Standing on the promises of God

Many of us would have waited in the Lord’s presence and received a promise for this New Year 2013 – we may have received promises just for us, for our families, for our church and so on. Now what do we do with these precious promises. How are we going to inherit the promise of God?

1.   .Confession: Let us read Daniel 9, to see what Daniel did with the promise God gave through Prophet Jeremiah.

1In the first year of Darius son of Xerxes (a Mede by descent), who was made ruler over the Babylonian kingdom— 2 in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood from the Scriptures, according to the word of the Lord given to Jeremiah the prophet, that the desolation of Jerusalem would last seventy years. 3 So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and petition, in fasting, and in sackcloth and ashes.

4 I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed:

“O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with all who love him and obey his commands, 5 we have sinned and done wrong. We have been wicked and have rebelled; we have turned away from your commands and laws. 6 We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes and our fathers, and to all the people of the land.

           

Daniel knew that the promise of return to Jerusalem will be fulfilled after 70 years. Then why did he pray in fasting? Why can’t he fold his hands and wait to see whether the promise is fulfilled or not. We learn a valuable lesson from Daniel. Any unconfessed sin can hinder God’s promise from being fulfilled in our life. Daniel did not want that. So he took up the entire sin of the forefathers on him and pleaded and stood in the gap. Let us also repent of our sins and of our forefathers.

2.    Conditional: Most of God’s promises are conditional. If you do this, I will do this. We cannot read just one verse without its context and claim it. We must read the verse in its context and see what the Lord expects of us. For example, Isa 58:8 has a great promise on healing - your healing will quickly appear. But we have to read the chapter from the beginning to see what we must first do on our part.

3.    Claiming: We have to recite the promises everyday – many times in a day – so the verse enters our marrow – it fills every being of us. If you have a promise of healing claim it. A promise about financial break through claim it – when we keep reciting it or writing it many times, it drives out every fear – every doubt. The WORD became flesh – so powerful is the word of God. Kingdom of heaven is taken by force. Matt 11:12 From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it. When Esau came with 40 men to meet Jacob, Jacob reminded God the promise He made to him – basically he not remind God – he was actually claiming the promise. (Gen 32:6, 9). So it is our duty – to claim every promise of God.

4.    Acting in faith: For example when God gives you a promise “you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow;” Deut 15:6, we have to claim it and we have to make life style changes to cut down our spending – we can’t live the same way and expect a financial break through from God. We have to move with the Spirit; we have to yield to the Spirit so he can work in us. We should not confuse this with taking matters into our own hand. For example Rebecca clearly got word from the Lord that Esau will serve Jacob. But she took matters into her own hands and made Jacob dress up as Esau and get his blessing and the consequence was too much – she never got to see her favorite son again.

5.    Hope: Also some promises are for future – It took 25 years before Abraham’s promise can be fulfilled (Gen 12:4 and Gen 21:5). It took 17 years before Joseph’s promise can be fulfilled (Gen 37:2 and Gen 41:46). Why does God promise in advance – so we can be full of hope in that waiting period. James 5:7 says how the farmer waits for the autumn and spring rains – so let us also patiently wait for God’s word to be fulfilled. He does all things beautiful in its time.

Let all the promises God has given to us be fulfilled for His glory. Hallelujah!

Standing on the promises that cannot fail,

When the howling storms of doubt and fear assail,

By the living Word of God I shall prevail,

Standing on the promises of God.

Standing, standing,

Standing on the promises of God my Savior;

Standing, standing,

I'm standing on the promises of God.