What Stops us from Experiencing God's Promises

God offers promises of blessing in our lives. We cling to those promises as we make our way through whatever comes our way. But, often we don't feel like we ever really get to experience the reality of those promises in our lives. We feel like everything comes up short of what God has said.

Why is this?

Are we wrong in our understanding of what God said?

Are they things that aren't for us?

Have we missed something?

As I was studying the prophet Jeremiah recently, I noticed something important as it relates to this.

Jeremiah 16:19-20 says:

"Therefore this is what the Lord says:
If you repent, I will restore you
     that you may serve Me;
it you utter worthy, not worthless, words,
     you will be My spokesman.
Let this people turn to you,
     but you must not turn to them.
I will make you a wall to this people,
     a fortified wall of bronze;
they will fight against you
     but will not overcome you,
for I am with you
     to rescue and save you.
                    declares the Lord."

God made some pretty great promises to Jeremiah in these verses:

• God would restore Jeremiah
• God would make Jeremiah His spokesman
• The people would not overcome Jeremiah when they came against him
• God would be with Jeremiah and rescue and save him

But, God's words to Jeremiah begin with an important word: IF.

All these promises were for Jeremiah, but he had a choice to make if he wanted to experience them. Living in these promises required Jeremiah to take a step of obedience first. Jeremiah had to choose to turn back to God in repentance and follow Him even when other around him weren't.

I think that's important for us to understand. We're not doing something to try to earn God' favour. But, if we want to experience the fullness of God's promises to us, we have to choose obedience to His ways first. We have to choose to take whatever step is asking us to take. Once we make that choice to follow in obedience, we're able to experience the fullness of God's promises to us.

What is the step of obedience God has asked you to take?

What is holding you back from taking it?

Will you choose to trust God and take it anyways, so you can experience the fullness of what God wants to offer you?

He Will Meet All of Our Needs

In Paul's closing words to the Philippian church, he writes some challenging words:

"And my God will meet all your need according to the glorious riches of His glory in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 4:19, emphasis mine)

These words are a powerful declaration of truth. But they're also sometimes hard words to live by.

There are two small, but incredibly powerful words in this verse:

WILL

ALL

Paul doesn't say that God might meet some of our needs. He says that God WILL meet ALL or our needs.

I think we sometimes struggle with this because we don't see God giving us what we want in the moment, or providing for us in the way we think He should. In those times, it can be hard to believe that God is doing what this verse says.

God will meet our needs, but maybe not the way we expect or the way we want Him to. We may see something as a need, when God sees it as a want and know it's better for us if He doesn't supply it.

These words challenge me: Do I believe them? Even when it doesn't look like I expect?

We can be sure that God will never leave us without something we need to live the life He has for us.

God's Words Have Power

     As the rain and the snow
          come down from heaven,
     and do not return to it
          without watering the earth
     and making it bud and flourish,
          so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,
     so is My word that goes out from my mouth:
          It will not return to Me empty,
     but will accomplish what I desire
          and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.
                                                          (Isaiah 55:10-11)


God's words have power.

The Hebrew word that we translate as "word" here is more than just what our Bibles say. It also speaks to words that God may speak to us.

These verses then remind us that God's word - both in Scripture and when He speaks to us through other ways - has power, purpose, and meaning.

When God speaks something, what he intends to happen because of those words will happen. These verse makes that pretty clear.

We can see how God's words had power over and over as we read Scripture. When God spoke and said that something would happen, it did. It starts with the creation account in Genesis where God spoke everything into being.

This means that when God speaks to us regarding something for our lives, what He has determined will happen. We have a choice in whether we cooperate with what God says, but what He says will happen.

God is Faithful to His Promises

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

This verse is one I have often missed the depth of because it's in the middle of a number of verses on meeting together and encouraging one another. But this short verse contains a great reminder for us.

As followers of Christ we profess hope in Jesus Christ to save us and offer us forgiveness for our sins. This is a hope we can hold onto without concern. It is true. That's why we can boldly share it with others and why we're told to. That's why we can hold onto it no matter what comes our way.

The second part of this verse is what's important. It gives us the reason why we can hold onto hope in Jesus Christ without wondering if it's stable.

God is faithful. He will keep His promises. And He has promised that Jesus' sacrifice was enough and gives us direct access to Him. We can live in the assurance that God's promise is true because He is faithful.

Scripture is full of promises God made that He kept.

• God promised Noah that He would never destroy the whole earth again with a flood. (Genesis 8:20-9:17)
• God promised Joshua He would go with him always. (Joshua 1:1-9)
• God promised Moses He would give him the words to say to Pharaoh and favour with the Israelites. (Exodus 3 & 4)
• Jesus promised He would be with us always. (Matthew 28:20)

Based on these and many more examples, we can be confident that God will keep His promises because He is faithful.

Reading Scripture and seeing that God always keeps His promises gives me hope. We have hope because we serve a God Who is faithful to His word. We can cling to the promises He has made based on the past.

We serve a faithful God!

God Keeps His Promises

I've been reading in Genesis lately. Rereading familiar stories, but hearing God speak to me through them still. I love that about God - He still has something to say to us through His Word no matter how many times we've read it. All that is required is that we'll slow down and listen for Him.

Genesis 9:1-17 records God's covenant with Noah after the flood. God made a promise to Noah that He would never destroy the whole earth again. Then He gave Noah a sign of His covenant promise - a rainbow.

So often I look at a rainbow after the rain and I think of its beauty, but I don't often stop and ponder the significance of it. Every rainbow we see is a sign of God's promise - originally made to Noah - a reminder that even all these years later God still keeps His promises.

Even in a world where we may be surrounded by broken promises of other people, we can count on God to keep His promises. The simple rainbow after a storm is a reminder of this.

We serve a God Who keeps His promises.

We serve a God Who does exactly what He says all the time.

We serve a God Who can be trusted because of this truth.

What would happen if we started to look at every rainbow we see as more than just something beautiful in the sky after a storm? What if we also began to see them as regular reminders that God keeps His promises?

Five Minute Friday: Comfort

It's Friday and time for Five Minute Friday again today. Writing for five minutes, no editing or over-thinking, and then sharing it. Although, I will say that this week I saw another Five Minute Friday post this morning, so I knew what the word was, and I've been sort of writing this post in my head for the better part of the day.

Today's word is: COMFORT.


Do you seek comfort in your life? Or do you follow God, even if the place He's taking you isn't comfortable?

We spend our lives seeking comfort. We want a safe place to live. We want the right things in that place to make us comfortable. We want friends and things to do that bring us comfort in life.

In his letters to the Corinthians, Paul talks about God being a God of comfort. But I wonder if when we think about the comfort God offers the wrong way. The comfort God offers is not one of being physically comfortable.

What if the God of comfort is not about physical comforts, but about something else?

God doesn't promise that life on this earth will be one of ease and pleasure. But Scripture tells us He will provide us with comfort. Comfort in the midst of whatever life throws our way.

Sometimes that means we have to follow God to places it may be uncomfortable to go. Again, I'm not talking about physical spaces. I'm talking about following God into those areas of our lives where He wants to do some work.

It may not be comfortable, but we go there with a God who comforts us in the middle of it. What better way to live?