Living By Faith in His Promises – March 9, 2017

Promises, promises, and all of them true.
He’s done exactly what He said He would do.
He didn’t promise my heart would not be broken,
But He did say He’d mend it again.

Written by the late Dottie Rambo, I first heard  Promises in junior high school when Mark Lowry and his mom, Bev Lowry, came to our summer church camp in FL. After all these years, I often find myself singing the simple words of this song, remembering that God is always faithful, and He always keeps His promises, even when life seems overwhelming and out of control.

Living By Faith in His Promises – March 8, 2017

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Shalom aleikhem (/ʃaˈlɔm aˈlexɛm/; Hebrew: שָׁלוֹם עֲלֵיכֶם‎ shālôm ʻalêḵem) is a spoken greeting in Hebrew, meaning “peace be upon you.” The appropriate response is aleikhem shalom (“unto you peace”). (retrieved from Wikipedia, March 7, 2017)

In just a little over a month, we will be heading to Israel with a wonderful group of folks from America’s Keswick. Israel is a place where “Shalom” is spoken daily in greeting, even as peace has, more often than not, eluded the precious people of that land since the births of Isaac and Ishmael to Abraham.

This morning in my Bible study, I was reading Priscilla Shirer’s, The Armor of God. Priscilla writes, “Shalom, the familiar word for peace which permeates the Old Testament, does not refer to the absence of chaos, but rather to an overall, deeply entrenched sense of harmony, health, and wholeness in the midst of chaos. In fact, true peace is best detected and measured again the backdrop of commotion and confusion -when instability abounds, yet you remain steadfast; when disappointment and confusion are near, yet you’re still capable of walking with Spirit-infused confidence, stability, and steadiness.” (p. 98, The Armor of God Study Guide)

God promises peace to us, but there is only way to attain this peace. It is Living By Faith:  Fixing your eyes on Jesus, keeping your mind stayed on Him, trusting in Him with all your heart. It is simple…Simply trust Him. However, it is not easy. Our physical sight, circumstances, and emotions often dim His presence, but He is there. Get into His Word; read His love letter to you. Talk to Him through prayer. Listen for Him through His Holy Spirit. Abide in Him through obedience. Look to Him through spiritual eyes and keep on looking.

And you will find His peace that passes understanding.

God promised…

and He always keeps His promises.

 

Living By Faith in His Promises – March 6, 2017

Proverbs 30:5 promises that the Lord is a shield “to those who take refuge in Him”. We can’t physically see this shield, but by faith we can be certain that the shield is there protecting us from evil. However, the fact is that unless we live by faith, believing God, putting on truth and putting on His righteousness, which was freely given at salvation, and held safely in place as we practice obedience to the truth, the shield is simply not there. We must stand with God, taking refuge in Him, living in His righteousness…by FAITH…to be secure behind Him Who is our Shield.