* God's Promises / Your Choice

Seek ye the LORD while he may be found , 

call ye upon him while he is near:

Isaiah 55:6

We make many choices everyday without any conscious thought behind it.  But there is one choice that we all need to make that, considering the magnitude of it,  really requires no thought and yet we ponder it deeply, write books about it, discredit it and ultimately, many of us reject it.  Even when we don't outright reject it, we put our personal spin on it.  Or if we don't reject it, we acknowledge it then pacify ourselves out of not fully accepting it.  That choice is to live a life that is pleasing to God in accordance to His word.

When God created the world, He made many different kinds of creatures. He made animals, fish, insects, and birds (Genesis 1).

But God's greatest creation was man who was created in His own image. Man is unique among all creatures because he not only has a body, but he has a soul, and spirit and a higher intelligence allowing him to make conscious rather than instinctive decisions. Man was created to worship and fellowship with the true and living God (Genesis 2-3).

Man, by creation, is the companion of a miracle working Father; the true and living God. Man; endued with the breath of God and made in His image, has a capacity for power unlike any other created being. The miracle working realm should be man's natural realm.  Man has the capacity to cause God's will in heaven to be done on earth!

Man has the most powerful, intelligent mind of all of God's creatures. 

Man has the power of choice. Man can choose to do good or evil. 

He can choose to obey God or Satan.

The first temptation of man by Satan in the Garden of Eden focused on this power of choice (Genesis 3). Because of a wrong choice to sin, a basic sin nature has been passed from Adam and Eve to all mankind.

If man is to experience true spiritual power, he must choose to serve God. Since all are sinners, all are in need of forgiveness:

For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.  Romans 3:23

Forgiveness comes through repentance and belief on Jesus Christ:

If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.  If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.   1 John 1:8-9

Repentance from sin is the basis for spiritual power. You cannot experience the power of God if you remain in the spiritual death of sin.

When the disciples were preaching in one city, a man named Simon witnessed the power of God in action. He offered money to Peter and said:

. . . Give me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost. Acts 8:19

Peter answered:

. . . Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money.  Thou has neither part nor lot in this matter; for thy heart is not right in the sight of God.  Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee.  For I perceive that thou art in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity.   Acts 8:20-23

Repentance is the basis of all true spiritual power. 

You will never experience God's power unless you have 

first experienced repentance. 

Salvation from sin is the greatest demonstration of the power of God.

God does not pour His power through sinful vessels. He does not work through people who try to improve their lives through self-effort.

No man putteth a piece of new cloth unto an old garment, for that which is put in to fill it up taketh from the garment, and the rent is made worse. Neither do men put new wine into old bottles: else the bottles break , and the wine runneth out , and the bottles perish : but they put new wine into new bottles, and both are preserved.   Matthew 9:16-17

God demonstrates His power through holy vessels who have repented and are serving Him.

Believers have been promised spiritual power. But there are two parts to every promise of God:

v  The promise:   The content, the actual words and meaning of the promise.

v  The possession of that promise:   You cannot use that which you do not possess. You must claim the promises of God in order for them to become reality in your life.

There must first be a fundamental belief in God and His Sovereignty.  

But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. Hebrews 11:6 

How do we claim the promises of God?  

           √       You Must Choose To Do So

We have the power to accept the promise of God, reject it, or ignore it. Many people have rejected the promise of spiritual power. They believe it was only for the early Church. Others have ignored it. They read the promises in the Bible, but do not act upon them. These people do not have the demonstration of God's power in their lives because they have exercised their own power of choice and failed to claim the promise.

Whenever there is a promise in God's Word that is not fulfilled in our life, it does not mean it is not true or not for us. Do not interpret the Bible on the basis of your own experience. Just because you have not experienced a promise of God does not mean it is not a true and valid promise. The promise of power is a gift from God. But you must choose to accept that gift.

            √       You Must Understand The Principles

To possess any Biblical promise, we must understand the principles upon which it is based. Promises of God are always based on certain principles which always involve a response from man.

For example, many promises of God are based on the "if/then" principle. God says "If you will do this certain thing, then you will receive this promise." 

And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the Lord thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth: Deuteronomy 28:1

God gave King Solomon a promise based upon the condition of choice:

If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.  2 Chronicles 7:14

A promise was given that was based on obedience.

To experience the promise of spiritual power, we must understand the Biblical principles of power. In the natural world, it is similar to reading the instructions that come with a product to learn how to operate it properly or like using a recipe to learn how to prepare a certain food.

         √       You Must Apply The Principles

Someone can give you a lovely gift in the natural world. You can choose to accept it. It comes with instructions. You can read the instructions and understand them thoroughly. But unless you use the instructions to operate the gift, the product is still useless to you.  

Mere understanding of the Biblical power principles is not enough. We must apply these principles to our own life and ministry.

Always know that we are God's workmanship.

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.  Ephesians 2:10

We are the only life on earth uniquely made to have the power of free will. God tells us to choose this day whom we will serve; to call on Him while He is near!

And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.  Joshua 24:15

Seek ye the LORD while he may be found , 

call ye upon him while he is near: 
Isaiah 55:6

Biblical Studies



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