Last night, Pastor Julius preached about a powerful and prophetic message. It’s about God’s promises for us. Apparently there are 7,000 promises found in the bible, while in some versions there are 13,000 in total. Isn’t it amazing how abundant God’s promises are? But still, the question remains, are all those promises for me? Which one is for me? How will I know if what God is saying in this passage for me?
Pastor Julius highlighted key factors in determining God’s promises for each of us, these are:
1. His promises are conditional
“If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all His commands I give you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. All these blessings will come upon you and accompany you if you obey the Lord your God.” Deuteronomy 28:1-2
The accomplishment of His promises depend on how we live our lives. Many people choose to chase after the blessings, they are consumed by getting filthy rich that’s why they jump into every opportunity that comes along. When in fact, the bible says, if you set your heart to honor Him in your life, the blessings will chase after you and will even accompany you wherever you go.
2. He gives specific promises
“I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses.” Joshua 1:3
In here, God is giving assurance that we can claim, as His people, the promises that He so willingly gave us. He’s giving us the freedom to rule, to have authority, and to savor the fullness of His blessings. But sometimes people misinterpret this and uses it to do whatever they please. They distort its meaning and uses it as a rally cry to seek whatever they want in life, not so much wondering if its God’s will for them.
Rather, God made it specific for us to understand that there are certain boundaries we should consider.
“Lord, you have assigned me my portion and my cup; you have made my lot secure. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance.” Psalms 16:5-6
Every person has his own lot, territory, economy and industry that has been given to him. It can be in the field of music, business, trade, commerce, medicine etc., each one of us has our own gifts and talents that illuminates the work that we do. The boundaries fall around the place God has situated you to be in, where you’re at right now, the people you have an influence in, the field of work you’re involved with, the talents and skills you have gained and received. Then you can apply God’s statement about how you can set your foot at anything, but just within your boundaries. The sky’s the limit, God will bless you immeasurably.
3. He gives promises we don’t deserve
“So I gave you a land on which you did not toil and cities you did not build; and you live in them and eat from vineyards and olive groves that you did not plant.” Joshua 24:13
God is too good that He blesses His people not depending on what we do and how we live our lives. The truth is, when you look back to your past, even before we knew Him, He already loved us and blessed us anyway.
4. He fulfill all His promises
“Not one of all the Lord’s good promises to the house of Israel failed; every one was fulfilled.” Joshua 21:45
God is faithful to His promises, He fulfills, He moves, He comes with power.
“God is not a man that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should change His mind. Does He speak and then not act? Does He promise and does not fulfill?” Numbers 23:19
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