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His Promises are for Sure
By Rory Ries
Living in Missouri guarantees you one thing; nothing stays the same. If we are talking about the weather, you could possibly walk out the door in the morning sweating and wearing shorts. As school lets out it may be freezing rain and you stand there mesmerized by how drastically everything changed. Plus, you may wonder how in the world are you going to get home in that mess without freezing to death.
Not only is the weather unstable, but also overall, life can be very unstable. We have our ups and downs and some days are better than others. We may start the week off not knowing what is in store for us, or our future may be a major concern since we don’t know what it is we are to do with our lives. Our friends may let us down from time to time and disappointments in this life can cause havoc in our everyday life. All these things can bear down on us and they can sure cause us to have doubt in everything we do.
There is one place where you can go where doubt doesn’t exist and it may be sitting right on one of the shelves in your bookcase. The book that is filled with promises and guarantees is the Bible. There is a saying that has been around for years and it goes something like this, “the only guarantee in this life is you have to pay taxes and you have to die.” That’s not very promising nor is it very uplifting.
If you pick up God’s word you can find exactly what you need and the blessings that come from His word are abundant. The blessings also stem from many promises God has made. The other exciting news is God cannot lie (Titus 1:2). When God makes a promise you can count on Him coming through with His promise. God’s word is true (2 Sam. 7:28). David acknowledged God could be trusted and He will never let any of us down.
Our friends will let us down and sometimes even our own family will let us down. It is a part of life that some of us have to unfortunately experience. Do not put your trust in a friend (Micah 7:5). We are also told not to trust in ourselves (Proverbs 28:26). This goes against man’s thinking and reasoning. God says the man who trusts in himself is a fool, yet the world teaches all you need to do is trust yourself. Many have created a life of pain and suffering while trusting their own judgment. It can be a very dangerous trick if we look to ourselves for answers.
Solomon instructed us to trust in the Eternal with all of our heart and He will direct our paths (Proverbs 2:5). He also says do not lean upon your own understanding. Why does Solomon say that? It is because we can let ourselves down and make bad decisions. We are given a promise here and that promise is if we turn to our God and look to Him for help and guidance, he will come through and guide and make clear which way we are to go.
We can read the story about Moses and Israel coming out of Egypt. God delivered Israel from hundreds of years of bondage and slavery. Along the way they came to the Red Sea. The raging waters of the Red Sea were in front of them and the Egyptian army was behind them (Exodus 14). What was Israel’s response to this trouble they were facing? They started to think like humans and immediately complained to Moses and questioned his leadership. They chose to lean upon their own understanding. How does Moses respond to their mutiny? He told them to be still and stand back and watch God deliver them from these dangers (Exodus 14:13-14).
God made a promise of deliverance and He came through. Sadly, Israel seems to always question God and they ended up wandering through the wilderness for forty years (Deuteronomy 8:2). We don’t have to have doubt nor do we have to be heavy laden with the worldly burdens. Whatever it is we may be experiencing at this time or whatever trouble we may be facing we have a Father who loves us and wants nothing but the best for us (Matthew 6:32-34). This is another promise you can hang onto and be at peace.
Of course to receive these promises we have to do our part. One example is we are to honor our father and mother. The promise is if we honor them then we will be blessed and we may live long on this earth (Ephesians 6:1-3). When we do our part by obeying God we will be truly blessed and every promise He has made to us will come to pass. God says He will bless the nation that will live their lives in obedience to Him by carefully observing all of His commandments (Deuteronomy 28:1-2). The United States has been blessed in many different ways. Unfortunately, we are turning more and more to ourselves and leaning upon our own understanding.
Jesus promised his disciples the Father would send the Holy Spirit and they did receive the Holy Spirit on Pentecost (Luke 24:49, Acts 2:2). That promise he gave to his disciples is for you too. It is a promise for those who God calls (Acts 2:39). All a person has to do is repent, become baptized, and have the hands laid upon them to receive the Holy Spirit (Acts 2: 38).
One of the very last promises Christ made is He is coming quickly (Revelation 22:20). He is coming to bring judgment upon the nations who have rejected him and have gone about living their lives upon their own understanding (Revelation 19:15). He is also coming to set up His Kingdom where all the earth will know who He is and who the Eternal is (Isaiah 9:6-7). Man will no longer live his life according to his own understanding. The world will be filled with the knowledge of the Eternal and there will be great peace and great rejoicing. Even so, come Lord Jesus.
Take a good look at the promises that are there for you to claim. Write them all down. God is true and there is no lie found in Him. That is something you can rejoice over and find great peace in knowing you have someone you can really trust and He will never let you down. i
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