17/12/2015
YOUR PROMISE
BIBLE READING: HABAKKUK 2:3
Last week we spoke about The Word and how the enemy tries to steal The Word God has given to us. I also tried to explain that the enemy cannot steal the Word from you unless you allow him to by being careless with it. It is like a precious jewel and must be kept under guard in your heart. Just as you keep your most precious gems in a safe, you must guard the Word God has given you jealously. My father gave me a book recently called CHEQUE BOOK OF FAITH by C.H Spurgeon and in this book C.H Spurgeon tells us what a promise is in the preface. He said “A promise from God may very instructively be compared to a cheque payable to order. It is given to the believer with the view of bestowing upon him some good thing. It is not meant that he should read it over comfortably and then be done with it. NO, he is to treat the promise as A REALITY, as a man treats a cheque. HE IS TO TAKE THE PROMISE, AND ENDORSE IT WITH HIS OWN NAME BY PERSONALLY RECEIVING IT AS TRUE. He is by faith to accept it as his own. He sets to his seal that God is true, and true as to this particular word of promise. He goes further and believes he has the blessing and therefore he puts his name to it to testify to the receipt of the blessing. He must believingly present the promise to The Lord, as a man presents a cheque at the counter of the Bank. He must plead it by prayer, expecting to have it fulfilled. If he has come to heaven’s bank at the right date, he will receive the promised amount at once. If the date happens to be further on (Like when you have a post dated cheque), he must patiently wait till its arrival; but meanwhile he may count the promise as money, for the Bank is sure to pay when the due date arrives.” Like a post-dated cheque we must wait patiently but expectantly that on the due date the cheque will be paid. He goes on further to say “some fail to place the endorsement of faith upon the cheque (promise), and so they get nothing; and others are slack in presenting it and these also receive nothing. This is not the fault of the promise, but of those who do not act with it in a common-sense business-like manner. “
We can see that he is saying the promise is a pledge from God that He will redeem on the assigned date. You must hold on to your promise, put your name on it and pray over it every day. The Word is for an appointed time and when that time comes, it will surely be redeemed. God is not a man that He should lie, If He has given you a promise, He will fulfil His promise.
Any time I am praying about something I ask God to give me a Word concerning what I am praying about. Sometimes a scripture will come to my spirit and sometimes it might take days before He gives me a scripture. But when I get the promise of God concerning what I am praying about, I don’t drop it. I hold on to it because I know my victory depends on it. I pray the Word, I make it mine and even if what I see in the physical is contrary to the Word God has given me, I continue to confess the Word knowing that the physical will have to bow to the spiritual in the long run. At the meeting on the 1st of December, I came asking God for a Word for 2016 and I have been praying the Word into my life since that day. I know the Word I will pick on the 31st of December in church for the New Year will confirm the word I picked on the 1st. In my church we have promises for the week, for the month, for the year and then I have my own promise for the week, month and year. I keep them guarded securely in my spirit and pray them regularly. As I look back at the different things I have gone through this year, my promise for the year has been a source of strength and hope during times of difficulty and I have seen God redeem my cheques of faith (promises) at different times.
What promise did you pick when you came to the meeting on the 1st of December? Have you forgotten it already? If you have, ask God for forgiveness. Pick another promise and this time deliberately pray before you pick it. If you do not have promise baskets in your church please go online to www.tfolc.org and you can pick a promise online. We have promise baskets at fellowship as well, so if you are bothered about anything, pray before coming to fellowship on Wednesday and ask God to give you a specific Word for the situation when you pick your promise. We have had so many testimonies of how God’s promise was redeemed in different situations. THE WORD OF GOD IS PRICELESS; DO NOT ALLOW THE ENEMY STEAL IT FROM YOU.
UNDER GRACE UNDER MERCY
REV. JACKSON CLARENCE
