Relay

Promises from God should change the way that we see ourselves, our circumstances, our abilities, our disabilities. They should change the way that we see our future, our past, our gains, our losses. They should change the way we see our weaknesses, our strengths, our challenges, our relationships. I Thessalonians tells us that they should even change the way we sorrow. God’s promises change everything.

One of our great longings as human beings is for purpose. Why am I here? What am I supposed to be doing? How do I live fulfilled?

And the Bible is clear. As children of God, we are people of promise. And we are people of purpose.

Our words have extraordinary power. Proverbs teaches us that they have the power of life or death. We get to choose. How do we enjoy the benefits and not reap the consequences?

A promise is only as good as the one who makes it. And our Heavenly Father, our Promise Keeper, loves us perfectly, can do all things, and He will fulfill every promise that He has given to us. Our promises are 100% about God’s faithfulness – not ours. His love – not ours. His goodness – not ours.

As children of God, our hope comes from the confident expectation that God will fulfill His promises to us. In fact, God’s promises are intended to revolutionize every aspect of our lives. Our Heavenly Father desires for them to differentiate us from the world around us. The Apostle Peter tells us that when we are living with the hope that God intends, the world around us will take notice. They will ask questions. Could you use a heaping dose of hope?

Far too often, we can look at this life as a race, when our Heavenly Father sees the importance of the relay. We can place the emphasis on the laps run or the speed in which it was done, when our loving, all-knowing, eternal God sees the priority of relationships – ours with Him, and ours with others. It’s all about the relay.

We cannot spend 8 weeks talking about the freedom that our Heavenly Father longs for us to enjoy – without spending at least one week talking about the Enemy of our freedom. Our God wants us educated, equipped, and encouraged – because we are in a battle for our freedom.

It is critical that we understand that our focus in life will greatly determine our freedom, and we have the power to choose our focus. As children of God, we can control the thoughts that control us.

Sometimes it can be hard for us to see how obedience leads to freedom. But our God loves us, and He has great plans for us. He knows how this life works. He created it. And if God says it, we want to listen.

Grace is a celebration of what God was willing to do to share relationship with mankind. It is grace that saves us, and it is by grace that we share a personal relationship with our Heavenly Father.