Category Archives: Bible Promises

Believing

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Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about how important believing is. This seems to be true in almost any arena of life you could mention: from athletes who perform so much better when they believe they have the skill to surpass previous records to sales people who have significantly better sales if they believe in what they are selling. But the specific context I’m thinking about is the God context. It looks to me as though believing is pretty crucial here too.

The Gospel of John speaks a lot about believing, most famously in 3:16 (For God so loved the world that he gave his only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life, NIV). But the verses I am presently most impressed by are in Ephesians 1:17–19, where Paul is writing about “the immeasurable and unlimited and surpassing greatness of His power in and for us who believe….” (Amp). What is striking a chord with me is not the part God plays in the equation, spectacular as that is, but the part we play. Admittedly the Amplified Bible throws in extra adjectives to make it more impressive, but even the NIV is unequivocal: “his incomparably great power for us who believe.”

It seems clear that a great power is available to us … if we believe that it is available to us. Our belief is an essential, activating ingredient.

       

Perfection

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This morning I came across something in Psalms that was highlighted probably years ago, but just discovered again today – when I need it. It is Psalm 138:8, which in the Amplified reads: “The Lord will perfect that which concerns me.” The NIV reads: “The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me….”

It’s all about trusting that whatever befalls you will not swamp you. This morning Joel Osteen talked about the fiery furnaces we face in life. Sometimes we pray to be delivered so that we are spared from having to go through them, but we might need to go through them to move us to the next place we’re supposed to be. In that case, God isn’t going to spare you from whatever is upsetting your life, but God will, as Joel said, make you “fireproof” because the situation is a critical step on your way to whatever is next. We’ve all heard stories of people who were doing everything they could to avoid being laid off from their jobs (often jobs that had long since stopped being rewarding), then they were laid off anyway, and ultimately they ended up in a much better situation.

If I can trust that God will perfect that which concerns me, then there are some keys to how I will approach anything that occurs. These keys include: I will readily forgive anyone who appears to have hurt or betrayed me; I will not hold bitterness or resentment; I can let go of anxiety and fear; rather than dreading each new day, I can look forward in anticipation; I can live in peace.

May we all live in peace in the New Year.

       

Blazing, Serene Hope

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Corazon Aquino, the first woman President of the Philippines; in fact, in all of Asia, has been quoted: “Faith is not simply a patience that passively suffers until the storm is past. Rather, it is a spirit that bears things – with resignation, yes, but above all, with blazing, serene hope.”

It is that “blazing, serene hope” that most attracts me.

Faith is a big part of living an everyday kind of spirituality. Faith, at its most mundane level, is that confidence within that somehow things will work out right if we just keep doing what we believe is the right thing. Most of us are familiar with the definition in Hebrews 11:1 that faith is the “substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (KJV). Perhaps fewer of us are familiar with the concept just a couple of verses later that “by faith we understand that … what is seen was not made out of what was visible.”

When you take that last thought, from Verse 3, a step further, you can extrapolate that whatever is not currently in existence but that you deeply desire can, through faith, be generated just as well out of what is not now visible on this plane, to our human eyes. That thought is all I need to evoke blazing, serene hope!

       

Casting Your [Whole] Care

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For a very long time, one of my favorite Bible passages has been I Peter 5:6–7. What has drawn me most is Verse 7 but since Verse 7 is a continuation of a sentence started in Verse 6, I take them as a whole. Here are the verses from the Amplified Bible:

6 Therefore humble yourselves [demote, lower yourselves in your own estimation] under the mighty hand of God, that in due time He may exalt you, 7 Casting the whole of your care [all your anxieties, all your worries, all your concerns, once and for all] on Him, for He cares for you affectionately and cares about you watchfully.

Those three points in Verse 7 never fail to calm any storm that arises in my heart. First, I like that amplification: “all your anxieties, all your worries, all your concerns, once and for all.” Nothing negative or troubling can possibly be left out of that! It’s easy to add a visualization of bundling all that difficult, unhappy “stuff” into one large bale and handing off the whole thing to God.

Then there is a reason given for why we can do that: because He cares for us affectionately and (as if that were not enough) He cares about us watchfully. Now my visualization focuses on a source of protection that not only likes me enough to post my picture on His refrigerator but is diligently, vigilantly watching to guard me from harm.

This God who loves us is not only paying attention to all that concerns us, but willingly takes the load from us anytime we are ready to let go of it. That’s a Bible promise to live on!

 

       

Ask

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A colleague was describing her frustration at having misplaced some important papers, figuring she must have misfiled them and having no idea how to backtrack to find where they were wrongly filed. She had spent a lot of time searching in every file she could remember having used, with no success. My suggestion was that before going to sleep that night, she ask her Guardian Angel to send a dream that would reveal exactly where the lost papers were.

I know she is not given to belief in this sort of supernatural intervention, so I thought no more about it. But she reported the next day that just as she was drifting off to sleep, she suddenly remembered two files she had been working with on the day the papers went missing. First thing the next morning at the office, she checked those files – and found the documents.

The incident reminded me of how frequently we forget to simply ask for what we need, whether we want to address the asking to a Guardian Angel, a Higher Power, Divine Spirit, God, or the Holy Name you prefer. In the New Testament (Amplified version), James 4:2 says, “You do not have because you do not ask.” The next verse continues by warning that care be given to what your motives are when you ask, but I could also pair the James 4:2 verse with Matthew 7:7-8, which tells us: “Keep on asking and it will be given you; keep on seeking and you will find; keep on knocking (reverently) and (the door) will be opened. For everyone who keeps on asking receives, and he who keeps on seeking finds, and to him who keeps on knocking, (the door) will be opened,”

This should at least be worth a try.

       

Claiming Rest

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It is easy to get crazy-busy these days. It’s even easy to get so busy as to lose sight of what is important to you. When you feel that your joy has slipped away somewhere and you have no idea what happened to it, that is likely a symptom that you have lost sight of what is important. Maybe you are putting out fires all day at work and doing so at a fever pitch, but those fires do not represent what is important to you – urgent, yes; important, no. If they were things that fulfilled you, that were important to you, you would not have lost your joy in giving so much of yourself to them.

Of course I am not suggesting that you quit your job or quit doing the urgent things that come your way. Instead I am reminding you of who you are and the resources that are available to you. The Bible is full to bursting with promises and reminders of the grace that is yours.

For this post, I am choosing one very simple reminder from Psalm 37:7: “Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him.” That’s all. The next time you’re really stressed, close your eyes, take a breath, and remind yourself to rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him. Let peace take root in your being and be thankful for it. Live in that place for a few minutes, even a few seconds, several times each day, and it will help you regain your joy.

       

Anxiety – a Battle of Faith?

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If you are feeling anxious about anything, one perspective to think about is that your anxiety is a battle of faith. This perspective was discussed by Dr. Charles Stanley in a recent sermon and has prompted me to consider how this perspective could be helpful.

First, it’s important to say that being a person of faith does not mean that you will never have any anxiety, or that feeling anxiety should be taken to mean that you do not have faith. Instead, being a person of faith means that you have it in your power to get the anxiety under control more quickly than you otherwise would.

Dr. Stanley’s Bible reference was Philippians 4:6-7, which itself is very useful for activating the power to overcome anxiety. The two verses read: “6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” That is how the New International Version has it. The Amplified Bible stretches that out a bit: “6Do not fret or have any anxiety about anything, but in every circumstance and in everything, by prayer and petition (definite requests), with thanksgiving, continue to make your wants known to God.  7And God’s peace [shall be yours, that tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation through Christ, and so fearing nothing from God and being content with its earthly lot of whatever sort that is, that peace] which transcends all understanding shall garrison and mount guard over your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”

The way to do battle against anxiety is to memorize those two verses (in whatever Bible version or translation you prefer), then repeat them to yourself on any occasion in which you are feeling anxious. You will find your faith bolstered and your anxiety calmed.

       

Your Faith Thermostat

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Have you thought about your thermostat lately? I heard a talk by Charles Capps recently that has had me thinking about thermostats ever since. Capps’s focus is often on the concept of “calling those things that are not as though they were” [Romans 4:17]. If you consider your thermostat, every time you press the button to increase heat, you are calling “that which is not” into being. Your thermometer may still read “65” but if you reset the thermostat to 68, you have the assurance that 68 is coming.

It’s a short leap from your furnace’s thermostat to faith, which might be thought of as the thermostat of your spiritual life. When you decide upon an intention for your life and steadily hold faith that whatever it is will come to pass in your reality, you are setting a faith thermostat to rise from where you are to where you want to be.

Then, it is a matter of not wavering — in the same way that you do not stand in front of your thermostat debating with yourself about whether the heat will rise or not. Jesus is quoted in Matthew 21:21 saying, “I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt … you can say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done.”

Have you set any intentions for your life lately that you feel strongly enough about to set your faith thermostat?

       

Relationship with God

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Various places in the Bible make it clear that God wants to be in relationship with us. It isn’t only we who reach for God and try to come closer to God. In fact, the common thinking is that we would not have the idea in the first place of getting close to God if God had not first reached out to us.

A short passage that has a lot to say about our relationship with God is Jeremiah 29:11-13. Most people are familiar with verse 29:11, which reads (NIV): “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” But if you carry on to the following verses, you find that God has more to say: “Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” The context is God speaking to the people who were in exile in Babylon and reaffirming the promise to take them back home. Because elsewhere in the text the Bible claims that God is not a “respecter of persons,” the promises to one group are understood to be available to all.

Promises inherent in a relationship with God, according to this passage, include: 1) assurance that there is a Divine plan for your life and God isn’t forgetting about it, 2) the plan includes a way for you to succeed and be strong and healthy, 3) not only is there a future ahead of you, but it is a positive one in which you can feel hope, 4) your side of the relationship includes calling upon God and praying; God’s side includes listening to you, and 5) your side of the relationship includes seeking God with all your heart; God’s side includes being available for you to find Him.

The promise of relationship continues from there into verse 14: “I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity.”

You may not be in Babylon, but you might, even so, be in one form of captivity or another. These promises are for you.

       

Bible Promises: Presence

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One of the enduring promises available to anyone who seeks it is the presence of God. If this promise were found in only a single passage in the Bible, it might be dismissed, but instead it is there so many times – in both the Hebrew scriptures and the New Testament – that the message cannot be ignored.

Sometimes the promise starts in what you do, as in James 4:8, which in the Amplified Bible reads: “Come close to God and He will come close to you.” The King James language has it: “Draw nigh to God and he will draw nigh to you.” Psalm 145:18 takes a similar approach: “The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.” Again, the KJV likes the word nigh but offers the same promise.

Even people not very familiar with the Bible usually have heard the 23rd Psalm, which tells us in Verse 4: “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.” That’s the New International Version; many of us grew up with the KJV that begins: “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death….” Somehow we feel reassurance in the word “Yea” even though we probably could not define it!

Sometimes the language of the promise is forceful, as in Deuteronomy 31:6 and Joshua 1:9. The former reads: “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.” Likewise the Joshua passage reads: “Have not I commanded you? Be strong, vigorous, and very courageous. Be not afraid, neither be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

Much as I like these verses, my favorite statement of the promise is the one in Hebrews 13:5, which reads in the Amplified: “… for He [God] Himself has said, I will not in any way fail you nor give you up nor leave you without support. [I will] not, [I will] not, [I will] not in any degree leave you helpless nor forsake nor let [you] down (relax My hold on you)! [Assuredly not!]”

The next time you wake up in the night terrified from a nightmare, or worried about your circumstances, say that last one a few times to yourself and you’ll have no trouble getting back to peace.