Taking God at His Word

 Scholars estimate that their are around 7,000 promises of God in the Bible. Some do not relate to us. They were intended for God's chosen covenant people Israel. They were specified for that context. That does not exclude the fact that there are many promises that are intended for us today. Many people talk themselves out of believing what God promised. 

As a child, if my mother or grandparents promised to take us the park or to the lake, I took them at their word. Being persistent in nature, I am sure that I wore them out all day asking when we were going. If they made a promise to do something, I believed what they said and expected them to follow through. It is no different with God. 

Take for instance Psalm 37:4. That is a promise with a condition. If we do our part, we are to believe that God will do His part. I have prayed and stood on this promise many times. I have also seen God come through with this promise on multiple occasions. Here is another one. I John 5:14-15. The promise is that God will answer our prayers if we pray according to the will of God. Keeping that in mind, Jesus made another bold promise in John 14:14 when He said, "If you ask Me anything in My name I will do it." ANYTHING!

Are we willing to take God at His word. I ask Him for 100 baptisms annually. I ask Him for revival that consumes our church and the whole Panhandle of Texas. I ask for the opportunity to come along side churches that are about to die and partner with them to see them revitalized and thrive once again. I believe God to continually remove all debt so that Brenda and I will have greater ability to give to the kingdom. I ask for disciples who go and make other disciples. I ask for transformation for the community of Fritch and others as well. I ask for a national spiritual awakening before Jesus returns. I ask the Lord to break down strongholds and to push back the darkness over the land. I ask for a fresh outpouring of the Spirit of God in ways we have not seen before. I ask God to speak to me clearly. I ask Him for greater anointing to preach, teach, and to write. I ask for His glory to spread. 

I think those things are definitely in the will of God. Why would I not expect God to keep His word. Most of the above listed things are kingdom minded first. Most of them are not self centered. I know it is the will of God to save people. I can ask boldly in faith for God to keep His promise that we will constantly see people saved and their lives changed. I take God at His word about that. 

We had a powerful service today. The worship was phenomenal. Multiple people came forward for prayer. His word was powerful. Over lunch with some church members, multiple people kept talking about how great the service was today. I agreed with them with one exception. NOBODY GOT SAVED TODAY! That would have made it a great service. I know God wants people to be saved. So I ask for it constantly. I take Him at His word to do it. 

Let's pray hard. Let's pray big. Let's believe for more. Exceedingly and abundantly more than we can ask or imagine. Eph 3:20 Let's take God at His word. I choose to believe what Jesus said in John 15:7 that if we abide in Him and His word abides in us He will do what we ask. I want to spend my remaining days taking God at His word. 

Tough

 The word tough is defined as strong enough to endure adverse conditions. Tough is an admirable quality and advertisers seize on this. You may remember some of these toys listed as tough from your childhood. Tonka trucks. These trucks are made of steel and built for rough handling since 1946. LEGOS also fall in this category. Also included in this list, are Matchbox cars. They are made of die cast metal and have a reputation for durability. 

There are also tough people. I was surprised to learn of a couple of the toughest guys who ever lived. They proved it April 6, 1893 in New Orleans, LA. They started a boxing match. Rounds for a boxing match are three minutes. When I was kid fights were 15 rounds at the professional level. Now they are a maximum of 12 rounds for safety reasons. Andy Bowen and Jack Burke fought well past 15 rounds. They pummeled each other past twenty rounds. Even fifty rounds. The fight lasted for 7 hours and 19 min. They were in the 110th round! The referee stopped the fight declaring a draw because all parties were exhausted. That is tough. 

Not tough like Jesus. Jesus hung on the cross about six hours. Before that He endured a severe beating from Roman soldiers. The physical suffering alone was tough. He volunteered to do this. He  made the tough decision to go to the cross. Not only that, He took the sin of the world upon Himself taking our punishment so He could offer us forgiveness and the righteousness of God in return. That is tough. 

There is a football team outside of Ft. Worth, TX in the little community of Paradise. The Paradise Panthers, where all of four sons played, have a unique motto this year. "Jesus Tough." My oldest son, who still lives in the area, heard a radio interview from some of the players and cheerleaders. One of them said, "We want to be tough like Jesus because He made the tough decision to go to the cross." WOW! 

Are we tough enough to make the hard decisions? To do the right thing when doing the wrong thing would be more convenient. To make the tough decision to raise our kids right when others give into letting them do wrong. To work hard on the job when our body and mind are exhausted. To make the tough decisions to show up for worship when you are pressured by others to skip. Life is filled with tough decisions. 

When life gets tough I hope we will remember that Jesus made the tough decision to endure the cross and to do so with joy according to Hebrews 12:2. He can help us get through tough stuff and make tough decisions too.