He Will Do It!

“God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?” (Numbers 23:19 NIV)

I’m beginning to think that the reason many people do not believe God or in His existence is because they tend to think of Him in “human” terms.  They try to bring God down to man’s level of thinking, giving Him some of man’s attributes, and then thinking God will respond to situations like man will. They do not understand that God is Spirit and therefore not subject to the limitations of man–physically, emotionally, or mentally. Hallelujah!  I’m so glad He is not like us!  We are so fickle-minded, we change what we do and think in a heartbeat.  We lie to one another, seldom keep promises; especially to children and then we wonder why our lives are such a mess.

God won’t lie to us because truth and integrity are part of His attributes.  He won’t change His mind because He has no need to do so.  He can see far beyond what we can even think and He has already determined how things should be and the consequences of our actions. What He does, is for our good.  Every good parent wants only the best for their children and they plan for their children’s future. God is my “Daddy” and I know that His plans for me are designed to prosper me and not to harm me that I have a future with hope and a promise fulfilled (Jeremiah 29:11 paraphrased).  What He says, He means–He will not change His mind about what He speaks.  What He promises, He will make sure it happens.  When we receive His promises is entirely up to us--when we obey!

God is love!  Love has no desire to harm or disappoint or discourage.  Love comforts, chastises, encourages, motivates, inspires, and holds onto us even when we don’t deserve it.  That’s love!

Hold onto His promises, obey His Word, and watch how He works.  Whatever He has promised, He will bring it pass.  He will do it!  Hallelujah!

 

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His Timing is Not Ours!

“The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance”(2 Peter 3:9 NIV).

Isn’t it good to know that God’s timing is not measured by our timing?  Hallelujah!  If His timing was calculated based upon how “we determine time,” most of us would be in trouble.

The Word tells us that Jesus is coming back–does not specify time–but for those who truly believe, we know He’s coming back.  Many people have doubted The Word because they do not understand God’s timing.  We are told in The Word that with God, “a thousand years is like one day and one day like a thousand years”.  This is how God measures time.  If we, as human beings, could ever get past the notion that we can–define, demonstrate, illustrate, or explain God based on our own finite knowledge of anything–God would have a better chance of accomplishing some things through us.  As it is, we miss God’s best for our lives because we attempt to bring Him down to our level of thinking instead of allowing Him to bring us up to His level of thinking and doing.

He also reminds us that, “His thoughts are not our thoughts and His ways are not our ways”.  Why? Because He’s God–the omniscient One, all-knowing God–the One who created us and not the other way around.  Once we accept this simple fact, we put ourselves in position to receive His best–in His timing, not ours.  Think about it!  If we truly thought and acted like God, the world would be in a much better place because all we would do is “love one another” as He has commanded us to do.

So, the next time you get a little frustrated waiting to see God’s promises fulfilled in your life–know this!  His timing is not ours, but He is not a man that He should lie. If He promised it, He will bring it to pass!  Hallelujah!

The Promise to Generations

“For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, [even] as many as the Lord our God shall call” (Acts 2:39)

What promise is to us, our children and all who have not even been born, for anyone that God shall call?

The promise of the gift–The Holy Spirit and abundant life is accessible to all who believe and receive (read vs 38).  There are two things here that should be brought back to our remembrance.  First, Jesus promises us the gift of the Holy Spirit (upon His return to heaven) who will remind us of all we have been taught and show us things to come.  It is with the remembrance of what we have been taught–no weapon formed against us shall prosper, God’s Word will be fulfilled in our lives, by His stripes we are healed, we are more than conquerors, we are victorious in all things, we are loved and never alone (this list could go on, and on).  Secondly, the Holy Spirit (by divine design) can show us those things to come (giving us insight) if we are open and willing to allow Him to do so.  Nothing that ever happens–good or bad–should ever surprise a believer who has a strong relationship with God.  He does not intend for us to live our lives–unaware–which is why He has forewarned us through His Word of all we can expect. When we do as we are told, we can have the abundant life that Jesus promises.

Is the promise for just a few?  No, the promise is for anyone who believes that He is and He will do all He said He will do.  The promise is for our children who have been trained up in the way they should go and do not depart from their training.  The promise is for anyone God chooses to call unto Himself–no matter their gender, their nationality, or ethnicity–it is God’s choice.

He chooses whom He will call and we choose whether we accept His call into our lives.  I choose to receive the promise and to make sure that others who come behind me, know that the promise is also theirs.

Already Promised

“And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, [there] ye may be also” (John 14:3)

Jesus speaking to all generations: “If I go and prepare, I will come and receive”

He has gone back to the Father and is sitting at His right hand.

He has prepared a place for us to dwell for all eternity.

He will come again.

He will receive us in the air upon His return so we can reign with Him.

Generations speaking to Jesus: “Nevertheless, come quickly Lord!”

Save us from ourselves and all the wickedness that invades our thoughts as only You can!

Free From Bondage P 2

“Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, [even] as many as the Lord our God shall call.” (Acts 2:38-39)

Part II

“For the promise is unto us and to our children, and to all that are far away, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.”

What promise? The gift of the Holy Ghost (Spirit of God) is the promise given to us when we are open to receive Him in our lives and in allowing Him to guide us in every area of our lives. We must understand that the Holy Spirit is a gentleman and will not say anything that God has not already said. He does not “control” unless we allow Him to do so. He is “given” so that when we allow Him to do His job, we position ourselves to receive God’s best in our lives.

We are prone to making mistakes as we live each day, but if we can “hear” the Holy Spirit speaking to us, we won’t make as many mistakes and when we do, we can rectify them immediately.

The promise is not just to us who believe (Jesus is indeed Lord, and our Savior), but for our children when we raise them to believe and guide them with the help of the Holy Spirit, and for all (regardless of denomination, nationality, or gender) from far away places, whoever it is that God shall call unto Himself. Therefore, we cannot rule the Holy Spirit or dictate who shall receive–God and the individual determine who receives the Holy Spirit and we all should respect that process.

Receive the Holy Spirit, the Comforter promised to us by Jesus before He departed, The Counselor, the One who brings back to our remembrance everything we have been taught and will show us things to come. Open hearts and minds to hear every word he speaks and live to the glory of God! Hallelujah!

“For This Reason” Part 1

“For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge;” 2 Peter 1:5 (NIV).

If we look at the very first part of this verse of scripture, “for this very reason,” we’d have to ask ourselves (if we didn’t already know), what reason?

The reason or the how we get into position is to receive His precious promises in our lives–this is why Peter lists the virtues we should develop and increase in them.  The first two–adding goodness to faith (assuming we have received the…measure of faith given to all) and adding knowledge to goodness.  Notice how he says, “make every effort”–he does not say these things are automatically given or poured onto us.  We have to do something–and sometimes it is an effort to be good–with all the temptations that face us on a daily basis–but we must make the effort.  Do we fall short sometimes?  Probably. Then we have to make the effort–keep trying to get there and once there–make the effort to stay there.

When we see that we can be good–we need to obtain knowledge (through The Word) in order to stay good.  The knowledge we need comes through The Word, and our relationship with God in daily communication with Him.  Our relationship with Him is far more important than our affiliation with any religious entity because all of those entities espouse differing views, but none have the key to heaven or hell.  It is our relationship with God (or the lack of one) that determines which key “we” hold.

So, for just a moment, today–think about making every effort to be good–do something good for someone else and to encourage yourself in the Lord through The Word–while gaining knowledge to maintain your position with Him, in order to receive the promises.

Covenant and Commandments

“The Lord–our God–is God and keeps covenant with them who love Him and has mercy upon them who keep His commandments to a thousand generations” (Deuteronomy 7:9 paraphrased).

Keeping covenant–keeping His Word or His promises toward us.  The amazing thing about keeping covenant is a covenant is between two–not one.  So in order for God to keep covenant with us, we must be in agreement to the terms established.  There’s a lot to be said about keeping covenants, but this is not the place to dwell on the various contracts–covenants–that mere human beings often break.  There is one area that we flawed beings should be able to keep the terms–loving Him and keeping His commandment of love towards others.

Jesus said, the greatest commandments are these–Love the Lord with all your heart soul and mind and love your neighbor as yourself.  We need to keep these commandments to a thousand generations and if we do, we will have peace in the land. How do we know?

If we love God we can be assured of His hearing our prayers and answering them, providing for us and making ways out of no way to make sure all His promises towards us are kept.

If we love our neighbor (all those around us) as we love self, there would be no need for wars, domestic violence, crimes against one another or  humanity.

This is so simple–in fact–maybe it is the simplicity that keeps us from honoring these two commandments.  Maybe we complicate things to the point where we make it difficult to keep these two very simple commandments.

Stay in His Word and remember His covenant towards us.  Keep His commandments and watch the world around us change for the better!

Learn to love–self, God, and others!

 

 

No Doubt

Believe and doubt not and whatever we say, will come to pass!

Discouragement and doubt are the tools the enemy uses to make us feel insignificant or defeated. The Good news is–whenever the “thought” is planted we can immediately dispel it by saying out loud–I have no doubts about anything God has promised!

The Word tells us that if we have the faith–the size of a mustard seed, we can “say” to the mountain–“move and it will have to go!”

“Mountains of doubt and discouragement–go sink into the sea, never to be seen again. I will have all that God has said I will have and nothing, absolutely nothing will deter me!”

Glory to God! Unmovable Faith–removes all doubt!