HOLDING GOD BY HIS WORD

One of the ways young children communicate with their parents and other adults before they can talk properly is by using their hands. A child can hold you by the hand and get you to do what he or she wants. For instance, my two year old daughter when she wants to drink water takes me by the hand to the water dispenser. When she wants a toy, she takes me to the cupboard where her toys are kept and points to the toy she wants.

We as God’s children can’t see God’s hand physically to get Him to do what we want, but just like a little child can hold the parent by the hand to get the parent to do something for him or her, we can hold God by His Word and get Him our dear Father in Heaven to act on our behalf or intervene in a situation (Hebrews 4:12).

THE CONNECTION BETWEEN THE PROMISES OF GOD, THE WORD OF GOD AND THE HAND OF GOD

There is a very strong connection between the promises of God, the Word of God and the hand of God.

All the promises of God are contained in the Word of God. It is the Word of God that reveals what God has promised us; what God wants to give us, what God wants to do for us. The Word is a written promise to us from God. In His Word, God has put down several promises in writing. He has put it in writing a promise to protect us, deliver us when we are in trouble, help us when we call on Him, provide for us, empower us, fill us with the Holy Spirit, give us peace and so many other wonderful promises. Without the Word of God, you can’t know the promises of God (Romans 1:2). There are great things God wants to do in our lives, great and precious things God has promised us which are all contained in the Word of God ( 2 Peter 1:3-4).

One of the requirements of a legally binding document is that it has to be put in writing and signed by the parties concerned. God has put His promises to us in writing in His Word. He also signed it by a blood sealed covenant; the blood of His Son Jesus Christ (Hebrews 6:16-20).

A promise of God is fulfilled, when the hand of God moves.  Whenever the hand of God is moving, promises of God are being fulfilled, they are being brought into manifestation. Psalm 89:13 tells us that the hand of God is very strong and endued with power. When that strong hand of God moves, it is to do what He has promised in His Word. For example, God has promised to guide us, it is with His hand that He guides and leads us (Psalm 139:10, Psalm 23:2). He has promised to protect us, it is with His hand that He shields and protects us (Psalm 138:7). There are so many other Bible passages like this where you see God using His hand to fulfill a promise He has given. My prayer is that the strong and mighty hand of God will rest upon you and move in your life and situation to bring about the fulfillment and manifestation of the promises of God.

HAVE CONFIDENCE IN THE WORD OF GOD

God wants us to have so much confidence in His Word. If one of the well known multi-millionaires should promise you that He will give you a job next week Monday or He will give you $10,000, you won’t be so troubled and doubt His ability to fulfill this promise because you know He has the resources and abilities at his disposable to fulfill this promise. So in your mind you have this confidence that come next week, you would have a job or have $10,000.

Hebrews 4:16 talks about approaching God with confidence. It is what God has promised us in His Word that gives us the boldness and confidence to approach Him and ask Him for certain things. Whatever God has promised us in His Word, we can be convinced and assured He will do what He has promised because:

1.God places a very high value on His Word – Psalm 138:2. For God not to do what is in His Word means that He is a liar; He doesn’t have integrity. But that isn’t true of God. He never lies (Numbers 23:19). He doesn’t joke with His Word. He doesn’t give flimsy excuses for not doing what He promised like we often do. To go against His word is to put His name at stake.
2.His Word does not fail – Isaiah 55:10-11. It always accomplishes what it is sent to do. It always results in divine promises being fulfilled.

We should have so much confidence in God’s Word. It is not a cleverly invented story or something that originated from a man’s thoughts and ideas (2 Peter 1:16-21). It is the WORD of God and it WORKS!

PEOPLE ARE HOLDING ON TO OTHER THINGS NOT THE WORD OF GOD

As reliable as God’s Word is many Christians today are seriously holding on to so many other things not the Word of God to see the promises of God fulfilled in their lives. Things like:

Personal Testimonies of other people – testimonies are good and God’s Word encourages us to give testimonies but you need to understand that God is not bound by someone else’s testimony to act in your life. For example, someone comes out and shares a testimony of how after graduating from University, he didn’t get a job for eight years despite all attempts to and now God just miraculously blessed him with a job in a leading oil company and he is to resume in their US Branch next week. You can’t go to God and say God do my own for me, give me a job in US like you did for that brother. God’s purpose for testimonies are to bring glory and honour to Him, to encourage the hearers, and to strengthen our faith in Him that He is truly a Living God and when we call on Him, He intervenes. A personal testimony is not a promise from God. You can’t hold Him by someone’s testimony and expect Him to do what He did for that person, exactly the way He did for that person because His plan for that person’s life is different from His plan for you. Besides, you may just be shortchanging yourself desiring someone else’s testimony, when God has a much better and bigger testimony for you.

Dreams – God speaks through dreams but you can’t hold God to a dream you had. A dream is not a promise from God. If you are a single lady and you had a dream last night and in that dream you saw yourself in a wedding gown in Hawaii, that dream does not necessarily mean that God has made a promise to you that you will marry in Hawaii. God isn’t bound by dreams because there are so many things that influence our dreams. Ecclesiastes 5:3 makes us understand that cares and worries in our heart can influence our dreams. Your own personal desires can influence what you dream about when you are asleep, even the devil can manipulate your dream life. Not every dream is from God. That’s why 1 John 4:1 says we should test every spirit. The instances in the Bible were the dreams of a person came to pass, they took place as a fulfillment of a divine plan or as a fulfillment of scripture; what God had earlier promised. The dreams of Joseph at the birth of our Lord Jesus didn’t just happen in a vacuum, they were working in connection with scripture; with what God had earlier promised in His Word (Matthew 1:20 -22, Matthew 2:13-14).

Acts of Righteousness or Good Works– A lot of people are also holding on to ‘acts of righteousness’ they have done. They believe that because they have a report sheet full of good works they have done, God is bound to fulfill His promise in their lives. They believe that their good works qualify them for the promises of God. And so are praying like the Pharisee in Luke 18:9- 14. But all are good works and righteous acts are like filthy rags before God (Isaiah 64:6). It is the mercy and grace of God that locates you and makes God fulfill His promise in your life not necessarily your good works or acts of righteousness (Romans 4:1-3, Romans 4:16).

When it comes to the issue of God fulfilling His promises, His Word is above and has more weight and effect than personal testimonies, dreams, good works and acts of righteousness (Psalm 138:2).

A SERIOUS NEGLECT OF GOD’S WORD TODAY

The Bible talks about a word in due season or a timely word (Proverbs 15:23). This means that for every season of our life, God has a timely word for us that we can hold on to, run with, and it will strengthen and encourage us for that season and bring about the fulfillment of what God has said; what God has promised.

But the question is how many of us really have time to receive that timely Word from God? We are we so busy with so many activities, even religious activities that we don’t have time for the Word.

It is in the place of meditating on God’s Word that you receive a revelation; a timely word from God. It is in the place of meditating on the Word of God that the promises of God come alive in your heart; they are engrafted in your heart such that no matter what is happening, you are still holding on to the promise God has given you, you are daily being strengthened and encouraged by this promise.

There’s a serious neglect of God’s Word today in the body of Christ. Pastors, ministers, church workers and members don’t really have time for God’s Word again. The result is:

1.The opposite of Psalm 62:5-6 is happening in our lives – Psalm 62:5-6 talks about us having peace and rest, not being shaken by situations and circumstances because God is our ROCK. But today problems come and we are shaken, fretting, afraid, worried, anxious, troubled in our hearts and spirits, and have lost our peace.
2.We’ve lost our spiritual authority. The Word empowers us with spiritual authority because it has so much power and authority in it (Hebrews 4:12). But we are losing this authority and being oppressed and tormented by all sorts of evil powers and forces because we are no longer filled with the Word of God.
3.Like Sarah and Saul we are seeking other alternatives to the fulfillment of God’s promise. God promised Abraham and Sarah a child, but Sarah tried to get this promise through some other way, through her servant Hagar (Genesis 16:1-2). God promised divine guidance, but Saul sought guidance from a witch (1 Samuel 28:4-8). It’s a big tragedy that today we have so many Christians going to spiritual houses, occultic powers and all sorts of strange places and people to receive what God has promised?

THE WORD WORKS, SO KEEP HOLDING ON TO IT

It’s not easy to wait on God; to wait for the fulfillment of God’s promise but it pays to do so. God’s word is real, God’s Word works. God is calling us to go back to His Word. He is watching to see His word performed (Jeremiah 1:12).

OBEDIENCE IS KEY

As we desire to see the promises of God manifest in our lives, we must walk in obedience. Most of God’s promises are conditional. There is a part for us to play, there is also a part for God to play. God doesn’t have a problem keeping to His own part of the promise. The problem is usually with us. We don’t really obey God but we want God to fulfill the promise attached to that condition, we want God to break His Word.

THE WORD GIVES US VICTORY OVER BATTLES BEING WAGED AGAINST THE MANIFESTATION OF GOD’S PROMISES

The devil doesn’t want to see the promises of God fulfilled in our lives and He fights us tooth and nail through ‘spiritual courts’. In the Word of God the devil is called the accuser of the brethren; someone that lays charges and accusations against the children of God day and night (Revelation 12:10). Jesus is referred to as our advocate; the One that defends us (1 John 2:1). God is referred to as a judge (Psalm 75:7). And in Isaiah 43:26, we are told that we can use the Word to argue a case. It is not for nothing that God uses these legal terms. The devil brings several charges and accusations against us to argue that we don’t deserve to be given a promise of God.  It is the Word you need to use to argue your case and be discharged from all evil accusations being laid against you. Or maybe your case keeps being ‘adjourned’ in a ‘spiritual court’. Every time the case or matter of your marriage, promotion, healing, or deliverance comes up, the enemy tries to get your case ‘adjourned’; that is put on hold or postponed to another date, and this has been going on for months even years. You can boldly and confidently use the Word to stand against every evil ‘adjournment’ of your case. You can use the scripture that says now is the time of salvation; now is the time of God’s favour to argue your case (2 Corinthians 6:2). You can stand on the authority you have in God’s Word and declare and decree that your case will not be ‘adjourned’. God will intervene in your matter today; there will be no more delays, no more ‘adjournments’. What God has promised will come to pass and it will come to pass this season because this is your set time for God’s favour.

The Word is real, the Word works. Believe it, hold on to it, obey it, apply it, run with it, and you will surely see the manifestation of God’s great and precious promises in your life.

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