God's Promises

Josh. 23:14  “Soon I will die going the way of all the earth.  Deep in your hearts you know that every promise of the LORD your God has come true.  Not a single one has failed!”

Joshua is about ready to die.  He had lived a long and fruitful life.  He was reminding the people of Israel about God’s faithfulness to His Word.  It is a reminder we would do well to never forget.  Every promise God had given to His people had come true.  God was true to the nation of Israel and had brought them to the Promised Land just as He had said He would.  God had first made His promise to Abraham and then passed it on to many generations.  And the life they now lived was a direct result of God keeping His Word.

What God has promised to us, His people today, will certainly come true.  God has not changed and cannot lie.  If He says He will do something, He will do it.  It behooves us to learn what God promises to do and then rest in His doing it.

However, be careful that you do not claim a promise God meant for a particular people in a particular time and place as your own without knowing for sure He meant it for you as well.  Study His Word and let Him point out to you those promises you can claim.  He will not give you what He never intended for you to have.  If you build your faith on uncertain or false promises, your faith will not hold you up in the storms of life.

It is so easy and tempting to pull out of context a promise of God and make a case for it in life.  We want the good things of life and sometimes make the Word say to us what God never intended it to say.  Weigh carefully God’s Word before you seek to apply it.  Be sure that what you are claiming to be true for you was intended for you.  God always keeps His Word as He proclaimed it, not necessarily as we interpret it or apply it.