Him as our unfailing equipment…”

Because changes bring with them many unknowns, and it’s those unknowns that become unnerving for us. But what I, and we, need to remember is just because something is unknown to us, it doesn’t mean it’s unknown to God. In fact, the whole world, history, and all the people in it are an open book before Him.

The journey that we are afraid to take. The move we are hesitant to make, God already knows the ending of each. He is never caught off guard or surprised by the outcome, even if we are.

So, it’s okay if we don’t have all the answers. It’s alright if we feel as if our hand is slipping off the steering wheel of life, because our confidence is not in us. We know all too well the frailty and failure of the flesh.

But our confidence is in our unfailing God.

He is the same God who was there with us as we went through all the other stories of our lives, and He is the same God who knows the chapter we are currently in.

Even better, He is the same God who knows the conclusion as well.

So yes, there may be challenges that make us feel uncomfortable. Things that make us feel like life is spinning out of control. But the things that unnerve us, things we feel we can’t handle, God can.

He is our strength, peace, and hope. God is where we can rest our hearts and minds, even when everything else feels like it’s coming undone. And it’s a good thing to be reminded of that!

Blessings~

Remember this: the great King David became so distressed and discouraged at one point in his life, and the Bible says, “David encouraged himself in the LORD his God” (1 Samuel 30:6).

How can you find encouragement in God during the challenging times?

For me, reading the Word and being reminded of His promises helps to ground me. Also, writing this devotional helps to lift some of what I am feeling off my heart and put it on paper (and yes, my preferred writing method is still pen to paper before it hits the screen).

Find what helps you to shift your focus from your problems to God.

Prayer:

Father God, as this day opens before us, You see what each heart is dealing with. You know better than anyone the places these challenges hit us hardest. As we navigate our circumstances, help us remember that whatever feels out of control for us is never out of control for You. Help us to rest and trust in Your sovereign hand at work in our lives. 

In the name of Jesus Christ, I pray, AMEN!

promises of God, God's promises are still true, inspirational picture for the promises of God, inspirational pictures for For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us, 2 Corinthians 1:20

Promises That Are Still True!

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Promises. Oh, my dear ones, the Bible is full of them. Each one is a God-breathed word to His people: “For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us” (2 Corinthians 1:20). And let me reassure you, not one of them will ever fail or fall to the ground as a non-existent thing.

Today, as you face this day, you may encounter things, situations, or even people who speak against those God-breathed promises for your life. You may even wrestle with thoughts regarding His promises for yourself. Nevertheless, as true as they were when He originally inspired them. As true as they were when those heavenly assurances were written by the Spirit into the heart and by the hand of the one whom He spoke through, they are still true today.

Not only are they still true today, but they are still true today for you!

Don’t get comfortable with the idea of believing that somehow God’s promises are more for others, disqualifying yourself from accepting His holy offers.

No, my friend. As His child, those promises are just as much for you as if your very name were written in the Holy Book next to them. As He spoke for all of His children, so He speaks His promises to you.

With the possibility of facing many ups and downs in the day, the foundation of God’s Word doesn’t change, and in that Word live these promises we hold so dear. For they are our light even in the dark days.

Is there a word you need spoken over your life today? Is there an area where you feel depleted of strength? Is there an encouragement of hope you need to anchor yourself in during these moments? Search for it in His promises. Whatever issue, wisdom, encouragement, or guidance you seek, the answer is in His Book. It’s in the Holy Bible.

Lean upon His Word today. Let His promises fill the crevices that may need extra support. He won’t fail you. His promises will always remain true and in effect.

My Friends, there are sooooooo many promises of God that still remain true to this day, and they always will be. I chose these few to share with you from my heart to yours. I pray that each one will speak life into your life today, and you will feel the embrace of the Father through His written word. May your heart be strengthened as you click on each one and read the encouragement they offer. Blessings~

PROMISES THAT ARE STILL TRUE!

You Are Held: “By thee have I been holden up from the womb: thou art he that took me out of my mother’s bowels: my praise shall be continually of thee.” Psalm 71:6

You Are Special: “I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.” Psalm 139:14

You Are Not Alone: “Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world,” Matthew 28:20b

You Are Important: “How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them!” Psalm 139:17.

And, You Make a Difference to God: “I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.” Luke 15:7

Top Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

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“Engage the Promises”

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Most items in our daily routine such as appliances, cars, and the like require some sort of engagement to get it to work.  A button needs to be pushed.  A clock set.  A key is placed in the ignition, or if driving a smarter car, a fob is activated, or a code is punched in the pad to ensure a start.  There is usually something on our part that must be done to get that item to work.

Yet, when it comes to the promises in the Word of God many take a passive approach.  There is no participation on our part to purposely grab them for ourselves.

We quote the verses, and we know all the right lines to rehearse, but are we actively seizing the promises of God and holding on to them for dear life when challenges arise?  Are we engaging God’s Word when difficulties come up during the day?   

God’s Word is not an aquarium.  In an aquarium, we view fish from the outside.  We do not go in and interact with them.  We watch them swimming along and think to ourselves how beautiful and peaceful they are.  God’s Word is beautiful and peaceful, but it is also powerful, and it is meant to be lived out; it is meant to be interacted with, and it is meant to be active and activated in the life of every believer.  Just as Jesus did when He activated the Word in full effect against the enemy’s attack (Matthew 4:4, 7, 10), so too, do we have access to the same Word power.

As the writer of Hebrews reminds us, “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” (4:12).  There is nothing passive about engaging the Word in one’s life.    

The activation and active grabbing of the Word does not just apply to commands, ordinances, statutes, and/or for taking a stand against the foe.  But it also is to be used for God’s promises for in them are true treasures to hold fast to in times of trouble.  Those holy words of affirmation mean that we can expect a measure of God’s assurance and of His acting on our behalf in whatever way He sees fit for the moment.

Even if it does not come when you want it to, and even if it doesn’t manifest itself as you thought it should hold on, dear friend, to the promises, “(for he is faithful that promised;)” Hebrews 10:23.  God is not a man that He should lie (Numbers 23:19).  What He said He would do, that He will do.  Our job is to trust, believe, and actively grab and engage the promises of God for ourselves.

In my younger days, we were told to tie a ribbon around our fingers to ensure we remember something.  It is even better for us if we tie His promises upon our hearts.

Joshua tells us, “There failed not ought of any good thing which the LORD had spoken unto the house of Israel; all came to pass” (21:45).  Friend, our promises may look different than theirs, but the promises we have are just as sure as the God who gave them. 

They won’t fail because God won’t fail to keep them. 

When Jehoshaphat was called to battle by the LORD, he was told, “Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the Lord with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed; to morrow go out against them: for the Lord will be with you,” 2 Chronicles 20:17.  He was told in verse 16, “The battle is not yours, but God’s,” and again in verse 17 above, “Ye shall not need to fight in this battle.”  But after both promises, he was given instructions for participation.

We cannot refuse the work of engaging God’s Word for ourselves.  We cannot expect to reap without sowing.  God is still the God of our battles, but He has also called us to be active participants. 

Today, engage the promises, stand on the Word, and leave the results up to God.  He knows what He’s doing.

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“I will remember My covenant!”

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There once was a time in our history where God, due to His righteousness in comparison to the sinfulness of mankind, had to take actions to cleanse what had become polluted. We know the familiar story of Noah and the flood, when only eight people out of all the people who lived on the earth at that time, were saved (Genesis 6-9).

In chapter eight, after the events of the flood took place and Noah built an altar to worship God (Genesis 8:20-22), God determined in His heart that He would not curse the ground in such a way ever again to destroy everything and that while the earth remained so would seedtime and harvest.

God, in chapter nine, relayed this promise to Noah and his sons, saying, “And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud: And I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh” (Genesis 9:14-15).

In the future, they had this promise to cling to because some days there would be gray skies and fearsome weather. Some days storms will blow and cause the world to look like it was being torn apart, but God said to them they had no reason to fear these times because “I will remember my covenant.”

How much comfort must those words have brought in turbulent times? How much peace must they have felt by holding on to God’s Words of His faithfulness to keep what He has spoken?

Remember the time of the Exodus? When God commanded the lamb to be slaughtered and blood to be placed on the doorpost to cover His people (Exodus 12). God spoke, “And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt” (Exodus 12:13). God had a promise that would keep His people and bless them from being destroyed.  As His covenant people, God was going to protect them!

Words such as these are pivotal to our Christian faith. They stand as reminders that, we too, are covenant people and God always keeps His covenant.

On the night of His arrest, the last Passover celebration Jesus would celebrate here on earth with His disciples, also to become known as the Lord’s Supper, Jesus spoke these words, “For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins” (Matthew 26:28). Through His sacrifice, they who by faith accept the Lord Jesus Christ, are found in a covenant relationship with God: “But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises” (Hebrews 8:6).  

In Christ, you are secured in His holy covenant. In Christ, you have a blessed and better promise to hold on to:

“But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building;

Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.

For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh:

How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance” (Hebrews 9:11-15)

Regardless of the gray skies in your life and the storms that blow or even the floods that rise, God is never far from His people. The Bible reminds us of this wonderful truth, saying, “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee” (Hebrews 13:5). The blood of Christ has placed us in the safest place we could be, in a pure covenant with God, and God always remembers His covenants and those who are part of it.

“I will remember my covenant”, though spoken to Noah, are words of promise that we can hold on to as children of God, through Jesus Christ our Lord, today, and forevermore.  

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