Promises
- We all make promises - What was the last promise you made to someone? - Question is - how often do you keep your promise? - Not keeping a promise is the same as disrespecting yourself. Ultimately it can harm our self image, self esteem, and our life. - There are approximately more than 30 thousand promises in the Bible. - The Bible not only declares that God is faithful, it reveals the history of His faithfulness and His promises.
Here are a few Numbers 23:19, “God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?”
1 Kings 8:56, “Praise be to the LORD, who has given rest to his people Israel just as he promised. Not one word has failed of all the good promises he gave through his servant Moses.
Joshua 21:45, “Not one of all the LORD’s good promises to the house of Israel failed; every one was fulfilled.”
2 Peter 3:9, “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”
Promises of His Words The Bible contains two kinds of divine promises. - Limited Promises - General Promises
1. Limited Promises. God has made many promises to specific people living in particular circumstances for explicit purposes. These promises are definitely not for everybody 2. General Promises. These are promises that are applicable to all His children throughout all of history. For example, He has promised to “never leave us or forsake us. - He also promised to return for us.
- Although general promises are for every believer across all of time, these “general promises” can also be of two different types.
Conditional Promises. For example, Philippians 4:19 says, “And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Jesus Christ.” The condition here is that we be in Christ; the believer must be living for Him and in total submission to His will.
Unconditional Promises. Unconditional promises require nothing of the believer. God will fulfill these promises because He has pledged to fulfill them. Nothing anyone does can alter the His commitment or change His plans. He will keep these promises, not because of anything we do, but because of His own faithfulness. - Focus on Conditional Promises. - Why is it Conditional? That is because the promise only happened when we play our part. - It is something that requires action and deeds. - God is not for mundane/boring life, in fact He wants us to live a life to the fullest. - Conditional Promises. - It doesn’t happen accidentally. Is action in motion. - As the saying goes “Nothing comes free” - If you want it, go get it. - Exp: Jericho Wall
Action in Motion - Israel has been involved in the business of claiming the Promised Land for quite some time. - They have won some very decisive victories in these battle - When the tribe of Judah comes forward, an 85-year-old man named Caleb steps forward to claim his promises. - God saves us, and promises us that we can have a life of victory and abundant spiritual joy. - We need to redeem those promises and claim them in our lives. - See what is was that enabled this 85-year-old man to possess everything God had promised him. - Joshua 14:6-15 - Caleb described a Christian who is willing to pay any price, fight any battles in order to win the victories that God has waiting for him. - The first key to Caleb success was that God had all of Caleb that there was! Note the repeated phrase “Wholly followed the Lord.” - “To close the gap.” is a phrase used by hunters to refer to “closing the gap between themselves and their prey.” - It refers to the fact that Caleb was committed to keeping the distance between him self and the Lord at a minimum. - Every inch, every ounce, every nerve, every fiber of Caleb belonged to God. - Is Caleb, so different and special? 40 years in the dessert Discourage Disillusion Defeat Dry Dismay He remember God’s Promises God doesn’t lie God does not send us out to fail God wants us to have a good life God doesn’t want us to give up
- God rewards those who believe in Him and what He says. - Num 14:23-24 “Not one of them will ever see the land I promised on oath to their forefathers. No one who has treated me with contempt will ever see it. But because my servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he went to, and his descendants will inherit it.
- What can be more exciting than changing the world? - We are all like Peter. Jesus is calling us to follow him and change the world. - That is a promise. |
Add comment