Your Promise (The Word) (5)
BIBLE READING: HABAKKUK 2:3; DEUTERONOMY 7; GALATIANS 3:26,29
We looked at the promise God gave Abraham last week and how we are also heirs to this promise. I concluded last week by saying Abrahams’s trust and reliance on God made him see the fulfilment of this promise. I also said, sometimes, the promise might take a while before we see the manifestation in the physical, but we should not give up because the same thing happened to Abraham. When the vision tarries, we should not get weary or allow doubt to creep in. God always confirms His Word. He repeats His promise so we don’t forget and for us to know He has not forgotten. When He repeats the promise we should remember He did the same to Abraham, and hold on to the Word knowing God has an appointed time. He is waiting for everything to align perfectly, and at the right time, you will see the manifestation of the promise. Do not grumble when He confirms the Word again while you are waiting, do not say things like “I am always picking the same promise and nothing is happening” but instead, rejoice in the fact that He is confirming to you He is still at work behind the scenes. Almost 25 years after God called Abraham in Haran, God reminded him again of the promise He had made at that time. In Genesis 17:2,4,6-7 (AMPC)He repeated“And I will make my covenant (solemn pledge) between Me and you and I will multiply you exceedingly. And as for Me, behold, My covenant (solemn pledge) is with you, and you shall be the father of many nations. And I will make you exceedingly fruitful and I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you. And I will establish my covenant between Me and you and YOUR DESCENDANTS after you throughout their generations (us) for an everlasting solemn pledge, to be a God to you, and to your posterity (us) after you.” How can anyone say the promise of Abraham does not belong to us? We are Abraham’s heirs and all the promises in the Word of God are ours to appropriate as long as we keep the conditions of the promise.
The more we study the Scriptures, the more our understanding becomes enlightened and we see through the lies of the enemy. Let us now look at what God said to the children of Israel over 400 years after He first called Abraham. In Deuteronomy 7, we see God repeating the same promise to Abraham’s descendants, (the great nation Israel He promised Abraham) saying exactly what He said to Abraham. God promised them prosperity, security, domination, good health, rest from their enemies, and so much more if they continue to obey His instructions as their ancestors had done.
The more I studied more about God’s covenant with Abraham, the more I understood Habakkuk 2:3 and the greater my faith in God’s promise to me grew stronger. His Word will always come to pass but we must remember His Word is always for an appointed time. Four hundred years after He promised Abraham a land, the Israelites were still to get to it, but God kept reminding them He had made a covenant with Abraham to give them this land. One very important lesson I learnt here is, most times God shares His secrets with me years in advance so I can hold on to them and use them as a weapon against the doubt and fear the enemy may want to bring my way. If He can trust me with secrets about my future, I must trust Him to bring to fulfilment all He has told me. We are always asking Him in prayer to tell us remarkable secrets we do not know and about things to come (Jeremiah 33:3), and when He shows us these visions that are for the future, we want them to happen now. We need to know what we want and be careful about what we ask for when we pray.
Disobedience and mistrust of God caused the Israelites a lot of pain and hardship along the way to the Promised Land. A lot of them lived good lives to the end while so many of them missed the mark because of their disobedience, caused by desires of the flesh, pride and idolatry. We have a lot to learn from the life of the Israelites and the only way to do that is to study the Word.
Hold on to your promise, it will surely come to pass. God and His Word are One, so if God cannot fail or lie, then His Word cannot fail either. We need to rely totally on the Holy Spirit to guide us every step of the way if we are to live a fulfilling and abundant life here on earth. Jesus Christ has promised us abundant life and this will be our portion in the mighty name of Jesus Christ Amen.
THE WORD OF GOD WORKS!!!!
UNDER GRACE UNDER MERCY