God Brings Promises To Life

Has God spoken a word, a blessing or a promise to you that hasn’t yet come to pass? If you could see me, my hand is up.

God is so amazing. His timing is always so perfect.

“There is a season (a time appointed) for everything and a time for every delight and event or purpose under heaven.”  Ecclesiastes  3:1

If you joined us in the previous weeks for ‘The Process to Destiny” (Part 1 here), then you will know that there is a time of receiving a call or a promise, a time of temptation, a time of learning, a time of struggle, another time of learning, and a time of receiving your promise.

I must admit, I struggled so desperately with the fact that I am STILL waiting for some of the promises that God showed me over 20 years ago (found here) but …… for the first time, I could see why. If I had have stepped into the promises 10 years, 5 years, 2 years or even 1 year ago, it would not have been a pretty sight. My soul was so broken that I couldn’t step into the promises waiting for me.

Today, I am most grateful for the delay. My heart is to see people love Jesus, see miracles in their own lives and those around them, bring others to the Lord and fulfil the reason they were created. But because of the brokenness, I couldn’t do this efficiently or with love in the past. The more healing my soul receives (and it has received a lot), the closer I get to receiving my promise. As Joyce Meyer so aptly says, “I am not where I am supposed to be but praise God I am not where I used to be.” Can you say that?

(For a most excellent free resource in soul healing, I would highly recommend the videos of Expected End Ministries.)

Have a think about the deepest dreams in your heart. How did God speak to you about them? Was it a prophecy from someone? Did the Lord lead you to a particular piece of Scripture? Did the Lord speak in His still, small voice directly to your heart?

My encouragement to you is ……. DON’T GIVE UP!

The Apostle Peter is my most favourite Bible character, apart from Jesus of course. I have heard many teachings about his life as described in the Scriptures, and the main theme has been that he was the one who ‘looked down and didn’t keep his eyes on Jesus’ (Matthew 14:30). I don’t know about you but if I was standing on the waves in the midst of a huge storm, I would be struggling to keep my eyes fixed on Jesus too. Wouldn’t you?

The thing I love most about Peter is that he wasn’t afraid to give anything a go. He was the only disciple to get out of the boat in the first place (Matthew 14:29). He received the revelation that Jesus was indeed the Christ, the Son of the living God (Matthew 16:16). He was the first to step up and try to protect Jesus when Jesus was foretelling His death, even though he was rebuked for it (Matthew 16:22-23). Peter, right after he was filled with Holy Spirit, spoke and 3000 souls were added to the Kingdom that day.

Peter had a go. He messed up a great deal but he had a go. We all mess up, it’s just that his mistakes were written down for the rest of civilisation to read about, just so we can learn from them. He didn’t give up.

The Calling (Promise) is Given

Its so amazing to me how Jesus spoke the language of the everyday man. He spoke to them in ways that they understood. When He called Matthew and Andrew, he made a fishing reference – because they were fishermen.

In Matthew 4:19, Jesus calls to both men to follow him and become ‘Fishers of Men’. I don’t think they may have fully understood what Jesus was expecting of them but they knew enough that they LEFT EVERYTHING to follow Jesus – their families, their businesses, their status, their very lives.

Here the promise was given. There was a process now to go through. First was the calling, then the intense training, and then the empowerment by Holy Spirit.

The Promise is Coming

Peter had seen many miracles performed by Jesus and had received intense, close contact training with the Son of God Himself. How heartbroken he was when he realised that he had betrayed his friend, his instructor, indeed Christ the Messiah (Matthew 26:75).

Jesus has now risen and has appeared numerous times to the grieving, hidden disciples. Peter has decided that he will go back to fishing – the very thing he left behind. Jesus, from the shoreline, tells Peter to put his nets out of the right side of the boat to pull in a haul (John 21:6). Peter is exhausted, as are the other guys, but he does it anyway even though he has not yet recognised who it is who has instructed him. He pulls in so many fish that he has to get help to drag the haul to the shore.

Could this be a sign that Peter’s sin of denying Jesus could be redeemed? Could it be that the first promise that Jesus gave to Peter could still come to fruition? It certainly seems that way. What do you think? I think Peter got this revelation because he jumped out of the boat and rushed to Jesus. He couldn’t wait to get to his Lord. He was forgiven.

The Promise Arrives

Acts chapter 2 is such a special passage. We celebrated Pentecost – the coming of Holy Spirit upon the earth – just this past weekend. Right after this, because of Holy Spirit resting upon and infilling Peter, he preached to the people and 3000 souls are added to the Kingdom that day (Acts 2:41).

He was now officially a Fisher of Men!

From then on, Peter moved in great power. The power of God was so great upon him and emanating from him that his shadow would just have to fall on people and they would be healed. Wow!

In all honesty, I had not ever seen the connection of these passages. It was during our morning prayer time with our children that our 14 year old son announced this revelation so matter of factly, that he looked at me shocked that I didn’t know it. They are just learning how to hear Holy Spirit speaking to them – and He certainly does speak.

Whatever You Do, DON’T GIVE UP!

“Let us not grow weary or become discouraged in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap, if we do not give in.”  Galatians 6:9 (AMP)

I know it can be hard, even heartbreaking, but God’s Word is truth. If you are in the midst of struggle and wondering when or if your breakthrough will ever come, think about and declare the above verse throughout the day. Speak it out for God’s Word NEVER comes back void, without result (Isaiah 55:11). Even if you don’t feel it, you can always trust the Word of God to be Truth. Jesus is described as the Word (John 1:1) and the Truth (John 14:6). You can certainly trust Him.

I pray that this has brought you encouragement and that your heart will be full of hope to press on, even amidst the events in your life.

As always, if you would like specific prayer, please comment below or send me an email here. I would love to hear from you.

Many blessings to you.

(Photo Credit: www.pexels.com)