God’s promises
God & Thankfulness
Thankfulness is a common emotion that prompts us to express gratefulness.
There are two miracles in the bible where lives were completely changed and their response to the miracle that brings application to our lives today.
Naaman, the commander of the army of the King of Syria was described as “a great man with his master and in high favor…a mighty man of valor, but he was a leper.” (2 Kings 5:1) He learned through an Israelite servant girl that there was a prophet in Israel that could heal him of leprosy. He went to the Prophet Elisha, a man of God and received his miracle of healing in an act of obedience by following the specific instructions of the prophet.
Afterwards, Naaman the Commander displayed his gratefulness by returning to Elisha with a gift (of which Elisha did not accept) and proclamation:
“Behold, I know that there is no God in all the earth but in Israel, so accept now a present from your servant.” (2 Kings 5:15)
The second miracle occurs in the New Testament when 10 lepers encountered Jesus passing along between the cities of Samaria and Galilee. They began crying out to the Lord to have mercy on them and when He saw them He gave them specific instructions to go show themselves to the priests. In an act of obedience as they “went they were cleansed.” (Luke 17:14)
“Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; and he fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving thanks to Him. Now he was a Samaritan.” (Luke 17:15,16)
Then Jesus answered, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine?” (Luke 17:17)
God and thankfulness work together. A grateful heart attitude is cultivated by remembering to ‘return’ to the Lord and thank Him for the daily miracles in our lives. This is the blessed life!
And He said to him, “Rise and go your way, your faith has made you well.” (Luke 17:19)
God Fulfills His Promises
Have you ever experienced a blessing just because you believed what someone said? As a child my mother spoke often of my potential in life and I believed her. Although at the time I didn’t have much to show for what my life would become, I knew that her opinion was sincere and from the heart. I also knew that she believed that nothing was impossible for God.
After Mary’s encounter with the angel Gabriel announcing the birth of Jesus she set out to visit Elizabeth who was six months pregnant with John the Baptist. Elizabeth was a picture of faith and God knew that Mary needed to be encouraged and affirmed in what was being asked of her. She probably had no idea of the depth of affirmation that she would receive from Elizabeth.
“And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.” (Luke 1:45)
Mary believed the message sent from God by the angel Gabriel that she would conceive and bear a son who would be great, the Son of the Most High, the Savior of the World.
Mary asked in faith how this would come about, knowing that she was a virgin and the angel Gabriel explained. Then she submitted herself to the process that God had chosen.
And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to Your word.” (Luke 1:38)
Her blessing began with believing in God’s promise, submitting to His process and trusting Him to fulfill His words.
What has God promised you? Whatever the circumstances He gives us faith to believe and will bless us as we submit to His process towards fulfillment.
“For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from Him.” (Psalm 62:5)
God’s Timing
Our life in God is filled with purpose and He promises to lead us toward the timing of its fulfillment while using every season of our lives.
Queen Esther could not have imagined that God was mindful of every turn that her life took toward fulfilling His divine purpose.
“And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” (Esther 4:14b)
Esther’s story gives a glimpse into the sovereignty of God and how He works through life circumstances beyond our control to fulfill our purpose.
Although orphaned at a young age, then torn from the only family that she had ever known and cast into a year long beauty preparation before being presented to King Ahasuerus, her reputation of “…winning favor in the eyes of all who saw her,” (2:15) preceded her with the King.
Esther’s trust in God with the outcomes of her life, “Then I will go to the king, though it is against the law, ‘and if I perish, I perish’.” (4:16b) and her humility and obedient response to Mordecai, her uncle and father figure, made her an ideal candidate as God’s vessel to deliver the entire Jewish race at that time!
“For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” (Esther 4:14)
Are you trusting God with the direction of your life? When we trust and obey with contentment we can be assured of not missing God’s timing, placement and fulfillment of our purpose on this earth.
“The Lord is at hand, do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:5-7)
God Desires
Desires come from the heart. They seem to be shaped from a combination of experiences, purpose, talent and inspiration from the world we live in and shaped by influencers that grab our heart. Described as “to wish or long for; crave, covet; to ask for; request,” desires can lead us in many directions.
King David prayed in the Book of Psalms for God to teach him to live wisely by making him aware of the brevity of life on earth.
“So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.” (Psalm 90:12)
Living a life focused on God Desires can save us from wasting a ton of time chasing after the wrong desires. Pursuing a desire that does not align with God’s best for our lives prevents us from experiencing and fulfilling our highest purpose in this life. In the end we want to be able to proclaim as Jesus did to His Father in heaven when His end was near in the Book of John:
“I glorified You on earth, having accomplished the work that You gave Me to do.” (John 17:4)
How can we know that our desires are God desires? We can begin by following His instruction to delight ourselves in Him, to give great joy or pleasure in desiring to know Him and learning about all His ways. When we decide to shape our lives around this encouragement God promises to give us desires that lead us toward accomplishing the deepest desires of our heart and His. This is the joy of purpose living!
“Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.” (Psalm 37:4)
God With Us
How can we know that all will be well in this life and journey with God? How can we allow challenges in this life to grow our faith instead of weaken our faith? Last, how can we know that we are on the winning side in our journey with God through life on this earth?
We must take God at His Word and believe in His promises. We must accept that His way of leading us and working out life issues will often take a different approach than we might take. His thoughts and ways are far above our ways of thinking and problem solving.
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:8,9)
Once we embrace this truth we can believe God’s promise that all will be well with us. In love, He links this promise with obedience, specifically, obeying His commandments.
“But this command I gave them: Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people. And walk in all the way that I command you, that it may be well with you.” (Jeremiah 7:23)
Trusting and obeying God keeps us in a position of triumph. Jesus overcame everything in this world that could possibly come against us. He is Immanuel, (which means, God with us). (Matthew 1:23)
Walk in all the ways that God commands you and He promises to be with you.
“But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal possession…” (2Corinthians 2:14)
Firm in Faith
God gives a strong warning about the stability of our faith in the Book of Isaiah when the people still had an opportunity to hold fast to His divine promises to spare them from destruction. At the core they were struggling with disbelief.
“If you are not firm in faith, you will not be firm at all.” (Isaiah 7:9b)
Near the end of King David’s life after God had delivered him out of many life threatening trials, betrayals and warfare he accounted his triumph to his faith in God and His divine promise to establish his throne forever;
“As the Lord lives, who has redeemed my soul out of every adversity…” (1Kings 1:29)
God also gives a strong warning for the unstable in faith. He connects instability in faith to a lack of trust in His wisdom to lead us through adversity.
“But let him ask in faith with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.” (James 1:6-8)
Jesus warned us that we would have trouble in this world. He also encouraged us to take heart and trust in Him who has overcome the world. In other words, He has already made provision for us to triumph! We are called to trust the process of being led and God’s readiness to help at every turn of events.
“When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles.” (Psalm 34:17)
Be firm in your faith and God will deliver you out of all your troubles!
God Love
Children all over the world grow up with the need to be loved and accepted. Parents want the same for their children and yet they would have to admit that this love need is impossible to meet. Hearts are shaped daily in the moments of living life where the need for love can become complicated and difficult to meet. What parents are capable of doing however is loving their children in a way that leads them to the perfect love that can only come from God.
“For God so loved the world…”
This God Love completes us like no other type of love that we seek. Every need that we will ever have over our lifetime points us toward this God Love which has come to meet our needs. Nothing can take its place, any other type of love simply points us in its direction.
“…that He gave His only Son…”
God Love is the perfect solution to wholeness and acceptance that we seek from others and other things. We must believe in the possibility that someone would desire to love us to this unconditional degree that God Love offers.
“…that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)
Experiencing God Love brings clarity in a confusing world and sincere purpose of direction toward fulfilling our personal destiny. God Love is non-condemning, it is based on full acceptance without having to get ‘cleaned-up’ first. It brings amazing freedom to become who you were meant to be.
“…God sent His only Son into the world, so that we might live through Him.” (1John 4:9)
Love God, love Jesus, love others. Live!
God My Refuge
Life has a way of reminding us that we are not smart enough, strong enough or clever enough to get ourselves out of a dilemma that we or others had something to do with creating. Everyone needs the security of knowing that when we get into a troubling situation that there is someone more powerful and able to help when we’ve exhausted our resources and stand powerless, in need of intervention. God is our refuge and He always has a good plan for our lives when we place our trust in Him.
“He will send from heaven and save me; He will put to shame him who tramples on me. God will send out His steadfast love and His faithfulness.” (Psalm 57:3)
My world suddenly changed a couple of days ago when the unexpected happened. I was reminded that God is my refuge. He is my strong tower that cannot be shaken. He is my protection from danger and steadfast love, faithful to meet my constant need for provision. My sure foundation when everything around me is changing, He is my Rock and the lifter of my head.
“O my Strength, I will watch for You, for You O God, are my fortress.”
“My God in His steadfast love will meet me; God will let me look in triumph on my enemies.”
(Psalm 59:9,10)
God is our refuge and our strength, trust in Him to bring triumph over your enemies!
loretta j. willis, author 