Keeping Promises…Breaking Promises
Week 1
This is the first in a series of Bible studies that will focus on some of the promises of God. There are too many to cover in a few weeks of study, however we will attempt to uncover why more believers are not trusting in His promises.
Have you ever made a promise that you did not keep? Did you ever make a promise knowing that you could not keep it?
Some promises are hard to keep and others can become inconvenient but all promises should be kept, especially if you make it to God.
Have you thought about what a promise is? A promise is like a verbal contract, you are giving your word.
If I asked “do you ever lie unknowingly?” You would probably agree that you did. If I asked “have you ever knowingly told a lie?” - Some of you would confess that you had, others not so willingly. If I asked “are you a liar?” – most of you would say “not on purpose”, yet our lives are full of lies, half lies, half truths, promises not kept and equally important are promises that are unmade.
The Depth of a Promise
To understand the importance of a promise, you need to know the basics of what a promise really is. It may be considered an oral contract…but what makes it binding?
Webster’s description is a “pledge, covenant or agreement between 2 or more people.”
At one time it was very common to seal your word or make a pledge with a hand shake; nothing more was needed. Your word was your bond. Today we have become more skeptical; less trusting, which makes it all the more important that we take the promises of God more seriously.
Paul made a point to tell Titus (Titus 1:2) that God cannot lie. If He cannot lie, then he cannot break a promise; people do, I have…what about you? God however will never break a promise to you, even if he wanted to; he can’t for He is a holy, righteous God who loves you even though he knows all things about you. Let me say that again…God loves you even though he knows all things about you. Uh-huh, that’s right …He knows all things – about you
The history of the Old Testament is full of promises made to the Israelites. The New Testament is completed with His promises to the Jew and the gentile…believers. By believers I mean those who have accepted God’s son Jesus Christ personally as their Savior. Let me give you an example of a promise made by God and how we can trust it to be true.
In James we are assured that if we ask with purpose and in faith we will receive. BUT there is a stipulation – looking at James 1:5 “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.” So at this point simply put, if we need wisdom God has it and He is waiting to give it… so what’s the problem?
James 1:6-9 “BUT let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.”
The promise here is wisdom; the stipulation is trust. I can’t put it any simpler than that. What good is a promise given by you or anyone else if it can’t be trusted? Do you trust God at His word?
Just by doubting God you cripple the ability to receive the promise…He doesn’t renege on his promise but the doubter, the one who lacks faith in his promises doesn’t deserve to receive them in the first place.
Recently my husband and I were on a cruise and in the middle of the night I looked out the port hole over our bed and watched the swells as they rose and fell. The waves looked so powerful and seeing nothing but water it seemed as if our ship, as large as it was, was at the mercy of the sea. Yet the wave is only a picture of power; it is actually mastered by current and wind. I thought of James 1:6 and compared that to my own trusting faith…was I like the doubter, who like the wave of the sea, is tossed to and fro or could I honestly say that I believed that the promises of God were words of truth that I could rely on. There is no other possible answer – I have to believe, I want the strength and works of my faith to bring glory and honor to God. Faith that doubts is no faith at all.
God has a plan for our lives; his promises are firm, they do not come and go, they don’t get tossed about according to our faithfulness but according to his grace and holiness they are true.
As people we seem to follow up our promises by saying “I promise”, but it isn’t always that obvious in God’s Word. However, it doesn’t have to say “I promise” for it to be one.
Staying in the word and listening for His answers will cause you to recognize what is waiting for you in the areas of answered prayer, security, victory of circumstances, etc. Perhaps you feel that you need his promises every day – so do I! …and God provides.
Did you know that David acknowledged God for meeting His people’s daily needs? God’s promises are not only everlasting but for everything we need (I didn’t say everything we want!).
Read Psalm 68 and you will find a song of worship and praise. God had met all the needs of His people then [vs. 19 “Blessed by our Lord, who daily loads us with benefits, the God of our salvation!” NKJV – the NIV states it this way… “Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens.”] …and He still does. Isn’t that awesome? He daily meets us where we are. The NKJV says that he loaded benefits upon his people… or carries the burdens of those that believe in him as it says in the NIV.
His promises are for you. You can make excuses, lack faith to believe or even refuse to believe that you are included in the promises of the written word. That is up to you, you alone are accountable for what you do with this knowledge.
God makes promises but never breaks them. Think for a moment – have you ever made a promise to God and failed to keep it? When you break a promise to God you do several things. One of which is grieve the Holy Spirit; for you must realize that if you make a promise and do not keep it, whether to God or to man…you lied. You can rationalize and say that you meant to keep it; at the time you had good intentions on keeping it; you misunderstood what it was going to take to keep it; you forgot to keep it; you hadn’t intended on lying but you didn’t have time to keep it…the list goes on and on but it still comes down to truth. As stated before, God never lies so his promises are everlasting.
I have a challenge for you:
In a journal or tablet, every time you observe a promise you have found in the scriptures, write it down and see if it applies to you.
When you are reading your Bible, meditate on statements of giving and then write them down as to how they can (or do) benefit you.
For example: “The Lord will give strength unto his people, the Lord will bless his people with peace” from Psalm 29:11 Do you see the promise there? Do you need strength and/or peace? Familiarize yourself with passages that give you hope but don’t skim over them… write them down so that you can be encouraged by them day by day.
Week 2 of our studies on the promises of God will center on Proverbs 3:5-10
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