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Day Eight
Peace
Peace, God’s peace, isn’t necessarily an absence of trouble or turmoil. It is a calm assurance that, even though we may be surrounded by chaos, all is well.
Because God is God.
Let yourself meditate on these scriptures, over and over; allow the Spirit of Peace an opportunity to cleanse your soul from the poisonous cares of the world.
Listen to Him say, “Peace, be still.”
“In peace I will both lie down and sleep;
for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.” (Psalm 4:8 ESV)“The Lord rules over the floodwaters. The Lord reigns as king forever. The Lord gives his people strength. The Lord blesses them with peace.” (Psalm 29:10-11 NLT)
“But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary.” (Isaiah 40:31 NLT)
“I will teach all your children, and they will enjoy great peace. You will be secure under a government that is just and fair. Your enemies will stay far away. You will live in peace, and terror will not come near.” (Isaiah 54:13 – 54:14 NLT)
“I am leaving you with a gift – peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.” (John 14:27 NLT)
“For he himself is our peace…” (Ephesians 2:14 ESV)
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6-7 ESV)
Jesus is our peace.
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Day Seven
Ever Present God
You are not alone. Even though you may not see or feel anyone near you, God is close by.
And His presence can be your confidence and strength.
“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling. Selah”
“There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High. God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved; God will help her when morning dawns. The nations rage, the kingdoms totter; he utters his voice, the earth melts. The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah”
“Come, behold the works of the Lord,
how he has brought desolations on the earth. He makes wars cease to the end of the earth; he breaks the bow and shatters the spear; he burns the chariots with fire. “Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah.” (Psalm 46:1-11 ESV)“A very present help…” That’s one of His exceedingly great and precious promises to you and I. “Lo, I am with you always…”
“Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence?” (Psalm 139:7 ESV)
The psalmist goes on to say, “If I go to the highest mountain or lowest valley, You are there.”
But do you know what’s the most exciting part of knowing God is near?
The most exciting thing is knowing He is near to help, to comfort, to deliver, to provide and protect.
Just how awesome is that?!?
“Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
So we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me.” (Hebrews 13:5-6 ESV)
He has promised, so we can believe. He has spoken, so we can respond.
What are you saying? Who are you trusting?
Let’s trust the ever present God.
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Day Six
Meditate the Word
The Lord gave Joshua everything he needed in order to fulfill all he was called to do. And, basically, it came down to this simple instruction: meditate the Word of God.
“This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.” (Joshua 1:8 ESV)
Meditation, according to the Word of God, is a very personal and powerful thing. For example, to meditate the Word is to ponder it, think about it, mull it over and over in your mind; thinking of different ways to apply what you are reading or hearing.
Joshua’s instructions: speak, mutter, remind yourself over and over all God has told you. Day and night, night and day. Always. That way you will always know what to do, how and when to do it, IF you are to do it.
That bit of information is what would lead to his success and, ultimately, his and Israel’s prosperity.
David knew the meditation principle, as well.
“Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.” (Psalm 1:1-3 ESV)
Just hanging out with the crowd, even a church crowd, won’t guarantee success in the things of God. Success and prosperity (God’s kind) only come from PURPOSELY doing things God’s way.
“Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day. Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies…” (Psalm 119:97-98 ESV)
“…Wiser than my enemies…” Wouldn’t that be a great thing to have? More wisdom than our enemies? It’s what Jesus had when He walked this earth as the Son of Man. The devil couldn’t trap or trip Him.
And He was able to secure God’s promises for us.
Jeremiah said basically the same thing:
“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.” (Jeremiah 17:7-8 ESV)Always bearing fruit, never fearing the unknown, forever trusting God and experiencing God’s faithful care.
The Word of God is demonstrated through the life of those who take the time to meditate on God and His Word.
What do you meditate on? Your fears and worries? Or do you meditate on the Word of God?
Your choice. God will never leave you nor forsake you; decide to do things His way and watch His Word come to pass right before your eyes.
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Day Five
The Faithful God “Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations…” (Deuteronomy 7:9 ESV)
I love this description of God: the faithful God. He keeps covenant; in other words, He can be depended upon.
Life is full of uncertainties, but the faithful God can always be counted on.
“And the Lord gave them rest on every side just as he had sworn to their fathers. Not one of all their enemies had withstood them, for the Lord had given all their enemies into their hands. Not one word of all the good promises that the Lord had made to the house of Israel had failed; all came to pass.” (Joshua 21:44 – 21:45 ESV)
Even when we are less than perfect (and who isn’t), like Israel in Joshua’s day; God is faithful. He will give us victory over all our enemies if we will only give Him a chance.
Give God a chance? What’s that mean?
It means to trust, to believe, to obediently do our part.
Because He is the faithful God.
“Blessed be the Lord who has given rest to his people Israel, according to all that he promised. Not one word has failed of all.” (1 Kings 8:56 ESV)
To give God a chance also means to hold fast our confession; to verbalize our faith in our faithful God.
“Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.” (Hebrews 10:23 ESV)
Yes, the One Who makes the promises IS faithful!
He IS the FAITHFUL GOD.
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Day Four
How His Promises Work
God is good, and His mercy endures forever. He is so good that many people take Him for granted; they feel He does everything for them and there’s nothing they need to do.
Well, it’s true; without Him we couldn’t do anything. Yet many times there are things we must do in order for His promises to be fulfilled. Many, I’d say most, of His promises are conditional.
For instance:
“Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” (Philippians 2:12-13 ESV)
Notice, we are to “work out” that which God “works in”. It’s called obedience. God speaks to our heart, either through His Word or an intuition, a thought, or a perceived notion generated by His Spirit, and our responsibility is to obey as quickly and precisely as possible.
A good example of this principle is found in Malachi 3:8-12.
“Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.” (Malachi 3:10 ESV)
“Bring (or obey)” and the Lord will fulfill His promise. That’s typically how His promises work.
“I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord,
and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you, and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty. Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.” (2 Corinthians 6:16-18; 7:1 ESV)Who wouldn’t want the promise of God as their Father, dwelling in their midst, treating them as Sons and Daughters?
So, for anyone really desiring His promises, the condition is established: cleanse yourself of any and every defilement, and be holy, walking in the fear of God.
Another important aspect of how His promises work: we must mix faith with the promises.
“Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it. For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened.” (Hebrews 4:1-2 ESV)
Hebrews gives the example of the Israelites hearing the promises of the rich and fertile land, over and over, yet never mixing faith in the promises. To them, either God was a liar or the promises were too good to be true.
Look at the following verse. Paul wrote in regards to the work God did through Jesus’ death and resurrection. Notice God’s part in the work, AND our part.
“…having been buried with him in baptism, in which YOU WERE ALSO RAISED WITH HIM THROUGH FAITH in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead.” (Colossians 2:12 ESV)
God did His part.
And if His promises aren’t realized, it’s not because He changed His mind. He isn’t a liar. However, as in the case of the Israelites, it COULD be that we didn’t mix faith with the promise or we didn’t obey the promise giver.
Yes, there are a few times we don’t have to do anything; His will is going to happen. But more times than not, if His promise didn’t happen it’s because we didn’t understand how they work, or we didn’t care.
But now we know.
We know we need to obey the conditions.
We know we must mix our faith with His promises.
That’s how His promises work.
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Day Three
God’s work in Abraham.
Abraham was truly a remarkable man. Not a perfect man, but one that made a difference in his world and ours.
His story is definitely worth the read.
He had some good times and bad times. Frustrating moments and glorious moments. Days when he knew God was near, and days he wasn’t so sure.
But, overall, his life is marked by faith.
In the face of utter failure and impossible odds, he believed God.
When everything around him validated his fear, his faith in God gave him the strength to take the next step in obedience to God, leaving fear far behind.
“…as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations” – in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, “So shall your offspring be.” He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb. No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised.” (Romans 4:17-21 ESV)
Abraham didn’t deny his, or his wife’s, age. He considered all the reasons why God’s promises shouldn’t work, why he shouldn’t trust God. But not one of them convinced him otherwise.
God had proved Himself to Abraham on more than one occasion. So Abraham knew what to do when fear came knocking and failure seemed inevitable.
He “grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced…” To Abraham, God knew what He was doing. So Abraham kept praising God, kept glorifying God, and growing stronger in faith.
And that same spirit of faith is available to you and I.
Today.
God’s the same, faith is the same, and with God’s help, we can experience the God of Abraham along with the faith of Abraham.
God’s work in Abraham consisted of God giving the promise, and Abraham, against all odds, letting faith and patience sustain him until he actually saw the promise fulfilled.
God giving, Abraham letting.
“And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end, so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself, saying, “Surely I will bless you and multiply you.” And thus Abraham, having patiently waited, obtained the promise.” (Hebrews 6:11-15 ESV)
And that is God’s plan for you and I. It’s how He will work in our lives. Whether the promise is “believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved”, or “I am the Lord Who heals you”, the work of God is the same. He speaks, we “let”. We believe.
We keep on believing.
And He keeps His word.
The faith of Abraham; notice how it’s connected to the work God does in us.
“…for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith…And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.” (Galatians 3:26,29 ESV)
Sons of God, through faith. Abraham’s offspring, through faith.
Let’s allow God the freedom to work in us as He did in Abraham.
With faith and patience.
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Day Two
God’s Word
There is no book like the Bible. Yet the Bible itself isn’t holy; it’s the book’s content that makes it so very special.
“My son, be attentive to my words; incline your ear to my sayings. Let them not escape from your sight; keep them within your heart. For they are life to those who find them, and healing to all their flesh. Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.” (Proverbs 4:20-23 ESV)
The Word which God has spoken, and still speaks to us today, is that which brings life, healing, peace, joy; everything that pertains to life and godliness.
“Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near; let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.” (Isaiah 55:6-11 ESV)
A word you can count on to change your circumstances and your life. It pours forth from the heart of God to the ear, through the mind, and deep into the heart of every person who will give God an opportunity to speak into their lives.
It ALWAYS succeeds; accomplishing His desires.
“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” (Psalm 119:105 ESV)
Because of God’s Word, no one ever has to be lost. Stumbling around in darkness can be a thing of the past. All may be recipients of His grace and peace, and enjoy God’s favor and blessing.
Teaching, correction, restoration, divine wisdom, and faith come as one fellowships with God and His word.
“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16-17 ESV)
God’s Word is vital to understanding and utilizing the precious promises of God.
“I rejoice at your word like one who finds great spoil.” (Psalm 119:162 ESV)
Make God’s Word THE priority of your life; and experience a portion of Heaven on earth.
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Eyes Wide Shut
If we could see all that Christ accomplished for us through His death and resurrection, our lives would be forever changed.
“For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and long-suffering with joy; giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.” (Colossians 1:9-14 NKJV)
If we could comprehend the mysteries of Christ in us, we would no longer be fearful and powerless.
Faith would never again yield to doubt or unbelief.
If we could see.
If our eyes could be opened.
But we seem to be satisfied with knowing our position in Christ, but not allowing it to alter our condition.
With eyes wide shut we declare our place in Christ; but not with the power that affects our circumstances.
With eyes wide shut our mental facilities have ascribed to the truth of God’s word, but our heart has yet to understand the meaning of “Christ in you, the hope of glory.”
With eyes wide shut there’s a disconnect between what Christ’s resurrection has secured and the low life we live.
With eyes wide shut we relegate all we can’t comprehend to the future, and miss seeing “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, in earth as it is in Heaven.”
With eyes wide shut we fold our hands politely in prayer, but fail to fight the good fight of faith.
With eyes wide shut the divine nature of God is kept stored away in our “doctrinal cupboard”, unopened; its affixed label, “taste and see that the Lord is good”, having never been read, much less understood.
With eyes wide shut the world looks hopelessly for evidence of God living in the midst of His people; in the midst of us.
With eyes wide shut the fragrance of Jesus is nothing more than stale dogma.
With eyes wide shut believers quarrel, ministries quit, and the devil quickly pounces on all those who begin to hear a fresh and vital Word from God.
With eyes wide shut, that which Christ purchased for mankind goes unclaimed.
With eyes wide shut, the “glass darkly” we look through never becomes clearer, the promises never seem nearer, and the Word of God is never more than just a good book.
May God open the eyes of our understanding to behold His truth, experience His power, display His glory, and demonstrate His kingdom.
You see, in truth Jesus “spoiled principalities and powers of darkness”. In truth Jesus has been given ALL power in Heaven and earth. In truth Jesus delivered ALL of mankind from the authority of the devil and transferred them to the Kingdom of God. In truth we shall receive power when the Holy Spirit “comes on us”, and we’ll be His witnesses-declaring and demonstrating the Kingdom of God through the Name of Jesus.
With eyes wide OPEN, we will know the hope of His calling, partake of His divine nature, and go about doing the deeds of our Father.
With eyes wide OPEN, we will run and not be weary, stand in the face of adversity, and declare the Lordship of Jesus over every situation.
With eyes wide OPEN, the path of the just becomes brighter, our burden lighter, and our faith bolder.
With eyes wide OPEN, no weapon formed against us shall prosper and no fear overtake us as we relentlessly pursue the knowledge of His will and the honor due His Name.
“Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers: that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come. And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all.” (Ephesians 1:15-23 NKJV)
Open our eyes, Lord. Open them wide!
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Day One
Faithful PromisesIn a world filled with unkept promises and broken trust, people sometimes find it hard to trust in the faithful God.
But God can be trusted. To Him, a promise is exactly that; a promise. A promise which He will never break.
In fact, for His promise to fail, He would have to fail. And that, dear friend, will never happen.
“Blessed be the Lord who has given rest to his people Israel, according to all that he promised. Not one word has failed of all his good promise…” (1 Kings 8:56 ESV)
“According to ALL that He promised…” He promised rest, and rest they received. He promised hope, and they were filled with hope. His promises sustained them in the wilderness and gave them victory in their new land.
“And now I am about to go the way of all the earth, and you know in your hearts and souls, all of you, that not one word has failed of all the good things that the Lord your God promised concerning you. All have come to pass for you; not one of them has failed.” (Joshua 23:14 ESV)
Joshua’s testimony: “I’ve watched and listened to God all my life. Not once has He ever failed me. In fact, you’ve noticed the same thing.”
“God is not man, that he should lie,
or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?” (Numbers 23:19 ESV)If He said it, He meant it.
“For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us.” (2 Corinthians 1:20 NKJV)
If it’s a promise, let your “Amen” join His. Say it with Him, “Let it be so.”
God made the promise, and Jesus did the hard part through His act of obedience; even obedience on the cross.
As we believe and receive His promises, God receives glory.
Imagine the Father’s joy, as He sees His children take Him at His word.
Faithful Promises. God’s good news for Day One.
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40 Days of Promises
The Lord let us know, through the writings of the Apostle Paul, that the things which happened to people in the Old Testament happened not only for their instruction, provision, and discipline, but also for ours:Now these things became our examples, to the intent that we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted. And do not become idolaters as were some of them. As it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.” Nor let us commit sexual immorality, as some of them did, and in one day twenty-three thousand fell; nor let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed by serpents; nor complain, as some of them also complained, and were destroyed by the destroyer. Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come. 1 Corinthians 10:6-11 NKJV
So let’s use Moses and the twelve spies for our example. God instructed Moses to choose men, one from each of the twelve tribes of Israel, to spy out the land of promise. The men were to be leaders; men who were recognized for their position and ability. Men who would gather information about their new homeland and its inhabitants, and return with samples of its produce. Men who would mix the gathered facts with what they already knew in their heart; that God is faithful and true. Men who would influence their nation to follow after God.
God gave them 40 days of promises; time to meditate on all that He had promised.
The word translated “spy” means, “to meander about, especially for trade or reconnoitering.”
Reconnoiter. I like that word. It means, “To go to a place, or area, in order to find out information about a military enemy: to do reconnaissance.” In other words, the twelve leaders’ mission was simply to gather the facts and report them to Moses and the others. And by doing so, the rest of Israel could gain the much needed support for their faith to help them actually possess the promises they had been hearing about the past several generations.
Support for faith. It’s something all of us need if we’re to possess the promises of God. And that’s the reason for this series of posts.
Think of this reading material as a type of reconnoitering; looking at the land God has already promised. Examining its impact on our way of living. Seeing the faithful God in a whole new light. Understanding His love and great desire to impact our lives for good, and for eternity.
Sure, there may be things that appear much too large; impossible, even.
But the Lord does not say one thing and mean something different. He is, among many other things, faithful and true.
One huge lesson we can take away from the spies of old: look at life through the eyes of faith in God. Mix faith with the promises of God. Don’t be overwhelmed with the size of the enemy, the problem, or whatever. God didn’t send them into the land to investigate the prowess and power of the enemy; but to witness the greatness of His Glory against the backdrop of impossibly.
40 Days of Promises. An opportunity to examine the “land of promise”, dream the dreams of God for your life, and, hopefully, by mixing faith with the promises, personally experience God’s handiwork and power.
And just imagine the joy you’ll have in telling others about the land of God’s promises.
Jan Grace
adding God's Word into my world…
