Tag Archive | promises

Genesis 17

Oct14

Good morning y’all. Today we in chapter 17 of Genesis. Interestingly there is a 13yr gap between this chapter and the previous one. We don’t know what happened to Abram in those 13yrs. Perhaps God was not pleased with him seeing as he doubted him and had a child by Hagar.

Let’s see what we can glean from the chapter. I pray Holyspirit enlightens us as we study 🙂

Verse 1 says: When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord  appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless.(NKJV). Here, God is reintroducing himself again to Abram as God Almighty after 13yrs of silence. Some translations say Sovereign God (NET) or All Powerful(CEVUS06) or El-Shaddai (NLT).  It’s like God is reminding him again that I call the shots and not you! He then gave him an instruction…He said walk before me and be blameless. This suggest to me that Abram in those 13yrs was not walking upright as God desired. Some translations interpret this as ‘obey me and always do right’ (CEVUS06 ), ‘serve me faithfully and live a blameless life’ (NLT ). To be blameless here means to be without fault. That is to do the right thing and no wrong is found in you. We know in previous chapter that Abram didn’t do the right thing by sleeping with Hagar. So here God was telling him as from now on if you obey me and do what’s right I will make my covenant with you. Obedience!!! again it is very important, if we want to enjoy God’s best for us. Like Abram God requires us to be obedient to his commands and do what is right.

What you are being called makes a difference. God changed Abrams name to Abraham. His old name was not in line with where God was taking him so God had to change his name so that his new name was a reflection of the promise. Abraham means father of many. This was in line with the covenant and promise God made to him. Truth is society gives us a name or label – ‘the fat one’, ‘the useless one’, ‘the skinny one’, ‘stupid’, ‘failure’, ‘ugly one’…Good news is we dont have to accept those name no more for we are now in Christ. We have a new name in Him. Today, lets ask God to open our eyes so we can begin to see ourselves as God sees us – the victorious one, the head and not the tail, the chosen one…

Covenant is an agreement between 2 or more parties. Each party has a responsibility in the agreement. When one party fails to abide by the terms and conditions of the covenant, the covenant becomes null and breached. Usually there are consequences when that happens. In this case God made a covenant with Abraham and his descendants. Abrahams part was to obey the terms -which was to make sure every male young and old was circumcised and going forward every male baby should be circumcised on the 8th day. As long as Abraham and his descendants obeyed the terms, the covenant stood. God is always on point to fulfill his side of the covenant. We know He never lies or fails. We are usually the ones holding God back due to our disobedience. I pray God will give us a heart that’s willing to obey at all times.

Abraham doubted God’s promise to give a son through Sarah. Biologically speaking it was highly impossible for Sarah to get pregnant. She was 90 and even Abraham was almost100…They were just too old. So Abraham laughed at the promise.  Abrahams doubt was so strong that he even asked God to let Ishmael be the promised child. God refused because indirectly that meant Abraham was trying to tell God that he is not able to bring his promise to pass, that he is a liar and not powerful enough even though earlier on God introduced himself as the All powerful Sovereign one. Abraham couldn’t believe because he was looking at his situation through the natural eye. But I thank God that he didn’t give up on Abraham rather God stood by his word and went on to tell Abraham when the promised child was going to be born and the name of the child.
Friends I don’t know what promise God has made to you that seems impossible today. Perhaps like Abraham the circumstances around you are telling you to forget the promise cos there is just no way it can happen. I’m begging you today to not give up on God. God is not a man that He would lie. Though the promise may tarry it will surely come to pass. God is the all powerful one. He can do anything he chooses to do, when he chooses to do it. Take your focus off the situation and put your focus on the one who is able to do exceedingly above all you can ask or imagine. Stay in faith and keep your hope alive and God will surely come through for you. If he did it for Abraham, He can do it for you too. He is the same God yesterday today and forever!  Be encouraged 🙂

Prayer:
Dear Lord we thank you for today. We thank you for loving us unconditionally.  We ask today you gave us a heart that is willing to obey you. For as many of us that are weary we ask you encourage us today and give us the grace to trust you more and believe in your promises. Thank you Lord. In Jesus Name. Amen.

Thank you for joining today.

Have a blessed day and let’s get to obeying and trusting God today 🙂

***With God all things are possible***

2 Peter Chapter 3

Sep17

Good morning y’all. We made it to the last chapter in 2 Peter 🙂 All glory to God!

We looking at chapter 3 today. The chapter reminds us the day of The Lord is coming and encourages us to live holy and godly lives while we wait.

Here we go 🙂
S – Scriptures that stood out for me
2 Peter‬ ‭3‬:‭11-13 MSG – Since everything here today might well be gone tomorrow, do you see how essential it is to live a holy life? Daily expect the Day of God, eager for its arrival. The galaxies will burn up and the elements melt down that day—but we’ll hardly notice. We’ll be looking the other way, ready for the promised new heavens and the promised new earth, all landscaped with righteousness.

2 Peter‬ ‭3‬:17-18‬ MSG – But you, friends, are well-warned. Be on guard lest you lose your footing and get swept off your feet by these lawless and loose-talking teachers. Grow in grace and understanding of our Master and Savior, Jesus Christ. Glory to the Master, now and forever! Yes! 2 Peter‬ ‭3‬:17-18‬ MSG

O – Observations
O1- Gods word has Power and Authority. By His word alone everything came into existence. Ish 55:11 paraphrased says “His word will not return to him void but will accomplish what He has sent it to do”.  Whatever the situation we are in! All we need is one WORD from God and that situation can be turned around for good. Be encouraged 🙂

O2- God is never late (Hallelujah!!! Just knowing this gives me so much comfort 🙂 ). Though His promises may tarry but it will surely come to pass. We need to understand God doesn’t measure time the way we do. To him a day is as good as a thousand years and a thousand years as good as a day.  It might seem as if nothing is happening about the promises of God but be assured that God is working it out. Numbers 23:19 CEVUS06 says “God is no mere human! He doesn’t tell lies or change his mind. God always keeps his promises”. 

O3- God is coming back to judge the earth and judgement is very close. He has told us what will happen and we know he is not a God that lies…He is holding back because he is giving us opportunity to get ourselves together back on the straight and narrow path. He doesn’t want anyone to be destroyed, but wants all to turn back to him in repentance.

O4- The day of judgement is gonna come unannounced like a thief in the night. We need to be ready…can’t afford to be caught fooling around hence why it’s crucial we live a holy and godly life devoted and about Gods business. Whatever we do be it in word or deed MUST bring glory and be pleasing in Gods sight. If it ain’t, don’t bother saying or doing it!. Remember, we have all that we need to live a godly life (See blog on 2 Peter chapter 1)

O5- Gods patience should not be taken for granted….it’s a chance to repent. If we proclaim to be saved, then let’s stop meddling with sin. We can’t have one leg in Gods house and the other leg in devils camp. According to verse 9, God is being patient with us because he wants everyone to turn from sin and no one to be lost. It’s a different thing to make a mistake once and ask for forgiveness but to perpetually make the same mistake and do it consciously knowing its wrong, doesn’t make God happy, yet He still extends his arm of grace giving us a chance to repent and fully turn back to him before it’s too late. 

O6- We need to grow in grace and our knowledge of God. That way we can easily discern false teachings and won’t fall prey to their evil ways.

A – Application
Speak Gods word into whatever circumstances come our way today. His word has power!

Let Our words and actions be pleasing to God.

Study the bible 

P – Prayer
Dear Lord we thank you for today, thank you for your word which has power, authority and never fails. Thank you for reminding us that your promises though they tarry will surely come to pass. We ask today for the grace to keep trusting and believing you inspite of what our circumstances look like. We thank you for being patient with us and we ask for the Holyspirits help to live a life that’s peaceful, pure and blameless in your sight. May we continue to grow in grace and knowledge of you our Lord and Saviour. We love you Lord and all this we ask in the Mighty Name of Jesus. Amen

Thanks for reading and feel free to share your thoughts on the chapter.

Tomorrow we start the book of 1 John  🙂

Have a blessed day and Remember, God is never a day late! Be encouraged 🙂