God's Promise
Insight
COURAGE
Don't be afraid, because I have saved you. I have called you by name, and you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you. When you cross rivers you will not drown. When you walk through fire, you will not be burned, nor will the flames hurt you. This is because I the Lord am your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. (Isaiah 43:1-3)
Don't worry, because I am with you. Don't be afraid, because I am your God. I will make you strong and will help you; I will support you with my right hand that saves you. I am the LORD your God, who holds your right hand, and I tell you, "Don't be afraid. I will help you." (Isaiah 41:10, 13)
How great is your goodness that you have stored up for those who fear you that you have given to those who trust you. You do this for all to see. You protect them by your presence from what people plan against them. You shelter them from evil words. (Psalms31:19-20)
Could you use some courage? Are you backing down more than you are standing up? Jesus scattered the butterflies out of the stomachs of his nervous disciples.
We need to remember that the disciples were common men given a compelling task. Before they were the stained-glassed saints in the windows of cathedrals, they were somebody's next door neighbors trying to make a living and raise a family. They weren't cut from theological cloth or raised on supernatural milk. But they were an ounce more devoted than they were afraid and as a result, did some extraordinary things.
Earthly fears are no fears at all. Answer the big question of eternity, and the little questions of life fall into perspective.
٭ Let me hear words of hope and the promise of a glorious future in your kingdom give me hope and courage for today, Father. You are with me now as you will be throughout all eternity.
FAITH
Faith means being sure of the things we hope for and knowing that something is real even if we do not see it. It is by faith we understand that the whole world was made by God's command so what we see was made by something that cannot be seen. Without faith no one can please God. Anyone who comes to God must believe that he is real and that he rewards those who truly want to find him. (Hebrews 11:1,3,6)
The Good News shows how God makes people right with himself - that it begins and ends with faith. As the Scripture says, "But those who are right with God will live by trusting in him." (Romans 1:17)
We have troubles all round us, but we are not defeated. We do not know what to do, but we do not give up the hope of living. We are persecuted, but God does not leave us. We are hurt sometimes, but we are not destroyed. So we do not give up. Our physical body is becoming older and weaker, but our spirit inside us is made new every day. We have small troubles for a while now, but they are helping us gain an eternal glory that is much greater than the troubles. We set our eyes not on what we see but on what we cannot see. (II Corinthians 4:8-9, 16-18)
Faith is the belief that God is real and that God is good. It is a choice to believe that the one who made it all hasn't left it all and that he still sends light into the shadows and responds to gestures of faith.
Faith is the belief that God will do what is right.
God says that the more hopeless your circumstances, the more likely your salvation. The greater you cares, the more genuine your prayers. The darker the roomthe greater the need for light.
God's help is near and always available, but it is only given to those who seek it.
٭ Father, help me renew my commitment to you, to release everything and to be owned and possessed by you. I long to submit myself to you, so that I might know the holy freedom available to me only through your grace.
CONTENTMENT
Serving God does make us very rich, if we are satisfied with what we have. We brought nothing into the world, so we can take nothing out. But, if we have food and clothes, we will be satisfied with that. Those who want to become rich bring temptation to themselves and are caught in a trap. They want many foolish and harmful things that ruin and destroy people. The love of money causes all kinds of evil. Some people have left the faith, because they wanted to get more money, but they have caused themselves much sorrow. (I Timothy 6:6-10)
Do not worry about anything, but pray and ask God for everything you need, always giving thanks. And God's peace, which is so great we cannot understand it, will keep your hearts and mind in Christ Jesus. I have learned to be satisfied with the things I have and with everything that happens. I know how to live when I am poor, and I know how to live when I have plenty. I have learned the secret to being happy at any time in everything that happens. I can do all things through Christ, because he gives me strength. (Philippians 4:6-7, 11-13)
Satisfied? That is one thing we are not. We are not satisfied.
We take a vacation of a lifetime. We satiate ourselves with sun, fun, and good food. But we are not even on the way home before we dread the end of the trip and begin planning another.
We are not satisfied.
As a child we say, "If only I were a teenage." As a teen we say, "If only I were and adult." As an adult, "If only I were married." As a spouse, "If only I had kids."
We are not satisfied. Contentment is a difficult virtue. Why?
Because there is nothing on earth that can satisfy our deepest longing, we long to see God. The leaves of life are rustling with the rumor that we will - and we will - and we won't be satisfied until we do.
٭Father, keep me from being so blinded by possessions I cannot keep that I fail to see the eternal treasure I cannot loose.
LOVE
Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous, it does not brag, and it is not proud. Love is not rude, is not selfish, and does not get upset with others. Love does not count up wrongs that have been done. Love is not happy with evil but is happy with the truth. Love patiently accepts all things. It always trusts, always hopes, and always remains strong. (I Corinthians 13:4-7)
We know the love that God has for us, and we trust that love. God is love. Those who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. (I John 4:16)
The Father himself loves you. He loves you because you loved me and believed that I came from God. (John 16:27)
I give you a new command: Love each other. You must love each other as I have loved you. All people will know that you are my followers if you love each other. (John 13:34-35)
The single most difficult pursuit is truth and love.
That sentence is grammatically correct. I know every English teacher would like to pluralize it to read: The most difficult pursuits are those of truth and love. But that's not what I mean to say.
Love is a difficult pursuit.
Truth is a tough one, too.
But put them together, pursue truth and love at the same time and hang on baby, you're in for the ride of your life.
Love in truth. Truth in love. Never one at the expense of the other. Never the embrace of love without the torch of truth. Never the heat of truth without the warmth of love.
To pursue both is our singular task.
٭God of heaven, I see your hand stretching as far as the east is from the west. Put your hands and your arms around me and embrace me, Father. Then help me to stretch out me hands and arms to a world that desperately need your love-and mine.
HOPE
No king is saved by his great army. No warrior escapes by his great strength. But the LORD looks after those who fear him, those who put their hope in his love. He saves them from death and spares their lives in times of hunger. So our hope is in the LORD. He is our help, our shield to protect us. (Psalms33:16,18-20)
If God is with us, no one can defeat us. He did not spare his own Son but gave him for us all. So with Jesus, God will surely give us all things. Who can accuse the people God has chosen? No one, because God is the One who makes them right. (Romans 8:31-33)
The LORD's love never ends; his mercies never stop. They are new every morning; LORD, your loyalty is great. I say to myself, "The LORD is mine, so I hope in him." The LORD is good to those who hope in him, to those who seek him. (Lamentations 3:22-25)
It's hard to see things grow old. The town in which I grew up is growing old. Some of the building s are boarded up. Some of the houses are torn down. The old movie house where I took my dates has "For Sale" on the marquee.
I wish I could make it all new again. I wish I could blow the dust off the streets but I can't.
I can't. But God can. "He restores my soul," wrote the shepherd. He doesn't reform; he restores. He doesn't camouflage the old; he restores the new. The Master Builder will pull out the original plan and restore it. He will restore the vigor. He will restore the energy. He will restore the hope. He will restore the soul.
٭You never promised me that this world would be easy. And yet, all of me can look ahead to the city that's set on a hill, to the lights that call me to eternity. And I take hope.
TRUTH
The teachings of the LORD are perfect; they give new strength. The rules of the LORD can be trusted; they make plain people wise. The judgments of the LORD are true; they are completely right. (Psalms19:7-9)
How I love your teachings! I think about them all day long. Your commands make me wiser than my enemies, because they are mine forever. Your words are true from the start, and all your laws will be fair forever. (Psalms119:97, 98, 160)
We also know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding so that we can know the True One. And our lives are in the True One and in his Son, Jesus Christ. He is the true God and the eternal life. (I John 5:20)
Imagine that you are in ice skater in competition. You are in first place with one more round to go. If you perform will, the trophy is yours. You are nervous, anxious, and frightened.
Then, only minutes before your performance your trainer rushes to you with the thrilling news: "You've already won! The judges tabulated the scores, and the person in second place can't catch you. You are too far ahead."
Upon hearing the news, how will you feel? Exhilarated!
And how will you skate? How about courageously and confidently? You bet you will. You will do your best because the prize is yours.
The point is clear: the truth will triumph. The Father of truth will win, and the followers of truth will be saved.
٭Father, thank you for your truth. Help me to see what is important, what is eternal, and what is lasting. Help me to put into practice the timeless truths found in your Word.
STRENGTH
He gives strength to those who are tired and more power to those who are weak. The people who trust the LORD will become strong again. They will rise up as an eagle in the sky; they will run and not need rest; they will walk and not become tired. (Isaiah 40:29,31)
Come to me, all of you who are tired and have heavy loads, and I will give you rest. Accept my teachings and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble in spirit, and you will find rest fro your lives. The teaching that I ask you to accept is easy; the load I give you to carry is light. (Matthew 11:28-30)
God is our protection and our strength. He always helps in times of trouble, The LORD All-Powerful is with us; the God is Jacob is our defender. (Psalms46:1, 11)
An example of faith was found on the wall of a concentration camp. On it a prisoner had carved the words:
I believe in the sun, even though it doesn't shine,
I believe in love, even when it isn't shown,
I believe in God, even when he doesn't speak.
I try to imagine the person who etched those words. I try to envision his skeletal hand gripping the broken glass or stone that cut into the wall. I try to imagine his eyes squinting through the darkness as the carved each letter. What hand could have cut such a conviction? What eyes could have seen good in such horror?
There is only one answer: Eyes that chose to see the unseen.
٭Father, you promised that there would be faith and strength and hope to meet life's problems. Father, give me that strength when my anxieties have buried my dreams, when illnesses have hospitalized my hopes, when burdens are bigger than my shoulders.
PATIENCE
We also have joy with our troubles, because we know that these troubles produce patience. And patience produces character, and character produces hope. And this hope will never disappoint us, because God has poured out his love to fill our hearts.(Romans 5:3-5)
We have around us many people whose lives tell us what faith means. So let us run the race that is before us and never give up. We should remove from our lives anything that would get in the way and the sin that to easily holds us back. Let us look only to Jesus, the One who began our faith and who makes it perfect. (Hebrews 12:1-2)
My brothers and sisters, when you have many kinds of troubles, you should be full of joy, because you know that these troubles test your faith, and this will give you patience. Let your patience show itself perfectly in what you do. Then you will be perfect and complete and will have everything you need. (James 1:2-4)
God is often more patient with us than we are with ourselves. We assume that if we fall, we aren't born again. If we stumble, then we aren't truly converted. If we have he old desires, then we must not be a new creation.
If you are anxious about this, please remember, "God began doing a good work in you, and I am sure he will continue it until it is finished when Jesus Christ comes again." (Phil 1:6)
I am encourages when I think of your patience, Father, and or your unfailing love. Help me to be patient-with people, with circumstances, even with myself