Simple Thoughts On Promises

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Your promises have been thoroughly tested, and your servant loves them. (Psalm 119:140)

The giant among the Psalms- Psalm 119 with 176 verses has so many decision making words, yet among these, here we find the Psalmist speaking of his experience regarding the promises of God.

Thoroughly tested are God's promises and the Psalmist just loved them.
Is that your experience too?

God has a good track record in keeping the promises that he makes to his children. Even in Old Testament times, he was perfect in keeping his promises to the people he had chosen for himself. Regarding this Joshua writes:
Not one of all the LORD's good promises to the house of Israel failed; every one was fulfilled. (Joshua 21:45)

Now I am about to go the way of all the earth. You know with all your heart and soul that not one of all the good promises the LORD your God gave you has failed. Every promise has been fulfilled; not one has failed. (Joshua 23:14)

100% faithfulness. That's how our God is.
If he has promised you something and you have not seen it's fulfillment this year, he will fulfill it in the coming year.
The Bible says,
For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry. (Habakkuk 2:3)

God bless you, this day and always.

 

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The Lord will indeed give what is good, and our land will yield its harvest. (Psalm 85:12)

A lovely verse to meditate on and also something to hope for in the coming year.
Many are the things that the Lord has given us in this year which is to be history very soon, perhaps in a matter of hours.
Looking back, there are many things that the Lord gave us as answers to our prayers and there are others which the Lord gave us because he simply loves us as we are his children.

Of course there maybe several prayers for which we still have received no answers.
But we have hope that the Lord will give us our righteous desires as we delight in him. Do you believe that?

Remember what Jesus told Martha, the sister of Lazarus, before he raised him up from the dead...
"Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?" (John 11:40)

And she did see the glory of God. So will you...in the coming year...So praise the Lord as this year bids you goodbye and the new year comes into your life. All best wishes. God bless you.

 

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He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!" Then he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true." (Revelation 21:5)

The term "Everything new" is kind of "exciting", especially at the beginning of a new year. So what's in store for you and for me in the next 365 days? Not many of us can see that far I guess, but whatever it be, let it be good and let there be ample things that bring peace and joy.

John the Apostle, heard God saying that he was making all things new. And then the Lord said, "It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life. He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son." (Revelation 21:6,7)

We have been chosen by God Almighty to inherit great things. But what he wants of us has been clearly written in his Word..The Bible.
Here are a couple of verses that gives the picture....
Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God - this is your spiritual act of worship.
Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - his good, pleasing and perfect will. (Romans 12:1,2)

Written by Apostle Paul to the believers in Rome, the above verses are as good for our lives now as it was for the believers then.

So shall we renew our committment to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, this first day of the new year?
Remember that you have been chosen to inherit heaven and its blessings, so let your walk be worthy of it. God bless you.

 

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And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?" (Luke 18:7,8)

O Dear Jesus, If only you answered my prayers! is a heart cry that often goes out from our beings. We pray and then wait, thinking of what the delay is all about when we do not see the answer to our prayers.
But Jesus promises us that he will not keep putting us off. He will see that we get justice...and how? Quickly, of course!

What have you been praying to the Lord and now are waiting for him to answer? Take heart, for the promise that you read now is just for you. God is about to bring justice for you, his chosen one.

Do you believe that he is able to do what you have asked for? If yes, then you will see his miraculous power manifest in your life once again. God loves you and because of that he sent his only son Jesus to the cross, so that you may be able to experience the eternal riches of his love. The Bible says,
He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all - how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? (Romans 8:32)

So be strengthened this day dear brother/sister, for the Lord is about to answer your prayers in a way that only he can. God bless you.

 

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Elisha said, "Hear the word of the LORD. This is what the LORD says: About this time tomorrow, a seah of flour will sell for a shekel and two seahs of barley for a shekel at the gate of Samaria." (2 Kings 7:1)

The Israelites were in dire straits. The famine was taking it's toll. People were eating anything that they could lay their hands on. Some had even resorted to cannibalism. The king was desperate. He laid all the blame on the prophet Elisha and wanted him killed. In the midst of all this chaos, the merciful Lord gave a wonderful prophecy through the prophet Elisha promising food for all in 24 hours time.

People couldn't believe their ears. Some kept quiet, but one with unbelief spoke and that resulted in his death.
The officer on whose arm the king was leaning said to the man of God, "Look, even if the LORD should open the floodgates of the heavens, could this happen?" "You will see it with your own eyes," answered Elisha, "but you will not eat any of it!" (2 Kings 7:2)

Suppose in the midst of a great crisis, whatever it be, the Lord speaks to you and says, "I will deliver you in a day's time", would you believe it?
Faith would say, "Yes Lord, you are mighty to save, even this moment." and wait for the miracle praising God till it happened.
On the other hand, unbelief would see one questioning the validity of the voice or reason in human terms regarding whether this was possible after all.

God is faithful and once he promises, he never goes back on it. He sees to it that he fulfills his promise.
What Elisha said came true. God used 4 lepers to fulfill his promise.
Wait for the miracle. Praise God for it. Don't worry about how it will come to pass. God has more than a 1000 ways to do everything. He will bring it to pass. God bless you.

 

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Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham's offspring - not only to those who are of the law but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all. (Romans 4:16)

Faith and grace are so inter-linked in everything concerning the life of a believer. Even regarding salvation, the Apostle Paul writes to the Church at Ephesus:
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast. (Ephesians 2:8,9)
Salvation is the most precious gift from God, but there are other wonderful gifts, which result from our latching on to the promises of God in his Word.

Regarding Abraham, Paul writes,
If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about - but not before God. What does the Scripture say? "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness." (Romans 4:2,3)

It was not through law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith. (Romans 4:13)

So it was neither through works or the law that Abraham was justified. It was because he believed God. That was credited to him as righteousness.

Romans 4:17 is a wonderful verse which speaks of El Shaddai- God Almighty and his unsurpassed greatness.
.....He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed - the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were. (Romans 4:17)

Do you believe that you serve Him who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were? If yes, your faith will be credited as righteousness and you will see the mighty acts of God throughout your life as a believer. God bless you.

 

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He fulfills the desires of those who fear him; he hears their cry and saves them. (Psalm 145:19)

Do you fear the Lord? Not as fearing something that seems to be dangerous to you, but fearing because he is Almighty and worthy of respect and honor and awe.
The Bible has much to say regarding blessings for those who have'fear of the Lord'.
A few verses in this respect would do us good.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. (Proverbs 9:10)
The fear of the Lord adds length to life, but the years of the wicked are cut short.(Proverbs 10:27)
The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, turning a man from the snares of death. (Proverbs 14:27)
The fear of the Lord teaches a man wisdom, and humility comes before honor.(Proverbs 15:23)
The fear of the Lord leads to life: Then one rests content, untouched by trouble.(Proverbs 19:23)
Humility and the fear of the Lord bring wealth and honor and life.(Proverbs 22:4)

With so many blessings attached to 'fear of the Lord', it should be the endeavour of each one of us to develop this most important charecteristic and stick to it as long as we live. May the Holy Spirit help us in this. God bless you.

 

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After this, the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: "Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward. " (Genesis 15:1)

The meaning of the word 'reward' is generally given as "that which is given in return for good or evil done or received; esp., that which is offered or given in return for some service or attainment, as for excellence in studies, for the return of something lost."
Thinking in these terms, "What had Abraham done to receive God as a reward?"
The Bible says, "Abraham obeyed God". Whatever God told him to do, he did. So did Noah and the other saints of whom we read about in the Bible.

God becomes our reward when we obey him. There is no greater reward than having God himself in our lives. The Psalmist says,
I said to the LORD, "You are my Lord; apart from you I have no good thing. (Psalm 16:2)
Can we say that? He again says,
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. (Psalm 16:5,6)

The inheritance that God has kept for us in eternity is delightful and we must look forward to the day when we can experience it first hand. So let us all obey the exhortation that Paul the Apostle gives the church at Colosse.
Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.
When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. (Colossians 3:1-4)

God bless you.

 

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The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining ever brighter till the full light of day. (Proverbs 4:18)

Most of us desire that God blesses us and our families with diverse blessings, but blessings that we ask of God do not come all at once. Why so? when God is All powerful and Almighty? Surely he has the authority and resources to give us all that we ask; immediately.

Have you seen the sun rise? Does it just pop up right above where you are standing early in the morning? No, it slowly rises in the east, what the writer of the above promise calls the 'first gleam of dawn.'And then it has a course to travel through the day to the west where it sets finally.

The path of the righteous can also be traced similarly according to this promise and as the sun shines brightly and at its maximum intensity, so does the one who obeys the Word of God and live according to it.

Shining brightly for Christ wherever one is. At home, at the work place, in church or wherever one be. The light of Christ will shine through the believer who is willing to follow the righteous path.

Right from the book of Genesis, we see that God desires to bless them who are willing to obey him. He has not changed and never will. The righteous will surely be blessed, slowly but surely, like the first gleam of dawn, shining ever brighter till the full light of day.

 

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Jesus said to them, "My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working." (John 5:17)

If you have been misguided by people into thinking that God is sitting up there in the heavens doing nothing while you battle it out here on earth, here's a clarification and a promise for you from Jesus himself. Infact, this was Jesus' answer to the Jews who persecuted him because he was healing people on the Sabbath.

We cannot limit God's acts according to our thinking, but it's also true that God doesn't do things contrary to his written Word.
An invalid man had been lying by the pool of Bethesda for 38 years and God chose a particular day to heal him. That he chose the Sabbath to heal was not by mistake but by intention to prove that he is the Lord of the Sabbath too. Yet the Jews rarely understood his intentions and instead of praising God for the astounding miracle, they chose to persecute Jesus.

If you have been passing through troubled times and seeing no immediate answer to your prayers, remember, God is not sitting inert and doing nothing about your matter. He is working and so is Jesus, to whom God has given all authority in heaven and on earth and under the earth. There will surely be a change for the good.
Hope and trust in the Lord. No good will he withhold from those whose walk is upright. God bless you.

 

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My people will live in peaceful dwelling places, in secure homes, in undisturbed places of rest. (Isaiah 32:18)

How we all long for peaceful dwelling places, secure homes and undisturbed places of rest. But it's so difficult, considering the chaos all around us. Wars, terrorism, contagious sicknesses and wickedness proliferating day by day and squeezing out whatever peace is left. But God has a promise for those whose hope is in him. A new kingdom will soon be theirs, where they can live in peace.

The fruit of righteousness will be peace; the effect of righteousness will be quietness and confidence forever. (Isaiah 32:17)
Isaiah prophesies that the effect of righteousness will be quietness and confidence forever.

The Apostle Peter writes,
But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness. (2 Peter 3:13)

World leaders are trying to harvest peace when the Bible prophesies trouble in the end times. But a child of God, can always, with confidence, say what the Psalmist said,
I lift up my eyes to the hills - where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. (Psalm 121:1,2)
He/She can also affirm what David, the psalmist and great king of Israel said when he passed through troubled times:
I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety. (Psalm 4:8)
I lie down and sleep; I wake again, because the LORD sustains me. (Psalm 3:5)
Praise the Lord.

 

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He said, "If you listen carefully to the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in his eyes, if you pay attention to his commands and keep all his decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord, who heals you." (Exodus 15:26)

Nice promise (among others) related to healing that one can meditate on when one is sick. I can't see 2 meanings in what God told the Israelites then. Plain and simple....He said,"I am the Lord, who heals you."

Our Lord is "the healer" whether some people agree with it or not. Ask them who have experienced his healing touch and they will tell you it's 100% true. I for one can vouch thst he is "the healer" despite having prescribed medicines for the past 23 years.

Medicines and surgery play a great role in relief from sicknesses, but there are a plethora of sicknesses for which man hasn't yet found a cure. Even in those cases God is able and he does heal.

Jesus is the same, yesterday, today and forever and the healings that we read of in the Gospels and in the book of Acts still happen when men and women pray with faith. He is an unchanging God. If you are sick or feeling weak in your body, meditate on the promises of healing and deliverance found in the Word Of God. Experience his miraculous touch and glorify him. God bless you.

 

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Then the Lord said: "I am making a covenant with you. Before all your people I will do wonders never before done in any nation in all the world. The people you live among will see how awesome is the work that I, the Lord, will do for you." (Exodus 34:10)

Our God is a God who is faithful to the covenants he makes with those who seek him. Here he is making a covenant with Moses and the Israelites that he will demonstrate his power among the nations that his people were going to live.
Moses was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights without eating bread or drinking water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant - the Ten Commandments. (Exodus 34:28)

The Israelites were to obey the words of the covenant, if God was to fulfill the promises associated with it.
Obedience was what God expected, so he told Moses:
Obey what I command you today. I will drive out before you the Amorites, Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. (Exodus 34:11)

Whenever we are pestered by satanic forces, the first thing to check in our lives is whether we are living in obedience to God and his Word. This is because we cannot get victory over the evil powers if we are disobeying God. James writes this very clearly in his book.
Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. (James 4:7,8,10)

There can be no resisiting the devil without submitting to God and his Word. If we want to be constantly victorious in our battle with the devil, we must always live a life submitted to God's Word.

It's my prayer for you today that God the Holy Spirit may help you in that. God bless you.

 

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The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor. (1 Corinthians 3:8)

Your labor for the Lord will be rewarded. Perhaps you are working in obscurity, without anyone knowing or acknowledging your work, but know this that everything is seen and accounted by the Lord. Your efforts are written down in God's books and you will receive your reward at God's chosen time.

Even though the Apostle Paul writes that,
I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. (1 Corinthians 3:6,7), it doesn't mean that God doesn't care or that he doesn't give weightage to your work. It simply means that without the Lord, we cannot achieve anything.

Our purpose is to extend the kingdom of God here on earth and bring glory to his name. For that we labor, where-ever we are and in whatever calling the Lord has given us. No work is trivial when seen through God's eyes. What he looks for in his servants is faithfulness.

So be strengthened this day, dear servant of the Most High, for the Lord appreciates what you are doing for his glory.
Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. (1 Corinthians 15:58)
God bless you.

 

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The Lord within her is righteous; he does no wrong. Morning by morning he dispenses his justice, and every new day he does not fail, yet the unrighteous know no shame. (Zephaniah 3:5)

How wonderful!! The prophet writes "Morning by morning he dispenses his justice, and every new day he does not fail.."
So if you have been waiting for justice to be done in your case, here's your promise. God is righteous and he does no wrong. Many of his ways are not easily understood by us because of our finite minds, yet we can assure ourselves that he will dispense justice in our favor as we continually trust in him.

The Bible speaks at great length regarding the righteousness and justice of God.
The Lord is known by his justice...... (Psalm 9:16)
For the Lord is righteous, he loves justice; upright men will see his face. (Psalm 11:7)
The Lord loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of his unfailing love. (Psalm 33:5)

God has a special promise for them who commit their way to him and trust in him:
He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun. (Psalm 37:6)

Another eternal promise is found in the above psalm and that should assure us that all is right because we have trusted in Jesus.
For the Lord loves the just and will not forsake his faithful ones. They will be protected forever, but the offspring of the wicked will be cut off; the righteous will inherit the land and dwell in it forever. (Psalm 37:28,29)

Praise the Lord.

 

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O people of Zion, who live in Jerusalem, you will weep no more. How gracious he will be when you cry for help! As soon as he hears, he will answer you. (Isaiah 30:19)

Is it possible that the Lord answers us as soon as he hears our prayers or as soon as we cry for help??
Yes. Definitely. He is able to answer and he does answer in such a way, as is evidenced in several instances in the Word of God. To quote a few...

Having killed a 1000 Philistines with the jawbone of an ass, Samson cried out to the Lord..."You have given your servant this great victory. Must I now die of thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?" Then God opened up the hollow place in Lehi, and water came out of it. When Samson drank, his strength returned and he revived. So the spring was called En Hakkore, and it is still there in Lehi. (Judges 15:18,19)

King Asa of Judah had an army of around 6 lakh soldiers and he was attacked by Zerah, the Ethiopian who had an army of 10 lakh soldiers.
Then Asa called to the LORD his God and said, "LORD, there is no one like you to help the powerless against the mighty. Help us, O LORD our God, for we rely on you....The LORD struck down the **** before Asa and Judah. The **** fled, (2 Chronicles 14:11,12)

King Ahab of Israel deceived King Jehoshaphat by asking him to go into battle wearing royal garments while he himself wore ordinary clothes so that the enemy army may not identify him.
Now the king of Aram had ordered his chariot commanders, "Do not fight with anyone, small or great, except the king of Israel." When the chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat, they thought, "This is the king of Israel." So they turned to attack him, but Jehoshaphat cried out, and the LORD helped him. God drew them away from him, (2 Chronicles 18:31)

Eleazer, the servant of Abraham was out searching a bride for Isaac and he prayed to the Lord.... "O LORD, God of my master Abraham, give me success today....
See, I am standing beside this spring, and the daughters of the townspeople are coming out to draw water. May it be that when I say to a girl, 'Please let down your jar that I may have a drink,' and she says, 'Drink, and I'll water your camels too' - let her be the one you have chosen for your servant Isaac. By this I will know that you have shown kindness to my master." Before he had finished praying, Rebekah came out with her jar on her shoulder. She was the daughter of Bethuel son of Milcah, who was the wife of Abraham's brother Nahor. (Genesis 24:12-15)

There are many many more events in the Bible where God immediately answered the prayers of the needy. Trust in him to answer you in the same way. God bless you.

 

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Therefore I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her. There I will give her back her vineyards, and will make the Valley of Achor a door of hope. There she will sing as in the days of her youth, as in the day she came up out of Egypt. (Hosea 2:14,15)

God is All Powerful and he can change what was once a valley of trouble into a door of hope. “Achor†in Hebrew means “trouble.†Achan's sin (Joshua Chapter 7) of stealing things devoted to destruction brought calamity to him and his family. He stole a beautiful robe, two hundred shekels of silver and a wedge of gold weighing fifty shekels and hid it under the ground in his tent when God had expressly forbidden that. Joshua who was not aware of this was defeated in battle in the conquest of Ai, because of this sin.
God said,
Israel has sinned; they have violated my covenant, which I commanded them to keep. They have taken some of the devoted things; they have stolen, they have lied, they have put them with their own possessions. (Joshua 7:11)

Finally Achan was caught and we read in the book of Joshua...
Joshua said, "Why have you brought this trouble on us? The Lord will bring trouble on you today." Then all Israel stoned him, and after they had stoned the rest, they burned them. Over Achan they heaped up a large pile of rocks, which remains to this day. Then the Lord turned from his fierce anger. Therefore that place has been called the Valley of Achor ever since. (Joshua 7:25,26)

In Hosea, we read that God was going to make the “Valley of Achor a door of hopeâ€. For Israel which had sinned repeatedly by comitting all kinds of sins and wickedness, there was still hope, for God was going to open for them a door of hope.

Making the Valley of Achor/ Valley of Trouble, a door of hope, is something only God Almighty can do. It means that the place where you saw defeat and distress will become a "door of hope" for you and your family. Can you believe that?
A place where you suffered indignation will become a place where you will bloom again because the Lord has loved you with an ever-lasting love. God bless you.

 

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The poor and needy search for water, but there is none; their tongues are parched with thirst. But I the Lord will answer them; I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them. I will make rivers flow on barren heights, and springs within the valleys. I will turn the desert into pools of water, and the parched ground into springs. (Isaiah 41:18)

The water miracles in the Bible are many and some of them are quite astounding, like this one.
The Israelite community camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. So they quarreled with Moses and said, "Give us water to drink." Then Moses cried out to the Lord, "What am I to do with these people? They are almost ready to stone me." The Lord answered Moses, "Walk on ahead of the people. Take with you some of the elders of Israel and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it for the people to drink." So Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel. (Exodus 17)

We are not talking here of God providing water to a couple of hundred people. The community was quite large, with 6 lac men itself; counting the women and children would put the figure at 15-20 lacs.

Moses was given a command and he obeyed it. God proved to the Israelites once again that he is Almighty and All Sufficient.

As a child of this Almighty God, you can also boldy say what the Apostle Paul wrote to the Philippians.
My God will meet all your (my) needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:19)
God bless you.

 

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I have seen his ways, but I will heal him; I will guide him and restore comfort to him. (Isaiah 57:18)

A promise perhaps to a person, more likely to the nation Israel which was sick spiritually. Spiritual sickness is worse than the physical, because the physical is temporary while the spiritual has permanent implications. Covetousness and idolatory had made the nation sick and God was promising to heal when he saw their repentance.

There are 3 promises in this single verse. God was going to heal, guide and restore comfort. All these are what we all desire in our lives and if we live a life of continual repentance, God is always ready to give these.

Here again the "fear of the Lord" is so very important. The Psalmist David exhorts us
in this manner:
Who, then, is the man that fears the LORD? He will instruct him in the way chosen for him. The Lord confides in those who fear him; he makes his covenant known to them. (Psalm 25:12, 14)

Some believers trivialize sin and live in it justifying themselves saying that "after all we are human." But neither God nor the Bible supports that point of view. If we desire healing, guidance and comfort in our lives, we must make it a point to check our spiritual life everyday. God loves us, but neither he nor his Word has changed. God called Abraham to serve him at age 75, but even at age 99, God had this to say to Abraham.
"I am God Almighty ; walk before me and be blameless. (Genesis 17:1)
That's what God wants from us too.
May the Holy Spirit strengthen each of us to live a blameless life. Healing, guidance and comfort from the Most High will then be ours. Praise the Lord.

 

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Return to your fortress, O prisoners of hope; even now I announce that I will restore twice as much to you. (Zechariah 9:12)

The redeeming grace of Almighty God is wonderfully portrayed in this great promise to God's people who were in Babylonian captivity. True that they were prisoners; but prisoners of hope. They were now free to return to their homeland but they had nothing to bank on. All they had was destroyed by the ravages of the Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar. Their homes, their fields, their temple; all lay in ruins.
Yet, they had a promise to hold on to. The God against whom they had sinned resulting in their captivity had forgiven them and was willing to restore them.In fact, he was willing to restore twice as much to them.

Believers are in a way, prisoners of hope. As Paul the Apostle says,
For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know!
I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far. (Philippians 1:21-23)

Problems in life often brings despair to the believer, yet we have hope that Jesus will not leave us nor forsake us in any circumstance. Even when we sin and punishment comes into our lives, we can always be sure that the Lord will forgive us when we repent and bear fruit that comes from a repentant heart.

Carried away by the enemy and living in a foriegn land humbled the Israelites. They repented of their sins and cried out to God who was ready to forgive them. God effected their deliverance and they returned to their own country as "prisoners of hope."

God loves you and is able to restore twice as much of what you have lost. Praise the Lord.