Believing God’s Promises

My son has a fear of being abandoned or left alone. Zane loves to feel safe and secure. He is in the first grade and has a wonderful teacher named Mrs. Buck whom he is attached to. However, when she leaves the room, Zane panics. She promises that she’ll be right back. Either she is going next door or to the restroom and it is only for a few moments. Zane has no reason not to believe her, but he can’t find it in himself to believe what she says. He has told me that he is afraid that she won’t come back.

I can relate to my son because he is like me in more ways than one. I was the same way. I remember one time as a child; my dad was going away for ten days. He gave me his word that he would be back and he and mom even attempted to explain how long ten days was. Fear and panic overcame me. I even tried to hide in the bed of his truck hoping that he would accidentally take off with me.

There was once a priest named Zechariah; a man who had every reason to believe God, but because of his immediate circumstances couldn’t bring himself to do so. He and his wife had grown old and had yet to have children. Zechariah and Elizabeth were a Godly couple, yet she had remained barren. One day, while Zechariah was performing his priestly duties, an angel of the Lord named Gabriel appeared to him.

And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him.
But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. (Luke 1:12-13)

After the angel revealed how special this child would be in preparing the way for Jesus, Zechariah asked a surprising question.

And Zechariah said to the angel, “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.” And the angel answered him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time.” (Luke 1:18-20)

So this magnificent angel was standing before God telling Zechariah that he is going to have a child and his answer was “How shall I know this?”?!?!?

The truth is though that we often do the same. We pray and our prayers aren’t immediately answered, or in the way, or time frame that we would like and eventually we stop believing God.

As we look the story of Scripture we often find men and women of God that had to be patient, but God certainly heard their prayers. God heard Abraham. He heard Noah. He heard Israel in Egypt. He heard the cry for a Messiah! He heard Zechariah and Elizabeth! He hears your cries!

Matthew Henry notes: “Prayers of faith are filed in heaven, and are not forgotten, though the thing prayed for is not presently given in.”

There is great comfort in knowing that your prayers that have not been answered, at least as you can see it, are still securely in God’s hands! Do you trust God will answer in his time and in his way? Do you believe the King of kings when he makes a promise?



One problem, though, is that we sometimes can try to claim things that aren’t promises. In the instance above, God had promised Elizabeth and Zechariah a child, however this passage doesn’t apply to all Christians. There is no promise that God will give every believer children, though when we pray we can believe that God is more than capable.

On the other hand, sometimes we sometimes don’t claim things that we should! Words that ARE promises for ALL Christians. So I’ll leave you with just a handful of the promises God makes to every believer in the pages of Scripture. These are promises that you can claim as yours and stand on in confidence and in faith!


• Philippians 1:6
  And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

  
• Philippians 4:19
  And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

  
• Romans 8:1
  There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus

  
• Romans 8:28  
And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

  
• Romans 8:38-39  
For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

  
• Revelation 22:7  (Jesus said) 
“And behold, I am coming soon. Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.”

Do you believe God? He is faithful to keep His word!

After these days his wife Elizabeth conceived, and for five months she kept herself hidden, saying, “Thus the Lord has done for me in the days when he looked on me, to take away my reproach among people.” (Luke 5:24-25)

God is good! He hears our prayers and He never breaks a promise.

The Final Word

One thing that separates us from the animals is our ability to communicate with words intellectually. Many animals have a form of communication but none, even dolphins and chimpanzees, are as sophisticated as our ability to construct words and formulate sentences. When we speak, we express our will, purpose and intentions. By our words we convey our thoughts. 

One thing that separates us from God is that when he speaks, his will, purpose and intentions spring into action. By God’s Word the universe leapt into existence. By his word, he issues his command, he makes his promises and by his Word the prophets speak. God's Word commands awe! His Word is enlightenment and truth.

Isaiah 55:10-11  

¹⁰ “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, ¹¹ so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

The introduction to the gospel of John has to be the greatest prologue ever written. I  remember when watching Star Wars, as a child and now with my children, feeling the anticipation as the opening text scrolled across the screen. “A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away….”

It set the scene and created excitement and anticipation. 

That’s what happens when John begins, “In the beginning was the Word….”

Where Matthew and Luke focus on the birth of Jesus, John instead reveals that this is far from an ordinary birth. This is God incarnate. This is God revealed in the flesh. This is God coming to the rescue of humanity.

Jesus is the Word of God! He embodies the will, purpose and intention of God. Through Jesus the world was created. All the promises of God find their Yes in him (2 Corinthians 1:20). The prophecies find their fulfillment in him. It’s not that he is simply the voice of God. He himself is God. He himself is life, light and truth taking on the form of humanity for you and me.

So before your pain, before your sorrow, before your heartache, there was the Word. He was with God and He was God. He embodies truth and order and love and perfection. Without Him was not anything made that was made. If you trust in him, you have no reason to succumb to fear. He’s the final word!

John 1:1-18 

¹ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² He was in the beginning with God. ³ All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. ⁴ In him was life, and the life was the light of men. ⁵ The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.  

⁶ There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. ⁷ He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. ⁸ He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light. 

⁹ The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. ¹⁰ He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. ¹¹ He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. ¹² But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, ¹³ who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.  

¹⁴ And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.  ¹⁵ (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’”) ¹⁶ For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. ¹⁷ For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. ¹⁸ No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father's side, he has made him known. 

Change The World (Part 3): Be Willing

Matthew 25:31-46
31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. 34 Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ 37 Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? 38 And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? 39 And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ 40 And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’
41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ 44 Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ 45 Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ 46 And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

It’s easy to talk a good talk but not walk the walk in the Christian life. I don’t think Satan minds us quoting Scripture left and right if we aren’t applying it in our lives. I’m sure he’d take that trade off any day. The commands of God are to love with “action” so our Christian lingo, prayer or Scripture memorization doesn’t do us any good if it doesn’t change us at our core and move us to action.

“But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.” (James 1:22-25)
“If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that?” (James 2:15-16)

The Bible says that we are created for good works in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2:10). Often we separate faith from good works because of our understanding of faith alone that we fail to do what we were created for. God wants us to distribute good deeds. Just because we aren’t saved by them, doesn’t mean we weren’t meant to perform them; or better stated that He perform them in us.
Jesus was full of good deeds while walking the earth. He healed the sick, cast out demonic spirits from the oppressed, fed the hungry, and spoke the gospel of truth. He was kind, compassionate and always willing to go the extra mile. Jesus is now at the right hand of the Father in heaven, but now He lives His life through us by the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father” (John 14:12).

Not only does Jesus minister through us, but He says that when we minister to others it is as if we are ministering to Him. Why? Because that is where His heart is and when we care for others and show it through our actions, we are aligning with Christ’s heart. Want to know God’s will for your life? That is where it is! Its simple. It may not always be easy but it is certainly not complicated. Love like He loved. Serve like He served. It is those who exhibit this in life that prove to be His followers.
There is a world of people who are in need spiritually, mentally, emotionally and physically. You get the chance to meet some of those needs. We have people all around us on a daily basis that are in need in at least one if not all of the areas mentioned above. Guess what? You were created for this very purpose! Jesus is still carrying out His work on earth and you are His means of doing so! What an exciting job we have! What an amazing purpose! Are you Willing?

Change The World (Part 2): Be Able

Matthew 25:14-30
14 “For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. 15 To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. 16 He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. 17 So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. 18 But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master's money. 19 Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. 20 And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me five talents; here I have made five talents more.’ 21 His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ 22 And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me two talents; here I have made two talents more.’ 23 His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ 24 He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, 25 so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.’ 26 But his master answered him, ‘You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed? 27 Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. 28 So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. 29 For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. 30 And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

I loved playing high school football. The problem is that once I was on the varsity squad, there wasn’t much opportunity for me to play. Sure I saw plenty of action during practice, but I wanted in the game. The truth was, there were players in front of me that were deemed more talented and skilled than I was. Only 11 guys could be on the field at a time, so I spent much of my senior year playing special teams and cheering from the sidelines.

The word “talent” that we use today comes from this parable in Matthew 25. In Biblical times it was a unit of weight used to value gold and silver. Since the point of this parable is to illustrate that God’s people are to make good use of the stewardship that He has entrusted them, the word has come to define a person’s abilities. When it comes to life, God doesn’t base our participation on the type or level of talent we have. God hasn’t called any of us to sit the bench or cheer from the sidelines. We all are in the “game”. God has called each of us to get in and give it all we’ve got. There is a whole world in need of spiritual, physical and emotional healing that can only be found in Jesus Christ. His people are the means by which He chooses to accomplish this.

Each of us are given gifts and talents by God to be used for His service and His glory. There are spiritual gifts listed in the Bible and we are told that every Christian has at least one. However there are also all sorts of talents or abilities that God has given individuals to be used for His purposes as well. Some people are builders. Some are artists. Some are care takers. Some are mathematicians. The list goes on. Whether you know it or not, God has made you exactly the way you are and has given you the talents to accomplish His work. The key is to use whatever He has given you. It isn’t about the person with the most talent, but rather what each person does with it that God cares about. God tells us to love others by our actions. The Bible always exhorts us to go above and beyond. If all you feel like you have to offer another person is a listening ear, then be the best listener you can be.
So many people sit the bench while waiting for their grand purpose or they waste their lives trying to discover their unknown gifts and talents. The truth is that God says to simply love Him and love others. Not haphazardly. Jesus tells us to love passionately. When we do this, our gifts and talents will naturally come about. Who wants to be found standing with their stewardship buried when the Lord returns. We can’t use the excuse, “I’m not good enough.” Jesus says, “You ARE good enough because I have declared it. Go! Make a difference for my Name’s sake!”

So the question is not, “Are you equipped for the Lord’s service?” The question is, “Are you serving?” “Are you loving?” “Are you seeing others through the eyes of Jesus?” “How are you using what God has already given you for His kingdom?” “Are you using it or has it been buried?”

You are equipped. God has made you able!

Change The World (Part 1): Be Ready

Matthew 25:1-13
1“Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. 2Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. 3For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, 4but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. 5As the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and slept. 6But at midnight there was a cry, ‘Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ 7Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps. 8And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ 9But the wise answered, saying, ‘Since there will not be enough for us and for you, go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves.’ 10And while they were going to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was shut. 11Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ 12But he answered, ‘Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.’ 13Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.”

What a beautiful picture we have here of the Holy Spirit’s work in the believer’s life. If the life of Jesus while on earth represents “God with us” then the Holy Spirit’s life through Christians after Jesus ascended into heaven represents “God in us”. The oil is the Holy Spirit’s work in our lives. The burning lamp is the result of His work in our lives. How often do Christians expect the oil in their lamps to last based on a prayer they said many years ago? Of course this isn’t to say that the Holy Spirit ever abandons the believer, but the Bible is clear that He can be ignored or put off
(1 Thessalonians 5:19; Ephesians 4:30). It is also possible to attempt to burn our wicks by the power of our own oil and not the power of the Holy Spirit. In the former case we are called to always be prepared, asking the Holy Spirit to work in us daily. In the latter, we must turn to Jesus in repentant faith asking the Holy Spirit to enter our lives, lest we be found lacking upon the Lord’s return.

I don’t know about you, but I want plenty of oil for this journey called life. I can be a hoarder by nature. I hate that part of me. I sift through mail and have a tough time throwing away things that do not need to be kept. Eventually, I end up with stacks of mail and get in trouble with my wife for having my piles of mess everywhere. I hoard. However, if I’m going to hoard anything, it should be the Holy Spirit. Give me plenty of His oil. In fact, give me a lifetime supply. I can’t live without it. When I go on my own resources I am cracked and broken and my fire either goes out quickly or burns other people. I need the Holy Spirit on a daily basis.

This is exactly why God filled the first disciples on the day of Pentecost 2,000 years ago. It was for the work of the ministry. We can’t do it without Him. The purpose of the Spirit is to pick up where Jesus left off. He is no longer with us because He ascended to the Father. However, something greater has happened. He is now in us through the working of the Holy Spirit! He makes our fire burn brightly!

When we ask the Holy Spirit to fill us on a daily basis, we become lamps who light the way for Christ to work in and through us. Somebody who is suffering may need a word of encouragement or prayer from you. There are others that need you to build them up when they get down. Who knows what might happen, but when we are prepared, through the Holy Spirit we light the way for Jesus the bridegroom to work in other people’s lives. Be ready for God to use you by inviting the Holy Spirit’s work in your life!