Thursday May 26, 2011

Read 2 Peter 1:3-4 again.  Psalm 145

I remember well that overly and unrealistically happy young Christian who irritated me with his incessant talk of God’s promises. Here I was, a Bible College graduate with an honours Bachelor of Theology. Here he was, young in the faith and ridiculously happy about God’s promises (here we go again!). But that young man put a stone in my shoe. It caused me great discomfort until the Lord hit me with it. He was right! He was right! The Lord challenged me that night to write down, from memory, 10 of His promises that were relevant to my life. I took the challenge and failed.

Could you pass the challenge? Probably with flying colours!  You and I will never be victorious until we know the promises of God. God’s pledges are the means by which we incorporate victory into our lives. God’s promises are the vehicles that bring us fullness of life, godliness and ongoing victory over sin. If I don’t know the promises then I really can’t expect much, can I? If I am ignorant of the promises then my life will always be a downward spiralling struggle with sinfulness and self absorption. I may be growing in “knowledge” of God but never growing deeply with God and in God. It becomes parallel to doing an assignment on Vladimir Putin, the Russian Prime Minister. I may know a lot about him but I really don’t know him.

God’s promises are issued from the heart of God and show us His love, His concern, His compassion, His protection, His fatherly heart for us.  God’s promises draw us into God, into a deeper knowledge of God that is shown by greater trust, more passionate adoration and praise, longer prayer times, more intense prayer times and greater heights of love and service and higher plains of joy than ever before.

God’s promises, from God’s Word, are the foundation on which I walk each and every day. If God promises something I know it’s true and I build my life on that promise. God promises that everyone who believes in Jesus shall not perish but have eternal life. Do I go out of my way to share my faith with my unbelieving friends and family? Of course! That’s building my life on His promises.  God promises that all things work for the good of those who love Him. When life is bad, do I cry out and holler, ‘Woe is me’? Of course not because God has promised that this is for my good. Do I praise God and move forward? Of course I do because this is in accord with God’s promises.  My prayers too can be built on God’s promises. When a prayer requiring situation arises I think through God’s promises and, finding an appropriate one, pray that prayer for the situation. By praying God’s promises I am praying in line with the Word, in line with God’s will and in line with what He Himself really wants. These are powerful prayers. In Isaiah 55:11 God prays that His Word will accomplish what He has set or ordained. Each Sonday morning you can pray with confidence that God’s Word will accomplish what God has stipulated and that the Word will not return to Him empty or unproductive. That is a powerful prayer because it’s based on God’s own promise.

Are you building your life on God’s promises? Are you praying in accord with God’s Word and God’s promises? Are living in victory by appropriating God’s promises into your life?

Prayer:-

V Pray that God would bring forth His Word and His promises into the lives of everyone in your congregation. Pray for 5 other people by name in this light. Choose one promise from Scripture for each person and pray it into their lives.

V Pray that our brothers and sisters in Myanmar would know the promise of God to deliver them safely into His heavenly kingdom. Pray that this will make them bold and willing to reach out to others with the gospel. Pray that we see many come to the faith in that country.

Slaying Sin

1. What situation or thoughts usually precede that sin?

2. What promise of God or command is relevant to this sin. Write out the full verse(s).

3. Memorise that verse/promise asap.

4. Use this promise or verse when that situation or thought arises. Pray for God’s grace to lead you out of temptation.

5. Remove yourself from the situation that leads to this sin as far as practical. EG. If you are prone to watch pornographic TV late at night when everyone else is asleep, ask someone (eg spouse) to keep you accountable for everything you watched at night.

Developing Godly Habits #3

Removing sin or habits from our lives is easier if we think of that sin / habit as a living organism.



Feeding an organism causes it to grow, starving it causes it to die out.  See Romans 8:13, Col3:5!


To overcome sin we need to starve it out, kill it, by refusing to feed it. Often we will need to remove, as far as practical, the physical things that ‘feed’ that sin—the TV, phone, internet, etc.  Then we need to remove the situations or circumstances that feed that sin  -  staying up late at night alone, using the computer when no one is watching etc.  We need also to remove the thoughts and fantasises that run through our head.  2 Cor. 10:5.



Finally, as per Proverbs 4:23 we need to stop idolising that sin or falling  in love with it again will cause us much grief and suffering:-

As we fight the good fight in this way, we will increasingly win the battle.  The strength of sin will decrease and the power of God will greatly increase!