I Didn’t Promise You A Rose Garden

Who remembers this song?

Life is not fair and it life is not easy but life is good. God gave to each of us life, love, mercy and forgiveness. For too long we have lived with a myth, that once you receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior life will get easier. It is a better life but He tells us that the world will hate us. We are not hated because of ourselves but because Jesus is in us.

John 15:18-27 (NKJV) The World’s Hatred

¹⁸ “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you.¹⁹ If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. ²⁰ Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also. ²¹ But all these things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know Him who sent Me. ²² If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have no sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. ²³ He who hates Me hates My Father also. ²⁴ If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would have no sin; but now they have seen and also hated both Me and My Father. ²⁵ But this happened that the word might be fulfilled which is written in their law, ‘They hated Me without a cause.’^[a]

The Coming Rejection

²⁶ “But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me. ²⁷ And you also will bear witness, because you have been with Me from the beginning.

Footnotes:

1. John 15:25 Psalm 69:4

New King James Version (NKJV) Jesus did not promise us a rose garden but He did go to prepare a place for us, and He did promise to come back for us.

Here are some promises God has made to us

Deuteronomy 31:6 “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”

Romans 8: 38-39 “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

Isaiah 41:10 “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”

There are so many more promises God has given to us. He is faithful and true.

Giving Thanks December 29, 2016 – Thankful for God’s Promises

When God speaks you can believe in what He says. For Jesus is the Truth, the Life, and The Way. Jesus is also the Word made flesh. God spoke the world into being and formed man out of the dust of the earth and breathed life into him. Unlike the people who come and go in our lives, God is alway there. When He makes a promise He keeps it. You can trust Him.

Joshua 23:14  “Now behold, today I am going the way of all the earth, and you know in all your hearts and in all your souls that not one word of all the good words which the LORD your God spoke concerning you has failed; all have been fulfilled for you, not one of them has failed.

1 John 2:25  This is the promise which He Himself made to us: eternal life.

Luke 18:27  But He said, “The things that are impossible with people are possible with God.”

Isaiah 26:3  “The steadfast of mind You will keep in perfect peace, Because he trusts in You.

Jeremiah 30:17  ‘For I will restore you to health And I will heal you of your wounds,’ declares the LORD, ‘Because they have called you an outcast, saying: “It is Zion; no one cares for her.”‘

Psalm 91:4-6  He will cover you with His pinions, And under His wings you may seek refuge; His faithfulness is a shield and bulwark. You will not be afraid of the terror by night, Or of the arrow that flies by day; Of the pestilence that stalks in darkness, Or of the destruction that lays waste at noon.

John 5:28-29  “Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment.

John 14:2-3  “In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. “If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.

Revelation 21:4  and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.”

I have been hurt, betrayed, rejected, abused, and abandoned but none of this matters in comparison to what God has done for me through His Son and my Savior Jesus. AS many times as people in my life have broken my trust, He is the One whom I can trust in all things. His promises He will keep and I am thankful for His promises.

Definition of promise

promised / promising

1. transitive verb

2. 1:  to pledge to do, bring about, or provide <promise aid>

3. 2 archaic :  warrant, assure

4. 3 chiefly dialect :  betroth

5. 4:  to suggest beforehand :  give promise of <dark clouds promise rain>

6. intransitive verb

7. 1:  to make a promise

8. 2:  to give ground for expectation :  be imminent

promise Synonyms –  covenant, pledge, swear, vow, give one’s word

Related Words –  affiance, betroth, plight, troth; accede,agree, assent, consent; contract, engage,ensure, guarantee, undertake; affirm,assert, aver, avouch, avow, declare, insist,warrant

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/promise

 

Question

1. What provision has God made for you that you are thankful for?
2. Did you trust God for this provision?
3. Have you share with anyone what God has done for you?

 

Vows and Promises (keeping your word) Deuteronomy 23:21-23

We need to take care what we speak. Especially when we make a vow. When promising anything to God or in His name we have made a covenant which we should take care to never break. In society today people enter into marriage making vows they do not expect to keep. They even sign Prenuptial Agreements before saying there ‘I do’s’ meaning that they are really saying I don’t. What they are really saying is, ‘I promise to be with you as long as I feel like you are doing what I want you to do, but the second you make one mistake I am out of here.’  People are known not to keep their word. They may think they mean what they say at the time they say they will do something, but the moment an excuse comes they use that excuse to get out of what they said. Justifying to themselves a reason to break their word, without feeling accountable for breaking their promise. Unfortunately people tend to do the same thing with their relationship with Jesus. They make a commitment to Him and then break it when things get too hard. Then we say I believe in God, but then we do not obey His word. (James 2:19 You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder! / Mark 1:23-24 While Jesus was in the synagogue, a man was there that had an evil spirit {from the devil} inside him. The man shouted, “Jesus of Nazareth! What do you want with us? Did you come to destroy us? I know who you are—God’s Holy One!” (ERV)) Our word becomes empty without worth when we can not be trusted to keep our word.

Deuteronomy 23:21-23  “When you make a vow to the LORD your God, you shall not delay to pay it, for it would be sin in you, and the LORD your God will surely require it of you. “However, if you refrain from vowing, it would not be sin in you. “You shall be careful to perform what goes out from your lips, just as you have voluntarily vowed to the LORD your God, what you have promised.

Thankfully God is not like man. When God makes a promise He keeps it! You can trust God will do what He says He will do.

Numbers 23:19 God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill? 

God is faithful and His word is truth. People will fail you. They will lie to you. They will walk out on you. This list goes on, but trust in God and he will never leave or forsake you. He is always with you if you let Him in to your heart and to your life. That is why marriage is so important to Him. He calls the church His Bride. We are His church not a building, but you and me became His Bride the moment we confessed Jesus as our Savior and repented of our sins. He is the faithful husband. Unfortunately even when we accept Jesus into our lives we become unfaithful like Hosea’s wife Gomer. We look at the world and get distracted. Then once we are distracted we get off course and walk away from the One who is faithful to the one who deceives. Thankfully God is faithful and forgiving. He shows us mercy and love no matter how many times we break His heart. (‘For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.’ John 3:16)

So be careful about making promises or vows. This is not only for marriage vows, but if you say you are going to do something do it. Don’t make excuses when you don’t, but be accountable when you do break your word. Maybe if we dealt more with the consequence of our broken word, we would be less likely to make promises we don’t intend to keep.