The Promises of god

Did you know that there are 8 810 promises in the Bible? Of these, 7487 are by God. If we analyse Psalm 23, we find the following promises: 

1. “The Lord is my shepherd.” A shepherd loves, leads and protects his sheep. 
   
2. ​“I shall not want.” All our needs are supplied. 
3. “He leads me in green pastures beside still water.” A promise of peace and plenty. 
4. “He restores my soul.” After trouble and turning away from God, he brings us back. 
5. “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I shall fear no evil,”- it is only a shadow. Why? Because “thou art with me. Thy rod and thy staff comfort me” – the good shepherd is with us. 
6. “Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of my enemies” – David is fleeing for his life, fighting battles and hiding from his enemies – and God is there with him and providing for him. 
7. “Thou anointest my head with oil” – David remembers he was an insignificant boy caring for his father’s sheep when Samuel anointed him to be King of Israel. 
8. “My cup runneth over” – he is overcome with joy. 
9. “Surely, goodness and mercy shall follow me” – God had been so good to him and had mercy on him when he cried, “Against thee only have I sinned, and done what is evil in thy sight.” Psalm 51:4. 
10. “I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever” – he will be living in God’s home as a member of God, his Father’s family forever.  

 
THE PROMISE OF LIVING FOREVER 
JOHN 3:16 and 17: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him, should not perish but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” Can you remember when you were saved? I was seven and there was a visiting missionary speaking to the assembled older children’s Sunday School in our beautiful church. He made an impassioned altar call. “Come up here to me,” he said, “and I will pray for you.”  “Let’s go,” I said to Barbara who was sitting next to me. “No.” she said – and never came back to Sunday School. But there comes a time in all our lives that we make the decisive decision to be a Christian. Boys and girls aged six do this at their First Communion in Roman Catholic churches. When I was on holiday in Vienna, I stood in the square of Saint Stephen’s Cathedral and watched the children, beautifully dressed in white, walk in procession into the Cathedral. It was a very touching experience.  Baptists experience this at their Baptism. I was twelve and baptised on the same Sunday as my parents. People from the non-conformist churches, that is, the Anglican, Presbyterian, Methodist and Congregational churches do this at their Conformation. This can happen at any age they happen to be. When a Jewish boy turns thirteen and attains the age of religious duty and responsibility of observing the Law, a service is held when the boy reads from the Torah. This is followed by a festive celebration. 

THE PROMISE OF HELP WHEN IN NEED 
Here are some helpful and inspiring verses. “When I am afraid, I will trust in thee.” Psalm 56:3. “My help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth.” Psalm 121:1. Ponder on who helps us - God himself, “he neither slumbers nor sleeps.” Psalm 121:4. An unimaginable number of people are praying this at the same time as we are. And God hears us all.   

THE PROMISE OF FORGIVENESS OF OUR SINS  
The promise of forgiveness when we sin is also expressed in JOHN 3:16, 17. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should have everlasting life.  For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world, through him, might be saved.” These two verses are the most important in the Bible as they encapsulate the meaning of eternal life.  

THE PROMISE OF NOT FEARING 
God said, “So do not fear for I am with you. Do not be dismayed for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. Isaiah 41:10 NIV.  And Paul, writing to Timothy says, “For God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and love and a sound mind. 2 TIM 1:7 NIV. I like the ‘sound mind.’ Before we give way to panic, we should stop and use our sound minds.  

THE PROMISE OF GIVING US A COACH IN OUR LIVES 
All super athletes, business tycoons, the very rich, political leaders and even pastors have a coach in their lives. Our Coach is the Holy Spirit. Jesus said, speaking to his disciples before ascending into Heaven, “The Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and will cause you to remember everything I said to you.” JOHN 14:26 NIV. In the same way, the Holy Spirit leads and teaches us from the Bible.  

THE PROMISE OF GIVING US HOPE 
We live in a broken world, a world of much suffering and, for unbelievers, a world of hopelessness. Thank God that we, as Christians, have hope. I have chosen three verses out of many that you may care to look up. 

The first is, “For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope.” JER 29:11 NIV 
The second is, “But, as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord. I wait for God my Saviour, my God will hear me.” MICAH 7:7 NIV 
The third is, “May the God of all hope fill you with joy and peace as you trust in him so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” ROMANS 15:13 NIV 

THE PROMISE OF ALWAYS BEING PRESENT WITH US   
“Fear not for I am with thee, be not dismayed for I am thy God. I will strengthen thee, yea, I will help thee, yea, I will uphold thee with my righteous right hand.” Isaiah 41:10.  
“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for thou are with me, thy rod and thy staff comfort me.” Psalm 23:4 
“Surely, goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.” Psalm 23:6 

THE PROMISE OF THE EVERLASTING LOVE OF GOD 
Paul writing to the church in Corinth says, “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels or demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” ROMANS 15:13 NIV  

THE PROMISE OF OUR FUTURE 
In the last verse of Psalm 23, we read, “Surely goodness and mercy shalI follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” What will this be like? We are only given a few glimpses of this in The Revelation because we read in 1 Corinthians 2:9, “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither has entered into the hearts of men the things that God has prepared for them that love him.” We are given a few glimpses into this new earth. “God will wipe away all tears from our eyes, there will be no more death, pain or grieving.” Revelation 21:4. We will have new resurrected bodies like Jesus. Revelation 15:35. There will be no giving in marriage for “we shall be like the angels in Heaven.”  In Luke 22:16, Jesus  said at the last supper, “I will not anymore eat thereof, until it be in the kingdom of God.” LUKE 22:1. THE BOOK OF THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST GIVEN TO THE APOSTLE JOHN tells of a new Heaven and a new Earth, of the New Jerusalem that shall descend from Heaven with such beauty that it is depicted in terms of gold and jewels, and in which there will be no sea. The exact size of this great city, a cube, is given.  In it, we shall forget all memories of our past life and live as God’s family whom he loves and for which his Son died. JOHN 21 NIV. 

God bless all who read this 
Merle