2002-01-01
Good Morning Dear Friends,
Yesterday, I began sharing the thoughts our Lord gave me about the issue of keeping promises. Well, He kept on taking me through a study of a number of Scriptures on this subject, so many that I couldn’t put them in one message. A couple of wonderful truths that came out were: 1. Jesus Christ, while not referred to by that name, is present throughout the OT. 2) He never commands a person to do anything without also equipping that person to be able to obey Him. The people who have made important promises to me and then broken them are ones who are my enemies. Christ has made a command that is crucial to my spiritual welfare, but very difficult to carry out. Yet, He has given me the faith and willingness to obey that is helping me to do just that.
MT 5: 44-45 “But now I tell you love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may become the children of your Father in heaven.”
The more time I spend in prayer and study of God’s Word, the more that I know I can rely on my loving Abba during tough times. Unlike the human promise-breakers in my life, I can always be sure that He will keep any promises He makes. That doesn’t mean that I should go to the extreme of refusing to trust anyone in my life. It just means that when you spend time with God, He gives you the discernment you need to know which person you can trust.
God has led me to say that I should take the time to share what He has revealed to me about promise-keeping even if it takes more than one message. When you travel this road with me, keep in mind the question I asked yesterday: What would be the consequences if God didn’t keep His promises? By asking it, you will come to understand how blessed we all are that GOD DOES KEEP ALL HIS PROMISES. I hope you will take the time, as I did, to read each of these citations in your favorite version of the Bible for yourselves.
In Jeremiah 31: 31-34 (note this is OT), a hugely important prophecy is made about 300 years before Christ’s birth. This is the first mention that there is to be a new covenant. There will be a time when God will put write His law on the hearts of the people, claiming ownership of them. God will forgive their sins, forgetting them. This is a clear reference to the eternal forgiveness that comes from Christ’s blood shed on the cross, as opposed to the temporary forgiveness granted for one year on Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement) that resulted from the ancient Jewish High Priest’s sacrifice of a lamb without spot or blemish for the nation. It is also a reference to the privilege those “in Christ” will have of becoming joint-heirs with Christ to the Kingdom of God.
The book of Daniel has several citations that clearly reflect God’s promises. DN 2: 34-35 are events in Daniel’s giant statue dream which the prophet later interprets as a Kingdom which will eventually replace all human empires and will last forever. Only God’s Kingdom, which Christ will inherit, fits that description. DN 7: 26-27 goes on to describe the last judgment and foreshadows Matthew 25: 31-33, the final separation of the “sheep and goats,” the preparation necessary before that Kingdom can be set up.
Before I leave the book of Daniel, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention DN 9: 24-27, the passage in which Daniel, a man God holds in “high esteem,” is privileged to be told the prophecy of the end times events. When we study this passage and come to understand it, God holds us in high esteem too by granting us the same privilege that Daniel was given-to understand the future so that, without fear, we can get our spiritual lives in line with His Will, thus being ready for what is to come.
Just in case I was ever tempted to revert back to the traditional Jewish rejection that Jesus Christ is the Messiah, God led me to Micah 5: 2.
Micah 5: 2 “The Lord says, ‘Bethlehem Ephrathah, you are one of the smallest towns in Judah, but out of you I will bring a ruler for Israel, Whose family line goes back to ancient times.”
What is interesting here is that there was more than one town with the name Bethlehem, but only one Bethlehem Ephrathah. The latter was the town where Christ was born!
The OT has prophecies that apply to our future, as we saw in DN 9: 24-27. Another one is found in Zechariah 14: 3-4 in which Christ’s second coming is described in which “…His feet shall touch down in the Mount of Olives…” Don’t you find it interesting that Christ is mentioned so many times in the very Scriptures which traditional Jews claim as their own?
Tomorrow, I’m going to share NT scriptures with you, so that when you put all that God has led me to in the last few days together, you will see the magnificent flow of important promises made and how they are kept by our Lord. I hope in doing this you will reflect on how these promises impact on your own lives, as I have.
PRAYER: O Lord, You command us to go against our fleshly instincts and forgive our enemies. You set an example of keeping important promises to us for us to follow. By that, You demonstrate your love, patience, and compassion for us. Even while we were Your enemies, You sacrificed Your only Son for us on the cross, so that we could be saved from the consequences of sin (spiritual death). What greater love can there be for us to emulate? We praise You and thank You for Your presence in our lives. Amen.
Please know that you are in my prayers every day. Pete and I want you to know that our love goes out to you. Thank you for encouraging me to share the deepest part of my heart with you. By doing that, you uplift us through our own hard times. God is blessing all of us.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn