God’s Promises by Alex Fye
It’s so funny. So many times, I find God leading me in a certain way and I come to the website and there are all these beautiful posts confirming for each of us that God IS speaking and we can bank on what He says. I too have been led to believe that speaking God’s word into my life is key, and like Dan, I keep coming back to God’s promises. I was reading Numbers 22 through 24, and I was so encouraged. Balak, a pagan king, is fearful because the very powerful Israelites are camping in his backyard and he summons Balaam, a sorcerer, to curse them. But what happens? God not only prevents Balaam from cursing Israel, but He causes Balaam to bless them 7 times! In Numbers 22:12, God tells Balaam, “You must not put a curse on those people because they are blessed.” And Balaam, who was not even a man of God, realized that he could not do anything other than speak the word of God. In his first oracle to Balak, he says, “Balak brought me from Aram…Come, he said, curse Jacob for me; come, denounce Israel. How can I curse those whom God has not cursed? How can I denounce those whom the Lord has not denounced?” Balaam’s blessing in verses 19-24 are for us all to claim and I pray that each of us will indeed claim these words, “God is not a man that he should lie, nor a son of man that he should change his mind. Does he speak and not act? Does he promise and not fulfill? I have received a command to bless; he has blessed and I cannot change it. No misfortune is seen in Jacob, no misery observed in Israel. The Lord their God is with them; the shout of the King is among them. God brought them out of Egypt; they have the strength of a wild ox. There is no sorcery against Jacob, no divination against Israel. It will now be said of Jacob and Israel, “See what God has done!” The people rise like a lioness, they rouse themselves like a lion that does not rest till he devours his prey.”
So today are you afraid that God is not with you? He is. Are you afraid that the enemy will prevail? He won’t. Has God spoken a promise to you to restore your marriage and family? He will. Do you want God’s blessings? Claim them boldly. Do you need strength? You got it-though we don’t really like the whole “oxen” analogy! Will God preserve our testimony so that we can tell others “See what God has done for me”? Yes. Do we want to be free from bondage, misery and misfortune? YES!!
To receive our Promised Land, we have to be obedient in loving God first and foremost. We need faith and we have to understand our position in Christ. Our position in Christ is that we have forgiveness and mercy available to us. We share an inheritance and we can come before our Father with all boldness to ensure that we receive that inheritance, as long as we follow God’s commands. But when we fall short, we know we have the blood of Christ to atone for our sins. After receiving forgiveness, then get back up and go to Him about your needs. I pray that we will not be overcome with fear that we will fall away, but will pray each day for God to keep us in faithfulness and obedience, because He wants us to inherit these blessings and promises too. Remember, God can overcome all of our weaknesses, just as he can change our spouses and our circumstances. And that’s confirmed in Joshua 21:45, which says “Not one of all the Lord’s GOOD promises to the house of Israel failed; every one was fulfilled.”