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The God of Promise – Part 4

By / The Pastor's Pen / 3 minutes of reading

While the world’s turmoil continues, God’s people can rest in the many day-to-day promises of God. Even though there are times when God’s people are providentially caught in the world’s disasters, God remains faithful, keeping His Word through the most difficult circumstances.

King David, who was far from perfect, had a heart which repeatedly gravitated back to Yahweh, he testified the following of God. Blessed be the LORD! For he has heard the voice of my pleas for mercy. The LORD is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to Him (Psalm 28:6-7). Now, it’s important to grasp the practical nature of David’s praise in these two verses. David is NOT saying that all his problems vanished, as if prayer is a magic chant that removes all difficulties. Nor is he saying that prayer transformed him into a super-spiritual person who became invincible. Here, David declares the absolute essentials of what it means to live a faith which produces perseverance and a realistic joy in the LORD.

It starts with worship; Blessed be the LORD! Above all else in life, good, bad, or indifferent, the LORD is worthy of us acknowledging His majestic and holy character which are displayed through His actions. David knew that our circumstances, and the poor decisions we sometimes make, do NOT change who God is. This is our first point for confidence, the Lord’s worthiness of worship.

Therefore, acknowledging Yahweh’s worthiness, David knows the certainty of Him attentively listening to our prayers. No prayer is too short or too long. No prayer will ever catch God off-guard or by surprise. Plus, the God who is love (1 John 4:7), hears our prayers with a bias towards mercy. Meaning, when we appeal to God’s mercy, we are speaking to the very essence of who He is. This should begin to grow confidence in even the most nervous of believers who pray. None of God’s children who pray, ever go unnoticed or get ignored. This is our second point for confidence, our pleas for mercy get heard attentively.

Reminding ourselves of the first two points motivates us to acknowledge that the LORD is our strength and our shield. This shifts our dependency from self to God, releasing us from the deception that says we control our own destiny. Consequently, David, like us can say with determination that in Him my heart trusts. The application looks like this. Colossians 4:2, Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. Job adds; What is my strength, that I should wait? And what is my end, that I should be patient? (Job 6:11). A praying trust in God watches for His activity while we wait patiently for His timing. Watching, we recognise when God answers and we will be able to identify His help, even if divine help is delivered by human hands. This is our third point for confidence, God mercifully helps.

David ends where he started, with worship, repeating our first point for confidence. The outcome of biblical styled prayer, especially in times of great trial, is that our heart’s exult. That means, having worshipped, prayed, and seen merciful answers, at every level of our inner beings, we are jubilant with gratitude to the LORD. Emotions should not be able to contain themselves. Thanks, and appreciation will testify through words and singing. Leaving us with our fourth point for confidence, our impatience does not stop God answering in His time and way.

God’s promises, when truly believed, changes our perspective of trials.

To be continued…

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The God of Promise – Part 3

By / The Pastor's Pen / 3 minutes of reading

Promises of God convey comfort, carry hope, and affirm love. Thinking upon the Lord’s promises fuels our worship, strengthens our faith, and stores up spiritual resources ready for times of difficulty. They’re a rich source of spiritual nutrition spread across God’s Word. Divine promises help to keep our eyes on the Lord, and they help prevent us becoming ensnared by worldly distractions.

From the covenant promises to redemption in Jesus Christ, then looking  forward to Christ’s return and eternity, Yahweh fulfils every promise appropriate to us. Even if we are confused about what promises to apply to who, God knows, and God will action their fulfilment perfectly and appropriately. The Almighty never suffers promise crossfire, where He assigns a promise to the wrong  person or nation. His promises are never made flippantly in the spur of the moment. Likewise, heavenly promises are never a knee-jerk reaction by God to appease someone’s dissatisfaction. No, the LORD’S promises are purposeful, reasoned in accordance with His will from eternity past. Love, righteous justice, and gracious faithfulness are always central, and always for His glory and the believer’s eternal blessing.

For us, we have the assurance that in him (Christ) you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory (Ephesians 1:13-14). From the moment we believed in Jesus’ substitutional death for our sin, the Holy Spirit entered. He guarantees eternal life and our inheritance as Christians while we wait for either Christ to catch up the church, or to take us to heaven through death. As promised, the Holy Spirit ministers on our behalf, achieving what we are not able to, both here and in the heavenlies. Regardless of whether we live through times of difficulty, comfort, or confusion, the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God (Romans 8:27). Despite our frequent insensitivity to God’s will, we are assured of the Holy Spirit’s perfect alignment of His intercession and God’s will for our lives. Nothing is ever left to chance or guess work. There’s no luck here. In Christ, believers are secure within the realities of divine promises personalised by God the Holy Spirit. His relentless omnipresent ministry is one of omnipotent promise, incapable of failure or being forgotten.

Considering these certainties, the apostle Paul was sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ (Philippians 1:6). There is no escaping our Saviour’s sufficiency to carry every believer through this life, then to deliver us to our heavenly home. On the day of Jesus Christ not one saint will be missing, there shall be no casualties, not one will be overlooked. Upon arrival in perfection, worship will be the believers only desire. Promise will have reached its ultimate destination in absolute satisfaction of every detail ever promised. Almost unimaginable satisfaction is guaranteed, and all at the expense of Christ, purchased at the Cross of Calvary and interceded for in the throne room of Yahweh. Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. Who will separate us from the love of Christ? (Romans 8:34). No-one! These unparalleled promises are only found in Christ. May we worship HIM today in response to His promises and share Christ with someone who needs reminding of God’s promises.

To be continued…

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The God of Promise – Part 2

By / The Pastor's Pen / 3 minutes of reading

Promises come in all shapes and sizes, consisting of assurances for good, and similarly, sometimes for negative outcomes. Likewise, in God’s Word, He states many promises of both positive and negative content to different people groups. And I think it’s fair to say, that most people prefer to give their attention to pleasant promises more than the negative ones. Intrinsic to any promise is the expectation that it will be honoured. Heartbreak occurs when a wonderful promise is broken, and fulfilment dissolves into disillusionment and shattered loyalty. Such has been the sad experience of countless people over millennia of human history.

But NOT so with God! Even the questionable prophet Balaam got God’s integrity right when he told wicked Balak; God is not a man, that He should lie, …Has He said, and will He not do it? (Numbers 23:19). Here stands the foundation of all Christian belief, Holy God is faithful to His Word, whether we like what He says or not, Yahweh is trustworthy. The LORD says what He means, He means what He says, and His literal promises have literal fulfilment. We Christians base both our eternal lives, and our daily living upon this truth.

Therefore, we daily cling to the promised fact that the LORD is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth (Psalm 145:18). Here, king David calls the recipients to respond to God’s integrity with personal integrity by calling on the LORD in truth. This is simply a call for open honesty, without false intensions, and with intentional faithfulness to the Almighty. To these ones, the LORD promises His invisible nearness. Yet, the LORD manifests His nearness in many ways as He speaks to us through His Word, convicts and affirms us by His Holy Spirit, listens to our prayers, and providentially coordinates the events of our lives.

The spectacular nature of God’s promises secure us in the knowledge that He initiated them before we were saved, before we were born, and even before He created the world. Paul reminded timid Timothy of this certainty; in hope of eternal life, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began and at the proper time manifested in his word through the preaching with which I have been entrusted by the command of God our Saviour (Titus 1:2-3). God made promises to us in Jesus Christ, knowing that we were going to fail Him, yet He presently causes His promises to stand faithful. Regardless of our inconsistencies, even if we are faithless, he remains faithful – for he cannot deny himself (2 Timothy 2:13). God will never alter, break, transfer, or forget a single promise He has made to His children, to do so would be to deny His own holy character. We rest in the inalterable certainty of God’s fulfilled promises even though we know that we may fail to be the Christlike people we should be. Yahweh’s holy integrity exceeds all human definition of faithfulness, and for this we worship Him with surrendered lives.

Of course, these truths grow out of the fact that there is no God like you, in heaven above or on earth beneath, keeping covenant and showing steadfast love to your servants who walk before you with all their heart (1 Kings 8:23). The LORD is loyal to His holy character first and foremost, testified to by the four living creatures… who day and night never cease to say, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!” (Revelation 4:8). Believers rest in the security of God’s holiness expressed, in part, through ongoing fulfilled promises.

To be continued…

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The God of Promise – Part 1

By / The Pastor's Pen / 3 minutes of reading

As a child, my parents sometimes read from a “Promise Box,” which contained tiny roles of paper with printed promises from the Bible. Invariably, many of these promises were quoted from Old Testament covenant promises to the nation of Israel. Sadly, many were torn out of context and wrongly applied. So, as we consider God’s promises, we acknowledge that any grace received through them is only through the Lord Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 1:20; Hebrews 1:2). Therefore, we shall take care to apply God’s promises appropriately.

We rightly cling to God’s promises because we know that He always fulfills them. Due to Israel’s frequent disobedience and idolatry, they needed reminding that God was not unfaithful as they were. Joshua 21:45 reminded them that not one word of all the good promises that the LORD had made to the house of Israel had failed; all came to pass. The God of Israel is trustworthy. He is our God, and today, as always, He remains absolutely trustworthy as the keeper of all promises.

By the way, this fact should especially affirm our Gentile faith in God. As we watch the nation of Israel today, we see Yahweh literally bringing to fruition His promises from thousands of years ago. Ethnic Israel is the guarantee of the church’s future security in Christ. Just as the LORD specifically continues to fulfill promises to Israel, so the LORD will literally fulfill every promise to His bride, the church.

2 Peter 1:3-4 explain how God’s promises are actuated in the believer’s life. His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, 4 by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. As Christians, God’s power, which causes us to grow in God-like character and living, is administered to us through our knowledge of Him. Through our growing knowledge of God, we receive and understand His promises which are appropriate to New Testament believers. Through our obedient dependence upon God fulfilling His promises we increasingly become sharers and participants in God’s nature. The foremost result of this, is that we are increasingly liberated from the sinful desires that previously plagued us.

A growing knowledge of God’s Word is critical to this sanctifying process (John 17:17) as the Holy Spirit personalises our character development from His written Word. As this reality consumes more and more of our lives, we become more aware of the glory and excellence that God has graciously called us to. You see, there is a connection between the quality of our relationship with the LORD and our ability to recognise His fulfilled, and yet to be fulfilled, promises. This reassures us, that if we fail to see His promises being fulfilled, it is not because of any failure on God’s part.

I hope to consider over the coming weeks, a few of God’s great and precious promises. As I do, we shall see repeatedly, that although we are faithless, He remains faithful… (2 Timothy 2:13). Familiarity with at least some of God’s promises is essential to our faith and our faithfulness. Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him? (James 2:5). May we be rich in God’s promises.

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Steadfast in Christ

By / The Pastor's Pen / 3 minutes of reading

Steadfast character is a wonderful quality that reaps many blessings, even though it is not often spoken of. The apostle James considered those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful (James 5:11). Certainly, Job suffered far more than most of us, yet his default belief always landed him back trusting the integrity of God to meet his needs. God was Job’s silent guest throughout his sufferings, and it was God who invisibly provided Job with a steadfast heart and a rock-solid hope in Christ’s future return. Job testified of Yahweh, you have granted me life and steadfast love, and your care has preserved my spirit. Yet these things you hid in your heart; I know that this was your purpose (Job 10:12-13).

Job’s steadfast attachment to God’s truth empowered a towering hope in His Redeemer. Job 19:25-27 explains; For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. My heart faints within me! Weakened as he was from infectious boils, it was resurrection certainty of seeing Christ standing upon this earth that caused Job’s heart to quiver with hope (cf. Zechariah 14:3-4; Ezekiel 37:12-14).

James reiterates his point in the next verse saying, blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him (James 1:12). The size or nature of the trial matters not. Rather, it’s the believer’s response which James says is of significance. While trials come in all shapes and sizes; some brief, some prolonged, some mild, and others brutal, it is the Lord who enables His children to persevere. From within our trials, believers are called and equipped for stubborn faithfulness to Christ. Provision for this comes as we take up the whole armour of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm (Ephesians 6:13).

For some, the most challenging trials arrive wrapped in success, pleasure, and comfort. Craving worldly pleasures and recognition, some abandon Christ and His church, in exchange for worldly satisfaction (cf. Mark 4:18-19). For them, they forfeit the spiritual affirmation which flows out of steadfastness. It is the Christian’s faithfulness which produces the realisation of security in Christ which strengthens the desire never to abandon the Lord. In times of ease or pain, steadfast believers stand firm, having a proven testimony of the sufficiency of Christ and His Word through all that life throws at us.

I leave you with the reassuring words of the apostle Paul from Colossians 1:21-23; and you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard… May the Lord of all grace make this true in each of our lives.

As Christmas approaches once again, I’m going to lay down my pen for a rest. I pray you all have a wonderful time celebrating the birth of Christ our Saviour and a restful New Year. Unless the Lord’s Catching Up occurs, I shall return in February 2023.

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