Think back with me to the time when the people of God were slaves in Egypt. They were oppressed, weak, and helpless but God promised that He would rescue them and give them land of their own. So, He raised up leaders like Moses and Aaron and in miraculous and surprising ways led their escape from Pharaoh’s reign.
He continued to care and provide for the people as they wandered in the desert by giving them food and water, causing them to win battles, and continually leading them to their promised land.
But throughout their adventure, the Israelites were slow to trust in the Lord. They were quick to complain and it didn’t take long for them to build a golden idol to worship.
In Joshua 21:43-45 we see God’s grace abound toward Israel despite their rebellion, disobedience, and unbelief. He keeps His promises and eventually leads them into the land He promised them from the very beginning.
What does this mean for us, living thousands of years later?
God has made promises to us, and He keeps them.
What are God’s promises? There are too many to list here, but when you hold your Bible you are holding God’s promises to you. Though there are various kinds of promises, I’d like to focus on His spiritual promises.
Some of the spiritual promises are the continued forgiveness of sins, our sanctification, supplying us with strength and peace in trials, and preserving us to the end. When God made these they were then and forever unbreakable. His character doesn’t allow Him to break or go back on His word. He must keep the promises He makes.
But there are a couple things that we need.
First we must have faith. We must believe in God and believe God. We must trust that what He says is true and what He promises will come to pass. This can be extremely hard when life has not gone the way that you had envisioned it to go. Think about Abraham. He was promised that his offspring would be as numerous as the stars in the heavens and it wasn’t until he was almost 100 that he and Sarah had their first child.
This leads to the second thing we must possess, which is patience. We know that God’s ways are not our ways and His timing often does not line up with our scheduled plans for our life, and so we need to learn to wait. Hebrews 6:15 tells us, “And thus Abraham, having patiently waited, obtained the promise.”
We must have patience when waiting for God to fulfill His promises to us. James tells us that our faith will be tested in order to prove that it is genuine and often these trials are a testing of our patience.
Are you willing to wait on the Lord or are you trying to force things to happen that end up causing you to sin?
Are you angry at God for not complying to your wishes and dreams? Are you frustrated with your spiritual growth or lack thereof or the circumstances you find yourself in?
Do you know the promises that God makes to you in the scriptures?
We must first become familiar with what the promises of God actually are. Then we need to pray daily for God to fulfill His promises in our lives and we must ask Him to give us the patience we need to wait and trust.
“The promises of God are to the believer an ‘inexhaustible
mine of wealth’. Happy is it for him if he knows how to
search out their secret veins and enrich himself with
their hidden treasures.They are an ‘armory’, containing all manner of offensive and
defensive weapons. Blessed is he who has learned to enter
into the sacred arsenal, to put on the breastplate and the
helmet, and to lay his hand to the spear and to the sword.
They are a ‘pharmacy’, in which the believer will find all
manner of restoratives and blessed elixirs …Blessed is he who is well skilled
in heavenly pharmacy and knows how to lay hold on the
healing virtues of the promises of God.”
Charles H. Spurgeon
Looking to Jesus,
Week 6 Challenge: As our Walking In Victory study comes to a close, look for ways in your life where you can be a modern-day Joshua. Believe God’s promises, be strong and brave in the land He has strategically placed you in and trust Him as you face your battles, always remembering you never fight alone!
Reading Plan
Memory Verse
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We are excited to announce our new study will be on the power of our words! You won’t want to miss this powerful 4-week study looking at the words we speak, think and listen to!
Invite your friends, small group or neighbors and join us starting on August 5th!
Grab your journal and join us!!!
Looking forward to this study.
I am ready for this study. Loved the last one on Joshua.
I need prayer to continue growing spiritually in the Lord
My faaith is growing secured and more believe in God’s promise. Firstly, i judge that God wouldnt vare or had some time to discipline my faith. I was losing hope and einterest in God. But a priest told me once do not judge God that He would not hear your prayer. God forgives people who truly with a contrite heart repent and feel sorry for his sinful mistake. Somepeople think that God was not pleased with your sins that you feel a lot reluctant to pray to ask for your healing. We just have to wait by faith and patiently. We must assure ourselves that God forgives you. Andis willing to help you as long as you come to Him and fallnon your kness plrading with Him to have mercy on youi lost hope many times but then i got strength from the assuramve of the promise.
God made a personal promise regarding a house He said was mine close to three years ago. I’m waiting and God cannot lie. He promised me so He has to fulfill his promise to me and I’m counting on His word.
Yo man ya i agree 200%. this God gave me hope. My life is rockin love. Yo dog this God is legit.
This god is rockin love mate. Hes legit as a peanut. I have prove of this love dog.