Month: June 2021

218. Glory, Honor, Strength, Gladness

1 Chronicles 16:27 Glory and honour are in his presence; strength and gladness are in his place.

According to this stated truth there is a promise for those who come into the presence of God, to the place where He resides. David is referring to the Presence of the Lord over the mercy seat of the Ark of the Covenant. This place is the presence of God on the earth. Glory and honor are there because God Himself is there; the glory and honor that are due only to the Lord, for He is worthy, is there. Strength and gladness are also in His place, the place over the Ark where God is located on earth. God is always strong and glad.

The promise is that we NT believers in Jesus may enter into God’s Holy Presence through the blood of Christ. By faith we go with Christ through the veil and, with Him, sprinkle His blood on the Ark, granting us unfettered and safe access into the very presence of God. In His presence we receive God’s glory and honor besides God’s strength and joy. God shares His life with us; that includes these blessings. We receive God’s Life by faith in Christ, and not only are we glorified and honored, but also we are strengthened and filled with joy.

The Presence of God is no longer on the physical Ark of the Covenant nor in the Holy of Holies of the Temple. Jesus, who is the Presence of God on earth, has replaced these objects. All those who believe in Christ are now the temple of God and the Lord Himself resides in each believer’s body in its human spirit. It should send us to the floor in amazement that our body is the temple of God. In us resides the Spirit of God because of Christ. Amazing: in us is the Presence of God on earth. We may enter into the Presence any time to receive the promise of Life; this life includes glory and honor, strength and gladness. It is hard to believe, but with the “hope of glory” inside us we never need to feel insignificant or shamed, weak or sad. Enter in by repentance and faith, prayer and praise, and receive the blessed promise.

217. Hearts will Rejoice

1 Chronicles 16:10 Glory ye in his holy name; let the heart of them rejoice that seek the lord.

David sings this Psalm when the Ark of the Covenant is brought up to Jerusalem for a final resting place. The promise is that there shall be joy for those who seek the Lord. Everyone does not automatically receive the joy that God promises; joy is for those who seek the Lord. The Joy of the Lord is for all people (since Jesus died for all), but not all people receive it, or want it, or even care about it because they don’t care for the Lord or even give Him any thought, unless it be in a negative way, like using God’s name to curse and damn something. But joy is still promised to all; whether all will receive it or not. And even Christians who have received God’s Joy do not remember to always thank Him for it and live in that Joy.

“Seeking the Lord” simply means believing the Gospel; repent and believe the Gospel. The kingdom has come; and joy is in the kingdom of God. Seeking the Lord does not mean trying to do good, praying and fasting, earning favor by any means, or studying the world’s religions. Seeking is receiving in faith what has already been given. It is possessing the land God gives. “Seek first the kingdom of God, and all these things will be added.” One of the “these things” is the joy of the Lord and rejoicing in the Lord. Joy always comes after believing. In this way God promises joy to believers in Christ. That Christians do not always feel joy in their emotions does not mean it isn’t there. Faith in the gospel opens the joy of the inner heart, and at times it touches the emotions. But there is still a little unbelief in the believing heart, which blocks the joy from being experienced. Therefore, we are given a command to act on faith: “Rejoice in the Lord always, and again, I say, rejoice!”

We believe, therefore we rejoice, even if the emotions don’t feel it. True and lasting rejoicing is in the faith, not in the feelings. Act on the faith. Act on the promise. We do this when we “glory in his holy name.” Every time we pray, “Hallowed be Thy name,” we are rejoicing. God answers this prayer by bringing His name, character, nature, presence, love and power into our present awareness. And we rejoice. And that is a promise to be believed.

216. A Remnant will Escape and Grow

2 Kings 19:30, 31 And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall yet again take root downward, and bear fruit upward. For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and they that escape out of mount Zion: the zeal of the Lord of hosts shall do this.

Isaiah speaks a word of the Lord to Hezekiah, who had prayed for the Lord to deliver Jerusalem from the siege of the Assyrians under Sennacherib. Embedded in God’s answer to Hezekiah’s prayer is a promise: a remnant shall escape out of Judah and Jerusalem, and that remnant will flourish and grow and produce fruit.

The Lord answered the prayer by sending an angel to kill 185,000 soldiers in the besieging army of the Assyrians. First, the remnant of Judah escaped danger, for now. Secondly, the prophets prophesied that a remnant shall return from Babylon to reestablish Judah, Jerusalem, and the Temple. Third, out of the nation of Israel there will be a remnant of God’s people that will remain true to the Lord and His Word and Covenant. Fourth, the “Remnant” that will take root downward and bear fruit upward will be the Messiah (who is born out of that faithful remnant of believers). He will cause the kingdom of God to flourish and grow. Fifth, the remnant finally refers to all the NT believers in Jesus Christ who enter the Kingdom of God and live forever with the Lord in eternity. In other words, we are a remnant, a minority, out of all the people who have ever lived on earth, although Revelation describes the true believers in heaven as myriad millions (symbolically 144,000).

This promise has meaning for the Church: we may feel like a small minority in the world, but that remnant is bigger, stronger, and mightier than it appears. We have been given The Kingdom and that root bears fruit upward. From one perspective the Church of believers is small, but from another perspective it is huge. The influence of a small group of Christians on the world is much greater than its apparent size. Christ comes from the Remnant, and the Remnant comes from Christ. The promise for us is that our influence and fruit has a greater impact than we think. We may feel small and insignificant, but in spiritual reality we are really huge and vitally important.

215. Deliver from Enemies

2 Kings 17:39 But the Lord your God ye shall fear; and he shall deliver you out of the hand of all your enemies.

This conditional promise was not kept, because the people of the nation of Israel did not keep the condition: if you fear the Lord, then He will deliver you. But they did not fear the Lord; instead they served other gods and disobeyed His Commandments and broke the Covenant. The author of 2 Kings is explaining why the Assyrians invaded the northern kingdom of Israel, destroyed the capital Samaria, and carried the people away into exile (never to return). God did not deliver them from their enemies because they did not fear the Lord their God.

To “fear the Lord” means to believe God so strongly, trust Him absolutely, serve Him only, love Him devotedly, and worship Him exclusively. They should believe God so much and love Him alone that they would be afraid to offend the Lord or disobey Him. Proper fear is genuine faith, knowing the Holy God who punishes sin and knowing the God of love who forgives sin and brings blessing. They did not have such fear, and therefore the Lord did not deliver them out of the hand of the enemies. (By the way, the same Assyrian army came against Jerusalem and Judah and did not take it, because Hezekiah was a faithful, God-fearing king.)

The region of Samaria was repopulated with foreign pagan peoples from other lands of the Empire. However, lions attacked them, because it was said that they did not know the manner of the God of the land. So they brought back from captivity a priest to teach the new settlers the ways of the Lord (of that land). But the pagan people kept their old gods as well. Thus the mixed religion of Samaria became the despised religion of the Samaritans of Jesus’ day.

Syncretism, accommodation and compromise also become familiar ways of life and dangerous temptations for Christians everywhere, even today. But we read the stories and hear the promise, and then we repent and believe the gospel of forgiveness and life. And by so doing we fear, love, and trust in God all the more.

214. More with us than with them

2 Kings 6:16, 17 And he answered, Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them. And Elisha prayed, and said, Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he my see: And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.

Although this is not a promise in the context of the narrative, and it is not given to us as a direct promise from God, we may nevertheless take it as a promise of God to us since the truth is given in the Scriptures elsewhere. Here the king of Syria sent horses and chariots to the village of Dothan where Elisha was staying. He intended to seize Elisha because Elisha seemed to know what the king was planning, as though he were in the room. Elisha’s servant looked out and saw that an army of horses and chariots from Syria were.surrounding the place. The servant said, “What shall we do?”’’

Elisha gives this answer, and then He prayed for the Lord to open his eyes. And when his spiritual eyes were opened he saw the mountain full of horses and chariots of fire all around. There are times when we need to ask God to open our eyes, too, so that we may believe that there are more with us than with them. When our spiritual enemies surround and frighten us and we sense an overwhelming dread we need to see the truth from God: “If God is for us who can be against us?” We have no doubt that God is for us, but we are not ready to live by that faith when it is most needed.

Therefore, when we ask the Lord for help we may believe what we are asking for. God is a very present help in time of trouble: He can commission thousands of horses and chariots (or a well equipped army of angels) to fight on our side. God does not leave us defenseless, and He knows the troubles and dangers we get ourselves into in this world. We can trust His promise to take care of things in the invisible world for our good. Believe the God of Promises. When you don’t know what to do ask God to open your eyes.

213. The King will not Fail Us

1 Kings 9:5 Then I will establish the throne of thy kingdom upon Israel for ever, as I promised to David thy father, saying, There shall not fail thee a man upon the throne of Israel.

The promise to David is repeated again from the Lord to Solomon, and the promise also applies to us who believe: “There will not fail for you a man on the throne of the kingdom of God.” This promise is forever and it is spiritual; it is not for the physical, geographical and political throne of Israel. Israel has become the spiritual kingdom of God brought in to believers in Christ. Jesus, the Son of David, is king in the hearts of God’s people and He lives and reigns forever. The word “forever” makes it not a political nation, but a spiritual kingdom.

This promise is valuable for us in our lives, not only that the kingdom we are brought into is eternal later, but also because it is eternal right now. This means we have a king who is ruling our hearts and lives right now, today, for our good. This King died for me, never fails me, loves me forever unconditionally, rules all things for my wellbeing, and knows how to take care of me. The amazing truth of this promise is that there is a man, a human being, on the throne. It is the human Jesus Christ, the one mediator between God and man, who is ruling the kingdom. He is God also, one with the Father and the Holy Spirit, but definitely a resurrected human body never to die again, immortal, imperishable, ruling a kingdom reserved in heaven for us.

It is not enough to know that Jesus can do anything, for He is God, it is enough to also know that He will do anything, for he is human. Since he is one of us, taking on our nature, and understanding us better than anyone else in the visible and invisible worlds, we can be sure that Jesus knows, understands, feels, cares and loves us in our present human condition. He knows what it is like to be subject to death, diseases, demons, pain and suffering. And he knows what it is like to have victory and mastery over that evil king and his evil kingdom. He forgives Sin and redeems us from slavery to Sin, Satan and Death. We are under new management forever, and He will not fail.

212. God’s Eyes and Heart in us Perpetually

1 Kings 9:3 And the Lord said unto him, I have heard thy prayer and thy supplication, that thou hast made before me: I have hallowed this house, which thou hast built, to put my name there for ever; and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually.

Think about it: God’s eyes and His heart will be in us and on us perpetually. God is always thinking about us and looking after us with tender care and perfect love. We can do nothing, or even think anything, that the Lord does not know about and care about. The Temple that God built was for the Presence of God on earth. Now, the Temple that Jesus built is for the presence of God to be on earth. This temple is the body, soul, and spirit of each believer. This is now where God resides, and He is there perpetually. Awesome! God lives in me. Amazing! God’s heart is always inclined toward my body and soul. Incredible!

We know instinctively that God is always there, or here, but we can’t naturally know that what God feels about us. We can know, however, when we look at the cross of Christ. There we see the love of God shed abroad for us. That is how we know that we have the eyes and heart of the Lord looking upon us, and within us. 

The Temple of Solomon was built in Jerusalem to house the God of Creation. Everyone on earth could know where God lives and how to approach Him. The Temple of the Christian’s body was built by Jesus Christ to house the God of Creation. Everyone may know where God resides: He is in His people. And He is not just there; He is there to do something. In us the Lord accomplishes all the thousands of promises He made. It is refreshing and comforting to know that the Lord of all is looking at us and thinking about us, with love in His eyes and peace in His heart.

211. With Us and never Leave

1 Kings 8:57 The Lord our God be wlth us, as he was with our fathers: let him not leave us, nor forsake us.

A common promise of God in the Scriptures is that God will be with us. He was with us in the past, will be with us always, and He is present now, today, where we are, and in the circumstances we are in. He is with us to guide and lead and shepherd, He is with us as friend and companion. He is with us in the spiritual battles. He is with us to hear our prayers and answer them. He is with us for good: to bless, heal, forgive, comfort, encourage, lift up, give peace, give grace to help in time of need, give hope when lost, to gather when we feel scattered, etc., etc.

God being “with us always” goes along with His promise to be “present,” that is, He is always available to us to allow us into His Presence. This is a big deal. It is a blessing and a promise that we too often forget to take advantage of. When we feel good and things are well with us, we forget that God is with us, for we don’t need Him right then. Then it is time to thank and praise Him for the “good day.” When we are not feeling well for whatever reason and things are not going so well, we still forget to turn to the Lord for help. Maybe we wait until all our own resources are dried up and we turn to the Lord as a last resort. The Lord can only say, “But I have always been there.”

If God is with us as He promises, then we may enter into His Presence any time and any place. The Lord is “a very present help in time of trouble.” And He is very present when there is no trouble. We enter into His Presence with repentance and faith. We activate our awareness of His “with us” promise by praising and thanking God in everything and for everything. God is always good, and He will never leave us nor forsake us. Ever. We can count on Him to “be there” for us.

210. God promises to keep His Promises

1 Kings 8:58 Blessed be the Lord, that hath given rest unto his people Israel, according to all that he promised: there hath not failed one word of all his good promise, which he promised by the hand of Moses his servant.

Not one word of God’s good promise has ever failed. That also means that not one word of all God’s good promises will fail in the future either. “Jesus never fails.” We can be sure that what the Lord has done in the past He will do again in the future; therefore, our present is secure and certain. We can live safely and comfortably today because He made promises to us and He will keep every single one.

This single truth should make all the difference in the world to us. Fear, worry, doubt and anxiety do not need to be a part of the Christian’s life in any way, ever. Hope, joy, peace, love can be and should be a part of the Christian’s life in every way, forever. “Not one word has failed.” And Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Jesus says, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words shall never pass away.” Every word and promise we receive from the mouth of the Lord is an eternal word, and when we believe each word we also are eternal. When we believe God we have something eternal that lives within.

Any person who has lived on earth even a short time has gotten used to failure and disappointment, frustration and dashed hopes. Now, with Christ, we may get used to something different; and frankly, it takes some getting used to. It isn’t easy to imagine life without anything failing, falling apart, deteriorating, decaying, breaking, and dying. But that is not the life of the believer. He who believes God’s words and promises will not fail permanently, stumble and not get up, or suffer any affliction without the hope of healing, of restoration, and of better things. That’s what God promises and not one promise will fail. We will be full, rich, and satisfied.

209. Eyes and Ears of God are Open to us

1 Kings 8:51, 52 For they be thy people, and thine inheritance, which thou broughtest forth out of Egypt, from the midst of the furnace of iron: That thine eyes may be open unto the supplication of thy servant, and unto the supplication of thy people Israel, to hearken unto them in all that they call for unto thee.

Solomon continues his Temple Dedication Prayer confirming the promise that the Lord who lives in this Temple hears the prayers of Solomon and the prayers of His people. The Lord promises to listen to every prayer that His people pray to Him. The promise that God hears prayer is replete in the Scriptures, so that we may have no doubt that God hears our prayers.

God listens, God hears, God hearkens, and God responds to every prayer prayed to Him in faith and in His name. However, He does not always answer in the way or the time that we demand. His good and gracious will is still sovereign and the Lord can only act according to His will for us. Although He listens, He may say that He will not answer the way we want for that would not be good for us. He may have something better for us that we could not, with our limited minds, know about. Although He listens, He may need to work out other issues before that particular request can be granted. 

No prayer prayed in faith will go unheard, although the answer may come in a different way or time that we wanted. However, prayers not prayed in faith will not be heard, since God cannot reward unbelief. We remember that God desires a loving relationship with us, not just to be a machine that gives us what we want. God is seeking people who worship Him in spirit and truth. By the way, faith does not mean believing for the specific answer so that our faith can make it happen; it means trusting God to be the God who hears. God wants a personal relationship with Him, not with His gifts and blessings.

The interesting promise about prayer is that even though God knows what we need before we ask Him He still wants us to pray for it, because He loves to hear from us. When God gives us the requests we seek according to His will our relationship is closer and more intimate than it was before. So Solomon encourages and inspires us to pray by giving us the promise: God cares and God hears.