Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Walking in the Promises of God

Someone said there are about 21,000 promises of God in the Bible. I have not counted them but I know there are much more promises of God than we ever know. What I do know is, most of God's promises are conditional and only few are unconditional.

An example of an unconditional promise of God is His love - His love for sinners (John 3:16) and His love for Israel (Jer. 31:3).

An example of a conditional promise of God is found in the 28th Chapter of the Book of Deuteronomy - The promised blessings of God are for those who obeyed His voice.

"Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observed carefully all His commandments .... The Lord your God will set you high above all nations of the earth, and all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the Lord your God" (Deu. 28:1, 2 NKJV).

God promises to keep His promises

"God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill" (Numbers 23:19, NIV)?

"Indeed I have spoken it; I will also bring it to pass. I have purposed it; I will also do it" (Isaiah 46:11, NKJV).

"He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it" (1 Thess. 5:24, NKJV).

"For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us, ..." (2 Cor. 1:20).

"... for He who promised is faithful" (Heb. 10:23).

God will never fail to keep His promises because He is a covenant keeping God:

"My covenant I will not break, nor alter the word that has gone out of My lips" (Ps. 89:24).

God's promises for those who fear Him

The following promises of God are obviously conditional; the condition is that we fear the Lord.

Here are some amazing promises of God for those who fear Him:

Walking in God's path and in God's way

"Who is the man that fears the Lord? Him shall He teach in the way He chooses" (Ps. 25:12, NKJV).

God has a plan for your life. For a person who fears the Lord, God will show him the path He has chosen for him to walk in. God will turn on the light and he who fears Him will see and will come to the path of the just as a shining light that shines more and more unto a perfect day (Prob. 4:18).

Keeping one's life clean forever

"The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether" (Ps. 19:9, emphasis added).

The word "clean" comes from the Hebrew word "tahor" which means pure, unadulterated and holy. Not only the fear of the Lord cleanses and purifies, but as you walk in the fear of the Lord your life shall be kept clean and purified at all times - it endures forever.

The secret of the Lord is revealed

"The secret of the Lord is with those who fear Him, and He will show them His covenant" (Ps. 25:14).

Solomon said, "It is glory of God to conceal a matter, but the glory of kings is to search out a matter" (Prob. 25:2).

Believers are made kings and priests to God the Father (Rev. 1:6). So it is the glory of believers to seek and to understand the secret of the Lord. If you want to understand the deep things of God start to walk in the fear of the Lord.

Hidden in the secret place of God's presence

"Oh, how great is Your goodness, which You have laid up for those who fear You, which you have prepared for those who trust in You in the presence of the sons of men! you shall hide them in the secret place of Your presence from the plots of man; You shall keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues" (Ps. 31:19, 20, emphasis added).

There is nothing worst than having the wagging tongues of Christians against you. If you are walking in the fear of the Lord, the Lord will hide you in the secret place of His presence and no other Christians can touch you.

Protection of the angel of the Lord

"The angel of the Lord encamps all around those who fear Him and delivers them" (Ps. 34:7).

"For He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways" (Ps. 91:11).

There shall be no lack

"Oh, fear the Lord, you His saints! There is no want to those who fear Him" (Ps. 34:9).

Compare this with Psalm 23, "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want ..." (Ps. 23:1).

Desires fulfilled

"He will fulfill the sesire of those who fear Him; He also will hear their cry and save them" (Ps. 145:19).

If you have unfulfilled desire in your heart, God promises to fulfill your desire as you walk in the fear of the Lord.

Live longer

"The fear of the Lord prolongs days, but the years of the wicked will be shortened" (Prob. 10:27).

God will add years to your life if you walk in the fear of the Lord. We are not talking about those unbelievers who live longer than believers. God has a different plan for them.

Strong confidence of God's protection

"In the fear of the Lord there is strong confidence, and His children will have a place of refuge. The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, to turn one away from the snare of death" (Prob. 14:26, 27).

The fear of the Lord sets you free from the fear of death.

Free from the visitation of evil


"The fear of the Lord leads to life, and he who has it will abide in satisfaction; He will not be visited with evil" (Prob. 19:23).

The visitation of evil is most undesirable; it includes all forms of evil circumstances and situations - calamities (fire, earthquake, drought or flood), accidents (road, air, rail or sea), sicknesses, diseases, sudden-deaths, thefts, murders, rapes and you name it. No believer wants the visitation of evil. We desire the visitation of God's goodness, loving kindness and mercies.

Riches, honor and life

"By humility and the fear of the Lord are riches and honor and life" (Prob. 22:4).

These are promises that every one of us desires - financial security, good name and good health!


Prosperity and blessings for future generations


"Who is the man that fears the Lord? Him shall He teach in the way He chooses. He himself shall dwell in prosperity, and his descendants shall inherit the earth" (Ps. 25:12, 13, emphasis added).


"In the way He chooses" speaks of the wisdom of God. "Dwell in prosperity" speaks of the peace of God. "Descendants shall inherit the earth" speaks of the blessings of God for future generations.

The above three promises of God are promises that every one of us desires.

In the midst of God's presence

"Then those who feared the Lord spoke to one another, and the Lord listened and heard them; so a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who fear the Lord and who meditate on His name" (Malachi 3:16, emphasis added).

God's presence will be in the midst of those who walk together in the fear of the Lord. God listens to their conversation and He has a book of remembrance prepared for them. We usually have a book of remembrace for VIP's who attended our functions. In other words, those who walk together in the fear of the Lord are being treated like VIP's!

Candidates for God's healing grace

"But to you who fear My name the Sun of Righteousness shall arise with healing in His wings; ..." (Malachi 4:2).

The sun is a symbol of righteousness. The sun speaks of God Himself who is always righteous.

The psalmist said, "For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord will give grace and glory; no good things will He withhold from those who walk uprightly" (Ps. 84:11).

Healing is one of the good things provided by God for those who walk uprightly. To walk uprightly is to walk in the fear of the Lord. If you walk uprightly, love righteousness and hate wickedness you are a candidate for God's healing grace.

Like the clear morning sun

This is a promise of God for kings and for those who are in the leadership positions, including Church leadership.

Here are some dying words of David and I believe the most important words spoken by a person are his dying words:

"The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spoke to me; 'He who rules over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God. And he shall be like the light of the morning when the sun rises, a morning without clouds, like the tender grass springing out of the earth, by clear shining after rain'" (2 Samuel 23:3, 4, NKJV).

God desires that all leaders, including Pastors, Elders of the Local Church be just and righteous and fear God as they shepherd the flock of God.

"But the path of the just is like the shining sun, that shines ever brighter unto the perfect day" (Prob. 4:18, NKJV).

Our just leaders will arise and shine; and the glory of the Lord will be risen upon us, the Church (Isaiah 60:1)!

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