On my thumbnail picture, I have the title “The Joy of the Promise.” Recently, I was reading in Genesis. Let’s bring it up, actually. Genesis 12:1-3 and it says, “Now the Lord had said to Abram, ‘Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you, all the families of the Earth shall be blessed.'”
Now, something I like about Abraham is that he stood on the promises of God. And it’s not only Abraham that God promises; it’s for people who believe in Him and have faith in Him. Now, when I read this, this to me seems quite big. Get out of your country, from your family. A lot of people will struggle to do that, and I certainly would. My wife is from Greece, and sometimes we talk about moving to Greece, and you know, it’s quite big. But it’s good to have a word from God first and to make sure we spend time in prayer and to hear what He has to say. We don’t want to make mistakes.
But further on, in Genesis 21, it’s about Isaac being born, and it says, “And the Lord visited Sarah as He had said, and the Lord did for Sarah as He had spoken. For Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him. And Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore to him, Isaac. Then Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him. That Abraham was 100 years old when his son Isaac was born to him. And Sarah said, ‘God has made me laugh, and all who hear will laugh with me.’ She also said, ‘Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? For I have borne him a son in his old age.'”
And we look at this, and hence why I entitled my message “The Joy of the Promise.” And it got, God spoke to Abraham, and he was obedient to what He said and he did things in the right order. He says here, “And the Lord visited Sarah as He had said, and said, ‘And the Lord did for Sarah as He had spoken.'” So the Lord did what He’s going to do, which is great. And that then it says, “Then Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him.” So it just shows the importance of listening to God and staying joyful when things aren’t happening.
I’ve been married for almost six years, but I was single before then. And so was my wife. And sometimes you think, “Is it going to happen?” But the most important thing is that you remain joyful. We don’t want to rely on someone else’s joy to make us happy. We need to have the joy of the Lord and to stand on the promises of God. And sometimes we have to wait a long time, just as Abraham and Sarah did, and they were very old when they had Isaac. So just remember to stay joyful when we’re going through trials. I know that’s easier said than done, but remember the promises of God.
And here, if we look in Hebrews, just a few reminders from Scripture. So Abraham’s attitude was to please God even when he didn’t understand. And here we see in Hebrews 11:6, “But without faith, it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” So when we really seek Him, I don’t know sometimes because we just get in the way, but it just shows here in the Scripture the importance of diligently seeking Him and having faith because without faith, it’s impossible to please God. And we need to look at Abraham and like what it says in Romans 4, how Abraham saw it all. It was even though it hadn’t happened, that is faith. He could see; he believed it even though it hadn’t happened. And that’s how we need to be for things.
And then, if we go over to 1 Peter 1:4, it says, “By which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.” So more powerful words then, and stand on those precious promises, and we’ll be thankful that we’ve escaped the corruption of the world. And powerful words. And then finally, Isaiah 40:31, “But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.”
Always remember a pastor or Bible teacher saying about the happiest people on the Earth, Christians filled with the Holy Spirit. And I’ve never forgotten that, and I often think of that. When we’re filled with the Holy Spirit and we wait on the Lord, we will renew our strength, and we will mount up like eagles, and we will run and not become weary, and we will walk and not become faint. What a difference it makes when we know we’re not on our own, when God is for us. He’s not against us, and we can stand on the joy of the promise.
Never give up in waiting for something. Just stand on the promises of God. Seek Him, seek Him first, seek first the kingdom of God, and just enjoy, enjoy, enjoy the time. Enjoy the wait sometimes. As I said, I was single for many years, but then I got married, and it happened. And sometimes, as I said, it’s easy to think it won’t happen, but we need to have the joy of the Lord and the joy of the promise, knowing that God can do all things. All things are possible for those who believe.
So, have you got any questions on this or you would like to leave a comment, please feel free to. I’m here to help. And if you’re not a Christian, I’ve got a prayer up here. And I said this prayer 25 plus years ago. And basically, when you say yes to Jesus, the Spirit of God comes to live within. If you’d like to say this prayer after me, which goes, “Dear Lord Jesus, I acknowledge You as Lord and Savior of my life. I repent of all my sins, and I ask You today to take over complete control of every aspect of my life. Amen.” And if you said that prayer and you genuinely meant it, the Spirit of God will come in, give you eternal life, and give you much more.
And I can say my journey has been wonderful. And it’s wonderful to have that gift of eternal life and much more. So thanks very much for watching. And once again, if you’ve got any questions, please feel free to leave them in the comments. Thanks for watching.