Hi Folks!
I hope this email finds you doing well by the grace of God. Remember some
time ago I was talking about the promises of God in our life? Well here we
are back at it praise the Lord! The Lord offers us the abundant prosperous
healthy life in Christ Jesus. Do you want this? The Lord has revealed to you
and I in His Word that this is what He desires for us. The Lord sent Jesus
to die a sinners death on a cross in our place, raised Him from the dead on
the third day, and offered us eternal life. Within that new life is promised
peace happiness and joy, and a life of total health and prosperity. This kind
of life is within the reach of every child of God, but He has reserved it
only for those who will believe it and pay the necessary price.
The Lord has shown me that there are two major requirements needed in our
life to receiving His promises.
1. Know the Promiser
2. Know the Promises
Now these requirements are not "Know about the Promiser"
& "Know about the Promises" but knowing them intimately.
It is our calling in life to know the Lord and walk with Him. Included in
that walk with the Lord is having an intimate understanding of what He has
already said. We will know the One we are trying to serve much better when
we understand more of what He has revealed to us in His Word. The Lord's Word
reveals to us His character because as the Scriptures declare, His Word is
His will. If you know the will of a person then you know more about them.
The Lord is willing to get involved in our life as is seen in the expression
of the perfect will of our Father - His Word. For within His Word are promises
given to us that are so outstanding that if they were not written in the Holy
Scriptures, they would be too good to be true. Anyone who is courageous enough
to believe them, and live by the requirements He has commanded in receiving
them, will have these precious promises manifest in their life, family and
ministry. We will look at all these things in upcoming lessons.
The Bible itself calls the promises exceedingly great and precious
as our scripture today declares. Not just precious, but very very very precious!
If the promises are this precious to the heart of our Father, then we need
to be sure they are precious to us also. We need to search out these treasures
that are hidden within His holy Word, and learn all about them. We need to
find out what has already been promised us if we haven't already, believe
them as being true, and receive them into our life by faith. The two major
requirements for receiving His promises... Knowing the Lord and Knowing
His Promises are within reach for anyone who wants to know. The One who
desires our fellowship has granted us the grace to enable it. Whether we ever
walk close to the Lord or not is dependant on whether you or I pay the price
necessary. The same is true of the promises in His Word. The grace has been
given to us to intimately know and understand each and every one of the things
He has promised us. Whether we receive them into our lives or not is also
dependant on whether we will pay the price necessary to know them and receive.
Our God is a faith God and what we will receive in this life will be according
to our faith, or at times the faith of another. Hebrews 11:6
declares that it is impossible to please God without faith. Romans
10:17 says that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word
of God. It takes the Word of God to produce the faith in our life to
receive His promises. Faith comes by hearing the Word of God, and our faith
is made alive when we release it through obedience to it. As James
2:17 declares Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have
works (ie. corresponding actions of obedience), is dead. Let's
take a look at what the Lord told Joshua to do just before He was to take
possession of the promised land. We also will take possession of the promises
in like manner...
Study this Book of instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night
so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper
and succeed in all you do. Joshua 1:8 (NLT)
Our Lord Jesus said it this way...
If you abide (continue) in my Word, you are My disciples indeed; and you
shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. John
8:31b-32
The psalmist said it like this...
Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands
in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful, but his delight
is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night. He shall
be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit
in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither, and whatever he does shall
prosper. Psalm 1:1-3
As it is written in the scriptures, to receive the true freedom His Word promises,
it will require you and I to continue in His Word day and night. It will take
a continual meditation on it and obedience to it. To meditate means to ponder
on it or to think about. It also means to mutter it out loud to yourself so
that your own ears can listen to it. Faith will come this way. Our faith is
built up and strengthened as we hear the Words of life and continue in them.
We will hear the Words of God either through our own lips or through the lips
of another. It is a great privilege and blessing to sit at the feet of anointed
teachers of the Word. God has blessed the world with great teachers in the
Body of Christ.
God's words are so rich and full of life and they are to be desired greatly
if we are to live by them. The promises found within His own holy written
Words have been given to us who believe. If your desire for the promises of
God is small, then start to give your attention to them today. As you do this
each and every day by choice and obedience to the Scriptures, your desire
for them will increase. Our desires in life follow after what we give the
majority of our attention to. Attend diligently to His words and your desire
will follow - praise His Name!
My son give attention to my words; incline your ear to my sayings. Do
not let them depart from your sight; keep them in the midst of your heart.
For they are life to those who find them and health to all their body.
Proverbs 4:20-22 (NASB)
I will look at some of His great promises of Divine Protection in the next
message.
God bless you richly!
David
Dear people. We hope these Pastor's Heart messages have been a blessing to you. Please feel welcome to email us at any time with feedback. Any questions you might ask we will endeavour to answer if we can. email@livingwordfellowship.com.au
To subscribe or unsubcribe please email us, email@livingwordfellowship.com.au
Previous Pastor's Heart messages
can be viewed on our website
www.livingwordfellowship.com.au
His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness,
through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have
been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these
you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that
is in the world through lust.
2 Peter 1:3-4