Monday May 23, 2011

Read 2 Peter 1:3-4

Aaron Ralston (from the movie 127 Hours) finds himself literally stuck between a rock and a hard place. As an experienced canyoner he should have known that he really needed everything necessary to be safe. Had he not left his mobile phone at  home, 127 hours could have easily turned into 127 minutes and he possibly may have saved himself a lot of agony and loss.  In life, tragedy often strikes when we are ill prepared. Spiritually speaking there’s more to the picture than meets the eye.

God has promised that He has given us everything we need for life and godliness. The key word is EVERYTHING. God has left out nothing from our travel pack. Like a diligent and loving mother He has packed everything into our school bag. If that is true then a host of questions raise up immediately. Why do I still sin? Why does life still take down turns? Why am I not enjoying life to the full? Why am I ambushed by sin? Why is there a barrier at times between me and God?

I liken the situation to that young boy at school. His mother tells him  that she has packed everything he needs in his school bag. By recess the poor lad is hungry and after running around the playground wonders why his mum would leave him to be hungry. He complains that he has nothing to eat at recess. But that young boy has failed to look into his school bag. Likewise, we also often fail to look into our ‘spiritual bag’ to find all the resources and blessings that God has given us. We often fail to see God’s gracious hand and provision in our life because the fog of life blinds us and weighs heavily upon us. It’s not that we are ill prepared because God has given us EVERYTHING we need for life and godliness. He has filled us with His Holy Spirit and provided resources innumerable. The issue is what we do with all His blessings.

One thing we can be doing to open up God’s fully packed bag is to pray over or according to God’s own promises.  If God has promised something we can be 1000% certain that His word is true and His promises sure. We can and should be building our life on these promises.

Prayer:-

V  Pray that the believers in Iran and Iraq would know God’s promises and live by them. Pray that many would come to Christ for salvation through them.

V Pray that God’s promises would transform your life and witness.

V Pray that God would give you wisdom to know which promises to pray for others.

Change takes much prayer. Spend time daily asking the Lord to change the things you dislike about yourself. If you are really keen to change, you will be really keen to pray about these issues.

Base  your prayers on God’s promises.

An example of a prayer based on God’s promises.

Father, Great God Almighty, you have sworn that your divine power has given me everything I need for life and godliness.

Lord I struggle daily with thoughts of revenge and payback for Jack’s actions last year. Yet you promise me in your word that you will take vengeance. Help me Father to love Jack, to serve Him and to help Him into the Kingdom of God before your wrath and punishment overwhelm him. Father when my thoughts turn to revenge, let me remember your great promise.”

Developing Godly Habits #2

If you don’t know what God says in His word you are more prone to fall into sin. Even worse, you are liable to fall into a spiralling cycle of, “Try Harder”. With each cycle the disappointment in sinning/falling grows bigger and bigger and bigger. Finally helplessness and hopelessness set in. Depression, self hate, self abuse, moodiness, suicide or suicidal thoughts can all occur from this growing cycle of trying and failing.




Knowing God’s word is vital to overcoming sin. When tempted, you can call on God with regard to His promise. You can quote the Word of God at the evil one if he is tempting you. You can encourage yourself with the Word. You can escape the temptation as you dwell in God’s Word.




But if you don’t know the Word of God then you can’t escape through God’s promises. The cycle may well continue unabated.




To break this cycle you need to memorise God’s Word. In the appendix, there is a list of God’s Promises from the New Testament. Read through them and write down the ones that are relevant to your struggle.  Memorise at least 7 of them over the next week (ie. one a day).

Promise 1

Promise 1

Promise 2

Promise 3

Promise 4

Promise 5

Promise 6

Promise 7.

Use the rest of this page after two weeks - (one week of learning promises and one week of using them) to record how you have been going in your struggle with sin.