Welcome to this week’s blog. This week is the third week (3rd blog) I am continuing to do a deep dive into God’s 7 promises in the Bible. But of course, these are only a very small select few of God’s promises to His children.
So, with a little research into what exactly are God’s biblical promises, both in the Old and New Testaments, I discovered, not at all to my own amazement, there are many more than seven promises from God. More like countless promises in scripture. Christians and those alike, can trust and believe He has, and will continue to keep His word.
Unlike man, who makes promises to family and friends every day, and then miserably fails to keep his word; God has made promises of what He will do for us, and has and will continue to keep them all the days of our lives. God’s promises have never failed. Scripture proves this. His word, and the fulfillment of His word is what makes Him a trusting God.
As a small sample, we have the following promises from God:
God reminds us daily,
1. I am your strength.
2. I will never leave you.
3. I have plans for you to prosper.
4. I hear your prayers.
5. I will fight for you.
6. I will give you peace.
7. I always love you.
Because the above seven promises are broad in nature, and surely not an all-encompassing list of promises scriptures shows us in the Bible, I felt duty-bound to write a series of blogs on God’s promises. Why multiple blogs? Because when we think about God’s nature, nothing is too large, to great or impossible for Him. This means that there are many, many more promises spoken by God in the Bible, aside from the seven listed above. Over the course of the next several weeks, my blogs will be elaborating on “God’s 7 Promises.”
Each week I will provide biblical stories, parables, and scripture that undoubtedly prove that not only did God reassure man of His promises, but to trust in His word. He promises He will be our strength, and never leave us. He has plans to prosper us. He hears our prayers. He will always fight for us. He will give us peace, and most importantly His love endures forever.
Let’s get started. This week's blog covers Psalm 77.8, Romans 10:9, 2 Peter 3:9 in the New King James (NKJ) Bible.
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Psalm 77.8 – The story of Asaph crying out to God during a time of deep distress
1 A Psalm of Asaph. I cried out to God with my voice-- To God with my voice; And He gave ear to me. 2 In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord; My hand was stretched out in the night without ceasing; My soul refused to be comforted. 3 I remembered God, and was troubled; I complained, and my spirit was overwhelmed. Selah 4 You hold my eyelids open; I am so troubled that I cannot speak. 5 I have considered the days of old, The years of ancient times. 6 I call to remembrance my song in the night; I meditate within my heart, And my spirit makes diligent search. 7 Will the Lord cast off forever? And will He be favorable no more? 8 Has His mercy ceased forever? Has His promise failed forevermore? 9 Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has He in anger shut up His tender mercies? Selah 10 And I said, "This is my anguish; But I will remember the years of the right hand of the Most High." 11 I will remember the works of the Lord; Surely, I will remember Your wonders of old. 12 I will also meditate on all Your work, And talk of Your deeds. 13 Your way, O God, is in the sanctuary; Who is so great a God as our God? 14 You are the God who does wonders; You have declared Your strength among the peoples. 15 You have with Your arm redeemed Your people, The sons of Jacob and Joseph. – Psalm 77.1-15 (NKJ)
This is a story of confirmation that God does hear us when we cry out for His help. His mercy on us will never cease, but mercy is promised to us forever. His promises never fail, as we can see with Asaph’s situation. Asaph cried out to God for courage during a time of deep distress in his life. The source of Asaph’s distress was his doubt that God would be there to help him through his troubled time. He pled, “I cried out to God for help.” But eventually in his cry the “I” disappeared. Why, because Asaph’s focus on himself was gone. At first, Asaph expressed his requests to God, then his focus changed from thinking of himself to then worshiping God: “You are the God who performs miracles.” We can derive from this story that only after Asaph put aside his doubts about God’s holiness and care for him, was his distress lifted.
Just as Asaph did, if we diligently pray to God for help in difficult times, His wondrous ways will help us shift our focus from ourselves to Him. It is then when we focus on God’s promise of mercy, and protection that we are comforted in hard times. This doesn’t mean that God removes difficult times from our lives. But to the contrary, He allows them to occur. When God allows difficult times in our lives, it causes us to remember how God has helped us in the past. It also helps us realize how much we really do need His help. It helps us to recall God’s previous miracles, and works in our lives. This then gives us courage, and strength to press on through difficult times, knowing God hasn’t abandoned us, but He is right beside us protecting us as we go through our trials, and tribulations. It’s one of many of God’s lessons for us to trust Him above all else because we cannot thrive in this life without Him. It is because of His strength when we are weak that gets us through distressed times. He knows we are weak, but He is strong.
Romans 10:1-9 – The story of God’s promise that we will be saved if we believe in our hearts and say with our mouths that Christ is the risen Lord
1 Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved. 2 For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. 3 For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God. 4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. 5 For Moses writes about the righteousness which is of the law, "The man who does those things shall live by them." 6 But the righteousness of faith speaks in this way, "Do not say in your heart, 'Who will ascend into heaven?' " (that is, to bring Christ down from above) 7 or, " 'Who will descend into the abyss?' " (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). 8 But what does it say? "The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart" (that is, the word of faith which we preach): 9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. – Romans 10:1-9 (NKJ)
Have you ever wondered what is meant by “being saved?” Have you ever wanted to become a Christian, but don’t know where to begin this life journey? The scripture above gives us a beautiful answer – God’s promise of salvation is for those who confess with their mouths, and believe in their hearts that Jesus Christ is your Lord and Savior. If you believe He is the risen Lord, you will be saved vs. perish. One of God’s most precious promises to His children is an eternal life with Him.
The other option you have is to perish. To perish means you will not be taken up into heaven with the Lord at the time of His 2nd Coming. The bible tells us God promises to take His children home. I believe every Christian must take God’s great biblical message of salvation to others, so they can respond to the good news too. How else will the unbeliever learn of this great promise, if God’s children don’t take part in making His message known? As God’s messengers, we are to compassionately connect the mind of the unbeliever to the message of truth in the gospel.
2 Peter 3:1-9 – Peter’s second letter to the people to stir up their minds by way of a reminder of God’s promise of His 2nd Coming
1 Beloved, I now write to you this second epistle (in both of which I stir up your pure minds by way of reminder), 2 that you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior, 3 knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, 4 and saying, "Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation." 5 For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, 6 by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water. 7 But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. 8 But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. – 2 Peter 3:1-9 (NKJ)
In the last days scoffers will say that Jesus is never coming back, but in this scripture, Peter refutes their argument by explaining God’s mastery over time. The last days is the time between Christ’s first, and second comings; therefore we, like Peter, are living in the last days. We must do the work to which God has called us. We must believe that He is returning, as He has promised in the bible.
God may have seemed slow to the believers in this scripture, as they faced daily persecution, and they longed to be delivered. But God is not slow; He’s just not on our timeline. The truth is, Jesus is waiting on many, so that more sinners and unbelievers will repent, and turn to Him before He returns. We must not sit and wait for Christ to return, but we should live with the realization that our remaining time here on earth is short, and we have important work to do in the meantime. Are you ready to meet Christ anytime, even today? But in the event the Lord doesn’t return today, we must continue to plan our “course of service” as though He may not return for many more years. Whether He returns today, or years from now, at all times we are to prepare ourselves, and others for His promise to return and take His children home on the Day of the Lord.
One way my husband and I have shared the knowledge of God’s promised message is through my newly published book – Day of the Lord, the Last Generation and the Fulfillment of Biblical Prophesy - https://www.thewitnesstoday.com/product-page/copy-of-the-witness-new
As we continue to see in each of these biblical stories each week, what God promised then, He continues to promise to us today. He hears our prayers; He gives us peace; He is our strength; He will fight for us; He will never leave us and He promised to return to take His children home. Therefore, we must trust Him to do what He says He’s going to do for each of us.
Blessings until next week,
Debra Pauli Unstoppable Believer
Scripture Quotes: Holy Bible – New King James Version (NKJ)
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