Simple Thoughts On Promises

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This is what the Sovereign LORD says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life. I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the LORD. (Ezekiel 37:5,6)

"The valley of the bones" is an exciting part of this major prophetic book, "Ezekiel." This prophetic vision about the restrengthening of the Israelites then in exile, gives hope for everyone who is in a state that the Israelites found themselves in- dejection, forsaken and on the verge of annhilation.

In the vision, the Spirit of the Lord takes the prophet into the midst of a valley full of dead bones and asks him a question, "Son of man, can these bones live?" to which the prophet replied, "O Sovereign LORD, you alone know." Then came the command from the Lord for Ezekiel to prophesy to the dead bones.

Then he said to me, "Prophesy to these bones and say to them, 'Dry bones, hear the word of the LORD! This is what the Sovereign LORD says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life. I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the LORD.'" (Ezekiel 37:4-6)

And as he prophesied to the bones, something miraculous happened.

There was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them.

But they were still not alive. There was no breath in them.

Then came the second command from the Lord for Ezekiel to prophesy to the breath to enter these slain.

And as he prophesied there took place another great miracle.

Breath from the four winds entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet - a vast army.

The Lord explained the vision to the prophet saying, "Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, 'Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.' Therefore prophesy and say to them: 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: O my people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel. Then you, my people, will know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the LORD have spoken, and I have done it, declares the LORD.'" (Ezekiel 37:11-14)

Are you in a situation where you are saying like Israel of old, 'Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.'

We must remember that as believers we serve El Shaddai- God Almighty. He is able to dramatically change the hopeless situations that we confront in our lives.

This promise of his is for you if you are in a hopeless situation. He says,

So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. (Isaiah 41:10)

God bless you.

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Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him all the more. He said to them, "Listen to this dream I had: We were binding sheaves of grain out in the field when suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright, while your sheaves gathered around mine and bowed down to it." (Genesis 37:5-7)

This dream given by God to Joseph took more than 20 years to be fulfilled. Joseph was sold by his brothers to the Ishmaelites who took him to Egypt and then sold him to Potiphar, one of Pharaoh's (King of Egypt) officials in whose house Joseph worked till he was thrown into prison by Potiphar whose wife had wrongly accused him of trying to forcibly lie with her. He spent two years in prison for no fault of his. Through a strange turn of events, all perfectly planned by God, Joseph was called in from prison to explain the dreams that Pharaoh saw; dreams which no one else could explain.

Pharaoh put Joseph in charge of the whole of Egypt to manage the crisis of famine that was to come upon the land after a season of abundance. As prophesied by Joseph famine struck the land and even Canaan was afflicted. So Jacob sent his sons to Egypt to get food for his family. That's how Jacob's sons who had tried to destroy Joseph's future by selling him as a slave now found themselves in Joseph's presence.

The Bible says,

Now Joseph was the governor of the land, the one who sold grain to all its people. So when Joseph's brothers arrived, they bowed down to him with their faces to the ground. (Genesis 42:6)

...they bowed down to him with their faces to the ground...fulfilling what Joseph had dreamt several years before.....my sheaf rose and stood upright, while your sheaves gathered around mine and bowed down to it.....

Perhaps a dream that God gave you several years back has not still been fulfilled. Take courage from Joseph's story. The dream will find fulfillment in God's time. The Holy Spirit is working on it, even now. God bless you.

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"Because he loves me," says the LORD, "I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name. (Psalm 91:14)

Are you acknowledging the name of Jesus?

Jesus said,

"Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. (Matthew 10:32)

"I tell you, whoever acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man will also acknowledge him before the angels of God. (Luke 12:8)

Even in the Old Testament times God wanted his people to acknowledge him; that he was the only true God.

Acknowledge and take to heart this day that the LORD is God in heaven above and on the earth below. There is no other. (Deuteronomy 4:39)

"But I am the LORD your God, [who brought you] out of Egypt. You shall acknowledge no God but me, no Savior except me. (Hosea 13:4)

In the Gospel of Mark, Ch. 5, we read that Jesus once travelled to the region of Gerasenes to bring deliverance to a demon possessed man.

As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with him. Jesus did not let him, but said, "Go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you." So the man went away and began to tell in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him. And all the people were amazed. (Mark 5:18-20)

As believers, God calls us to acknowledge him ourselves and also before others, especially to them who have never heard about the salvation that is offered by God through Jesus.

Will you carry the baton of the gospel and run for Jesus, acknowledging and proclaiming his name?

He will fulfill his promises for you too. God bless.

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The Spirit of the LORD will come upon you in power, and you will prophesy with them; and you will be changed into a different person. (1 Samuel 10:6)

This is Samuel the prophet prophesying to Saul who was chosen by God as king of Israel when the Israelites heckled Samuel to appoint a king for them.

This was a turning point in Saul's life.

As Saul turned to leave Samuel, God changed Saul's heart, and all the signs that Samuel told him were fulfilled that day. When Saul arrived at Gibeah, a procession of prophets met him; the Spirit of God came upon him in power, and he joined in their prophesying. He was soon anointed king of Israel.

God anoints us with the Holy Spirit so that we can live strong lives as Christians. The Holy Spirit will guide us into all truth as Jesus said.

If the decisions that we take in our lives are guided by the Holy Spirit of God, we can live victorious lives as Christians.

Sadly, Saul, though he had the anointing of the Spirit of God, chose to take decisions on his own and was finally rejected by God for disobeying him.

Paul the Apostle, writing to the Galatian Church says,

So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law. (Galatians 5:16-18)

Paul goes on to describe the acts of the sinful nature which destroys our relationship with God and concludes by saying,

I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. (Galatians 5:21)

Here is a piece of good advice for all believer's in Jesus Christ from the Apostle Paul:

Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. (Galatians 5:25)

Shall we?

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Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. (Matthew 10:29-31)

Sparrows! Who cares for sparrows? Not one of them beautiful birds. Nothing worth more than half a penny in Jesus' days. Wonder what people did with them in those days, buying two of them for a penny. Very surprising then that Jesus should mention them and also say that not one of them would fall to the ground apart from the will of our Father.

Why care about them? one may ask. Only because they are one of God's wonderful creations. May not look great to our sight, but to the One who created them and for whom they were created, they look wonderful.

You feeling like a sparrow these days? Of not much worth in the sight of family and friends and church members?

This message is for you. Jesus says you are of much worth to him. Not only that; he knows every detail of your life; even things you don't know yourself.Like the number of hairs on your head. Yes, he says they are all numbered.

Oh, really! And what for you may ask?

Nothing much..he's keeping track of what you are losing each day...and even gaining.

In fact God is a good statistician..the best. The Psalmist says,

He determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name. Great is our Lord, and of great power: his understanding is infinite. (Psalm 147:4,5)

But the surprising fact is that though he is involved with these big numbers and accounts, he cares for you.

He cares for you more than he cares for sparrows. He says,

"So don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows."

Jesus loves you because you have accepted him as Savior and Lord. Trust in him. He will never fail you.

[if you have still not accepted him as Savior, please do so. I assure you that, "that'll be the best decision of your life."] God bless.

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The LORD is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in him. (Nahum 1:7)

Sometimes trouble lands up in our lives without giving any notice. It may have been brewing for a while, but there you are in the thick of it suddenly. So whats to be done? A hurricane hits you mentally and pain like that associated with a sharp upper cut from the boxer's glove numbs you into silence.

Surprisingly, the very centre of a hurricane, called the eye is usually totally calm. This is directly surrounded by the eyewall which is where the fastest wind speeds are found.

The presence of Jesus is like the eye of the hurricane while surrounding are the howling winds of trouble. There's calm and peace; an assurance that everything will be fine.

And will he save? You bet, he will. He is mighty to save.

The Bible says,

The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing." (Zephaniah 3:17)

So lets say aloud with faith what we read in the title verse here:

The LORD is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in him.

Praise the Lord.

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Because of the Lord

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Shouts of joy and victory resound in the tents of the righteous: "The Lord

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But the angel said to him, "Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your petition has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will give him the name John. (Luke 1:13)

A promise given when Zacharias and Elizabeth were old. Not a promise given when they were young and were eager to have children. Wonder when they must have finally reached a conclusion that Elizabeth was barren. After years of prayers, now a promise of a miracle, not the miracle itself.

Zacharias couldn't believe his ears. So he asked the angel a question which resulted in his getting tongue-tied. At the face of it, it didn't seem like a threatening question or an argument against the prophesy, yet it happened probably because of his lack of faith in the promise.

Zacharias said to the angel, "How will I know this for certain? For I am an old man and my wife is advanced in years." The angel answered and said to him, "I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. "And behold, you shall be silent and unable to speak until the day when these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their proper time." (Luke 1:18-20)

Again some more waiting period and several months later, the miracle was there for all to see.

And it happened that on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to call him Zacharias, after his father. But his mother answered and said, "No indeed; but he shall be called John." And they said to her, "There is no one among your relatives who is called by that name." And they made signs to his father, as to what he wanted him called. And he asked for a tablet and wrote as follows, "His name is John." And they were all astonished. And at once his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he began to speak in praise of God. (Luke 1:59-64)

All's well that ends well.

A promised fulfilled in God's time. This is the John of whom John the Apostle writes:

There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. (John 1:6)

This is the John of whom Jesus said,

I tell you, among those born of women there is no one greater than John; yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he." (Luke 7:28)

The miracle was worth the waiting period.

God is Great. We may not understand his ways but he is perfect in timing and giving. Praise the Lord.

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Those who look to him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame. (Psalm 34:5)

Have you noticed the radiance on the faces of some believer's? It has nothing to do with their skin color or their physical beauty. The radiance of knowing Christ intimately is there for everyone to see in these children of God.

The promise above speaks of a specific blessing that every person born into this world can experience. If we look to Jesus Christ, whatever shame that we may have endured in our lives till then can be washed away by the power of his blood.

The blood of Jesus Christ is powerful to wash away shame of whatever cause and make us new creatures filled with eternal hope and joy.

The Bible says,

"See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame." (1 Peter 2:6)

The choice is there for everyone who hears the good news of the gospel. Accept or reject Jesus Christ.

And what's the tragedy involved with rejecting Christ? Nothing but shame!

Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt. (Daniel 12:2)

At the resurrection, some will awake to everlasting life and some to shame and everlasting contempt.

Have you looked to Jesus? Though you face problems and trials while living here on earth, your reward is secure in heaven. And as this promise says,

"Your face will never be covered with shame." God Bless.