God’s has promised His personal presence in life. Jesus said, “I will never leave thee”. “Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee” (Heb. 13:5). “If God does not enter your kitchen, there is something wrong with your kitchen. If you can’t take God into your recreation, there is something wrong with your play. We all believe in the God of the heroic. What we need most these days is the God of the humdrum, the commonplace, the everyday.”—Peter Marshall, Sr. (Leadership, Vol. 17, no. 2).
God has promised to protect His people against all their enemies by declaring, “I am thy shield”. “After these things the word of the Lord came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward” (Gen. 15:1).
Young Timothy was very afraid of the lightning and the thunder. His mom and dad went into his room during a thunderstorm and said, “Now, Timmy, don’t be afraid. God is right here in the room with you.” He said, “Okay, Mommy and Daddy, I won’t be afraid.” But then as the mommy and daddy went into their room and started to get ready for bed, the lightning clapped, and the thunder rolled, and Timmy screamed bloody murder. Timmy’s daddy and mommy went back into the room and said, “Honey, we thought we told you, you don’t need to be afraid. God is right here in the room with you.” Timothy said, “Mommy and Daddy, I know God is right here in the room with me, but I need someone with skin on.”—Thomas Tewell, (“The Tenacity of a Bulldog,” Preaching Today, Tape No. 141).
The Lord has promised His omnipotent power. “I will strengthen thee”. “Fear thou 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 the right hand of my righteousness” (Isaiah 41:10).
Vicky Marra, tells this story from Franklin, Ohio.
“My brother and I were preparing to leave the bank with his 5-year-old daughter, Melissa. She ran ahead to open the heavy door. She huffed, puffed, and pushed; she stepped back and started again.
Finally, she pushed with all the might her little body could muster—and the door opened! She was unaware that her father’s hand, high above her head, had actually pushed the door open for her. I laughed at my niece, but then realized God does the same for me every day.” (Today’s Christian Woman, “Heart to Heart”).
God has promised His provisions. “I will help thee”. The Lord will meet our ever need in life.
“Fear thou 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 the right hand of my righteousness” (Isaiah 41:10).
Fear knocked at the door. Faith answered. No one was there.” (Unknown, Christian Reader, Vol. 32, no. 4).
God has promised His leading. Countless people have taken comfort in the promise of the Twenty-third Psalm which says of the Shepherd, “He leadeth me beside the still water.” “The meek will He guide”. “The meek will he guide in judgment: and the meek will he teach his way” (Psalm 25:9). “He that is humble ever shall have God to be his guide.” (John Bunyan, Christian Reader, Vol. 33, no. 2).
God has promised to do good to His people. “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end” (Jer. 29:11).
Third- and fourth-graders at Wheaton (IL) Christian Grammar School were asked to complete the following sentence:
“By faith, I know that God is…
“forgiving, because he forgave in the Bible, and he forgave me when I went in the road on my bike without one of my parents” (Amanda).
“providing, because he dropped manna for Moses and the people, and he gave my dad a job” (Brandon).
“caring, because he made the blind man see, and he made me catch a very fast line drive that could have hurt me. He probably sent an angel down” (Paul).
“merciful, because my brother has been nice to me for a year” (Jeremy).
“faithful, because the school bill came, and my mom didn’t know how we were going to pay it. Two minutes later, my dad called, and he just got a bonus check. My mom was in tears” (anonymous).
“sweet, because he gave me a dog. God tells me not to do things that are bad. I need someone like that” (Hannah). (Cornerstone newsletter. Leadership, Vol. 17, no. 3).
God has promised rest for the soul in search of salvation. Jesus said, “Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28). So many people are not content to rest in Jesus and His finished work at Calvary. They believe they must do something in order to be saved, or they must do something in order to stay saved. D. L. Moody said something true when he made the comment, “[The] Law tells me how crooked I am; grace comes along and straightens me out.” (Christian History, no. 25).
“Marvelous grace of our loving Lord,
grace that exceeds our sin and our guilt!
Yonder on Calvary’s mount outpoured,
there where the blood of the Lamb was spilt.
Grace, grace, God’s grace,
grace that will pardon and cleanse within;
grace, grace, God’s grace,
grace that is greater than all our sin!”
Julia H. Johnston
God has promised cleansing from the inward corruption of sin. “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 has promised to do good to His people. “No good thing will He withhold from them that work uprightly” (Psalm 84:11).
“A pilgrim was I, and a wandering,
In the cold night of sin I did roam,
When Jesus the kind Shepherd found me,
And now I am on my way home.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
All the days, all the days of my life;
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
All the days, all the days of my life.
And I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever,
And I shall feast at the table spread for me;
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
All the days, all the days of my life.”
God has promised to remain faithful. “The Lord will not forsake His people for His great name’s sake” (1 Samuel 12:22).
God has promised that in the end He will make all things work together for good. “All things work together for good to them that love God” (Rom. 8:28).
No matter what event happens in life, there is good that will eventually be realized. This is the promise of God who is a Gentleman, and cannot lie.
