On Obtaining Promises…

A lot of Christians lack an understanding of God’s promises.

His promises often hinge on certain conditions, prerequisites or requirements.

Many times, we just claim the promise in the scripture itself and neglect the other portion, not realizing that the fulfillment of the condition or instructions or commandment is a prerequisite for obtaining the promise. It isn’t always automatic.

For example: Deuteronomy 28:13(KJV)-
” ‘And the Lord shall make thee the head, and not the tail, and thou shalt be above only, and thou shall not be beneath’ (THE PROMISE), If that thou hearken unto the commandments of the Lord thy God, which I command thee this day (today), to observe and to do them (PRESENT CONDITION)”.

Let’s stop doing selective reading and read the Bible as a whole.

The Bible isn’t a textbook for you to skip some parts and read others (sometimes I’m guilty of this) but overtime, I’ve realized that to get the whole benefit, one must read it as a whole.

If there’s anything I’ve learnt at all, it’s that obedience is key to obtaining promises. Some Christians don’t obey, yet they expect and wonder why they’re not getting.

God values and cherishes obedience above all else. He emphasizes it over and over again throughout scripture.
The life motto of every Christian should be to:

‘Trust and Obey’.

The Hymn by that same title says it all if you listen deeply to appreciate the depth of its words…

The funny thing is that Trusting and Obeying go hand in hand. You can’t obey without first trusting and if you trust, you should obey…

In fact, to obey is not supposed to be a matter or a question of choice. It’s a commandment. To not obey shouldn’t be an option at all…

I digress a little bit to take an example from the new testament: 1 John 1:9(AMP)-
“If we [freely] admit that we have sinned and confess our sins, He is faithful and just [true to His own nature and promises], and will forgive our sins and cleanse us continually from all unrighteousness [our wrongdoing, everything not in conformity with His will and purpose]”.

Let me just break it down:

Prerequisite = Confession (Of Specific sins)
Promise = Forgiveness

So it’s Prerequisite > Promise…

You must choose to do what God has clearly told you to do. He’s laid it out in his Word.

He said, “I will do this, the promise, if you will obey the premise.”
– Rick Warren

For further study: Job 22:21-29

God bless you and Happy Sunday.

Love and Grace,

© Zizi 2019