Promises

"Therefore it is of faith; . . . to the end the promise might be sure." Romans 4:16

The great devotional teacher of the past century, Dr. Andrew Murray, said, "When you get a promise from God it is worth just as much as fulfillment. A promise brings you into direct contact with God. Honor Him by trusting the promise and obeying Him." Worth just as much as fulfillment. Do we grasp that truth often? Are we not frequently in the state of trying to believe, instead of realizing that these promises bring us into contact with God? "God's promise is as good as His presence." To believe and accept the promise of God is not to engage in some mental gymnastics where we reach down into our imaginations and begin a process of auto-suggestion, or produce a notional faith in which we argue with ourselves in an endeavor to believe God. It is absolute confidence in and reliance upon God through His Word.

By a naked faith in a naked promise I do not mean a bare assent that God is faithful, and that such a promise in the Book of God is faithful, and that such as promise in the Book of God may be fulfilled in me, but a bold, hearty, steady venturing of my soul, body and spirit upon the truth of the promise with an appropriating act. - Fletcher

"The faith that will shut the mouths of lions must be more than a pious hope that they will note bite."

By Mrs. Charles E. Cowman taken from "Springs in the Valley"