God’s Promises Cannot Fail

Scripture tells us that the Lord cannot lie, it’s impossible.

“God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?(Num 23:19 NIV)

Therefore, we can conclude that God’s promised blessings cannot fail- they are the Word of God.

“For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God.”(2 Cor 1:20)

We can trust God to provide just as He said, knowing that He would never lead us into anything harmful. We oftentimes do not get what we want immediately. This is when we can check our walk with God. If we are obedient to all we have learned thus far, our faith in God increases.

Let me use an analogy I will call the “Honor System” analogy:

Imagine you stop at a small farm stand and select some vegetables to take home. You see a simple can for payment based on the prices listed. No one is watching. You decide to put in less than what is owed, after all, who would know?

Later, when you return, there is a sign that reads: “If you are not an honest person, please don’t expect to continue shopping here.”

Now the question isn’t whether the stand has produce, it’s whether you can approach it with confidence. Your own actions have affected your sense of belonging there.

In a similar way, God’s promises are 100% guaranteed. Our confidence in them however, shaped by our obedience to His Word. As we trust God enough to obey, even when it’s costly or unseen, our faith in His response grows. We don’t simply hope His Word will come to pass, we have true faith it will.

All Of God’s Promises Are Already Ours

All of God’s promises are already ours, we simply must believe that they are. When I realized this, it changed everything for me. God taught me this amazing Truth while I was working in the operating room taking care of a patient. I’m a nurse anesthetist.

In the operating room vital signs can change fast. Although I do everything I can with the medications available, there are times they don’t work quickly enough. This is especially true when the heart rate is slow and thus the circulation of the drug is slow. Therefore, I always silently pray for my patients in situations like this as well.

During this particular instance after I prayed, I felt what seemed like a light punch to the center of my chest. It wasn’t painful but enough to take notice. All of a sudden out of no where, this sentence landed in my head: “I cannot deny myself.”

In that moment, the vital signs changed immediately back to normal.

This scenario was a profound realization for me. Christ lives in everyone who follows His commandments and His teachings. And if He lives in us, His power will be manifested through our prayer life.

“He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.” (John 14:21)

“Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.” (John 12:14 KJV)

“Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we keep his commands and do what pleases him.”(1 John 3:21-22 NIV)

Obey God’s Word and Watch Him Work

Obeying God’s Word is the fastest way to see Him work.

In the Old Testament story of Abraham, we find a powerful example of knowing God acts on His Word. Abraham wasn’t perfect- he lied and tried to protect himself by telling Pharoah his wife was his sister. But this didn’t disqualify Him from God’s promised blessings. God taught Abraham the correct way to live by intervening in his life and Abraham learned to trust the Lord. Therefore, when God instructed Abraham to sacrifice Isaac on the mountain, Abraham believed God would either bring Isaac back to life or step in with another sacrifice. He knew this because God told he would have many descendants.

Our faith walked out, like Abraham’s, is the substance of things hoped for.“Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.”(Heb 11:1 NIV)

So, in order to receive guidance or help, we pray in faith, knowing that we will receive it if:

~Our hearts do not condemn us

~We are quick to repent of sin

~We are truly surrendered to the Lord

These free will choices on our part, will give us confidence. Obedience is the substance of our faith.

Obedience Is Evidence of Faith In God’s Promise

We are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. Obedience is simply the evidence of our faith in God and in the perfect way He leads His people.

If we have faith that Jesus died for our sins and we are righteous through Christ, by faith alone, why wouldn’t we obey the conditions attached to the many promised blessings? Why believe only part of the Bible?

“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.”(Matt 7:24 NIV)

“But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand.”(Matt 7:26 NIV)

As an example, if we desire the blessing of financial security assured by the Lord, we will also have a heart to live out the Word of God that leads us to this blessing.

“Sell what you have and give alms; provide yourselves money bags which do not grow old, a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches nor moth destroys.”(Luke 12:33)

This verse is full of wisdom. Let’s start by realizing we will not need money in heaven. Therefore this verse is teaching us how to have financial security here on earth as followers of Christ.

We are instructed to give alms so that our money bags will not fail us. Giving alms is assisting the poor and needy with gifts of money, food and physical help. If we do this with a heart of love and obedience to the Lord, we will indeed provide ourselves with the FAITH to believe we will always have enough. Therefore, it’s our act of obedience that increases our faith.

Faith Under Pressure

The Israelites of the Old Testament had to choose who they would obey. Would they obey their own assumptions or would they obey God and follow His leading- no matter the cost?

They had to follow the Lord through the barren dessert and count on Him for their food. They couldn’t turn back when they found themselves with the Red Sea in front of them, a mountain range on either side, and the Egyptian army closing in from behind.

We too face moments that tempt us to turn back or carve out our own way of escape. Moments where the battle is not outward against enemies, but within:

~”I can’t trust Him with this, I need to take control”

~”If I obey God I’ll end up worse off!”

~”God didn’t really mean that”

~”Times are changing, we need to redefine what He said.”

These are the internal arguments that compete with God’s truth. The very imaginations that must be confronted and brought under the Word of God.

^” Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.” (2 Cor 1:5)

If we learn to cast down every thought that contradicts God’s Word, our faith begins to grow. We begin to be obedient to the Word. We start to give during times of financial uncertainty, submitting to His ways even when we don’t fully understand. And as we obey without hesitation, we remain “in Christ” confident that He is as faithful as His Word.

As our faith becomes stronger, we start to experience our authority in Christ. And the concept of abiding in Christ, in other words to have an awareness of His presence throughout the day, becomes a reality for us.

“Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.”(John 15:4)

Denial of God’s Power Is A Lack of Faith

If we deny Christ’s power to work in our lives, then we are in effect, denying Christ. We deny Christ’s power when we can’t figure out how God could help us out of our situation. This then can lead to devising our own plan. Human reasoning is always second to God.

As 2 Timothy 2:12 reminds us:“If we endure, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us..”

We can deny Jesus outwardly before others, as He warned in Matthew 10:32-33, and we can also deny Him in our hearts, by refusing to believe that His Word applies to everyday life. Both scenarios deal with rejecting Christ or His Word- which are One.

To fully deny Christ, that He lived and is the Savior of the World, means that we will be denied access to heaven. But for most of us, we are on a journey of struggling to believe in, and thus enjoy the promised blessings.

“Whoever acknowledges me before others, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven.”(Matt 10:32-33 )

We need to get a hold of any sort of anxiety and fear, which shape our obedience and trust in God.

Do Not Be Anxious- Trust

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”(Phil 4:6 NIV)

The question we must ask ourselves is this: How many years do we want to spend in the wilderness doubting God will come through on His help and His blessings?

We must choose obedience to the Word in order to know, without wavering, that God’s promises were already paid for. We can experience these blessings as soon as we are ready. We simply pray from a heart that doesn’t condemn us and a daily walk that follows closely behind Jesus.

Food For Thought,

Lisa