Transcription
Is a prophetic word to certain people for this particular time. It's not just a summon; this is a direct word from God to someone listening to this message. The message is titled "God's Promise to You Will Surely Be Fulfilled."
I want you to please turn to the person by your side and say to him or her, "God's promise to you," say it with confidence, "will surely be fulfilled." Turn to the person on the other side and tell that person, "God's promise to you will surely be fulfilled." And if you believe that, say, "Powerful amen!"
So we take our text this morning from Genesis chapter 21, Genesis chapter 21, verse 1 and 2, from the New Living Translation. It says, "The Lord kept his word." And I say to someone this morning, that God will not fail you. In every area of your walk with God where you have fulfilled what God told you to do, the Lord will surely grant unto you His promise in return, in the name of Jesus. He said, "The Lord kept his word and did for Sarah exactly what he had promised. She became pregnant." There will be physical evidence for many of you. She became pregnant. Some will change around you very soon. And she gave birth to a son for Abraham in his old age. This happened at just the time God had said it would.
And we started by first defining a promise. Basically, a promise is a reading or spoken undertaking to do something, something in particular. We see God making promises to Noah, promises to Abraham, promises to Isaac, and to the glory of God, these promises were fulfilled. On the reverse also, a promise could also be a written or spoken undertaking not to do something, not to do something. After the great flood that destroyed the entire earth in the time of Noah, when Noah offered unto God a very pleasing sacrifice and offering, the Lord made a promise that never again will He destroy the earth in that fashion. So a promise could be a written or spoken undertaking to do something or not to do something.
Now, today, we quickly just touch on some notable insights. One has to do with how God communicates His promises to people. God has channels of communication, and He uses these channels of communication to convey His promises to people, to families, to nations, and to groups of people. And the channels of God's promises include the scriptures, which remains the foundation, prophecies, dreams, visions, the audible voice, the inner witness, the small, the still small voice, and in some rare occasions, God would convey messages through angels.
One of the ways by which God, the Spirit of God, reveals the promise of God is by leading you to specific scriptures, specific scriptures, either by revelation or by prophecy. Sometimes, when a message like this is coming, the Holy Spirit will amplify in your spirit a particular scripture. It will resonate so much with your spirit, giving you a witness that that is a specific word for you. And when God gives you very specific scriptures, that is called the Rema. And the Rema is that scriptural verse, declaration, or promise that the Spirit of God has specifically spoken or given concerning something. On the other hand, under the general note, the Logos is the written scripture, which consists of general promises God has made in the Bible.
The second notable point is that whatever God has in mind to do is not yet a promise. Whatever God has in mind to do is not yet a promise until it is communicated to a human vessel. Even when God communicates it to an angel, until the angel communicates it to a human vessel, no one can hold on to God and say, "The Lord made that thing a promise to them." So whatever God has in mind to do is not yet a promise until it is communicated to a human vessel. It is only when such divine intention or decision is divinely revealed or announced to someone that it becomes a promise.
In Proverbs chapter 23:19, Proverbs 23:19, Easy to Read version, it says, "God is not a man, He will not lie. God is not a human being, His decisions will not change." I wish we could have that on the screen from the media team. If He says He would do something, then He will do it. So you can take note of that part of it. God has to reveal it. He has to say it for it to become a promise. He says, "If He says He will do something, then He will do it. If He makes a promise, then He will do what He promised."
The third notable insight: God's promise for you can either be revealed to you directly or through someone else. God's promise for you can either be revealed to you directly or through someone else. It could be revealed to your parents, could be revealed through your spiritual mentor, father, or through any vessel that God chooses to use. So apart from communicating His promise to you directly, God's promise for you can also be revealed to someone else, can be revealed to someone else. For instance, God's plan to use Samson as a national deliverer, John the Baptist as a great, great vessel of God in the move of revival that was going to herald the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. God's plan to use these two vessels was revealed, first revealed to their parents. Was first revealed to their parents. Judges 13:2-5. Judges 13:2 to 5. Then for John the Baptist, Luke 1:13-17.
So there are certain things about your own life that is different from God's script for other people. And God can use someone you ought to listen to, such as a biological or spiritual father, to convey that message to you. This is not expected from everybody, even for those who want to live a holy life. But for this young man, this man that was going to marry in this season, this was God's script for him, and it was for a reason.
And number four, the promises of God are sometimes tied to specific people. The promises of God are sometimes tied to specific people. You are the destiny partner of certain people. Certain people are your destiny partners. In Luke 1:3, Luke 1:3, Zechariah's promised child was ordained to come through the marital union of Zechariah and Elizabeth, not Zechariah and any woman, Zechariah and Elizabeth. New Living Translation, Luke 1:13, it said, "But the angel said, 'Don't be afraid, Zechariah. God has heard your prayer, and this is how God is going to answer your prayer.'" It says, "Your wife, your wife." If there's a brother or sister beside you, please turn to that brother. Sorry, that brother. There's a brother of mine beside you. Turn to him and say, "Your wife." Tell him, say, "Your wife." Are we hearing this morning? Your wife, not your side chick. I know you are a believer, so you don't have side chicks here. Your wife, your wife, Elizabeth will give you a son. Forget about any issue with Elizabeth. The moment God says this is how it is going to happen through this person, the problem from that channel will be taken care of by the overriding influence of God. Can somebody say amen? Amen. Your wife, Elizabeth, will give you a son, and you are to name him John. In the same vein, Abraham's promised child was ordained to come through the union of Abraham and Sarah.
Lesson number five: Certain promises of God are divinely planned to happen at specific locations. Certain promises of God are divinely planned to happen at specific locations. Some of the things that God will promise to do will be divinely planned to happen at specific locations, specific cities, specific nations, specific continents of the world. So keep an open mind in your journey of life. Keep an open mind and take note. Even when God relocates you, it could not necessarily be forever. And sometimes what you thought would be a long relocation may be much shorter than everyone expected. Someone may decide to go and do a master's degree at Harvard and then plan to work in that environment for a few years, and then suddenly, immediately after the program, something happens back home. There's a big door of opportunity, and it's so clear that that opportunity is for this person. So immediately he or she has to come back and take up that new opportunity. So you discover that the persuasion to relocate to that particular city for that program was of the spirit, but the expectation that you're going to be there for many, many years may not turn out to be so. Let's learn to take our journey of life per time, per time.
Lesson number six: Certain promises of God are divinely planned to happen at a particular time. Number five had to do with location. Number six has to do with times and seasons. So some of the things that God will promise to do will be planned, divinely planned to happen at a particular time, a particular year, a particular age of your life. Sometimes it has to do with a particular age of your life. Don't attempt to assume that it was a coincidence that Joseph was 30 years old when he became prime minister, that David was 30 years old when he became king of Israel, that Solomon was 30 years old when he became king of Israel, that Jesus was 30 years old when He finally began His ministry, that John the Baptist too was 30 years old when he began his prophetic ministry. Don't assume it was a coincidence. It was divinely programmed to begin to happen at that time of their life. So be a bit more sensitive to landmark birthday seasons, especially 12 years before a landmark birthday and 12 years, sorry, 12 months before and 12 months after. 12 months before, 12 months after, there could be something special for you.
So some of these things that God will promise to do will be divinely planned to happen at a particular time. Some are supposed to start at a particular time. Some are supposed to move to another phase at a particular time. Some are supposed to end at a particular time. There are certain people, their years of suffering has an end, as it happened for Joseph. From a particular year of his life, interestingly, it was the year of a landmark birthday that was the closure of his years of trials and the beginning of a new season of God's glory and faithfulness, and it lasted for the rest of his life, for the rest of his life, for the rest of his life. For some of you listening to me who have cried, cried over certain things, you have been wounded in your spirit over certain things, you have carried the burden of a personal reproach over a particular thing, most times when your day of visitation comes, whatever God is going to do for you, He will make it last for the rest of your life. Can such a person say, "Powerful amen"?
Lesson number seven: Divine promises can be altered, delayed, or stopped from being fulfilled. Divine promises can be altered, delayed, or stopped from being fulfilled. This is very critical. You don't just go to sleep because what God has said has been confirmed. No, sometimes there are battles. Battles you will be exposed to simply because of a promise that God wants to bring to pass in your life. Please, most divine promises are not bound to happen. They are supposed to happen. They are supposed to happen, not bound to happen. Bound to happen means it's irreversible, and from our studies, most promises are not in that category. Divine promises can be changed. They can be stopped from happening. They can be stopped intentionally from happening. So please have it in mind that divine promises can be successfully hindered. And some of you are victims. You are victims of certain promises of God in your life that have been successfully hindered, delayed. Divine promises can be successfully hindered, delayed, altered, given to someone else, rejected, set aside, even by the beneficiaries, abandoned. Some of His promises can be stopped completely, either by human vessels, spiritual forces, or even the intended beneficiaries. The intended beneficiaries. You could see a situation where those for whom the promised land were meant for, at a point in time, were reluctant to come out of Egypt. And then when the opportunity came subsequently now to enter the promised land, the majority of the spies that were sent to go and check out the land came back with a report that was meant to deter them from going forward to take up what God had promised them. And then also, very importantly, even God Himself that made a promise can subsequently change or replace someone He had initially chosen, either to use the person for something or to do something good for that person. God can change His mind. God can replace the initial person that God had made a promise to. Jeremiah 18:7-10. And it's very experienced. You always have this scripture in your notes. Jeremiah 18:7 to 10.
So we need to, we need to be very, very careful not to take things for granted. Divine promises can be prevented from fulfillment by spiritual forces, spiritual attacks, or spiritual manipulations. Prayer is not an option. Prayer is a necessity. Prayer is a necessity. If you are going to see all of God's promises for you, for your children, for your team, come to pass, prayer is not an option. You must pray. And there are times you must engage in intensive prayers. And when the Spirit of God begins to at occasional times lead you into intensive prayers, have it in mind that there is something that is due for that time. There is something that is due for that time.
Divine promises can be prevented from fulfillment by people that could have helped to make it happen. I'm not talking, we are not talking of enemies now. We are talking of your destiny partners, your destiny helpers, people that could have helped to bring God's promise for you in life to pass. If you don't relate well with them, even God will stand with them in the way they choose to relate back to you, and that could cost, and has cost many people, the promise. So you need to always relate well with people. Relate well with people. You never can tell who Providence will position to use to make God's promise to you come to pass.
Divine promises can be prevented from fulfillment even by the ordained recipient or beneficiaries. So what was supposed to be for your own good, the person that God had specifically selected out of billions, millions of people, and ordained for you in life, sometimes for a time, sometimes for a season, sometimes for a reason and a goal, a mission, a project, sometimes for your entire lifetime, you could use your own hands to say no to God's joys.
Lesson number eight, the ten of them. Lesson number eight. Some promises, some divine promises must be kept discreet, or else it can be sabotaged. It can be sabotaged by people or spiritual forces, by people or spiritual forces.
Lesson number nine: For the fulfillment of God's promises to be guaranteed, for the fulfillment of God's promises to be guaranteed, you have to obey and follow, obey and follow God's instructions, His conditions, His warnings. It will come at certain times, not all the time, and His time. In mentioned four things you have to obey, four things you have to follow: God's instructions, His conditions for that particular promise, His warnings that will come once in a while, and His timing, His own appointed timing.
Number 10: Divine promises have to be activated into reality by taking the relevant steps at the right time, by taking the relevant steps at the right time. Sometimes for some of these promises to come to pass, you have to make adequate preparation. You have to make timely preparations for certain promises to come to pass. There are things you must do ahead of time. There are things you must begin to do ahead of time. You will need to take appropriate action towards that thing on time.