“Grab Hold To The Promise!”
Pastor Jim Lowe III
Sunday Morning, 9:30am Stream 12/08/24 (2nd Sunday Message)
hashtags:
#guidinglight #pastorjim #Faith #heart
#believer #surrender
#love #showinglove #loveofGod #loveofChrist #repentance #serving #forgiveness #Godworks #savedtoserve #overflow #protector #Expectation #worry #Favor #deliverance #listeningears #Godspeaks #blessings #servingGod #heartafterGod #treasure #complaining #God’speace
{All scriptures are NIV84 unless stated}
It’s December!
We are getting ready for 2025! We are at the end of 2024!
Many of us have seen God move this year!
As we showed ourselves more faithful to him… he’s given us more favor this year
Do We Have Someone Who Has Seen God’s Favor This Year?
Some of us may have gone through some trying times.
But the Lord told us that although things must happen in our lives. he will not leave us comfortless.
It’s an amazing thing to see God when he works.
But we have seen God work all through 2024 for a reason.
When we SEE him work…
we have to understand that he WILL work.
As we get ready for 2025, there are some things we have to hold onto.
Hebrews 10:23
23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.
We learned about “hope” last month.
it is the thing our faith is built on.
Even Though We Don’t Know What 2025 Has In Store, We Have Hope In A God Who Does!
We have ideas on what might happen next year.
But we honestly can’t really see what will happen this afternoon.
We don’t know what will happen this week.
So we can only HOPE for good things in 2025.
But if we are going to have hope in something, Let’s hope in the one who stands outside of time.
Hebrews 10:23 (MSG)
Let’s keep a firm grip on the promises that keep us going. He always keeps his word.
Let’s keep a firm grip on what God has said… the promises he’s made.
because he ALWAYS keeps his word.
This month we’re going to be talking about WHAT to put our hope in. And THAT is going to be the promises of God.
Message Title:
“Grab Hold To The Promise!”
These promises will be things we can hold onto. Take a look at these each week.
take a look at these each month.
Because we put our hope in our God.
but also the things he has promised us.
Our God Will Keep His Promises!
Hebrews 6:17-18 (NCV)
17 God wanted to prove that his promise was true to those who would get what he promised. And he wanted them to understand clearly that his purposes never change, so he made an oath. 18 These two things cannot change: God cannot lie when he makes a promise, and he cannot lie when he makes an oath. These things encourage us who came to God for safety. They give us strength to hold on to the hope we have been given.
God wanted to PROVE his promise was true. he wanted us to know that it was real
to those who he promised.
Our God Doesn’t Play About His Promises!
So we need promises to stand on. for now and from now on.
We have hope because of his promise.
Promises Of God To Stand On:
{repeat/type}
John 16:33
33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
We have to start with this. This is a promise as well.
in this world you will have trouble.
We can’t ignore this part. There will be trouble.
We will have to deal with something.
Those things could be big… could be small.
but they will exist.
The only life we will have without problems will be when we’re finally WITH God. But although problems will come
Jesus told us something to have peace. “He has overcome the world.”
He told us this so we don’t get confused.
Many Times We Lose Hope Because We Forget Our God Fights For Us!
Some people have gone THRU this year.
life has REALLY been rough for some of us. I’ve talked to people who have lost hope.
but the FIRST thing I try to remind them of is to not look at the mountain of problems. but to remember the mountain of power that is their God!
Exodus 14:14
14 The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.”
Whatever that problem is: if you lost your job
if your family is separated
if you have some type of sickness if you are being lied on
if you’ve lost hope
if everyone is winning but you
and you KEEP getting stepped on
Deuteronomy 3:22
22 Do not be afraid of them; the Lord your God himself will fight for you.”
Even When Things KEEP Happening, Don’t Forget That God Said He Is Fighting For You!
Deuteronomy 1:29-30
29 Then I said to you, “Do not be terrified; do not be afraid of them. 30 The Lord your God, who is going before you, will fight for you, as he did for you in Egypt, before your very eyes,
Don’t be terrified of what you’re going through… the Lord will fight for you…
as he did in Egypt.
before your very eyes
the problem is none of us were there win Egypt to see what God did. but the point isn’t we have to had BEEN there.
the real thing is “before your very eyes.” What the bible is saying to us is this.
When You Have SEEN The Lord Work, You Know He Can Do It Again!
What has the Lord done for you before? What did he last deliver you from?
When was the last time he made a way out of no way? When you have SEEN the Lord fight for you…
Psalm 91:3
3 Surely he will save you from the fowler’s snare and from the deadly pestilence.
He Allowed Us To See It Before, So We Can Have Hope In Him Now!
Promises Of God To Stand On:
{repeat/type}
Matthew 6:31-33
31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
Jesus is telling us another promise here. Don’t worry about what you don’t have.
Your heavenly father knows you need things.
These things will be GIVEN to you…
IF:
“Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness.”
Our Needs Will Be Met As Long As We Continue To Follow The Lord!
Psalm 84:11
11 For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless.
This is saying the same thing:
The Lord gives…
and there is NO GOOD THING he won’t give to those who’s walk is blameless.
Sometimes we can’t see what the Lord is doing. all we can see are trial after trial pilling up.
so much so that we sometimes question if God loves us.
but the bible says that if we seek him. there’s nothing he won’t do for us!
The Lord Meets The Needs Of Those Who Seek Him!
The bible talks about how when you pray and ask for things… you can have them!
Matthew 7:7 - {ask and it will be given to you}
But the bible talks about how the Lord answers also!
Matthew 7:9-11
9 “Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11 If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!
For the parents:
If your kids asked you for something…who would give them something to hurt them?
Why would we not give them what they asked for:
But our God is different!
We serve a God who knows what we need. and there’s nothing he can’t do.
Philippians 4:19
19 And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.
The Lord Can Meet Needs Even Before We Need Them!
Judges tells the story of Samson.
He and the Philistines had an all out war.
LOTS of things happened between them. He married a Philistine woman.
and the Philistines eventually killed her and her father.
So Samson killed some of them in return. this is a feud!
Some men of Judah tied up Samson to turn him in.
The Philistines want revenge and catch him on the road.
Judges 15:14-15
14 As he approached Lehi, the Philistines came toward him shouting. The Spirit of the Lord came upon him in power. The ropes on his arms became like charred flax, and the bindings dropped from his hands. 15 Finding a fresh jawbone of a donkey, he grabbed it and struck down a thousand men.
This isn’t just about the power Samson received. What did he use?
He used the “jawbone of a donkey.” This shows how the Lord will provide.
A dead donkey is useless to everyone…
except the person who needs it as a weapon.
This is provision!
Samson needed a jawbone of a donkey.
The Lord saw fit that THIS donkey would be traveling that road years before. and DIE in the spot where years later…
Samson would be traveling.
You Don’t Know What The Lord Is Doing For You Behind The Scenes!
The Lord might have been doing something years ago that will show itself tomorrow.
don’t doubt the Lord.
because he is working for you!!
After killing 1000 Samson said this:
Judges 15:16
16 Then Samson said, “With a donkey’s jawbone I have made donkeys of them. With a donkey’s jawbone I have killed a thousand men.”
We all know the other name for donkeys! Samson is saying that the power of God…
When People Try To Come Against You, God Can Help You Make A “Donkey” Out Of Them!
Another one is Abraham.
He was supposed to sacrifice his son, his ONLY son.
Show the Lord who was truly #1.
The bible says that they had to climb a mountain.
They build an altar.
Abraham is going to sacrifice his son. The Lord stops him.
Genesis 22:12-14
12 “Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.” 13 Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 So Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide. And to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.”
Why Is This Place Called “The Lord Will Provide?”
Abraham don’t sacrifice you son.
but there is nothing to sacrifice on the altar.
Abraham looks up…
he SEES a ram caught in the bushes.
We can’t overlook this…because God literally provided what was needed.
Just like the donkey…
That ram had to be on its way to that bush… so WHEN the time came.
What Abraham needed…
would ALREADY be provided!
We don’t know how the Lord will meet our needs. But many times, it will be ways we don’t expect. We need to just pay attention!
{recap}
Our God keeps his promises.
What he said, he will do.
As we get ready to enter 2025…
find some promises and stand on them.
Promises Of God To Stand On:
Promises Of God To Stand On:
Remember to keep your eyes open for what the Lord can do. many years ago…
the Lord saw fit to make a sacrifice for you. that many years later…
would still be a blessing for YOU.
