It is not common to hear
an average Christian make promises or pledges to God to be more holy or
consecrated in order to be more pleasing to Him. Many times such resolutions
are made at the beginning of the year because it is believed that that God will
favour them if they live a more holy life. But most people now find out by that from the 15th of January all the zeal and zest begins to wane out. After then they go through a series of guilt and condemnation that is enhanced by "Revival" messages.
It’s time to say to
goodbye to that thought says, "I
promise you God…" We've all made promises to God to live godly, to
pray, to stop sinning, etc. This sounds holy. But it is NOT New Testament
living and usually leads to disappointment and frustration. It puts under a boundage that the Jews
could not free themselves from under the law.
Christianity is not about the promises we make to God, but the promises He makes to us. Galatians 4:28
says “Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are
children of promise.” Our place in Him is simply because of the promise
He made in His love towards us even when we were still sinners.
It's His promises that make us holy, not our promises! 2 Peter 1:4 says, "…by His magnificent
promises, you partake of His divine nature…" We are partakers of His holy and
righteous nature because of how Jesus fulfilled the righteous requirements of
the law. You could never be able to meet up with the complete standards of the
law all the time every time. That is why it’s called grace.
Base your whole life on what God has promised. According to Acts 1:4 “And being
assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from
Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He
said, “you
have heard from Me;” This is the mindset that Jesus wants us to have. We are not required to do
anything without a promise from God's Word about it. His promises NEVER
fail. Joshua 21:45 says, "…all came to pass."
There is a promise from God for every area of
life. Find it & know that God says YES! 2 Corinthians 1:20 says “For all the promises of God in Him are Yes,
and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us.” The promises of God
can transform your life. Paul said to the church at Rome that we are
transformed when we renew our minds. When we fill our minds with the goodness
of God it leads to true repentance. Repentance in the Greek means to change
your mind. Your mindset informs your attitude which in turn leads to the
quality of life you enjoy.
Live by faith! We receive His promises by faith, not by something we can
promise to do or achieve. (Romans 4:13) Our
promises in itself lack the power for fulfillment but His promises empowers us
to live right and fulfilled. Don’t build your life upon the promises you
make to God, but the promises He has make to you. Remember this ultimate promise
from God “Himself has
said, I will not in any way fail you nor give you up nor leave
you without support. [I will] not, [I
will] not, [I will] not in any degree leave you helpless nor forsake nor let [you] down (relax
My hold on you)!.” Hebrews 13:5b (Amp)
