(Excerpt from Pastor’s book, ‘How to Get a Grip on God’s Promises”)

Was there ever a time that you had greater joy in your heart about serving God?  If so, the enemy has stolen from you.  If there has ever been a time that you enjoyed reading your Bible more than you do today; if there was ever a time when you enjoyed spending a quiet time with God in prayer more than you do today; then the enemy has stolen from you!  We need to be challenged to walk in our first love for Christ.  Keeping our first love for Jesus is probably one of the greatest challenges that all of us have, preachers included.  People need to be taught how to live.  People need to be taught what is right and wrong and how to keep their purity; how to flee from sin and its consequences.  Sin has no respect for anybody.  It will steal, it will kill, and it will destroy.

The question then becomes: if God gives you a promise, how could Satan steal it?  If you do not guard what God has given you, believe me Satan can take it from you.  As a pastor, I see it happening quite often.  I am constantly on the lookout for people that once had the fire of God burning in their hearts.  I wish I could just shake them and command them to be on fire for God again.  But I know it does not work that way.  It is something that each of us has to choose. It has to happen on the inside first then it will manifest on the outside.

The story of the Shunammite woman is an intriguing story.  The message comes that her child is sick and I look at this woman, and say, “Woman, what do you do now?”  What do you do when the pressure is on?  Where do you run when the pressure is on?  What do you say when the pressure is on?  Who do you turn to when the pressure is on?”  I will tell you one thing I appreciate about this woman, she did not quit!  She refused to grow bitter!  She did not sit at home and complain.  She kept a solid grip on God’s Word.

(Excerpt from Pastor’s book, ‘How to Get a Grip on God’s Promises”)

The promise of a son was spoken the Shunammite woman.  The next thing that happened was the promise came to pass.  God’s Word worked because that Word was spoken.  By a miracle of God a child was born to a couple who had been unable to have children.  The promise was given and the promise came to pass.  I would like to stop right there and be able to say that they lived happily ever after, but I must give you the whole story.  In Second Kings 4:18-22, “And when the child was grown, it fell on a day, that he went out to his father to the reapers. And he said unto his father, My head, my head. And he said to a lad, Carry him to his mother. And when he had taken him, and brought him to his mother, he sat on her knees till noon, and then died. And she went up, and laid him on the bed of the man of God, and shut the door upon him, and went out. And she called unto her husband, and said, Send me, I pray thee, one of the young men, and one of the asses, that I may run to the man of God, and come again.”

How could a promise from God come to pass and yet end up being stolen?  A thief became involved and the promise was stolen because their son dies.  There are a lot of things being stolen in lives today.  There are probably some areas in your life where the enemy has tried to steal from you.

When you hear some people talk, God gets blamed for everything bad. God gets blamed for tornados, car wrecks, cancer, and for all kinds of catastrophes.  In fact, people blame God for the most terrible things that happen on the face of the earth.  Let me share some truths with you, from John 10:10.  Jesus said, “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” Many people become disillusioned when the thief steals from them, because when something good gets stolen from them, they begin to doubt God.  We can relate to people who have bad things happen to them.  We do not doubt the sincerity and faith of someone who goes through difficult times.  We need to keep it straight in our thinking that the devil is the thief, not God.  God is the one who gives life.

We came home from church one night to our former house.  My wife, Joy, had been speaking to the ladies and I was out running errands.  When we came home, there was an unfamiliar odor in our house. That was not the only thing that was different, when I entered the kitchen I saw two cans of beer and I knew that something was wrong.  Joy looked at me and I looked at Joy, and I said, “Somebody has been in our house.”  We went through our house and everything was upside down, drawers were emptied and everything of value was gone.  It is a strange feeling when your home has been broken into.  Men take these things differently than women do, we want to get revenge.  We want to do something.  We want to help God, but in Romans 12:19 it reads, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.”

We had a couple with us that night and they said, “Well, let’s just praise the Lord!” My flesh did not like it, but I knew it was right.  I knew we needed to thank God that no one was hurt and things can be replaced.  I was not in the mood to praise the Lord, but I did it anyway.

There is something more important than protecting your valuables and that is protecting the blessing of God on your life.  Even when it looks like the thief has stolen your blessing, keep a grip on God’s promise.  In 2 Kings four the promised son died but the Shunammite woman kept hold of her faith, refused to act in fear, and she saw her son returned to life.  When this woman’s blessing seemed to be unraveling, she had to get a grip on the promise of God.  Satan wants to steal your gifts, your visions, your dreams.  If you have a business, do not be naïve about it.  Satan would like to steal the business.  You do not have to let him do it.  Do not turn loose of your faith and you will come out on the high side of victory.

(Excerpt from Pastor’s book, ‘How to Get a Grip on God’s Promises”)

I am standing here today because a promise was given in Romans 10:13, and I have stood on that promise: “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”  Some people get in such deep theological discussions such as:  I just wonder who is foreordained to be saved and who is foreordained to be lost?  The Bible says in 2 Peter 3:9, that God is “. . . not willing that any should perish . . .” so there is no reason to go any further with that.  God is “. . . not willing that any should perish . . .” People are willing to perish, but God is not willing for them to perish.  It is not the will of God that some be saved and others be lost.  John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”  According to this verse God loves the whole world and the promise of God is salvation for “whosoever believes.”  You can trust God’s Word.

Advertisers make great promises but cannot always deliver on them.  For this reason you cannot believe every commercial.  If you think you can believe everything that you see on television then I have some property in Florida I would like to sell you.  It is a little under water right now, but it will get better.  Of course, I do not really have any property for sale, but the point is that you have to consider the source.  You can trust the promises of God for everything from salvation to provision because God is faithful.  The Word simply says in Proverbs 3:5-6, “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”

(Excerpt from Pastor’s book, “How to Get a Grip on God’s Promises”)

In 2 Kings 4 there is a story about a woman who provided a room for the Prophet Elisha.  She furnished it with a candlestick, bed, and a desk.  You hear this sometimes referred to as a “prophet’s chamber.”  The room was a place for the prophet to stay when he came through the land.  The Word of God says that she perceived that he was a holy man and that she wanted to help him.  By providing Elisha with a room the woman positioned herself to receive a blessing.  The idea that we can position ourselves for the blessing of God is a truth that is becoming stronger in my heart every day. You do not have enough money to buy the blessings of God, but we position ourselves by our giving, by our faith, and by our obedience to God to receive God’s best.

For this reason, Elisha had it in his heart to bless her.  One day Elisha sent his servant to find out if there was anything that the woman needed.  Do you need me to speak to the king for you?  What kind of a favor do you need?  She did not express any specific needs to him, but the prophet found out that she did not have any children.  Then the prophet of God said in 2 Kings 4:16, “About this season, according to the time of life, thou shalt embrace a son.  And she said, Nay, my lord, thou man of God, do not lie unto thine handmaid.”

At that point in her life, the idea of having children seemed preposterous to her.  It is another one of those stories like Zachariah and Elizabeth or Abraham and Sarah, couples who were unable to have children.  Her husband was old and when she said, “. . . do not lie . . .” she was not making fun of the prophet of God.  She just said, “Prophet of God, you do not understand how impossible this is.”  But the Bible said in verse 17, “. . . the woman conceived, and bare a son at that season that Elisha had said unto her, according to the time of life.” 

Your Bible is a book of promises.  When I was a boy in Sunday school we used to sing “Every promise in the Book is mine; every chapter, every verse, every line.”  It was a song that appealed for us to have a simple childlike faith.  Somewhere along the way, someone may have told you, “You cannot believe like that.”  I want to tell you that every promise in the Book is yours – every chapter, every verse and every line.  And if you will believe it and if you will obey it, it shall come to pass.

(The following is an excerpt from Bob Nichols’ book, “How to Change Your Destiny.”)

What God is calling for is character, not perfection.  When I think of the name, Billy Graham, I think about integrity and purity. You have to admire the man.  He has never had a scandal.  He has kept his life clean. The man goes out of his way to operate in integrity and moral purity and God has honored him because of that. Even if you have the strongest resolve, Satan will still try to get you to sin. I am telling you, sin always has the same M.O. – no new wrinkles.  It is the same old, dirty, brown sack.  Satan just puts a new ribbon on it and says, this is new and improved. Satan says, “You can compromise and God will forgive you so it does not make any difference.”  Do not believe it!  Character is what you do when no one’s looking.

I am going to hit something else here, it is impossible to sit and watch immoral movies and stay the person that God called you to be. It is impossible! It would not hurt us to get back to the Ten Commandments, not to be saved, but to stay on the track. They spell things out plain and simple: Thou shalt no other gods before me.  You are not to covet anything that someone else has. Thou shalt not steal. I do not have to steal, God will give to me everything I need. Thou shall not bear false witness.  God wants us to tell the truth the first time even if does not seem to matter.  Tell the truth. If you cannot do something and tell the truth, do not do it. It is just so good to live clean and put your head on the pillow at night and say, “Praise be unto God, here comes another good night’s rest.”  Everything is okay. There is nothing between your soul and your Savior.  No wonder the man, Jabez, said, if I am ever going to break out of this negative mold that I was born into, keep me from evil and the grief that it brings.

No single circumstance in your life has to determine your future.  You do not have to become what anyone else says about you.  Go with what God says about you.  Before you were born God called you valuable and precious and wrote out a bright future for you. You are not a mistake going somewhere to happen. God placed you on this earth on purpose and He has a good plan for your life.  Where and when you were born, the parents God gave you, your personality, and everything else about you was orchestrated by God for a purpose.  You can be like Jabez and overcome negative circumstances through prayer.  Change your destiny today through faith in God.

Prayer

Lord, the prayer Jabez prayed to You, is my prayer today.  Lord, bless me indeed, enlarge my coast, keep your hand on me, keep me from evil and from causing pain to others. I will not listen to the lies anymore.  I can be what You have called me to be.  I can do what You have called me to do.  I know You will keep me, because I desire with all my heart to be kept by You.  Jesus, be the Lord of my life.  Take my life and make me a blessing to others.  In Jesus’ Name, amen.