Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Day 1 - Week 38 - Promises, promises...and they are all trustworthy!

Unliike the promises that are made by others in our lives that many times do not hold up over time and under pressure, we can be assured that God's promises are absolutely trustworthy.  They have been proven over the centuries...what God says He will do, He does!  Sometimes our earthly experiences that have brought disappointment to us affect the way we view the promises that God is holding out for us to take hold of...don't let that happen!  No matter how others may have disappointed you, God never will. 
Let's review our verses and then...just like waiting for dessert after the meal...we'll get our new promise!

The Gift of Prayer (3)
Hebrews 4:16 Therefore, let us approach the throne of grace with boldness that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us at the proper time.
1 John 5:14   Now this is the confidence we have before Him, whenever we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.
1 John 5:15   And if we know that He hears whatever we ask, we know that we have what we have asked Him for.

The Gift of Assurance (10)
1 John 5:11 And this is the testimony:  God has given us eternal life and that life is in His Son.
1 John 5:12-13  The one who has the Son has life.  The one who doesn't have the Son of God, does not have life.  I say these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know you have eternal life.
John 14:1  Your heart must not be troubled, you believe in God, believe also in Me.
John 14:2  In my Father's house are many mansion, if it were not so, I would have told you.  I go to prepare a place for you.
John 14:3  And if I go away and prepare a place for you, I will come back and receive you unto Myself, so that where I am, you may be also.
John 14:6  Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through Me.
John 14:27 Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you.  I do not give as the world gives.  Your heart must not be troubled or afraid.
Isaiah 26:3-4  You will keep in perfect peace the mind that is dependent on You, for it is trusting in You.  Trust in the Lord forever, for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength.
Isaiah 53:5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed . (KJV)
Isaiah 53:6  We all went astray like sheep; we all have turned to our own way; and the Lord has punished Him for the iniquities of us all.

Praise and Thanksgiving (4)
1 Peter 1:3  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.  According to His great mercy He has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
Psalm 100:4  Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise.  Give thanks to Him and praise His name. 
Psalm 100:5  For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.
Revelation 4:11  You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.


Promises of God (10)
Matthew 6:33  But seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. (ESV)
Romans 8:28 We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God: those who are called according to His purpose.
Jeremiah 29:11  "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."
1 John 1:7  But if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.
1 John 1:9   If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

We've received five out of our ten promise verses...starting the next group of five.  Do you think they will be as wonderful as the first five?  You know they will!  ALL of God's promises are wonderful when we accept them and bring them actively into our lives.

So here is this week's promise---I'm actually going to combine two verses that Robert J. Morgan separates in his text that we are utilizing because I think you just can't say one without letting the next immediately flow from your mouth!

Proverbs 3:-6 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.  (NIV)

This is the translation of the verse that I am most accustomed to and the one that I taught my children as they grew up...I knew it was important to get them to realize that as smart as they thought they were (and as we all know, teenagers can think they are very smart!), that God's ways were always the best ways and the most trustworthy.  Thankfully, (as in "Thank You God!"), I thoroughly enjoyed my kids' teenage years, but I know so much of that had to do with the fact that they had already come to the understanding that they were God's children and that God was the One who established the ground rules for their lives.  They both continue to grow and mature in their faith and I am so proud of the people that they have grown to be. 

As much as I love the NIV translation quoted above, listen to the way The Message states it:

Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don't try to figure out everything on your own. Listen for God's voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; he's the one who will keep you on track.

Some times I just need to hear the plain and simple words that The Message uses---makes it so clear, doesn't it? 



1 comment:

donna said...

Trusting God is not hard, but sometimes it is like I forget and I try to figure things out on my own. If I speak to Him each morning and afternoon, I bring all my concerns to Him and He keeps me on track. I am seeking God's wisdom. My path is straight to Christ and His love. I only regret and repent that I have not always been on the loving and fulfilling path of God's Word.