"For all of the promises of God are yes and amen." 2 Corinthians 1:20
Friends, do you know the promises God has for you? Are they written on your heart?
I want to tell you a story about a time I went on a mission trip to the Dominican Republic and visited an orphanage. This orphanage was very poor and there were 80 kids there and 3 "mothers" you could say of the orphanage who were teachers and caregivers for the kids. Well when we came to the orphanage, we watched the children do a small gymnastics show that they had learned and at the end of the show one of the teachers asked the kids if they would sing a song to us. Well it wasn't a secular orphanage, it was actually an orphanage ran by the state, and many of the kids would only be there about six months to 2 years. But when the kids began to sing to us by classes, they began to sing songs that were Bible verses. The Bible verse songs were actually Bible promises that the children had memorized according to their grade.
The children knew the Bible verse songs in both English and Spanish and sang them very well, they had clearly practiced many times, and knew them by heart. And afterwards, one of the teachers told us, that many of the kids didn't learn about Jesus in their home. That many of the kids would not have easy lives and would often not have enough food to eat or a safe place to live. That some of the kids may not ever feel very loved by their moms and dads. And that some of the kids may feel angry at God or unreceptive to learn about how Jesus had came to die on their cross for their sins. But that each one of these kids, would remember these Bible verse songs. That because of these songs, these kids would have the Words of God in their heart. And when they get to a hard place in life, the teacher prayed that these words of God would come to their memory.
I love this story because of the intentionality of the teacher to teach her kids the promises of God and the hope that the children would remember the promises when they get to hard places in their lives.
Friends, we will all go through challenging things. There are times when we will feel discouraged and we will be tested. How should we prepare for these difficult times and even the end times? We have to write the promises of God on our hearts and minds.
Psalms 1:1:2 Blessed is the man... whose delight is in the law of the Lord and on his law he meditates day and night.
There are so many promises that God makes to man. Starting in Genesis, we see God making promises with Noah, Abraham, Moses. Noah for example, God promises Him that he would no longer flood or destroy the earth. Abraham, God promises him would bear a son from Sarah even though Sarah was past child-birthing age. Moses, God promised that He would help his people to get to the promised land where they would no longer be slaves. And each one of these promises was fulfilled by God because each of the promises He gives us are true, we can count on them.
Just like these promises, God writes us promises in His Word that we can claim as truth. There are promises for us today- to help us draw nearer to God or to help us overcome the evil one. God even has specific promises for our future and our finances.
Something I'm trying to work on, is writing down God's promises. Writing Bible verses on cards, on the walls, on my phone, making pictures of scriptures or songs. All of these things can help me learn God's promises and write them on my heart.
And when you are feeling discouraged, when Satan is tempting you, recite God's promises. Read Bible verses out loud, thank God for His goodness. God's promises can help us be overcomers and find more joy through all of life's battles. So I pray that we would know God's word, that we would write it on our hearts and minds, and that it would change our lives.