Living By His Promises

The Lord asked me: “What’s the difference between my law and my promises?” 

After thinking about it for a good minute and a half, I said “I don’t know Lord, what is the difference?” 

He said “My law puts all the pressure on you to fulfill it, but my promises put all the pressure on Me.  Which do you prefer?”

Without skipping a beat, I said “Your promises, Lord!  Definitely Your promises!”

He said, “Good, that’s how I want it!”

If there’s one thing I’m certain of in these troubling times, it’s that God is faithful.  He will never waver or go back on His Word.  I thank the Lord He does not speak idle words or make empty promises.  His promises are pregnant with Life and fervor.  When God says something, you can bank on it!  It’s a done deal!

The best part of all is that God wants to fulfill all of His promises in our lives:

“Whatever God has promised gets stamped with the Yes of Jesus. In him, this is what we preach and pray, the great Amen, God’s Yes and our Yes together, gloriously evident. God affirms us, making us a sure thing in Christ, putting his Yes within us. By his Spirit he has stamped us with his eternal pledge—a sure beginning of what he is destined to complete” (2 Corinthians 1:20-22 MSG).

I've firmly resolved that I want to live by His promises and make His Word the final authority in my life.  Now, whenever we decide to believe the Truth, our faith will be tested.  The devil always comes like a thief in the night to snatch the Word away from us.  Sometimes, it seems when we decide to put our faith in God, all hell breaks loose. 

Can I just say: so what?!  God is still God and His Word is still true! In those times when the Word is being tested in your life, just keep standing firm in the Word.  Don’t worry about what it looks like, you’re on solid ground.  

Ephesians 6:13 states “Therefore put on God’s complete armor, that you may be able to resist and stand your ground on the evil day [of danger], and, having done all [the crisis demands], to stand [firmly in your place].”

Romans chapter 4 says Abraham hoped against hope.

“Even when there was no reason for hope, Abraham kept hoping—believing that he would become the father of many nations. For God had said to him, “That’s how many descendants you will have!” And Abraham’s faith did not weaken, even though, at about 100 years of age, he figured his body was as good as dead—and so was Sarah’s womb.

Abraham never wavered in believing God’s promise. In fact, his faith grew stronger, and in this he brought glory to God. He was fully convinced that God is able to do whatever he promises. And because of Abraham’s faith, God counted him as righteous. And when God counted him as righteous, it wasn’t just for Abraham’s benefit. It was recorded for our benefit, too, assuring us that God will also count us as righteous if we believe in him, the one who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. He was handed over to die because of our sins, and he was raised to life to make us right with God.”

We are believers, so let’s start believing! Crack open your bible just like the woman with the alabaster jar (Mark 14) and let the rich aroma of God’s unquenchable Word perfume your mind and transform your life! 

True Holiness Attained through Sonship

“But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God—who chose you to be His children—is holy.  For He Himself has said, ‘You must be holy because I am holy.’” –1 Peter 1:15-16

I love this scripture because it shows us how to walk in true holiness: “Be holy because I am holy.”  Why would God tell us to do something we cannot do?  Or to be something we cannot be?  He would not.  He cannot.  To do so would be unjust, and God is just.  God does not ask us to do anything without first giving us the power and provision to do it.

Ephesians 1:4-5 reveals God’s heart: “Long ago, even before He made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in His eyes.  His unchanging plan has always been to adopt us into His own family by bringing us to Himself through Jesus Christ.  And this gave Him great pleasure.”

This scripture reveals He chose us in Christ to be holy.  So being positioned in Christ is the key.  In Him, we are holy.  In John 15:5, Jesus says “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches.  Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit.  For apart from me you can do nothing.”  When we make room for Jesus in our hearts, when we recognize our true identity in Christ and yield to the Holy Spirit, we will do wondrous works for the Lord.  This will bring Him great glory.

You might still struggle with sin, but that’s not who you are anymore.  We are the righteousness of God in Christ!  Sometimes, we might slip back into our old way of life, but don’t be despondent.  All we have to do is put it behind us, and keep pressing on toward Jesus.  He has already made a way for us through the shedding of His blood.  Philippians 2:13 says “God is working in you, giving you the desire to obey Him and the power to do what pleases Him.” 

It’s not about trying our hardest not to live in sin; it’s all about hungering for Jesus and the things of God so passionately that we’re not even conscious of sin or trying to keep the law.  Don’t let the enemy deceive you, and don’t live in condemnation.  Just remain in Christ and watch Him transform you from the inside out. 

The devil is not afraid of a carnal Christian who’s driven by fleshly desires and who’s so weighed down by guilt and shame, he can’t receive his inheritance from God.  No, the devil is afraid of a Spirit-filled believer who is equipped with the arsenal of God’s Word and who is so full of God, there is no room for anything else!

When God anointed Jesus with the Holy Spirit, He said: “This is my beloved Son, and I am fully pleased with Him.” What is the first thing the enemy tried to question when he tempted Jesus in the wilderness?  “If thou are the Son of God…” (Matt 4:3).  Notice, the devil carefully omitted the word “beloved.”

The enemy is always trying to make us question our sonship and take God’s love out of the equation.  This spirit of sonship attained by faith in Jesus Christ produces such a bold confidence inside us that the enemy will flee from us in terror!  He doesn’t know how to fight someone who is secure in God’s love.  Even the sinful desires lingering in our own earthly flesh must bow the knee to God’s all-consuming love.

Yield to God and allow His life to flow through you.  As we do, the very Person of Jesus Christ is being expressed and glorified through us.  It’s not about us and our inability.  God already knows apart from Him we can do nothing.  But with Christ, we can do all things.  Life with Jesus gives birth to all manner of possibility.

Our position in Christ makes all the difference.  “Be holy because I am holy,” says the Lord.  Be holy. We are not holy in and of ourselves.  We are holy because God is holy and His life is inside of us.  We are holy because God loves us and chose us in Christ to be holy and to be His very own children.

If you don’t see yourself as a beloved son of God, then you need to find out who you are in Christ.  Let His Word have the final say in your life—let it be the ultimate authority regardless of what you see on the outside, for the bible says “the just shall live by faith.”  When you build your life on the Rock—Jesus Christ, the Truth of God’s Word, then you cannot easily be shaken.  Come hell or high water, you know who you are.

We are new creatures in Christ Jesus.  The old things have passed away and a new life has begun! (2 Corinthians 5:17).  Let us shed off our old evil nature as we would shrug off an old raggedy coat, and let us robe ourselves with the righteousness of Christ in all its supreme elegance.  Let us make a place in our hearts for Christ to rule and reign!  Let Jesus be the center and watch everything else fall into place.