STANDING ON THE PROMISES OF GOD! (#100)

This is a special post because this is number 100!  Believe me…no one is more surprised at that than ME! And  I will be the first to admit that I do  NOT consider myself a writer.  It is only through the effort of the indwelling Holy Spirit that I have had the courage to take a seat behind the keyboard.  But now I look forward to this weekly endeavor, so thank you God for the opportunity you have given me.

The past few weeks for the Presgrave household have been challenging, to say the least. We have been in the process of buying a new residence and selling our current home.  I assume most of you reading this can probably empathize when I talk about the high level of stress that accompanies such an endeavor, therefore I’m sure you know what I mean when I say it can bring out the worst in us and others involved in the process.  During this time, the serenity prayer has been my life jacket:  “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”

Wow!  That last part is key!  I don’t know about you, but I am wired with a short fuse.  And regardless of my behavioral progress in that area during the past few years, my “less-than-admirable character” raised its ugly head more than once during the house buying and selling experience.

But luckily I know my source of strength, and was able to redeem myself many times (but not always) as I was approaching the boiling point.   So in addition to the serenity prayer, I kept the old hymn, “Standing On The Promises of God” right on the tip of my tongue.  Two weeks ago I wrote about the powerful message contained in these old, traditional hymns, and this one certainly kept me in the center of the boat (most of the time.)

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.

(Refrain)

Standing, standing,

Standing on the promises of God my Savior;

Standing, standing,

I’m standing on the promises of God.

Standing on the promises that cannot fail, When the howling storms of doubt and fear assail,

By the living Word of God I shall prevail, Standing on the promises of God.

(repeat refrain)

As you might expect, at those times when I did express myself in a less-than-admirable way, Satan showed up as “the accuser of the Brethren” (Revelation 12:10) to capitalize on the situation in his inimitable fashion.  “Oh, just look at that…you call yourself a Christ-follower?  You are nothing but a fraud!  How can you expect God to accept YOU into his kingdom when you are such a disappointment to him?  You’re a total disgrace!”  He never misses his opportunity to try to shipwreck our effort, and I have let him cast me into a “funk” more than once.  He is the “father of lies” (John 8:44)

Did I fall short of God’s glorious standard?  Absolutely!  But today I know the difference between Satan’s ploy and God’s truth.  And the truth is:

1. I am perfect in his God’s eyes because I am in Christ (“For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ…2 Corinthians 5:21).
2. I am now a Child of God. I am grafted into his family – not because of my work, but because of what Jesus did on my behalf at the cross. (Ref. Romans 11:17)
3. Now when God looks at me, he doesn’t see a sinner, he sees me covered with the Blood of Jesus. I am a Saint in his eyes, meaning I am now set aside; holy. (“God’s wonderful, gracious gift of righteousness will live in triumph over sin and death through this one man, Jesus Christ”…Romans 5:17)
4. I am totally forgiven; (“I will remember their sins no more”…Hebrews 8:12).
5. I am worthy and accepted in God’s eyes; (“But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so very much, that even while we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. {It is only by God’s special favor that you have been saved!}…Ephesians 2:4-5)
6. I am heir to all of God’s promises! (“And since we are his children, we will share his treasures – for everything God gives to his Son, Christ, is ours too.”…Romans 8:17)

The truth is, after we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, we still live in this fallen world.  Unfortunately there is no mental delete button; unfortunately if we were in debt the day before, we are still in debt; if we had relationship problems the day before, we still have relationship problems; if we had health problems the day before, we still have health problems.

But what we are now is “a new creation.  Our old self (our sin nature) is gone, and the new has come.” (the indwelling Holy Spirit)…2 Corinthians 5:17.  Now we are no longer slaves to our sin nature.  When we accepted God’s Gift of Grace, he gave to us a gift of the Holy Spirit to empower us to rise above this fallen world and make decisions and choices that are pleasing to him.  Galatians 5: 17-18 explains it in this manner: “The Old sinful nature loves to do evil, which is just the opposite from what the Holy Spirit wants.  And the Spirit gives us desires that are opposite from what the sinful nature desires.  These two forces are constantly fighting each other, and your choices never free from this conflict.  But when you are directed by the Holy Spirit, you are no longer subject to your sinful nature.”

Regardless of whether you are a new Christ-follower or a seasoned Christ-follower, we all are part of process called “life”, and therefore subject to this never-ending battle of good vs. evil.  And make no mistake about it, when you made a choice to pull away for the world to become a follower of Jesus Christ, you have just put a target on your back.  As long as you were part of this world and its philosophies and new morals, Satan left you alone.  After all, he had you right where he wanted you.  But believe me, now he will do everything in his power to wreak havoc with your new effort.

Apostle Paul spells out our defense in Ephesians 6: 10-13.  “Be strong in the Lord’s might power.  Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies and tricks of the Devil.  For we are not fighting against people made of flesh and blood, but against the evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against those mighty powers of darkness who rule this world, and against wicked spirits in the heavenly realms. Use every piece of God’s armor (The Bible) to resist the enemy in the time of evil so that after the battle, you will still be standing firm.”

The things I have been writing about since I presented the hymn above are the promises of God.  It is the truth of these promises that form our foundation of faith.  The second verse of the hymn encapsulates this process. “Standing on the promises that cannot fail, When the howling storms of doubt and fear assail,  By the living Word of God I shall prevail, Standing on the promises of God.”

Will we all fall short in this process?  Absolutely!  Will Satan show up to sabotage our effort?  Absolutely!  We are told in 1 Peter 5: 8-11:  “Be careful.  Watch out for attacks from the Devil, your great enemy.  He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for some victim to devour.  Take a firm stand against him, and be strong in your faith.  Remember that your Christian brothers and sisters all over the world are going through the same kind of suffering you are.”

Once we are in Christ, and with the help of the Holy Spirit, we begin a process of growing in His likeness.  And that is a life-long process.  But the good news is…God knows we’re only dust,  and he knows we are weak against  the trials and tribulations we will be facing.  And like me, you too will have those times where you fall short, so be prepared when Satan shows up to fill your head with lies. But the truth is…all God wants is for us to call on the Holy Spirit to empower us get up and keep trudging down that path he has illuminated for us.  He wants us to continue to be his light in this dark world by bringing honor and glory to him.  He still loves us.  He delights in us.  We’re becoming his masterpiece.

Therefore, his promise to you is:  “The Spirit in you (the Holy Spirit) is greater than the spirit of this world.” (satan)  1 John 4:4.  In other words, WE are already declared victorious.  Wow!  And all that I have been writing about today represents just a few of the hundreds of His promises we can stake our life on.

Now I will close with this one.  “God works for the good in all things for those who love him and are called to his purpose.”  (Romans 8:28)  When these promises begin coming alive in us, we will be able to begin living by faith!

So my question to you is…are you living by faith?

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May God Bless ya…

Dan Presgrave (a.k.a. Pastor Dan)