“He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God;” – Romans 4:20
A promise is a declaration or assurance that someone will do a particular thing or that a particular thing will happen. Promises are easily made, and unfortunately, they are easily broken. In the movie, Mary Poppins, the nanny refers to those kinds of promises as “piecrust promises.” Sometimes promises are made without thinking, and other times great thought is applied before promising something, and even so, those well-thought out promises are sometimes broken as well. There is only one person who has never broken a promise, and that is God.
The Bible records several promises made by God. For example, He promised Noah that He would never destroy the world again by way of a flood. “And I will establish my covenant with you; neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth.” (Genesis 9:11) He has kept that promise. Another example is when God promised Moses that He would deliver the Israelites from Egypt and take them to a land He had designated to belong to them. “And I have said, I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt unto the land of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, unto a land flowing with milk and honey.” (Exodus 3:17) He kept that promise.
One last example is when God promised Abraham that he and Sarah would have a son. “And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him.” (Genesis 17:19) He kept that promise, too. Remember, God has kept every promise He has ever made. Because He has done so in the past, we can have the assurance that any promise yet fulfilled will come to fruition. God does not make piecrust promises.
So, what are some of the promises we can depend upon today?
- God is always with us – “Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the LORD thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.” – Deuteronomy 31:6
- God will always forgive us – “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” – 1 John 1:9
- God will protect us – “But the Lord is faithful, who shall stablish you, and keep you from evil.” – 2 Thessalonians 3:3
- God will always answer us – “And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.” – 1 John 5:15
- God will be our strength – “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” – Psalm 46:1
- God will give us peace – “Now the Lord of peace himself give you peace always by all means. The Lord be with you all.” – 2 Thessalonians 3:16
- God will always love us – “For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”- Romans 8:38-39
What are some promises that God will fulfill in the future?
- God will send Jesus to earth again – “Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;” – Titus 2:13
- God will take us to heaven to be with Him – “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” – John 14:3
- God will give us eternal life – “And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.” – John 10:28
- God will continue working in us until Jesus returns – “Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:” – Philippians 1:6
- God will defeat sin and death – “The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.” – 1 Corinthians 15:26
There are more promises mentioned in Scripture, and each one God will bring to pass. Like Abraham, all we need to do is hold on to our faith, believe what we know to be true… and wait. What God says He will do, He will do. “God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?” (Numbers 23:19)
Standing on the promises of Christ my king,
Through eternal ages let his praises ring;
Glory in the highest, I will shout and sing,
Standing on the promises of God.
Standing, standing,
Standing on the promises of God my Savior;
Standing, standing,
I’m standing on the promises of God.
(from “Standing on the Promises” by Russell K. Carter)
“O LORD, thou art my God; I will exalt thee, I will praise thy name; for thou hast done wonderful things; thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth.” – Isaiah 25:1
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Praise the Lord that we serve a God who keeps His promises!