Monday, April 13, 2009

Affected By the Promises of God




“God’s promises are never affected by our failures. He can use us at any age.” Michael Youssef from Leading the Way.


At work in my desk drawer I keep a handbook that lists the Promises of God. Each morning as I prepare to start my day I take it out and pick a promise to use in my Morning Prayer walk around the chemotherapy room. With God’s pledge in my heart I begin my morning walk from chair to chair praying the words of God’s promises. A prayer directed towards the patients who sit in the chairs and the family and friends beside them in their journey.

Promises such as:
“I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”
“The testing of your faith produces patience”
“Blessed is the man who endures temptation”
“Every good gift and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of
lights”
“We have a living hope through the resurrection of Christ from the dead”
“Be anxious for nothing but in prayer with thanksgiving let your requests be
known to God and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will
guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus”
“Draw near to God and He will draw near to you”
“Ask and it shall be given, seek and ye shall find”
“In My Father’s house are many mansions, if it were not so I would have told
you. I go to prepare a place for you.”
“You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he
trusts in You. Trust in the Lord forever, for in Yah, the Lord, is everlasting
strength”

Praise the Lord, Praise the Lord, Praise the Lord as the list goes on….

What a wonderful thing to know that God’s promises are not affected by our failures. Since we all fall short of God’s glory no one would qualify for God’s promises if the pre-requisite for them in our lives was failure free first and forever! Ouch!

It’s important to learn that just because we have failed in things doesn’t make us a failure. If you think about it, we're all "udderly flawed" in some way or another. What seems to do us more harm than good are not the things we fail at but the perception of always thinking we are a failure because we lack the successes we think we should have. We carry around in our heart our own “easy” button in the form of a “failure alert” knob. A button we frequently push or allow others to push for us that sounds off, “Failure, Failure, Failure.”

It’s time to take the measuring stick away from what we think we should measure up to and measure ourselves against Christ. As cancer knows no age limit neither does God when it comes to being able to use us to do His work. To Him we all can be a success story when we allow Him to work through us. We don’t have to wait until we turn 18 or 21 or 50, He can use us at any age.
It’s not like searching for a job where one of the main qualifications listed is “experience required or preferred.” What God prefers is a willing heart, one that is willing to learn from their failures in order to grow in their faith.

God’s promises are not affected by our failures but our failures can be affected by God’s promises, Praise the Lord. Think about it and you’ll see. Experience it and you’ll know.



The lovely host today is….oh its me! Well stay here and share and go make the rounds to see what others have to say about today’s quote.

10 comments:

Denise said...

Wonderful post sweetie.

Vintage Whimsy Studio said...

Good morning! Thanks so much for sharing from your heart . . . . what a reminder of the power of prayer. Have a wonderful Tuesday as you travel your journey W.I.T.H Jesus! Nina

Laurie Ann said...

Great post! This was a thought-provoking quote for me and through it I got a better grasp on how God is God regardless of me.

Susan said...

Hi Karen,

Thanks for being our host today. This was a good quote and there is so much truth in it.

Thank God for his Mercy!!

Blessings to you♥

Tracy Berta-daughter to the King, wife, mother, speaker, writer said...

Amen! Thanks so much for getting us thinking with this great quote.

Blessings!
Tracy

Sharlyn Guthrie said...

Thanks for the list of specific promises. I always love being reminded of those, and your words are so uplifting.

Sharlyn Guthrie said...

Thank you for hosting "In Other Words" today, and thanks for the list of specific promises. It is always encouraging to see them spelled out. This was a great quote to ponder.

Esthermay Bentley-Goossen said...

My mother also had one of those Promise Books (probably still does!) I recall her reading from it to my brother or me when we had "failed" at something. So . . . this quote is RIGHT ON!

I like how you turned Youssef's quote around at the end of your post:
God’s promises are not affected by our failures but our failures can be affected by God’s promises. . . I'm pretty sure this is what my mother was doing and what you do in the chemo-room.

God's Word is all sufficient!!

Wonderful Post!!

Patricia said...

Thank you for reminding us of some of God's promises. I'm sure your patients benefit from your spiritual focus.

Miriam Pauline said...

What a wonderful post. So glad we can rest on His promises instead of our failures. Bless you.