Tag: God’s Promises

Posted on

Sunrise, Sunset

Daily Reading

Jeremiah 30-31

Daily Thought

Thus says the Lord,
who gives the sun for light by day
and the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night,
who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar—
the Lord of hosts is his name. ~Jeremiah 31:35 

It says sunrise will occur at 6:32am, so I show up at 6:30 and wait. Five minutes pass, I check my watch, and still no sun. Here is what I know: either my watch is wrong or the charts were wrong, or maybe I am facing west. The sun is not wrong. It shows up exactly on schedule every morning. You can bet your life on it; in fact, God says you should: 

“If this fixed order departs
from before me,” declares the Lord,
“then shall the offspring of Israel cease
from being a nation before me forever.” ~Jeremiah 31:36

Judah sinned and was taken captive by God’s enemies. Would God remain faithful to them, they wondered, even though they were not faithful to him? Jeremiah assures them God fastens his promises to the universe; more sure is his Word than the sun and the moon and the stars. “This is the day that the Lord has made,” proclaims the Psalms. Every sunrise is a promise kept, a daily reminder that God is true.  “Let us rejoice and be glad in it” (Psalm 118:24).

Daily Prayer

My God, You are true and right and good. By Your breath this world came into existence, and Your Son holds it together. “He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together” (Colossians 1:17). You are faithful and true. When You declare what will happen, it will happen.

I place my trust in You, O God, because there is no foundation more sure. So much is outside of my control, I would feel helpless and hopeless, but I know that You, my God, are sovereign. You have declared the end from the beginning, so that I may always live in the wonderful hope of things to come.

Amen

Posted on

For Awhile or Forever

Daily Reading

Isaiah 9-12

Daily Thought

Midway through The Lord of the Rings, Gandalf is pulled off a bridge into a seemingly bottomless chasm. Frodo and his companions are certain he plunged to his death, but I did not think so. I tried to continue reading, turning the pages one at a time, but curiosity won and I peeked ahead, flipping through future chapters to see if the name Gandalf showed up again. I wanted to know if their leader would be with them to the end.

Prophets peek ahead. Israel will fall, seemingly to its death. “The Syrians on the east and the Philistines on the west devour Israel with open mouth” (Isaiah 9:12). God will use godless nations to punish sinful Israel; then God will punish the punishers for their arrogance. They think they are in charge. They are not; God is. This is his story.

God had promised a kingdom forever, but Israel fears its sin has been greater than God’s promises. So the prophet Isaiah flips forward the pages, “There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him” (Isaiah 11:1-2). Israel has a future in God’s story; from the family of Jesse, a King will reign. His name is Jesus. Nothing is greater than God’s promises.

There will come yet another day when “the wolf shall dwell with the lamb,
and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat,
and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together;
and a little child shall lead them.
The cow and the bear shall graze;
their young shall lie down together;
and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra,
and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder’s den.
They shall not hurt or destroy
in all my holy mountain;
for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord
as the waters cover the sea.” ~Isaiah 11:6-9

This day has not yet come. It will.

Daily Prayer

Righteous and mighty God, You created and called it good. Following You is good. But I keep following the crowd. And it works …for awhile, but not forever. I want forever.

I trust You, my God. Your Word is certain. You have kept and will keep Your promises, and I will rest in Your strength. May my own words reflect the faithfulness of Your Word.

Amen

Posted on

Sure Thing

Daily Reading

Joshua 19-21

Daily Thought

Not one word of all the good promises that the Lord had made to the house of Israel had failed; all came to pass (Joshua 21:45).

I looked up some streaks. Joe DiMaggio hit safely in 56 straight baseball games. He was a good bet for a hit, but not in game 57. UCLA won every basketball game from January 30, 1971, to January 17, 1974. Eighty-eight straight. But on January 19, 1974, they lost. Ted St. Martin sunk 5,221 consecutive free throws. You could bet he’d make the next one. But then he missed.

We have some good streaks, but even the best eventually fall. God keeps all of his promises. Every single one  …and counting. “Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done.  I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End” (Revelation 22:12-13).

It’s a sure thing, and you can bet your life on a sure thing.

Daily Prayer

Our Father, God, Thank You for Your promises. Thank You for telling us what You are going to do, then doing it. Thank You that we can fully trust in You. May I walk forward in faith, always trusting, always true.

God, you are the beginning and the end, the first and the last. In You there is no change, no uncertainty. You are the Creator and Sustainer of all things. We read Your Word and we know what eternity holds in front of us. What a great God You are!

Amen