Tuesday, October 11, 2011

My Search for the Promises of God

I have recently began asking God what promises He has for me. I ask this because I don't want to just search the Bible and pick a few promises that sound cool and then just say, "Hey this is for me too." Yes I know that all of God's promises are yes and amen. I'm just not sure that means that every promise that God made in the Bible is for me. I have nothing wrong with someone taking a promise and believing that it is true for them. If that works for you, go for it. It just doesn't work for me. So before I start a big theological discourse, back to my point. I just started searching the Bible for promises that I know without a doubt are promises that are for me. Well here is what i've found so far:

Jeremiah 29:13 - "You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart"

John 3:16 - "For God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life."

John 17:3 - Now this is eternal life: that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent."

Luke 11: 13 - If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!

So Here it is in a nutshell. God has promised me eternal life. He has promised me that if I place my faith in Jesus, (this is talking about genuine faith not just mental assent; probably needs to be another post) I can have an intimate relationship with Him that will last throughout eternity. When you look at this all by itself it is a pretty cool thing. The one and only living God, creator of all things and sustainer of life is going to have a personal relationship with me! The only thing I can think to say to that is wow! As if this not awesome enough, this amazing all powerful God who transcends His creation has promised to come and dwell with me and in me. I can't even begin to comprehend all of that and what it all means. Let's set aside whether  you believe these promises are true or not and just look at them from the view point of a promise made to you. You have to admit that these are some pretty amazing promises.

Here's the question that I was faced with as I finished this list: (and I don't think it is a complete list but just a start for me) Can I be satisfied with that? I mean honestly, can I be satisfied with getting a relationship with God if none of the things I have dreamt about all my life come with it? If I am intellectually honest here, this is a difficult question. I have a lot of dreams and plans for my life. I have some dreams that I have held onto for a long time and now I am asking myself if I can be content with letting those dreams go if God so wills.

I remember the first time I read The Pursuit of God by A.W Tozer. This book rocked my world. In it Tozer challenges us to pursue God; not God AND... In other words, God has called us to pursue Him not Him AND His blessing, not God AND the answer to my prayers, not God AND anything; just God. I always thought that was so cool and now I find myself wrestling with the idea that all this time I might have been pursuing God AND... and not God alone.

So now this question sits out there and I'm forced to look into myself and answer it. And so I ask you, Can YOU be content with receiving God and God alone as your inheritance? 

1 comment:

  1. I really like this. your such a good writer. i hope people will come to Jesus through your messages.

    ReplyDelete