The Promises of God are Yes and Amen!
Habakkuk 2:2-3 “Write down the vision and make it plain on tablets so that a
herald may run with it. For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks
of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will
certainly come and will not delay.”
Numbers 23:19 “God is not a man,
that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should change His mind. Does He
speak and then not act? Does He promise and not fulfill?”
God's Word is filled with many promises
for our lives. Have you asked the Lord to do something specific in your life
and you know deep in your heart that He said “yes” and made a promise to you
that He would do it?
He may have quickened a Scripture that
pertains to your situation or maybe He dropped a promise into your heart.
Perhaps a prophetic message was spoken over you and it bore witness in your
spirit that it was of God, and was a confirmation of what the Lord had been
speaking to your heart.
What is your circumstance? What are you believing God for?
When God first promises something to us
there's the feeling of being overjoyed and a sense of expectancy. It seems like
the promise will come to pass right away. In some cases it does, but in most
instances a period of time elapses between the time God first shows us
something and the time it comes to fulfillment.
Many times months and years go by and
it still hasn't happened. And have you ever experienced that feeling of
disappointment that just when it seemed like the promise was finally going to
come to pass, there was a sudden turn in the road?
Joseph is an example of having been
given a promise and yet seeing a reverse in his situation. At a young age God
speaks to Joseph in dreams and reveals to him that one day he would be a ruler
and his family would bow down to him. Because of the evil actions of his
brothers, he ends up in Potiphar's house in Egypt. He's been snatched away from
his home and family and is made a slave in a foreign land. Then while at
Potiphar's house, he is falsely accused of attempted rape and is thrown into
prison for a crime he did not commit. Joseph was a pure man, and now his
reputation is damaged. After all of these negative events, he might have
questioned God or perhaps thought that somehow he had missed God.
Then there's the story of Sarah. She
had no children because she was barren. God spoke to Abraham and told him he
would have a son and would become the father of many nations. Months went by
and then years went by and still Sarah did not conceive. She prayed and waited,
and prayed and waited but it seemed like nothing was happening. She yearned and
longed for a child from her own womb yet was faced with reality being the
opposite. As time passed, now she's not only faced with the fact that she
cannot reproduce, but even if she could, now she's too old and now Abraham is
also too old. The Bible says that his body was as good as dead and Sarah's womb
was dead (Hebrews 11:11-12).
Proverbs 13:12 says, “Hope deferred
maketh the heart sick: but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life.”
What do you do during times like these
when you've taken appropriate action on your part and done all you know to do,
because James 2:20 says that faith without works is dead, yet it still seems
like nothing is happening?
And the reality of your situation seems
to be a contradiction to the promise or what you're believing for?
The devil uses these opportune times in
our lives to taunt us with words like: “It
will never happen” ... “Did God really say that?” ... “It's too late for you”.
God's delay in answering prayer doesn't
necessarily mean denial. God's promises are “Yes” and “Amen” (2 Corinthians
1:20). Though the promise tarry it will surely come to pass and not prove
false. God wants us to have faith and to trust him.
Romans 4:17 says that God calls those
things that are not as though they already were.
Many times God uses the waiting process
to refine us. The fire of delayed answers is one of the hottest fires to go
through and tests our faith like nothing else can. Depending on the situation,
sometimes God needs to work some things out first before He brings a promise to
pass. The waiting process develops patience, humility, and a deeper level of
trust in God. James 1:4 says, “But let patience have her perfect work, that ye
may be perfect [Greek: complete, mature], and entire [Greek: whole], wanting [Greek:
lacking] nothing.”
For some, they have been in the mode of
delayed promises for 5, 10, 20 or more years. The sands of time have brought
about a withering away of hope, and dreams seem to be dead or have little life.
But God is a God of resurrection, and in His perfect timing, He will resurrect
old dreams and fulfill promises He spoke long ago. Where there were years of
disappointment, many tears, and lost hope, He will restore with a double
portion of joy.
At the time appointed by God, He woke
up Sarah's dead womb and put life back into Abraham's body. They named their
son Isaac, meaning “laughter”. What joy they must have felt! Now all the years
of shame and humiliation was finally removed.
And also suddenly (sometimes God acts
suddenly), God intervened in Joseph's situation and gave him the interpretation
to Pharoah's dream. All at once he was set free from prison, was placed as
second in command over all Egypt and was given a wife, and she bore him two
sons. God restored to Joseph many times over for all the turmoil and pain he
had gone through. God turned Joseph's affliction into joy—so much to the point
that when his first son was born he called him “Manassah”, meaning “He has made
me to forget my toil”. He named his second son “Ephraim”, meaning “God has made
me double fruitful”.
God wants to do something in our life
that's bigger than us. He wants us to believe for the impossible. He's able to
do miracles, even creative miracles.
Jeremiah 32:27 says, “Behold, I am the
Lord, the God of all flesh: is there anything too hard for Me?” In verse 17
Jeremiah declares, “Ah Lord God! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the
earth by Thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard
for Thee.”
God is doing creative miracles even
now, but in the days ahead creative miracles will increase (as our faith level
increases to see God do more creative miracles). We will see or hear more
testimonies about God restoring bodily parts that are damaged or not even
there.
When Zerubbabel (mentioned in Haggai
and Ezra) had faced opposition to restoring the temple in Jersualem and work
had been suspended for several years, the situation looked bleak. But God spoke
through the prophet saying, “Not by [your] might, nor by [your] power, but by
my Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts. Who art thou, O great mountain? before
Zerubbabel thou shalt become a [level] plain” (Zech 4:6-7).
We can personalize this for our own
lives. Replace the name Zerubbabel with your name or that of a loved one.
Declare outloud: “The Word of the Lord comes to _________ saying, ‘It's not by
might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the Lord of Hosts. Who art thou, O
great mountain? Before _________ thou shalt become a leveled plain.’”
Matthew 21:21 says that if we speak to
our mountain and tell it to move out of our way, and do not doubt in our
hearts, that it would obey us. What is the mountain in your life that stands in
your way and tries to intimidate or taunt you?
Luke 3:5 speaks of Jesus, saying that
He would cause every valley to be filled and exalted, every mountain to be made
low, every crooked path to be made straight, and every rough way to be made
smooth.
God wants us to keep our focus on Him,
and see Him as powerful and mighty and awesome. Who else is like unto Him? Who
else can do what only He can do? There is none like Him!
Hebrews 11:11 says that Sarah received
the promise because she considered Him faithful who had promised. Like Sarah,
we need to believe that God is faithful to fulfill everything He said He would
do even before we see it happen.
In Psalms 37:4, God promises to grant
us the desires of our hearts. Even though there may be a delay in those desires
coming to pass, the Lord wants us to keep delighting ourselves in Him.
The Hebrew word translated “delight” in
Psalms 37:4 is “anag”. Although the definition of the word “delight” is
inclusive of “taking pleasure in”, or “enjoying His Presence”, in this
particular passage, the word “anag” is used. It is defined as: “being soft and
pliable” (or in other words, allowing the Lord to be the Potter and mold us and
have His way in our lives; keeping a soft heart). In the next verse, vs. 5, God
promises that if we commit our way to Him and trust in Him, then He would bring
our desires to pass.
In God's way and in His timing, He will
fulfill every promise. This is a year when many of God's prophets and ministers
are hearing the Holy Spirit say that this is a season when God is going to
fulfill many promises He spoke to people long ago. It's a season of leaving the
wilderness and crossing over into our promised land. There are giants there
(new challenges and new devils to contend with), but God will conquer every
giant. Although the old can be miserable, it's familiar. The new seems scary
because it's a place of the unknown.
God has a “promised land” for each of
our lives (a place of blessings, joy, abundance and fulfilled dreams). The Lord
will lead us there if we take His hand, and be willing to leave the past
behind.
Luke 1:45 “Blessed is she [he] that
believed: for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her
[him] of the Lord.”
It is God's will that no one should perish (end up in hell), but that ALL should come to repentance.
For God so loved this world that He gave His only begotton Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
God did not send His Son into this world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him would be saved.
The thief (Satan the devil) comes only for to kill, steal and destroy. But Jesus has come to give us life, and life more abundantly, until it overflows.
I urge you to come to the Cross today and receive Jesus as your Savior and Lord. He will wash away all your sins and make you as clean and white as fresh snow.
Just pray this prayer and mean it with your heart:
Dear Lord Jesus (if you are not able to call him Lord yet, then just say "Jesus")
I receive You as my Savior and Lord. I give my life over to You. I believe that You died and rose again, and that if I call on the Name of the Lord I shall be saved.
I accept you into my heart right now, and confess that You are Lord and have risen from the dead and forever live to make intercession for me.
Thank You for washing my heart pure and clean and making me whole, and for giving me peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.
Thank You that now I am a new creature in Christ Jesus. The old has gone and the new has come.
And there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh (carnality and sin), but walk after the Spirit. In Jesus' Name, Amen.
If you prayed this prayer, I believe you got born again and are now heaven bound and will be with the Lord forever and have eternal life. Your sins are now forgiven. You are accepted in the Beloved.
I would encourage you to find a good Bible based local church to help you grow in your faith, to learn the Word of God, to praise and worship Him, and to have fellowship with the saints.
Serving Christ is the best decision you will ever make.
God bless you!!!
