Simple Thoughts On Promises

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And the LORD said to Joshua, "Today I will begin to exalt you in the eyes of all Israel, so they may know that I am with you as I was with Moses. (Joshua 3:7)

There is a special "Today" for everyone of us who have trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ. A "Today" where God begins to exalt us for persevering and for being faithful to him.

That's what happened in the life of Joshua. Long years of being humble and faithful under the Lord's watchful eyes. In the shadow of a great leader for many years, yet not rebelling with others and trying to usurp authority. Not planning a coup to overthrow Moses, but waiting patiently for the Lord, fighting the battles that he was entrusted with and having faith that the God who called him was faithful and would be with him at all times.

The Bible says,

No one from the east or the west or from the desert can exalt a man. But it is God who judges: He brings one down, he exalts another. (Psalm 75:6,7)

When God began to exalt Joshua, the Israelites truly realized that God was with Joshua as he was with Moses.

For Joshua, God often pronounced miracles and victories even before Joshua dealt with the problems. Here are a few examples:

Then the LORD said to Joshua, "See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men. (Joshua 6:2)

The LORD said to Joshua, "Do not be afraid of them(the five kings of the Amorites - the kings of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish and Eglon); I have given them into your hand. Not one of them will be able to withstand you." (Joshua 10:8)

When God's time of exalting Joshua came, it truly could be seen by all. God exalts us in his ways and at his time. If we wait patiently and are faithful to him, we will experience the same..... in our work place, in the ministry or in any sphere of our lives.

Praise the Lord.

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We also have to keep in mind who these promises are for. Many of God's promises in the OT are for certain people and situations.

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We also have to keep in mind who these promises are for. Many of God's promises in the OT are for certain people and situations.

Very true. Yet, the Bible says,

Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith.

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. (Hebrews 13:7, 8)

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"Honor your father and mother" - which is the first commandment with a promise - (Ephesians 6:2)

Not all children would approve of that, but the Word of God is Truth and it cannot be changed. As the verse states, it's the first commandment with a promise. What promise? This one:

"Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you. (Exodus 20:12)

Well, it's an Old Testament promise, but holds good because the Apostle Paul reiterates it while writing to the Ephesians. Writing to the Colossians, Paul gives this advice:

Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord. (Colossians 3:20)

Some children of believer's will find that hard to digest, but then it is the Word of God and it cannot be changed.

As children grow up and mature, their thinking and responding to situations may not match with the parent's thinking and things start going awry.

One clue to how far children should go in obeying parents is given in another exhortation that the Apostle gives to wives.

Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. (Colossians 3:18)

As is fitting in the Lord. That's what is important. Anything that is not right according to the Word of God need not be obeyed or given into by a child. Of course, some children have no choice because of the strictness and unyielding nature of their parents. Nevertheless, obedience of children to their parents bring great blessings in their lives including the one mentioned in the title verse.

Are you a child? Do you obey your parents?

Are you a parent? Does your child/children obey you?

Ponder this for a moment. Find the reasons of why you don't/can't obey your parents or why your child/children don't obey you?

If both are living according to the Word, there will be a good relationship. If not, your heart needs a probing and things have to be set right. The sooner the better. God bless.

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Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. (2 Peter 1:4)

The Apostle Peter starts the chapter talking about the faith that we have now as believer's. He calls it "precious faith."

Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours: (2 Peter 1:1)

And then he talks about the nature of the promises given to those with the precious faith. As we read in the title verse-"very great and precious promises".

So we must not consider the promises given to us as believer's to be trivial. They are very great and precious. Through them we can participate in the divine nature thus escaping the corruption in the world. The Apostle states that the corruption in the world is due to evil desires.

If we do not hold fast to the promises, we don't partake of the divine nature and fall prey to evil desires of the world. This can either cause spiritual stagnation or destruction.

Many believer's are ineffective and unproductive because they care not to add certain qualities to the precious faith that they have received. Regarding this Peter elaborates:For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. (2 Peter 1:5-8)

O My! Is this so important? Read Peter's exhortation and conclusion:

Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. (2 Peter 1:10, 11)

A rich welcome awaits us provided we obey these words of exhortation. May the Lord help us all to make our calling and election sure. God bless.

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"Therefore this is what the LORD says concerning the king of Assyria: "He will not enter this city or shoot an arrow here. He will not come before it with shield or build a siege ramp against it. By the way that he came he will return; he will not enter this city," declares the LORD. (Isaiah 37:33,34)

King Hezekiah and the people of Judah were terrified because of the verbal insults, provocations and threats issued by Sennacherib, king of Assyria. Hezekiah tried to reassure his men that God would protect them, but the repeated threats weakened him. He cried out to the Lord. He sent Eliakim the palace administrator, Shebna the secretary, and the leading priests, all wearing sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz to enquire of the Lord as to what should be done.

Amongst the prophecies given by Isaiah were the words quoted in the title verse. The following was also said about the enemy king.

Because you rage against me and because your insolence has reached my ears, I will put my hook in your nose and my bit in your mouth, and I will make you return by the way you came. (Isaiah 37:29)

About King Hezekiah, the Lord had this to say,

"This will be the sign for you, O Hezekiah: "This year you will eat what grows by itself, and the second year what springs from that. But in the third year sow and reap, plant vineyards and eat their fruit. (Isaiah 37:30)

And God fulfilled what he said. What he did was this:

Then the angel of the LORD went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand men in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning - there were all the dead bodies! So Sennacherib king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew. He returned to Nineveh and stayed there. (Isaiah 37:36,37)

Jesus is powerful to deliver you from the enemy that is troubling you. Call out to him today. He will rise up and scatter the evil forces that are tormenting you and your family.

May God arise, may his enemies be scattered; may his foes flee before him. As smoke is blown away by the wind, may you blow them away; as wax melts before the fire, may the wicked perish before God. But may the righteous be glad and rejoice before God; may they be happy and joyful. (Psalm 68:1-3)

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Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear. (Isaiah 65:24)

The prophet Isaiah prophesying about the Millenial reign of Christ gives this promise from God to his people living then. Of course there are many who do not believe in the Millenial reign of Christ after the second coming, but that's not the issue here.

The verse that we have above is so marvellous. Can the Lord answer us now in this way? Of course he can. He answered Eleazer's prayer for bringing a woman who was to be Isaac's wife.

Then he prayed, "O LORD, God of my master Abraham, give me success today, and show kindness to my master Abraham. See, I am standing beside this spring, and the daughters of the townspeople are coming out to draw water. May it be that when I say to a girl, 'Please let down your jar that I may have a drink,' and she says, 'Drink, and I'll water your camels too' - let her be the one you have chosen for your servant Isaac. By this I will know that you have shown kindness to my master." Before he had finished praying, Rebekah came out with her jar on her shoulder. She was the daughter of Bethuel son of Milcah, who was the wife of Abraham's brother Nahor. (Genesis 24:12-15)

Notice the phrase "Before he had finished praying, Rebekah came..."

That was an instant answer to prayer. No waiting period. How great it would be if God answered all our prayers like that. But many a time we have to wait. Yet, we should be always in the "expectant attitude."

He can answer you before you finish praying. Even today.

So, let your prayers for immediate needs be with such faith that you expect God to do a miracle even while you are praying. God bless.

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Don't you know that the LORD, the God of Israel, has given the kingship of Israel to David and his descendants forever by a covenant of salt? (2 Chronicles 13:5)

Holding on to the promises of God. That is of greatest importance in our lives. This chapter from the Bible concerns a war between Israel and Judah. Though they were one kingdom at the start, because of Solomon's disobedience, God partitioned the kingdom later on and different kings ruled Israel and Judah.

Here in this chapter, Abijah, grandson of Solomon is king of Judah and Jeroboam is king of Israel. Abijah and Jeroboam are at war. Jeroboam has an army of 8 lac soldiers and Abijah 4 lacs.

Despite the great difference in the strengths of the army, Abijah holds on to the promises of God and abides by the Law of Moses. Jeroboam meanwhile has instituted his own worship and priests.

Listen to what Abijah tells Jeroboam,

"And now you plan to resist the kingdom of the LORD, which is in the hands of David's descendants. You are indeed a vast army and have with you the golden calves that Jeroboam made to be your gods.

But didn't you drive out the priests of the LORD, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites, and make priests of your own as the peoples of other lands do? Whoever comes to consecrate himself with a young bull and seven rams may become a priest of what are not gods. "As for us, the LORD is our God, and we have not forsaken him. The priests who serve the LORD are sons of Aaron, and the Levites assist them. Every morning and evening they present burnt offerings and fragrant incense to the LORD. They set out the bread on the ceremonially clean table and light the lamps on the gold lampstand every evening. We are observing the requirements of the LORD our God. But you have forsaken him. God is with us; he is our leader. His priests with their trumpets will sound the battle cry against you. Men of Israel, do not fight against the LORD, the God of your fathers, for you will not succeed." (2 Chronicles 13:8-12)

Abijah was confident though his army was only half the size of Jeroboam. Notable are the statements- God is with us; he is our leader. Men of Israel, do not fight against the LORD, the God of your fathers, for you will not succeed.

Meanwhile Jeroboam had sent troops around to the rear, so that while he was in front of Judah, the ambush was behind them. Judah turned and saw that they were being attacked at both front and rear. Then they cried out to the LORD. The priests blew their trumpets and the men of Judah raised the battle cry. At the sound of their battle cry, God routed Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah. The Israelites fled before Judah, and God delivered them into their hands.

There are Christians who are only name sake Christians. They are like Jeroboam. They have God's Word but don't live according to it. They have instituted their own ways of worship. They try to intimidate true believer's but they will never win because God will fight for his children like he did for Abijah in this war.

Are you holding onto the promises of God and living according to his Word? The enemy will not win. That's for sure.

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'The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house,' says the LORD Almighty. 'And in this place I will grant peace,' declares the LORD Almighty." (Haggai 2:9)

Though all believer's are called to be witnesses of Jesus Christ and his kingdom, some are called to the ministry. The 5 fold ministry as detailed in Ephesians Ch. 4 is this:

It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up (Ephesians 4:11, 12)

So what's your calling? And what are you doing about it?

Among the people who returned from the Babylonian exile were Joshua the high priest, Zerubabel the governor and the prophet Haggai..

The Israelites and the above mentioned leaders set about building their own houses after coming back from Babylon. They ignored building the temple of the Lord. Then the Lord spoke through Haggai the prophet that they should build the temple first.

Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the whole remnant of the people obeyed the voice of the LORD their God and the message of the prophet Haggai, because the LORD their God had sent him. And the people feared the LORD. So the LORD stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of the whole remnant of the people. They came and began to work on the house of the LORD Almighty, their God, (Haggai 1:12, 14)

Are you going about your own business ignoring the Lord's calling upon your life? Give God precedence and it will bring about a great change in your life. You will not suffer what the Israelites who came back from the exile suffered. This was what God had to tell them:

You have planted much, but have harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it." (Haggai 1:6)

When they obeyed the voice of the Lord and started building the temple of the Lord, this was the promise that God gave them,

'The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house,' says the LORD Almighty. 'And in this place I will grant peace,' declares the LORD Almighty." (Haggai 2:9)

Zerubbabel, Joshua & Haggai obeyed God and did the Lord's bidding. Won't you?

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Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.

Blessed is the man whose sin the LORD does not count against him and in whose spirit is no deceit. (Psalm 32:1, 2)

The people of this world consider the rich and the famous as blessed. But that is not true blessedness. If your transgressions are forgiven and your sins are covered, you are truly blessed. A person in whom God does not find any deceit is truly blessed.

Look at Nathanael. Nathanael is another name for Barthelomew, one of Jesus' 12 disciples.

When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, "Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is nothing false." "How do you know me?" Nathanael asked. Jesus answered, "I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you." (John 1:47, 48)

How great if Jesus can say that about each one of us. Jesus plainly said that he did not see any deceit in this man. How wonderful. Nathanael was stunned. How could this man who was seeing him for the first time declare this? Jesus told him that he had seen him meditating on God's Word sitting in the shade of the fig tree.

God sees and knows everything about us. He knows exactly how much guile there is in each one of us. We cannot hide anything from him.

Look at this verse.

The Israelites secretly did things against the LORD their God that were not right. From watchtower to fortified city they built themselves high places in all their towns. (2 Kings 17:9)

Secretly...and that too against the Lord...How foolish. They were only deceiving themselves. Let it not be so in our lives and may the Lord help each one of us to be without deceit in our spirit. That will bring us a state of true blessedness. Praise the Lord.