“Our failures lie in want of faith, not in excess of faith. It would be hard to believe God too much: it is dreadfully common to believe Him too little.” C.H.Spurgeon
We must OPEN THE DOOR and enter into His promises. We have received many promises from God. These promises are ours because of the wonderful covenant between God the Father and God the Son. God and the Son agreed to provide a way for redemption for fallen man and when we place our trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, we enter into this covenant and can then lay hold upon the promises of God.
Speaking the Truth in Love
by Pastor Tommy Hill
If all these promises are available to me, why do I find myself going through trials, temptations and difficult circumstances? While the promises are available, we must open the door and claim what God has provided. One of the great roadblocks to receiving the promises of God is our failure to be obedient to Him. Jesus said, “If ye love me keep my commandments.” Here are a few times we may find ourselves unable to receive our promises from God.
WHEN FACING OUR FOES: The nation of Israel stood at the Red Sea murmuring because the Egyptian army was behind them. They had quickly forgotten all that God had done. How quickly we forget what God has done when we are facing a foe intent on harming us. Israel stopped trusting in God because what they could see claimed their attention instead of Who they were to trust. They stopped believing that God was going to give them the land of promise. They had closed the door.
WHEN FACING OUR FEARS: Israel once again finds themselves standing in front of a closed door. Their heart was closed to God’s ability and power to defeat the enemies in Canaan. Once again, they were forgetting all that God had done. When we fail to remember to worship Him for what He has done, we find it difficult to believe that God is going to do anything else for us. We can only see the giants in the midst of our problems and we become blinded to the God who is our answer.
They were facing the giants of uncertainty, confusion, and of trusting in God to fulfill His promise. It is true there were physical giants in the land of Canaan but Israel’s greatest giant was unbelief in their hearts. Their unbelief in the promises of God resulted in 40 years of wandering around in the wilderness close to the land of promise but unable to dwell in that land. May we not live in unbelief and wander around in a spiritual wilderness when we can enjoy the promises of God by trusting in Him and being obedient to His commands. When weakened faith assaults us, let us “look unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith” and place our trust in Him. He will give us all that He has promised.
WHEN FACING OUR FAILURES: God granted a great first victory in the battle at Jericho. Joshua and the nation of Israel had followed God’s commands regarding how they were to go forward. Every promise God gave was fulfilled, as they were obedient. But sometimes we find that we forget to give the glory to God in our successes and we continue towards our next goal with over confidence in our abilities while closing the door to God’s ability and power and losing sight and possession of His promises. When Joshua sent a small army to AI, they were soundly defeated because they went in their own strength. Joshua, as the leader of Israel, crumbled under the pressure of his failure. He spoke to God and said, Joshua 7:7, “And Joshua said, Alas, O Lord GOD, wherefore hast thou at all brought this people over Jordan, to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us? would to God we had been content, and dwelt on the other side Jordan!” What a difference in the outcome when we rely on self and forget what God can do. This great self-reliance came after the very first victory. The sin referenced in this story was committed during the first promised victory. How quickly we forget and close the door to God’s promises.
Christians today are not exempt from these same sins of self-trust. Sin will prevent us from receiving the promise of God. When we find ourselves in failure, because of sin, we must remember all we need to do is OPEN THE DOOR (ask for forgiveness) to the promises of God.
Pastor Tommy Hill is the pastor of First Free Will Baptist Church in Hamlet. He is a Richmond County native. He can be reached at firstfwbchurchhamlet@gmail.com
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