When we SEE those promises fulfilled in our lives by God.
Yeah...that one got my attention too. Interesting thing about God’s ‘promises’; promises I might add that are made by a God who cannot lie...(Titus 1:2; Heb. 6:18)...while His great love for us is unconditional, His promises are not.
You can go in to bookstores today, or order online, any number of books written that have nothing but scripture after scripture of ‘promise verses’. I’ve never quite understood the premise behind that. It’s one thing to sit there and pick all the cashews out of a bowl of mixed nuts because you have a preference for them. It’s another thing to do that with God’s word.
No doubt someone is making money off those books and countless numbers of people in need buy them, devour them...and quote and recite and ‘believe hard’ to see those promises come to pass. And there are plenty of good promises found in there from Genesis to Revelation. Promises of God’s protection and provision and guidance. Why, look at Exodus 15:26 and 23:25 along with Deut. 7:15). This is where God promised the Israelites who were in covenant with Him that He would ‘remove ALL sickness’ from them and inflict NONE of the terrible diseases of Egypt on them. And get this: the writer of Hebrews says we have a ‘better covenant established on Better promises’. (8:6).
What does that tell you?
(When I encourage you to pause and reflect on a previous statement, it is done in love knowing how easily it is for us to skim over things that we ‘think’ we read, but didn’t.) So go back and read that last paragraph again....please? :- )
Let me share with you one of those promises that kind of jumped off the pages at me recently. You know how that is...you’ve seen it...read it...quoted it...and then one day it just hits you like you are reading it for the first time. This one was one of those examples:
“When a man’s ways please the Lord, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.” (Prov. 16:7)
That one falls in line with another promise God made to those who were going in to possess the land as they followed and obeyed. It’s found in Deut. 12:10- “When you cross over the Jordan and dwell in the land which the Lord your God is giving you to inherit, and He gives you rest from ALL your enemies round about, so that you dwell in safety...then there will be the place where the Lord your God chooses to make His name abide.”
Who is YOUR enemy? (If you said your spouse or boss, ....wrong answer)
Peter was pretty matter-of-fact in answering that: “...your enemy or adversary...is the devil...” (1 Pet. 5:8)
I don’t read there where he suggested that our enemy was the Libs or mainstream media or democrats or even Mickey Mouse-(Disney). Paul would write in Eph. 6:12 that our enemy is not ‘flesh and blood’, rather ‘rulers of darkness’ and ‘spiritual hosts of wickedness’ and ‘principalities’ who resided in ‘heavenly places’.
I know, you want to rise up and say all those I listed are agents of the enemy and who the enemy works through so we need to take a stand against them. If that is what you feel compelled to do...have at it. But if ‘they’ are not believers and abiding in Christ, then they are blind and under the control of the wicked one. (1 John 5:19; Acts 26:18). In other words, they are puppets. Do you know how Jesus responded to the ‘puppets’ that drove spikes through His hands and taunted Him while He hung in agony on the cross? “Father...forgive them...they don’t know what they are doing.” (Luke 23:34)
That same Jesus was the One who told His disciples (not church members): “I give you authority...over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.”(Luke 10:19)
Here’s something to chew on: I think we can all agree that scripture tells us we indeed have an enemy and who that enemy is. It also strongly implies that this enemy has legitimate power. And we know that ‘all power and authority’ comes from God above. (Rom. 13:1-5; Matt. 28:18). And we know that the enemy can do NOTHING without God’s permission. (Job 1-2). We also know what the enemy comes to do...to ‘steal, kill, and destroy’. (John 10:10). So put all that on a plate and set aside for further contemplation....while I ask you this:
Does God have enemies?
I bet your first thought was to point to Satan. And I won’t argue that but will simply ask...is he really God’s enemy if God could remove him in the blink of an eye?
I bet you have not considered these two passages: “Whoever wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.” (James 4:4)
Or how about this one from the Amplified version: “the mind of the flesh [with its sinful pursuits] is actively hostile to God. It does not submit itself to God’s law, since it cannot, and those who are in the flesh [living a life that caters to sinful appetites and impulses] cannot please God.”(Rom. 8:7-8)
Am I taking things out of context if I suggest that if we are not abiding in Christ, but following the dictates of our own heart and flesh nature, that WE are God’s enemy? Is that not what scripture clearly suggest here? And who in their right mind wants to be an ‘enemy of God’?
So when Jesus commands us to ‘love others as He first loved us’ (John 13:34) which Paul underscores with this statement: “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners (enemy of God), Christ died for us.” (Rom. 5:8)...it kind of gives a new light to Jesus telling us to ‘love our enemies’. (Matt. 5:44) [The Holy Spirit will need to unpack that one for you.]. But be sure to make note where we are told in the same way we judge/deal with others, that is how God will deal with us. (Matt. 7:1-2,12)
So are we to ‘fear the enemy’? Absolutely not. We are to fear God , and God alone. When you fear God, you need not fear anything or anyone else. Period. Whoever you fear...is the one you will serve. And we know we cannot serve two masters.
I’m going to leave you with something to study out on your own if you so desire. I’ve mentioned in the past Paul’s warning in Acts 13:40-41 that we take heed lest what was spoken by the prophets comes upon us. He cites a passage from Habakkuk 1 where God will raise up the Chaldeans (feared and wicked and mighty enemy of Israel in days gone by) and will use them to carry out His wrath. Verses 6-7 are interesting to make note of but it’s vs. 12 I want you to underscore. God uses the enemy for ‘judgment and for correction/chastisement’. And God has never changed. (Mal. 3:6)
Last one for today- do you remember that rod or staff Moses carried with him everywhere? I don’t have time to get in to great detail here, but that rod in practical terms had dual uses. It would turn out to represent ‘authority’ but could also be used as a ‘weapon’ of sorts or even a rod of ‘correction’. So when God called Moses out of retirement (burning bush deal on the backside of Midian) He uses an interesting demonstration with him...and his ‘rod’. You can read there in Exodus 4:1-4. God told him to cast it on the ground. Do you remember what it turned in to? A serpent. Moses freaked out just a bit. (Can you blame him?). Then God told him to reach out his hand and take it by the tail, which he did and it became a rod in his hand again.
As Paul would tell Timothy in his second letter to him: “Consider what I say, and may the Lord give you understanding in all things.” (2:7). Have a blessed day. ;- )
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