3/31/14 - "PARTAKING OF GOD'S PROMISES"

Heb. 6:11 And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end,
Heb. 6:12 that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

As Easter is about to be upon us one of the things that is absolutely powerful about the resurrection of Christ is that Jesus being raised from the dead was proof that everything God has ever promised man, He desires to fulfill. We serve a God who is faithful to His promises, but those promises don’t just happen in the life of a believer. We see this fact as we look to Hebrews verse 12 above. We obtain those promises through faith and patience. If we walk in Bible faith and we do so with consistency, we have God’s Word that we will inherit what He has promised us.

All throughout the New Testament we have promises given to us by God based on what Christ has done for us. As you go through life you are going to face problems, which are a result of both things we should not do but did so anyway, or do to the fall of man we now of course also live in a fallen world. That fallen world creates problems of it’s own, but as a child of God there is never a problem you will face that we cannot find a promise of God to deal with the problems. What we must learn to do to partake of the promises God has for us as we have stated is walk in faith and patience.

I want to address the issue of patience for a minute and then I will give you three key things, that if you will apply them to your life you can see any promise God has given you come to pass. One of the best definitions given for the word patience here is constancy, which simply means be consistent. One of the most powerful statements I have ever heard along this line is something Gloria Copeland said years ago. The Lord spoke this to her heart one day, “In consistency lies the power.” That is exactly what Hebrews 6:12 is saying when referring to faith and patience.

The biggest reason many never become a partaker of what they are believing for is because they are not consistent in faith. Faith is not something you do for a day or two and then go back to speaking and acting like you did for you believed. Faith is to be a lifestyle for the believer. The Lord revealed to me years ago a simple definition for faith. It is believing in what only God can do in and through your life. But one who is not consistent to do what scripture says is not going to inherit what is theirs in Christ. The reason is because God has already set up the laws that govern how His kingdom works and those laws do not change.

Think about it this way, there are natural laws we recognize everyday and those natural laws do not change. If I have respect for the law of gravity I am not going to go up on top of a building and jump off thinking I won’t fall. If I have a reverential respect for that law I am not going to do something to oppose that law. If I respect it and recognize that law it can work for my good, but it is not going to change. So it is with the laws that govern God’s kingdom. They do not change. If we have a reverence for Him and His laws we are not going to try and do what scripture teaches, what His Word teaches us will become our lifestyle. I am laboring on this point for a reason because many Christians start out doing what the Bible says with good intentions, but they don’t remain consistent at it. We inherit what we have in Christ through faith and patience, not just an occasional faith. So with that in mind let me share with you three keys that will help you partake in God’s promises for your life.

1. Find the promise of God.

When you are faced with a problem you must go to the Word of God and find the promise from His Word that reveals your victory over any problem. God’s Word is the very source of our faith and without His Word we are going to be lacking the belief in our heart as to what God says is already ours. Not only that but the real battle is not against your problem as God already has a solution, but the thoughts you will face and deal with in your mind that will try and convince you the problem is bigger than God’s promise. These thoughts will come from the enemy as fiery darts, they will come from outward influences within society, and from other people as well, even well meaning Christians who think they are helping you yet all the while speaking contrary to God’s Word. So without the promise of God’s Word to stand on you are starting without a foundation in which to build.

The Word of God and God are one. Jesus is described as the Word that became flesh and dwelt among men. When you look to God’s Word it is not just a book of history, nor is it the thoughts of those who penned these words, it is God’s very own DNA in those scriptures. When you have a promise from God founded on the Word you have what you need to stand upon. The primary place to find such promises is in the New Testament, which is our covenant with God. That does not mean we cannot find promises that still belong to us in the Old Testament as well, but we must dig for it as hidden treasure, which is what the Word has been described as. If we are not going to take the time to find a promise to counter the problem, we are not going to be consistent in faith.

2. Feed on the promise of God.

In Matthew 4:4 Jesus makes a powerful statement that many miss the main point of what He was saying. This is when Jesus was being tempted in the wilderness by satan and He said, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” The analogy He was giving is often overlooked. For the natural body of man to survive you must of course eat food. To eat food you must chew on that food before you can swallow that food. Our spiritual development works the same way. We must take the Word of God, which in reference to Christ is considered the bread of life, and we must feed on that Word to get the spiritual nutrients necessary for our spirit man to walk in faith. How do we feed on the Word? We meditate on it.

There are several places in scripture that reveals the importance of meditating on the Word of God. One such reference is in Psalm 1:2-3, which states that one who meditates on God’s Word will be blessed. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth fruit in it’s season. His leaf will not wither and whatever he does shall prosper. Remember we must be consistent in applying God’s kingdom principles to inherit the promises. If you want to walk in the promises and trample underfoot the problems of life you are going to have to feed on the promises of Gods’ Word day and night. Just as you feed your physical man every day to maintain strength, so must you do so with your spiritual man to remain spiritually strong. Many believers may know of God’s promises in the Word of God, but unfortunately not many feed on God’s Word every day. The word meditate means to speak over and over contemplating what you are saying.

3. Forsake your problem.

Proverbs 18:21 tells us that death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love to talk will reap the consequences. If we are consistently talking about the problem we are speaking in line with death and we will reap the consequences. But if we love speaking the Word, which Jesus Himself said His Words are spirit and they are life, then we will reap life. It is not enough to just find God’s promise to deal with a problem, nor is it enough to feed on that promise; you must forsake the problem by changing what you are saying.

One of the keys to forsaking your problem is to stop saying it is yours. You may be faced with a problem but you need to claim the promise of God as yours, not the problem. Quit saying you have this or that when referring to what you are faced with. Faith does not deny a problem exists, but faith denies it’s right to stay. It is okay to say I am facing a problem but you need to finish that line saying that God’s promise is going to change the problem. Even on social media today Christians often find what they think are cute little sayings that directly refer to themselves as being like whatever they have posted and these statements are often contrary to what God says about you. If you are doing so you are allowing your thinking to accept that as yours. You won’t get rid of a problem unless you start forsaking it.

If you feed all the stray cats in your neighborhood they are not going to go away, they are going to keep showing up on your porch. If you forsake them by not feeding them they will go away. You must forsake the problem by proclaiming the promise as yours if you want the problem to go away. So if you will consistently do these three things you will become a partaker of the promises of God for your life. Just remember in consistency lies the power!

See You Again Next Week For More “Weekly Wisdom”

May God’s Best Be Yours!

Pastor Darryl Baker