The path of the righteous is level; you, the Upright One, make the way of the righteous smooth.”
Isaiah 26:7
My BSGs (Bible Study girls) are currently doing an advent study. In it we are reminded of the many promises of God through Jesus Christ. These are the promises that so many Christians are most familiar – hope, peace, love and joy through trusting in the Lord. And even though I’ve been a Christian for some time now, being reminded of the Peace of God through righteousness is so necessary in this broken world.
Rejoice always, pray continually, give
thanks in all circumstances; for this is
God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
Do not quench the Spirit.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-19
We humans need constant communication with God, constant reminders of His promises, constant reminders of the reason why He sent us His son, Christ Jesus. Why? Because we are constantly bombarded with opposite messages. The chaos of this world desires to bring us to our knees in fear and worry. It never stops. But God’s peace, love and joy are solid promises.
I’ve been led to call this process of constant communication, “holding the line.” We have a narrow path which God wants us to walk with Him. For some of us it means constantly looking down at that line and grasping tightly to His promises. For others the line is a gentle garden path in which they easily stay within the boundaries. In discovering the many promises of God, we can grasp them tightly as we work our way through those bombshells thrown at us by this broken world.
"Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” Luke 2:13-14
Notice the very last line of this glorious verse? “To whom His favor rests.” When I read this recently, I realized that last part is frequently left off. “Peace on Earth.” Taking this out of context changes the meaning of this promise. Yes, God has promised to never leave us, but so many of His promises are actually a covenant.
Covenant:
“a written agreement or promise usually under seal between two or more parties especially for the performance of some action”
“Between two or more parties.” That means God promises and we promise back. An agreement. Throughout the Book of Isaiah we read of two worlds – the broken agreements and the renewed ones. God’s promises can only come to completion when we do our part – when we grab hold of that line and follow Him.
I’ve heard there are more than 5,400 of those promises in the Old and New Testament. In this new series I want to remind us of just 25 of them and help to bring to the forefront our role in our heavenly handshake.
God is doing 10,000 things in your life and you may only be aware of 3 of them.
John Piper
Join me, along with my guest writer, Todd Shetter, in Isaiah, these next few weeks as we learn how to “Hold The Line” and prepare to celebrate the gift of God’s greatest covenant with us – the gift and promise of Jesus Christ.
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