Wednesday, April 18, 2018

Promises from Heaven


Have you ever made a promise? Promises should not be taken lightly. Big or small, a promise is a promise. Whenever I promise to my sisters, we “sister promise” and lock pinkies. Sister promises are never, EVER to be broken!

In my Thesaurus, it says a promise is a person’s solemn declaration that he or she will do or not do something. Other words for a promise is oath, pledge, troth, vow, word, appointment, arrangement, commitment, engagement, agreement, exc. Whenever I promise, I try my hardest to keep it, and feel trusted when I do. 

Lets talk about three different kinds of promises. (1) I will never promise, 
(2) I will always promise, and (3) I promise the truth promise. 

The Bible is packed full of God’s promises to His children. I chose four promises in bible to write about. At first glance, I probably would not have thought that some of them were promises, but there are. 

The first is in Genesis 9:12-16. 
“And God said: “This is the sign of the covenant which I make between Me and you, and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations:
I set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth.
It shall be, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the rainbow shall be seen in the cloud;
and I will remember My covenant which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh.
The rainbow shall be in the cloud, and I will look on it to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.”

God gave us the rainbow as a sign. Kind of like the locked pinkies for a sister promise. God promised Noah and his family that He will NEVERagain destroy all flesh with a flood. This is a example of the first, I will never promise.

Skipping over to the next book in the bible, Exodus 13:21-22, we read in this story about a promise that is declared in a different way.

        “And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so as to go by day and night.
He did not take away the pillar of cloud by day or the pillar of fire by night from before the people.”

Using a pillar of cloud and a pillar of fire, God leads Moses and the children of Israel on there journey. Day and night, He is promising to to be with them and show them the way. Today, God promises us in the same way, maybe not a literal, but the promise is the same. To lead us and guide us both day and night. He is promising to ALWAYS be with us! This is a I will always promise. 

1 Kings 18:26-38 tells a remarkable story proving that God is real.

“And it came to pass, at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near and said, “LORD God of Abram,  Issac, and Israel, let it be known this day that You are God in Israel and I am Your servant, and that I have done all these things at Your word.
Hear me, O LORD, hear me, that this people may know that You are the LORD God, and that You have turned their hearts back to you again.
Then the fire of the LORD fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood and the stones and the dust, and it licked up the water that was in the trench.”

Wow! God sent His fire for Elijah as proof that He is the LORD God of the entire universe! What a powerful God we serve! So, where is the promise in this story? Well, God is promising everyone there that day, and to everyone who reads this story in the bible, that He is powerful and almighty. He is the one TRUE God. Making this the I promise the truth promise.

The last promise from the bible I will write about is in Matthew 2:9-10.

“When they heard the king, they departed; and behold, the star which they had seen from the East went before them, till it came and stood over where the young Child was.
When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.” 

This promise is a mixture of all three promise types. It is similar to the first rainbow promise in that it has a sign of the covenant, the star. It is also similar to the second pillar of cloud and fire promise because the wisemen followed the star like the children of Israel followed the pillar of cloud and pillar of fire. Last but not least, it is similar to Elijah’s offering promise because it is a I promise the truth promise. You might think that it doesn't sound like that type of promise, but this is they way I see it. God is promising the wiseman that by following the star, they will find baby Jesus, the TRUE King. The One that would die for our sins so that we can have everlasting life with Him. That is TRUE love!

As we study these four promises in the Bible, do you notice a pattern?

Yes, all of the promises came from the sky, the heavens. The rainbow in the sky, the pillars in the sky, the fire from the sky, and the star in the sky. Each one is a promise that God keeps and will never break. 

You might be thinking to yourself that this was in the olden days, things like cloud pillars and fire coming down from heaven just don't happen nowadays. Or you might be thinking that nothing big or magnificent ever happens in the sky that shows us a promise from God.

But promises from heaven still do happen today! Everyday there is something magnificent in the sky! It’s called a sunrise and sunset. Blue, orange, yellow, red, purple, and pink colors light up the sky. Fluffy clouds of all shapes and sizes add to it’s beauty. It IS magnificent! It IS a promise! 

Sunrises are a promise because each morning, when the sun comes up, God is promising to be with us today, and he is reminding us that he sent His only Sun to save sinners like you and I. God made the sun to give us sunlight each day just like Jesus gives us light spirituality. Jesus is the light of the world!

And sunsets are a promise because every night, when the sun goes down, God is promising that the Sun will come again quickly and He will take us to heaven to live forever with our Heavenly Father.

So, next time you see a sunrise or sunset, don’t just think of it as a start or finish of a long day. Think of it as your magnificent promise from heaven!

2 Peter 1:4  
“… by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises…”

Revelation 22:12-13
“And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward [is] with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.
I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.”

Have you ever witnessed a beautiful sunrise and sunset? How about a rainbow? What's one of your favorite promises in the Bible? I'd love to here what you thought of Promises from Heaven!

13 comments:

  1. This was beautiful!! I really touched me!!! God's nature is a way He gives me such peace!! YOu can see His glory and magnificence in the things He's created!! Beautiful!!

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  2. Thanks, Beth! I'm glad you liked reading through these promises in the Bible. I love to be out in nature! Like you said, it is peaceful. On our property, we have a great view to watch the sun set. They really are amazing! Thank you for commenting;-)!!!

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  3. The ending was really powerful! While I do really enjoy sunrises and sunsets, and they always remind me of God, I've never thought of them as a promise. So, thank you! God is really using you to speak encouragement! :) And yes, the last beautiful sunrise I saw was this morning - it was spectacular. xx

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  4. I'm so glad these words God has given me to write are able to be an encouragement! Yes, sunrises are spectacular! Especially the sunrise pictures you posted on your blog:-)! Thanks for reading, Jessica!

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  5. Great post, Brooklyne!! God’s promises to us are beautiful and He always keeps them. He is faithful.
    One Sunday morning I was getting ready for church when my mom got my attention and told me to come over and look at the sunrise. I walked out the front door to see a gorgeous display of colors that God painted onto the sky. Rainbows are beautiful too. God puts so much thought and detail into His beautiful creations and it’s so astounding.
    Thanks for sharing this! :)

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  6. Thanks, Sarah! Yes, God's Word is always good and never failing.
    Beautiful sunrises and sunsets just goes to show us how not by accident nature is. There was definitely a Creator who created such perfect and astonishing masterpieces!
    Thanks for commenting! :-)

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  7. I love this post! God never breaks His word, His promises. It's something we can use to encourage us, in hard times, in prayer, in faith, in love.

    I love watching sunsets, and looking for rainbows. Not only has God made us a world that has everything we need, He also made it beautiful!

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  8. Thank you! Yes, I agree. We can always count on God's promises to be true. God is so good to us! I'm so glad He gives us not only beautiful sunrises and sunsets, but also beautiful promises.
    Thanks for stopping by!

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  9. So true buatieful post! Naomi from the blog Living For Jesus Christ.

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  10. Naomi, thanks for taking the time to read my post and follow Showers of Blessings.

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  11. You've really studied this out which is great. I hadn't thought of all those connections before. It also reminded me of the verse in Lamentations (3:23) that says God's mercies are new every morning.

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  12. Thanks, Rachel! I really like that verse! God is so good to show us mercy everyday. That verse is actually a promise too! It is a I will always promise. Each and every morning, Gods mercies are new every day. That is a promise. Forever and always!
    I guess this is like my poem Always. :-)
    Thanks for commenting!

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