Promise 41 Gen. 17:8

Gen. 17:8 - "I will give to you and to your descendants after you, the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God." There is a purpose in that emphasis. The land of Canaan does not belong to the Canaanites or to anyone else, the land belongs to God. When God says that He will be the God of the Israelites, He is saying, "You have no reason to worry because the land is not theirs (Canaanites) to choose what to do with, it is not in their power to have a say in this, the land belongs to Me." All of what we have belongs to Him. We have no need to fret about holding onto or losing possessions or land, because it all belongs to Him. Because we belong to Him too, it is not our say what happens to us, because we belong to Him. By belonging, I'm not saying we should live in helplessness at the mercy of an angry God. Not at all, belonging to God means, we belong to His family, we are under His care, He takes responsibility for our wellbeing. He doesn't exercise His right to us for His own gain, He sovereignly exercises His right to us for ours; so that we may gain the Father's love. He is our God, hold on loosely to what you believe is yours and tightly to the One who you KNOW is yours.

Promise 40 Gen. 17:7

Gen. 17:7 - "I will establish my covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your descendants after you." Abraham didn't ask for or seek for this covenant with God. God, on His own accord reached out to Abraham. The Almighty God, Himself chose to attach Himself to Abraham and his descendants. Often times people think God shows up only if we beg or plead for Him to, that's not the case at all. God chose us, so that He may dwell in us, through Jesus. He chose us so that He can be our God, so that He can watch over us and provide for us. He chose us! PTL!

Promise 39 Gen. 17:1-2

Gen. 17:1-2 - "Now when Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to Him, 'I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless. I will establish My covenant between Me and you, and I will multiply you exceedingly'." When God appeared to Abram, He made Himself clear as to Who He is. The first thing He wanted Abram to hear was, "I am God Almighty" He wanted Abram to know that there is nothing that is impossible for Him to do, before He declared that the impossible will be done. But it wasn't Him that said this thing would be impossible, it was Abram that said (or at least eluded to the fact) that Sarah's giving birth at 90 years old would be impossible. The great promise and truth here is that, even before we utter the words, or even think them, "this is impossible!" or "Hopeless", God has already said, "nothing, absolutely, nothing is impossible for Me to sort out." God doesn't keep us from impossible situations, He doesn't need to because He has already declared the victory over it by stating His part in it. He is the Almighty - no one and nothing is mightier than He. Amen!

Promise 38 Gen. 16:13

Gen. 16:13 - "Then she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, 'You are a God who sees': for she said, 'Have I even remained alive here after seeing Him?'" This verse tells more of a fact than a promise, but it can be taken as a promise as well. God sees us! He sees when we get up and when we lie down, He sees our outward actions and our inward thoughts. It scares me sometimes, that thought of having to stand face to face with the Almighty God who knows absolutely every thing about me. Sometimes I would like to bury my head in the sand and pretend He didn't see that action or hear this thought. I would love to reverse many of my thoughts and actions at the awareness that He saw me and He heard me. But I can't! It's amazing that He does allow me to stand up right and to contiune in this life, that He hasn't struck me dead. Just like Hagar says, "I've seen Him and yet I still live?" I am alive and healthy only by the grace of God and Him alone. I'm alive only because of His love that brings Him to forgive me over and over again. (I see you Lord and yet I still live?)

Promise 37 Gen. 16:9-10

Gen. 16:9-10 - "Then the angel of the Lord said to her, 'Return to your mistress and submit yourself to her authority.' Moreover the angel of the Lord said to her, 'I will greatly multiply your descendants so that they will be too many to count'." Hagar had treated Sarai poorly, and therefore was treated poorly herself to a point where she couldn't stand to stay even among the security of Abram's wealth and provision for her and her child. So here she was, out in the desert, I would suppose she was trying to find her way back to Egypt, and the Lord met her right where she was at. In her heart, she was broken, scared, tired and lonely. God met her in that place. She didn't seek Him out or call after Him, He just came. When He showed up, He gave her instruction as to what she should do and what her reward would be if she obeyed; A promise that her descendants would be too many to count. God knows right where we are and He meets us there. He may tell us things we don't want to hear like, 'Go back to the one who mistreated you', but He will always leave us with a blessing in obedience. Even if Hagar didn't "deserve" an encounter with God, He sought after her, to have an encounter with her. What a great God He is!

Promise 36 Gen. 15:18

Gen. 15:18 - "On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram saying, 'To your descendants I have given this land, from the river to Egypt as far as the great river, the river Euphrates'." God has shown me visions and given me words of knowledge concerning my life, all of which are future plans and promises. Some of them seem absolutely impossible to be received. I've had to struggle through what I do with these visions, promises. When they happened I was very sure they were from God. So do I sit in anxiousness to receive these promises? No, because He made it clear they are for my future. Do I sit and try to figure out how they are going to come to pass? or even worse, see what I can do to help them come along? Well, we know what happens when that is done, just by reading ahead in Abraham's story. I need to just rest and trust that what is from God belongs to God, He'll give it to me when He chooses. Mine is not to wonder if He will give it or how or when, because it's not mine to own such questions over it. It is His and His alone until the time He releases it from His hands. The fun promise here is that He does give dreams, visions, promises and great hopes for the future. We don't need to embrace those as much as we need to embrace Him.

Promise 35 Gen. 15:15

Gen. 15:15 - "As for you (Abram), you shall go to your fathers in peace; you will be buried at a good ole age." I'm sure that was quite re-assuring for Abram that he would have a long life and that it would end in peace. Now, I know this was a promise specifically for Abram straight from God, but there is a promise here that we can stand on too. The promise is that we can end in peace. We can go to our "Father" in peace. I've heard many parents say that they don't fear death for themselves but they fear it for their children, knowing that their death will cause pain for their children and those they leave behind. The Lord is saying here, "No worries, no need to fret, I've got it all sorted, just come to Me." We can have peace in our present and future and even in our death because God has it all covered.