God promised a barren, aging Sarah a baby boy with Abraham.  God delivered.

God promised rescue for His People from Egyptian bondage.  In miraculous acts of compassion; He chose Moses with Aaron to lead them out of slavery to freedom.

God promised His People a solid plan of escape for their oppressors, the Egyptians.  His plan to save them would work if they specifically obeyed what they were told to do.  Families were to pack up and be ready to roll or walk with their sandals on their feet, prepare unleavened bread for the trip that would travel well, roast a lamb for their last meal in Egypt, and spread the blood of the lamb over their doorposts so the angel of death would pass over their household. 

God promised He would be with them always, with each step of their journey.

God promised a new land for the millions who would need a new home.

God promised He would guide and protect them—even from themselves by providing ways to relate to Him and to each other.  His Laws given to Moses was the Covenant with His people— “I will be your God and you will be My People.”  All His promises to Abraham and the generations to follow came to pass. The people promised that only God would be their God; but they did not always fulfill their promise to love God back, not trust Him with unquestioned, willing obedience.  God kept His promises even when His people did not keep theirs.

God promised to take care of them on the way to the Promised Land.  And He did.  He fed them with manna from heaven each day.  He gave them meat to eat even when they grumbled.  He miraculously made water to drink flow from the rocks in the desert.  And he protected them from evil warring nations around them as they passed through on the way to the Promised Land.

God promised and delivered a system of worship with surrendered sacrifice to be revered, honored, and obeyed so they would remember God alone is to be worshiped—not Moses, each other or foreign manmade gods. The price of sacrifice was one of their best animals from the flock.  The price was not hard to pay.  It was based on each one’s ability to pay.  Later God’s system would be perverted by power hungry priests.

God did not need their sacrifices or offerings. But the Israelites needed to learn to give  as they stewarded all that God have given to them—knowing and believing God owns it all.  They were directed to merely give a tenth back to God and His work so they would always remember who God was, is, and always will be—God. There is no one like our God. There is no one who can take the place of God, though many have tried, including the fallen angel, Satan. God gives. Satan takes. Chose this day whom you will serve.

God promised his leaders He would show them the required ways to seek justice, love mercy, and humbly walk with Him.  And He did—His voice responded plainly through His prophets, priests who followed what He said and the kings who did what was right in the eyes of God.

From Moses to King David; God showed and demonstrated His unconditional love and care. It was the unholy disobedience of people got in the way of a holy relationship with God. 

God promised a New Plan that included the sacrifice of His One and Only Son—Jesus.  God promised His Messiah centuries earlier who would come and save all who believed from all their sins once and for all.  No more first born, without blemish animal sacrifices!  A Messiah would come in the form of an infant born of God’s Holy Spirit through two committed and fully devoted Godly humans.  Jesus who lived on earth to die for our sins, knew no sin, so therefore was the perfect sacrifice for sin.  Jesus was the ultimate promise of God to save His people from their sins forever.  A New Covenant was born in Jesus!  At the same time, Jesus fulfilled every Law of God!  Sin had to be punished with payment of a sacrifice. Jesus would carry all the sins of the world to the cross as payment in full for sin. Done.

“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. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”  John 3:16-17

God promises never fail to be fulfilled and are driven by His relentless love for all He has created.

After reading the whole story of His Word, several times, we discover that His promises are still true and always fulfilled.  God does what He says because He wants us to love Him back.  Too simple?  No, profound.  God makes it plain—mankind complicates the plan because we feel we should work for it, earn it, or pay for it. But then we would become boastful if we did!  God knew that about us.  He asks for surrender to Him who is Truth.  We must refrain from trying to explain it to suit what we think, cover it, hide it, avoid it or ignore truth altogether. Jesus is the Way to Truth of God with promised Eternal Life with Him! 

God loves each one of us He as created “in His own image”.  He died to save us, rose again to give us hope of life eternal, and desires us to sincerely and honestly love Him back with all our hearts, all our minds, and all our souls.  He wants a forever relationship with us—as He wanted and had with Adam and Eve before their fall to Satan’s temptations.  Read the story in Genesis; notice that God had a habit of walking with them in the cool of the evening—that is. until shame entered their perfect world with their own disobedience of falling for Satan’s words of self-pride.  Shame from disobedience entered in which Adam and Eve to respond with hiding from God who created all, as if He would not know.  Relationship broken.

It is God who provided The Only Way to reconcile (reconnect) with Him in a new relationship with Him—His Name is Jesus.  Jesus is alpha and omega—was with God at creation because He is part of God.  Jesus knew Adam and Eve and the one who deceived them.  So did God’s Holy Spirit.  Jesus was sent to earth to seek and to save  the lost with the right way to reconcile with God in relationship.  God demonstrated His perfect love in this; Christ died for our sins—while we were yet sinners! (Read all of Romans to get the full picture of how God’s plan of redemption paved the way to a new relationship with God!  All who believed got a do-over, a new life forever in relationship with God, the Father!  We are His and He is ours—just as He promised!  His love remains unchanged to this day and forever!  Nothing can separate us from His love either!

“I will be with you always”—God’s promise from the beginning to now.  The same God who split the Red Sea for the Israelites, won the battles over the Promised Land, healed and blessed those whose hearts were completely committed to Him then sent the promised Messiah to seek and to save all who believed and repented with a desire to love God back is the same God today who is with us, love us beyond our understanding of love with a peace that the world cannot comprehend—until they believe.

Psalm 119:145-152, The Message

ק Qoph S is for Salvation

I call out at the top of my lungs,
    “God! Answer! I’ll do whatever you say.”
I called to you, “Save me
    so I can carry out all your instructions.”
I was up before sunrise,
    crying for help, hoping for a word from you.
I stayed awake all night,
    prayerfully pondering your promise.
In your love, listen to me;
    in your justice, God, keep me alive.
As those out to get me come closer and closer,
    they go farther and farther from the truth you reveal;
But you’re the closest of all to me, God,
    and all your judgments true.
I’ve known all along from the evidence of your words
    that you meant them to last forever.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

God always keeps His promises.  I’m standing on the promised of God!

The Psalmist knew God would listen because of His consistent promises kept to His people. God is the one He cries out to in this next passage, expecting Him to answer with Truth. 

Is God who you cry out to first, expecting God to act on your behalf, with Truth? 

Lord,

Thank you for wanting a relationship of sincere, reciprocal love with all of us in the world.  I believe in your promises and plans.  I believe in You.  I surrender to Your will.  Even if you did not rise again with the promise of eternal life, I would still believe because of who you are and because what you do is always best for us!  Why believe or follow anyone else but you, Lord? There is no one like you!  You are all we need! However, your power filled resurrection from death to life in victory, scars and all, solidifies my faith and builds my hope in an intimate, growing, loving relationship with you forever.  Wow. I do love you back with all my heart, mind, and soul.

To you be the glory, honor, and praise forever and ever, Amen

In Jesus Name, Lead me. Teach me to love like you love us.