“It’s not over!” the ministry leader said to me.
This was one of the most prolific prophetic Words I had ever received. It was spoken to me many years ago by someone I greatly respect in a church sanctuary.
Since then, from time to time, when I feel like I’m working to catch up on projects, Holy Spirit will bring this declaration to my remembrance so hopelessness doesn’t set in.
I love how God is so good to help us and that we are never alone.
In Part 1 of this series, we addressed hopelessness—that it’s a lie from the enemy. We touched on God being in our continuance of time and that slow can mean patient; and late can mean from here forward
We determined that God is longsuffering and remains to have a plan for His redeemed ones to partner with Him, even when we mess up. And we determined that repentance is key for coming closer to God and moving toward the fulfillment of His promises.
We saw that God helped Joshua’s army enter deeper into His righteousness as they purged evil from among them to obey Him forward at Ai.
Righteousness, which is God’s way, is God’s standard.
God tests our obedience as we walk with Him on the narrow path. We can stay the course with our eyes on Him, or we can stray and do it our way.
God’s promises fulfilled involve a process we grow through. Staying on the narrow path involves a kind of suffering. Getting off of it does, too. But, with God’s grace-power, remaining on it and returning to it, after we have steered off course, can produce timely fruit.
For example, when we fast forward to Joshua in the ninth chapter, we find that he made a peace treaty with an envoy of deceivers—the Gibeonites (Jo 9:15). Three days later, when the truth came out, he realized his error. Even so, he still made good on his promise to keep peace, as he dealt with their deception swiftly. Joshua turned the people toward good by having them serve God’s house. So, any time lost in the Israelites’ mission to deal with this sin was made up by their increased labor force.
Just like with Joshua, when God is with us in battle, we cannot lose. We can grow wiser and stronger in the journey, as God reveals His strategies to us and we obey Him in the small things that will reinforce His ways in us for bigger things forward—and not just for ourselves.
So, we don’t have to beat ourselves up if we’ve messed up. And we don’t have to sell ourselves short by caving into deception. God always has a solution for a better, higher outcome.
A couple of encouraging scriptures in this regard are:
First, James 1:4 TPT, which says, “And then as your endurance grows even stronger, it will release perfection into every part of your being until there is nothing missing and nothing lacking.”
Secondly, Hebrews 10:36 TPT, which says, “You need the strength of endurance to reveal the poetry of God’s will and then you receive the promise in full.”
So, along our journey to fulfillment, we can be encouraged by God’s truth in Ephesians 2:10 TPT, which says, “We have become his poetry, a re-created people that will fulfill the destiny he has given each of us, for we are joined to Jesus, the Anointed One. Even before we were born, God planned in advance our destiny and the good works we would do to fulfill it!”
With all this assurance, we don’t have to worry about being late in the worst sense of the word. We can arrive by fixing our eyes on God and actively agreeing with His righteous truths—His promises of hope that will come to fruition (He 11:1).
God will not resist us when we humble ourselves and call on His Name for help. He will be faithful to His great nature and lift us from every false burden, so we can begin again, be made stronger by Him and bring honor to Him.
Romans 12:1 TPT specifically reveals God’s strategy of reciprocal honor by saying, “Beloved friends, what should be our proper response to God’s marvelous mercies? To surrender yourselves to God to be his sacred, living sacrifices. And live in holiness, experiencing all that delights his heart. For this becomes your genuine expression of worship.
Pray with me if you will…
Dear Lord,
Thank You for making me courageously faithful. I repent of believing the devil’s lies that I’ve missed it or will miss it. I declare today that, with Your help, Lord, I will not miss your appointed times for me. And I choose to fully trust You to get me where You desire I be on Your timetable. I declare that Your promises are yes and amen. “You keep every promise You’ve ever made to me! Since your love for me is constant and endless, I ask you, Lord, to finish every good thing that you’ve begun in me” (Ps 138:8 TPT)! I choose this day to walk with You in Your truth on Your righteous path of Your faithful fulfillment for me.
In Jesus’ Mighty Name,
Amen.
This devo was graciously re-posted by the Salem Web Network, which includes iBelieve.com.