Promises of God

Precious Promises

Do you trust that God’s promises are for you?

Verse of the Day

“And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises.”

2 Peter 1:4a

Today’s Devotional

We’ve spent quite a bit of time studying the promises of God.  This study has not been exhaustive, as I’m sure there are many promises that I missed.  But what I’ve learned through this study is that I have a choice to believe God’s promises or not.  I have a choice to participate in the promises that require something from me. 

If there’s one thing that is evident to me, it’s that God wants a relationship with me.  You too.  As you read over the list of promises that we have studied, I’d like you to notice how very little is required of you based on what God promises in return.  He wants your heart.  He wants you to trust Him.  He wants your obedience, not because He is an arrogant task-master, but because He truly knows what is best for you. Here is what God is offering you:

• The Lord your God is indeed God.
• He promises that He is faithful.
• He promises to lavish His unfailing love on those who love Him and obey Him.
• God promises to go before you.
• God promises to guide you.  Your responsibility is to follow.
• God promises to hear you when you call to Him for help.
• God promises to fight for you.  He advises you to stay calm.
• God promises to be with you wherever you go.
• God promises to give you strength. Your responsibility is to admit your weakness.
• God delights in those who follow Him. He does not allow them to fall.
• God promises forgiveness to those who are called by His name.  Our responsibility is to humble ourselves, seek Him, and turn from anything that is not pleasing to Him.
• God promises to give you your heart’s desire.  Your responsibility is to delight in God.
• God promises to love you.
• God promises to show you which path to take. Your responsibility is to trust Him, not rely on your own thinking, and seek Him in all you do.
• God promises to give you new strength.  Your responsibility is to trust Him.
• God promises to prune you in order to make you more fruitful.
• God promises to help you.
• God promises to protect you from destruction.
• God promises a covenant of peace with you.
• God promises to be your vindicator.
• God promises salvation to you when you believe that He sent his Son, Jesus, to die for your sins.
• Jesus promises you rest from striving and from carrying your own sins.
• God promises redemption to those who trust Him.
• Jesus promises freedom to those who believe that He is the Son of God.
• God promises hope. You can have hope today because God is God and He is good.
• God promises peace that you won’t be able to understand as you live your life for Him.
• God promises to meet your needs.
• Jesus promises that He is and always will be victorious.
• God promises to always be working for your good.  Your responsibility is to love Him and live for Him.
• God promises to be trustworthy.
• God promises to hear you when you ask for what pleases Him.
• God promises you an escape from whatever is tempting you.  Your responsibility to take the way out so you can endure.
• God promises to bless you when you patiently endure testing and temptation.
• God promises to give you wisdom.
• God promises eternal life to anyone who believes in Jesus as their Savior.
• God promises to share his divine nature with you, and to give you an escape from the world’s corruption.
• God promises to cleanse you as you confess your sins to Him.
• Jesus promises to carry your sins for you.  Your responsibility is to believe in Him, and allow Him to carry your sins.
• God promises that you are His very own when you believe in Jesus. And He promises to give you the Holy Spirit to help you.
• God promises to give you grace.
• God promises to give you everything you need to live a godly life.
• God promises your victory when you align your life with His.

What an amazing God we have!  That list is very humbling to me.  He gives us so much and asks us to love Him and trust Him.  The more we love and trust Him, the more our lives will become shaped by His love.

Christian author Lysa TerKeurst posted something online a few days ago that I feel like I should add to our wrap-up on the promises of God.

“I trust God. Until I don’t. That doesn’t feel like a very Christian thing to say. But if I don’t acknowledge this struggle, I can’t address it.

I don’t think I’m the only one.

So many of us raise our hands high as we proclaim that our God is a “good, good Father,” but then we find ourselves lying in our beds at night with tear-stained pillows, facing realities that don’t feel very good at all.

It’s hard not to feel suspicious of God when our circumstances don’t seem to line up with His promises. And it’s difficult not to doubt the light of His truth when everything around us looks dark.

But we must know there’s purpose in every season — even seasons of darkness. And we must choose… Will we see dark times as a womb or a tomb? Is it a birth of something new or the death of what we thought should be? Will we fix our eyes on God’s goodness or give in to hopelessness and despair?

Oh, friends. I know the dark places are scary. But let’s ask God to bring good out of these difficult places we so desperately want to be done with. And instead of being suspicious of Him, let’s lift up our praises to Him.

Praise may not shift our circumstances, but it will definitely begin to change our hearts. We don’t always get to choose our situations, but we can choose how we live through them.”

We get to choose.  Do we choose to believe in God’s promises more firmly than we believe in our current circumstances?  Do we choose to trust Him enough to obey Him?  What do you choose today?

Journal Prompts

Answer only the questions that seem relevant to you today.

How have any of your circumstances caused you to doubt God’s promises?

How is God asking you to follow Him more diligently today?

Where is God asking you to trust Him?

Do you truly believe that God’s promises are for you?  What is your responsibility?

Which promises do you need to meditate on? Write them down.

Take the time to thank God today for what He had promised to you.