“I promise!” “I give you my word.” “Cross my heart and hope to die.” “Let’s shake on it.” All forms of a promise that someone desires to keep. It is a pledge, a vow, a statement of intent, and a declaration of what one will do. It can be one-sided where a person makes a promise to another. It can also be a joint agreement where two make promises to one another. We hear and receive promises on almost a daily basis.
Some promises are kept while others are broken. A promise is only as good as the one giving it. A promise is only as valid as the promiser’s ability to do or provide what is promised. The character and the ability of the one making the promise becomes the key issue in our expectations of a promise being fulfilled. A promise is only as good as the promiser.
In Joshua 1:2 we see God speaking to Joshua and telling him to go into the Promised Land. He declared,
Moses My servant is dead; now therefore arise, cross this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I am giving to them, to the sons of Israel. (Joshua 1:2)
The children of Israel were about to enter into the land that God had promised to Abraham about 500 years earlier. God never forgets a promise. He always seeks to bring about His promises and purposes on the earth. Listen to the words that the Lord spoke to Abram (Abraham):
Now the LORD said to Abram,
“Go forth from your country,
And from your relatives
And from your father’s house,
To the land I will show you;
And I will make you a great nation,
And I will bless you,
And make your name great;
And you shall be a blessing;
And I will bless those that bless you,
And the one who curses you I will curse.
And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed
(Genesis 12:1-3)
I want to focus on one portion of the promise of God in the above scripture. God said “…to the land I will show you….” There are many great insights we can get from looking at the beginning of God’s promise to Abraham. These insights can help us as we walk with the Lord in our daily lives.
1. Remember to trust the Lord. Sometimes when God first gives us a promise it does not come with a full description of the promise. When Abraham left Ur he did not know where he was going. He did not know the land God was giving him. The Bible tells us that “he went out, not knowing where he was going” (Hebrews 11:8). He stepped out at God’s promise.
2. Remember that God is faithful. When we receive a promise from God that seems so vague but requires action, remember who is making the promise. God is faithful. He always keeps His word.
3. Remember that God has your best interests in mind. “’For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans for your welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.’” (Jeremiah 29:11). God is for you!
4. Remember that some promises take time. We see it throughout the Bible. God makes a promise and it seems that just the opposite happens. Abraham, you are going to have a son, and twenty-five years go by. Joseph is shown in a dream that his parents and brothers will bow to him. The next thing he knows he cast into a pit and then sold into slavery. But don’t forget that Abraham had Isaac and Joseph became second in command to Pharaoh.
5. Remember to remember. There might be some old dust-covered promises from God that you have casted upon the shelf of your mind. Promises that you feel the Lord has forgotten or has failed to complete. Take them down, dust them off, and bring them before the Lord who made them.
6. Remember to thank God. Take some time to thank God for His precious promises to you. Begin to look at all the things that the Lord has done in your life. Look at what you have, not what you do not have. Thank Him that He will bring about His promise to you in His time and His way. “For as many as are the promises, in Him [Jesus] they are yes…” (1 Corinthians 1:20).
Take some time and get before God. Review His promise to you. Ask Him to renew hope and vision in His promise to you. Don’t have a promise? Read His word and let Him speak His promises to you.
Got an awesome promise from the Lord? Why not share it with the rest of us?
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- 2012: The Year of Possessing the Land (ttuinder.wordpress.com)
Beautifully written, and such a great reminder about promises. I especially like number 5 and 6….”remember to remember”, and “remember to thank God”.