E61 - Hope’s Harbor Gritty Bible Devotions - The Promises of GOD - Part 1 of 2
Hope’s Harbor
Gritty Bible Devotions
Episode #61
Title: The Promises of GOD – Part 1 of 2
Date: July 4, 2022
Contact: info@hopesharbor.net
Key verse(s): 2 Corinthians 1:20 – ‘For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us.’
Promises: an announcement (for information, assent or pledge; especially a divine assurance of good): - message
Hebrews 11:33 – ‘who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions…’
2 Peter 1:4 – ‘by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.’
Other definitions of promise: a self committal (by an assurance of conferring some good) - to engage to do something
Romans 4:20 - ‘He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God,
Romans 4:21 – ‘and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform.
Intro: When GOD makes a promise it comes from His nature of having the power to grant any and every promise made. However, there are often conditions for fulfillment.
Here is one example of a condition from GOD:
Psalm 66:18 – ‘If I regard iniquity in my heart, The Lord will not hear.’
This means GOD will not listen to our plea for Him to fulfill a promise when we embrace any known sin. The verse could be paraphrased as ‘If I consider wickedness in order to consent to it.’ By the way, iniquity, or wickedness, means more than ‘those people who do evil.’ The full meaning of the word iniquity is trouble, vanity, wickedness; specifically an idol: - affliction, evil, false, idol, iniquity, mischief, unjust, unrighteous, vain, vanity, wicked (-ness.)
On the positive side, even in promises made to Abraham, Noah, Moses, etc. which do not apply to us specifically, we can see principles of GOD at work in how He interacts with His people.
Devotion focus: How to recognize GOD’s promises to you –
This list is from an online source:
He promises to strengthen you –
Psalm 27:14 – ‘Wait on the LORD; Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the LORD!’
He promises to never leave you –
Hebrews 13:5 – ‘Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, "I WILL NEVER LEAVE YOU NOR FORSAKE YOU."’
He promises plans for you, to give you a future with hope –
Jeremiah 29:11 – ‘For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.
Jeremiah 29:12 – ‘Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.
Jeremiah 29:13 – ‘And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.
(These promises were spoken to GOD’s people in Jeremiah’s day. I believe they apply to us as GOD’s children, spiritually.)
He promises to hear your prayers.
Jeremiah 29:12 – ‘Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.
John 14:14 – “If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.”
He promises to fight for you.
1Samuel 17:47 – “Then all this assembly shall know that the LORD does not save with sword and spear; for the battle is the LORD's, and He will give you into our hands."
And then, here is a great prayer of faith in and dependence on GOD to deliver. Notice how it is after the people of GOD pray, He sends a priest to deliver a message, a promise, to the people:
2 Chronicles 20:12 – “O our God, will You not judge them? For we have no power against this great multitude that is coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are upon You."
2 Chronicles 20:13 - ‘Now all Judah, with their little ones, their wives, and their children, stood before the LORD.
2 Chronicles 20:14 - ‘Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, in the midst of the assembly.
2 Chronicles 20:15 – ‘And he said, "Listen, all you of Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem, and you, King Jehoshaphat! Thus says the LORD to you: 'Do not be afraid nor dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God's.”’
He promises you peace.
John 14:27 – “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”
He promised to always love you.
John 15:9 - "As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love.”
Summary: To understand when a promise in the Bible applies to us we must know the context of the promise and to whom the promise is given. Even when a promise was to a certain people in the past and not to us we can see principles at work in how GOD dealt with His people down through the centuries. This builds our confidence in GOD’s promises when they are to us.
Action to consider: Take the time today to find one promise in the New Testament and begin to claim it for yourself or another, by faith, in prayer, and with patience. And as you pray, tell GOD you are asking Him to do as He promised. Spurgeon said this is like cashing a heavenly check, expecting GOD to do as He said as the Heavenly Banker.
There are numerous booklets available from online Christian book retailers containing promises of GOD that you may find helpful in getting started.
Next week’s devotion: Part 2 – conclusion of GOD’s Promises as we look at claiming and applying the promises.