God Speaking

“Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.” (Hebrews 10:23)

I was watching on television, just recently, a report about the hundreds of articles that are left behind on buses /trains/ airplanes etc. What is left behind is remarkable in itself, but the astounding part of the broadcast, for me, was that although there is a special “lost and found site” where these articles can be retrieved, very few of these myriad of coats to umbrellas are claimed by their rightful owners. Hence the program I was watching was showing these being auctioned off. I started to think about what it meant “to claim something” and found this definition in the dictionary;

An assertion of a right to something

One of my Christmas presents this year was a fascinating Audio (easier for old eyes) version of the book, “Your Words Hold a Miracle” by John Osteen. The theme was the power of God’s word to bring about miracles in our lives, but we have to claim those powerful words so they rightly belong to us, by speaking them aloud boldly, we affirm that we are the true recipients of God’s beautiful promises.

The word PROMISE has many different meanings and we who are parents have become very cynical about authenticity when we hear a teenager use it (“I promise I will tidy and clean my room tomorrow”; “I promise I will finish my homework before I go out”)

We have also become wary of promises made by politicians. (No raising of taxes!!)

Unfortunately promises between lovers often fail to become true. (“I thought you said you would love me forever”)

So do we struggle to believe the promises of our Heavenly Father?

When God makes a promise to us it becomes a divine assurance of future good blessings.

When Joshua, the leader of Israel’s foray into the Promised Land, knows he is about to die, his final message to his people reminds them of how God’s promises can be trusted.

“Now I am about to go the way of all the earth. You know with all your heart and soul that not one of all the good promises the Lord your God gave you has failed. Every promise has been fulfilled, not one has failed.” (Joshua 23:14)

Claiming those promises for our own lives does take some action on our part. We have to affirm that those blessings promised to us are rightfully ours. Paul urges his readers to remember that Jesus Christ has given us access to God’s wonderful promises.

“He redeemed us in order that that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.” (Galatians 3:14)

By acknowledging that the promises are for us personally, gives us all strength to face whatever we are facing. As we approach the New Year it is a wonderful exercise to find the promise that we need right now in whatever circumstance we are facing and to hold onto it boldly, saying it out aloud, claiming it as rightful heirs to his grace. One of my favourite promises which covers a multitude of worries about the future is the comforting phrase “Fear not”, this phrase is found 365 times in the Bible. One reassurance for every day of the year. The other is “I shall never forsake you” We know that we can trust the faithful promises of our Heavenly Father.

“The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged” (Deuteronomy 31:8)

Related Articles:

• God Made A Promise (diggingtheword.blogspot.ca)
• Living in the Reality of God’s Blessing! (promisebook.net)
• He wants it all (prayerworkscafe.org)
• Adopted? (mommyofgrace.com)
• Promises (grace101.wordpress.com)