As a Believer, read the scripture below, and every time there is a blank, fill in your own name, okay?
II Peter 1:2-4
God’s divine power has given me, ____________
EVERYTHING I NEED for life and godliness
through my knowledge of Him
who called me, ______________
by His own glory and goodness.
Through these (his glory and goodness)
He has given me, ___________________
His VERY GREAT and PRECIOUS promises
so that by them (these promises)
I, ________________
may participate in
THE DIVINE NATURE
having escaped
the corruption in the world through lust.
Now go back and declare this verse aloud with your name in the blanks….
Did you see it? To believe it?
Did you hear it? To believe it?
Did you receive it? To believe it?
Do You Believe It?
My prayer is that your eyes and ears led to the opening of your heart to receive and believe this declaration, so you can hang onto it in the days ahead.
(Yes, when we personalize scripture and involve our senses, it helps the Spirit get “through to us” better. So, try it in the future with your promises! Okay?)
Now back to our verse:
This is one of the very best scriptures in the bible, in my opinion. Never hopeless, though often feeling helpless, we can know that God’s power will be released through our knowing and believing His promises. His Divine Nature will activate within us, giving us victory over our own evil desires and the corruption of the world.
After I became familiar with this verse, I got myself a little journal, about 3 x 5, and as I read the Word of God and saw a promise that I wanted to hang unto, I’d write it into my journal. When I then filled it, I kept it near me, to go over “my” promises over and over, until I felt that “I believed them” and “they changed me”. I then began filling another journal.
I know some folks don’t have time for such an application, so just as effective is to get a promise book from a bible bookstore that has many promises already printed and even categorized, that you can then read over and over, keeping it in your purse, workplace, etc. to draw upon those promises as needed.
I guess the reason I suggest you make up your own promises book, is that you can then “personalize” each promise, just as we did the verse here in this lesson. Putting your name within a promise you discover, so when you read it back it is personal, makes it easier to believe and lay hold of… It becomes “your personal promise”!
You take ownership of it, so it will give you all that pertains to life and godliness.
Why would the Word be so full of promises if God had no intention of keeping them?
He’s not as a man that sometimes breaks His promises.
Even a loving parent can sometimes break a promise, right? But our God is not a man that he should lie.
I Samuel 15: 10 tells us that He “does not lie or change His mind, for He is not a man, that He should change His mind.”
So don’t stay on Reality Way, as this chapter’s beginning picture gives the street name… Instead, go along life’s way on Promises Ave! Cling to the Words of God… the Promises! For this scripture says that by doing so we partake of God’s Divine Nature and escape the corruption of The World caused by evil desires. I don’t know about you, but I want that for myself!
Instead of sarcastically mocking with the words “Promises Promises” as the world does… from disappointment of broken promises from parents, employers, businesses, politicians, clergy, and mankind in general… we can declare, with excitement, “Promises Promises! Yes indeed, I will cling to them! For He is faithful who promised!”
Take a look at this verse in Hebrews 12:11
“By Faith Sarah, even though she was barren and beyond the proper age, was enabled to conceive a child, because she considered Him faithful who had promised.”
You and I don’t have to know “how” the Lord is going to fulfill His promise to us. He is God! He made the promise; therefore, He can handle it!! We just have to believe He is faithful and not allow our faith in his promise to waiver.
Anxiety comes from wavering! Pain comes! Stress comes! Yet just the opposite happens when we are resting in a promise of His. Rest comes. Healing comes. Peace comes.
I don’t think many of us have the “impossible” circumstances Sara had… I mean she was promised she’d have a baby when it was no longer possible for her as a woman to have one! But she clung to her promise! Even though she didn’t have a clue how it would happen! And even though “the facts” presented it as seemingly not possible or probable!
If you do face something “impossible”, what an example Sarah is of God’s ability! Wow! Just wow! But first God had to give her “a promise”, right? Her faith had come from hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
Important to note, right here: Faith is based upon something God has revealed through His word, either written, or expressed to us through His Spirit. If God hasn’t made you a promise, or you do not meet the “conditions” (your part of obedience) of a particular promise, then you may be in presumption and you may get disappointed, if you are only believing for what you want. He is bound by His Word, His Promises, only… not your want.
You and I need a promise, or promises, to cling to. Wait on God for a personal promise, or go to the Word and cling to one of the many promises already given you as a child of God. Then cling to those promises, by faith!
Let me tell you a secret: As you look for God’s promises in the Word, to claim for your own self, soon you grow in “your knowledge of his glory and goodness” and your faith will draw God’s answers to you… His promises will be fulfilled… II Peter 1:2-4 (the scripture above) will be fulfilled!
The Divine Nature is being participated in as you experience His promises made, then kept. Hallelujah! You have escaped the corruption of the World, and you are empowered by the Spirit to walk in faith as you lean on his promises. Many of God’s promises are conditional and you don’t want to get in the way of their fulfillment once you taste of his glory and goodness. You will want to do your part.
In Closing,
LET’S GLANCE AT THIS IMAGE NOW:
Promises Ave is a two-way street.
Your part is to believe…
God’s part is to keep his Promise.
What a wonderful way to walk in fellowship!
You don’t have to walk on Reality Way!
Unless you choose to!
God is able to supersede reality and give you a better future!
Didn’t God’s promise do that for Sarah?
Despite “reality” she considered Him faithful who promised.
Seek His Promises! Consider Him Faithful to Keep the Promises He’s made to you too!
Then instead of a negative “promises promises” attitude of disgust at some broken promise…
Which does happen with man…sorry to say…
You can experience the great joy of God’s promise received!!
Hallelujah!