God's Promise: Refuge

 

"The Lord is a shelter for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble.  Those who know your name trust in you, for you, O Lord, do not abandon those who search for you."  Psalm 9 :9-10

    This promises is for anyone who is in need.  Pray to God and you know that He is there with you and working behind the scenes to help you.  You know this because He promised to be a secure refuge for you in your time of need.  He is the stronghold that no enemy can pass.  When you are in trouble or being oppressed, He is your safe place.  

    David wrote this Psalm in a Septuagint poem meaning he used the Hebrew alphabet to design the pattern in sequential letters.  It is a work of art that give s you a glimpse of the character and power of God.  David had an extraordinary life, but He still needed God.  He still faced impossible situations and depended on God to save him.  His poems and writings were his way of giving God the glory and worshiping Him.

    The Hebrew word for stronghold is "misgab".  It means secure height, lofty fortress, or a high cliff.  It indicates an intimidating fortress to represent God's power and magnificence.  It is meant to give you a since of safety.  When you are in God's refuge you do not have to worry about being abandoned.  He He there with you protecting your mind, heart, and soul.  

    Seek God and find what you need.  You find the ability to trust again.  The confusion goes away.  The noise in your head can be silenced.  You can find rest and discover peace.  He replaces trouble with joy of deliverance.  This trust goes beyond knowledge of who God is.  It comes from having a relationship with God who understands who you are and the deepest needs you hold.  He knows what hurts you and how to heal you.  You only have to trust Him and lean on Him so He can heal you and save you in your time of need.

Psalm 9:9-10, 32:6-7, 37:39-40, 46:1, & 91:14-92:2

God's Promise: Spiritual Stability

 

"How happy is the one who does not walk in the advice of the wicked or stand in the pathway with sinners or sit in the company of mockers!  Instead, his delight i in the Lord's instruction, and he meditates on it day and night.  He is like a tree planted beside flowing streams that bears its fruit in its season and whose leaf does not wither.  Whatever he does prospers."  Psalm 1:1-3

    This is a conditional promise.  It is a promised made by God about the quality of life you can have.  He allows you to make it your choice to be blessed or cursed.  You will be blessed if you do not allow evil people into your inner circle.  If you choose wise counsel, then you will become wise.  If you choose the influence of wicked people, then you will become wicked.

    The condition of this promise is if you reject the ways of the world to focus on your relationship with God, then you will have spiritual stability.  Your faith will grow and become bold and strong.  You will follow God's path for your life, so you will succeed in your endeavors. 

    To have the blessing of being spiritually stable you need to avoid bad influences that want to divide or destroy your focus from your relationship with God.  You want to find people that will give wise counsel and point you to God's Word to support what they tell you.  These people love you enough not to lie to you or just tell you what you want to hear.

    You want to spend time in God's Word to understand His character better.  He knows you can't read His Word 24/7, but you can think about it and pray over it when you are not in it.  When you put your relationship with God first, then He will place people in your life that will help you grow.  

    God will help you become more resilient in life.  Your faith will give you strength to face what life throws at you.  God does not promise prospering financially, but He does promise that you will succeed.  That means you may prosper spiritually, relationally, in work, in your gifts, financially, and more.  You may prosper in many or every area in the right seasons.  The point is not to think you are not doing well if you are not rich.  What God values becomes what you value and find joy in doing.

    God will allow you to prosper for many reasons, but this particular promise and blessing is based on your choices.  Your conduct is based on your choices.  You chose to have a relationship with Him or not.  It is your choice to have spiritual and emotional joy that comes from the contentment of having a relationship with God.  He is where you find your blessings.  He has laid them out for the taking.  You need to know what they are and who He is to be able to have them.  Loving God leads to obedience which produces blessings and stability.

Genesis 39:3-4, Joshua 1:8, Psalm 1:1-3, 26:4-5, 119:35, 128:2, Proverbs 4:13-19, Isaiah 3:10, Jeremiah 15:17, 17:8, & Ezekiel 47:12

God's Promise: To Hear

 

"The if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and I will forgive their sins and restore their land."  2 Chronicles 7:14

    The promise to be heard by God comes with some regulations. The way I imagine it in my head is a child wanting something from their parent.  The child is acting like a complete entitled brat.  God being the good parent hears the child, but ignores the child until the child can behave with respect.  It is a teaching moment.  God is teaching His people how to approach Him.

    God's people forgot all He had done for them.  It did not take long at all.  They turned to all the wicked things that they vowed never to do.  They they are surprised with everything falls apart and want God to fix it.  God has every intention on fixing things, but He is telling them what they have to do first.  He wanted them to have their promised land.  He never wanted to take it away, but the relationship with Him is more important than the things in this world.

    Christians today are no different.  Your forget everything God has brought you out of until you need Him.  You may remember and be grateful, but in the good times you forget all the little things.  You start neglecting the relationship.  You may not turn to evil things, but you are not pursuing God like you did when you felt like your life depended on it.  How God responds to you depend on your attitude and willingness to repent when you have sinned. 

    God is asking you to not forget.  Humble your heart to pursue God in the good times too.  Pray over every aspect in life so not to neglect your relationship with Him.  Go to His Word seeking to know Him better.  You are able to see it differently in the good times and have the ability to grow in a new way as a Christian.  If you have fallen into sinful habits, then repent and turn away from them before He has to correct you.  

    God wants to bless you.  He wants to hear all you have to say.  He wants to be close to you.  It is your call on what kind of relationship you will have with God.  Will you approach Him with respect, humility, and love?  Or will you act entitled, spoiled, and over in an unworthy manner?  He will respond according to how you approach Him.  Follow His regulations and He will hear you from Heaven.  He will forgive your sins.  He will heal the wounds caused by your sin.  You know this is true because He promised that He would.

2 Chronicles 6:27-30, 7:14, James 4:10

God's Promise: Forever Love

    "Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good!  His faithful love endures forever."  1 Chronicles 16:34

    The promise of God's love that last forever is a promise made from His character.  He is good.  He is the source of all that is true and good in the world.  His love is not conditional.  It is eternal.  No matter what you do He will love you.  

    Since God's love is true it means that He provided boundaries to give you the structure you need in life.  If you reject Him, then you will face eternal consequences.  That does not mean that He chose that for you.  It does not mean that He does not love you.  He loved you enough to give you free will.  He allows you to make all your life decisions, but they are your decisions.  

    If your decisions go against Him, then you can't blame Him for upholding the consequences that He laid out for you.  Your eternity is your choice.  You have to accept responsibility for your choice.  The day you face God a tantrum will not change anything.  Your time is now.  His time is eternal.  His love is eternal.  If you reject Him, then you will be separated from Him forever.  

    If you accept God's love in faith that is provided through Jesus, then you get to spend eternity with God.  There is no better what to imagine eternity.  It will be freedom from all temptation, sin, corruption, and anything else that messes up God's perfection.  You will never doubt love and what is good again.  All the bad you ever experienced will disappear.  This is why you give thanks now.  No matter how bad life can get you still have hope because you know God does not lie.

    This promise from God is to give you hope.  It is meant to give you comfort when life is hard.  It is a reminder that you are loved when you feel alone or unloved.  It is a reminder that you are not facing life alone.  It enables you to hold onto inner joy even when life is falling apart.  He will never stop giving you comfort.  All you have to do is accept it.  

    

1 Chronicles 16:34, Psalm 106:1, 107:1, 118:1, 136:1

God's Promise: Wherever You Go

 

    The promise to be wherever you go comes with a command.  It is a command on how to utilize your faith and put it into action.  God commands that you be strong and courageous.  If you trust Him, then you do not doubt or have fear when the unknown comes, feel unprepared, or an obstacle that you can't defeat on your own.  

    God's promise was made after Moses died and his apprentice Joshua was taking over the leadership role of the Israelite nation.  It was Joshua's job to help each tribe get their portion of the promised land.  He understood that they were not going to walk in and the people just give it to them.  They had to conquer what was rightfully theirs from God.  

    This was a big and intimating task, but Joshua had the faith to make it happen.  He never did waver in all the time in the wilderness and he was not going to waver now that he was in charge.  His faith was stronger than intimidation, fear, or anxiety.  He appeared self-reliant because he leaned heavily on God.  He was not perfect, but his faith made him the right leader for this place in history.  

    This command and promise still stand today.  Giving God the authority in your life is not a suggestion.  It is a command that comes with the power of having God's presence in your life.  This power enables you to over any fear.  It will help you become bold as you conquer any negativity in your life like dismay, depression, discouragement, dread, or doubt.  As you become bold your panic will disappear.  

    If you reject God, then you will not have His presence, protection, or comfort in life.  He will give you over to the life you chose and allow you to face the consequences alone.  Your life is your testimony.  Once day you will face God even if you do not believe in Him now.  What will your life say about you?  Will it declare that God was with you or you did life on your own?  Is God your salvation or your condemner?

    If you trust God enough not to fear the future, unknown, or unexpected, then you will become strong and courageous.  When you embrace this faith you understand that God is with you.  He prepares the way.  He watches your back.  He protects you when you sleep.  He is there even when you can't feel His presence.  The promise He made to you is to be actively present in the good times and with every challenge you face.  He is your reassurance in life that makes you brave.

Deuteronomy 31:7-23, Joshua 1:9, Psalm 27:1, & Jeremiah 1:8

God's Promise: Never Forsake

 

"Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.” Then Moses summoned Joshua and said to him in the presence of all Israel, “Be strong and courageous, for you must go with this people into the land that the LORD swore to their ancestors to give them, and you must divide it among them as their inheritance. The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” Deuteronomy 31:6-8

    The promise of God to never forsake His people was the last promise that Moses gave the Israelites before Joshua succeeded him and they entered the promised land.  This promise is meant to encourage God's people.  If you hold onto this promise, then you should never feel alone.  People come and go. Leadership changes.  The world may feel uncertain or even isolating, but God is with you no matter what happens from day to day.

    The Israelites would enter the promised land and it would become their land, but first they had to remove all the people who had settled in their land.  They had to fight and do their part to have the promise that God had given them.  It was intimidating.  They had been slaves for generations, then wonderers in the desert.  They had never fought in a battle or any significant way.  They had to rely on this promise to believe that they would be victorous.

    Like many of God's promises, this one has some stipulations.  God does the heavy lifting and the hardest parts, but He expects His people to do what He commands.  Here He commands His people to be strong, courageous, not afraid, discouraged, or panic.  Not afraid is to have confidence in God to protect you without doubt.  In return God would go ahead of His people.  He promised never to abandon, be with you, and never forsake you.  

    When life feels hopeless, depressing, or forsaken then you can hold onto this promise.  It will help you be bold and courageous to face whatever in life you need to face.  The blessing comes from being steadfast and faithful when things are not certain.   The Israelites got the land that they had been promised hundreds of years before.  You get eternity in Heaven.  Trust God to protect you now without doubt.  

    You may feel unequipped, unqualified, or intimated.  That is okay.  Trust God more than your feelings to be there doing His part to make sure your calling comes has a path.  There is not room for doubt.  Doubt kills the momentum that faith builds.  You are in this world for a purpose.  Do not deny yourself that and the blessings that come with obedience by allowing doubt or fear into your heart.  He will be with you every step of the way for you to complete your calling in life.

Deuteronomy 1:29, 31:6-8, Joshua 1:5-6, 10:25, 1 Chronicles 22:13, 28:20, & Hebrews 13:5

God's Promise: Seek & Find

 

    The promise God mad with Moses was that if His people sought Him, then they would find Him.  When you want to know God with all your heart and soul, then He is going to build a relationship with you.  The kind of relationship you have with God has always been up to you.

    Moses provided this promise to God's people before he died and they entered the promised land.  He wanted them prepared to accept the blessings of God and be able to keep them.  It is a promise, but Moses also warned them about idol worship and disobedience.  Moses concludes that if you want God in your life, then you will have Him.  

    The key to this promise is sincerity.  You have to want God with all your heart and soul to obtain His mercy and hold onto His hope.  This is a promised based on devotion.  You get what you really want.  The closer you want to be to God, the more He will draw you in.  The more you lean on Him in trust, the stronger you become in your faith.

    The promise of seeking and finding God comes down to you recognizing that you need Him.  You can't use, manipulate, or change God.  You go to Him willing to meet Him at His standards.  He meets you where you are and helps you to become the person you were created to become.  It starts with you acknowledge sin as sin.  You see the sin in your life and you want to be rid of it.  This is how you come to God on His terms.  In return He forgives you and equips you with what you need to sin no more.  

Leviticus 26:39-40, Deuteronomy 4:29, 30:1-3, 2 Chronicles 15:4, Nehemiah 1:9, Isaiah 55:6-7, Jeremiah 29:12-14