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As You Say
Text: 2 Samuel 7: ?8? Now therefore, thus shall you say to My servant David, ‘?Thus says the Lord of hosts: ?k?“?I took you from the sheepfold, from following the sheep, to be ruler over My people, over Israel. ?9? And ?l?I have been with you wherever you have gone, ?m?and have ?1?cut off all your enemies from before you, and have made you a great name, like the name of the great men who are on the earth. ?10? Moreover I will appoint a place for My people Israel, and will ?n?plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own and move no more; ?o?nor shall the sons of wickedness oppress them anymore, as previously, ?11? ?p?since the time that I commanded judges to be over My people Israel, and have caused you to rest from all your enemies. Also the Lord ?2?tells you ?q?that He will make you a ?3?house.[1]
Title: As You Say
Nathan had been anointed of the Lord to give David wonderful promises. David expressed his gratefulness to God, and then he says, “Now, O Lord God, the word that thou hast spoken concerning thy servant, and concerning his house, establish it for ever, and do as thou hast said.’
This was a prayer that naturally flowed from the heart of David to the throne of grace. When David heard the glorious promises, a fire rose up within him to see them come to pass.
When we turn to the promises of God’s word, we experience a great hope rising up within each of us. There is something powerful in His word that causes us to say, “Just Do It, God!”
I am not coming to you to try and prove the validity of scripture. We all know that the Bible is the inspired Word of God and that it will never pass away!
I believe I am speaking to some here who have a promise spoken to you and there is a great desire in you right now to cry out to God Himself: “O God, do what you have promised!”
We must first realize that it is imperative that we grasp an understanding of what God has said in relationship to His promises.
Unless we know and understand exactly what God has said, there will be no focus or meaning in asking God to perform His promises.
The Biblical promises of God deserve our undivided attention. When is the last time that you took a holy promise directly from the Word and clung to it until it came to pass? If you can’t remember, it’s been way too long!
It seems as though the past 2 decades, since the rise of the PC, we have seen an incredible rise in published books, yet the Bible continues to still be the best selling book of all time. Having said that, sadly, the Bible is also one of the most neglected books once it is bought. Way too many people purchase a Bible, and then lay it aside on a coffee table somewhere, only to pick it up on Easter or Christmas. It would be better to have an old worn out copy of the Bible that you use daily than to have a new crisp copy that you are afraid to use. God meant for us to feast from His Word! So break in that binding and separate that rice paper! Don’t be afraid to make notes in the margins of your Bible….that’s not disrespect…that just shows interest on your part in what God is saying to you.
When we buy newspapers or magazines, we wear them out pretty fast. Why aren’t more people that excited about getting their hands on the Bible? What would this world be like if people got just as excited about the Bible as they do about People magazine? An awesome change would take place in our culture….and it would happen rather quickly!
If someone buys the latest Danielle Steel novel, they will stay up until the wee hours of the night to finish that book. When is that last time anyone did that with the promises of God?
Too many people do not consider the Bible to be an interesting book. I have found that most people who hold that view have not really given the Bible half a chance. They assume it’s boring.
Too many people view the Bible as a book to be looked at on Sunday, but not a book that could ever bring any real excitement into their life. Nothing could be further from the truth when you really give the Word an opportunity to grow inside of you! The promises of God are alive and real!
What book could there be that would deserve my undivided attention so much as a book that is #1: written by God himself, and #2: it is a book that is invaluable and contains the greatest truths without even 1 molecule of error? There is no book like the Bible!
If I study books that concern my health or books that tell stories about people, how much more should I read a book that contains promises from God regarding my eternal destiny? The Bible reveals to us a world that is unknown to us. The Bible gives us a sneak peak into that wonderful place called Heaven. If we are planning on spending eternity there, then doesn’t it make sense to spend our lives learning about our upcoming trip?
Why would I want to ignore a book that tells my how to escape the eternal flames of hell and embrace the eternal joys of Glory?
The ancient Puritans used to read few other books besides the Bible, and if a book was not at least about the Bible, then they just didn’t bother reading it at all. Perhaps they were overly straight and narrow, and this could have possibly cramped their minds somewhat, nevertheless, if our society would at least spend half the time in the word as they do surfing the web, what a better world this would be! If you enjoy surfing the web, then surf Bible web-sites! Try surfing sites that make it easy to learn about the Word of God. Do some online research about Biblical archeology….study of the Word does not have to be boring!
I would rather have a mind that is full of truth, and yet somewhat limited on all of the latest sports statistics and science theories….instead of a mind that is filled with all the latest pop-culture intellectual reasoning and the mind be full of error! Choose simple truth and God will expand your territory! You may be unpopular at first sight, but in the long run you will be the one they turn to for answers, and at the point you can turn them to THE ANSWER…JESUS CHRIST!
It is not the greatness of our intellect, but it is the rightness of our intellect that gets us and keeps us on the track of truth. Truth stands regardless of what the polls say. Truth will carry you long after error had its last party shut down by the police for disturbing the peace! There is only one way to true peace of mind…and that is through the avenue of Truth….the awesome news is that the Spirit of the Lord within us promises to lead us into all truth!
I promise you that if you are a genuine Christian and child of God, the more you give yourself to the promises of God the more you will love the Word, and its author!
Why do you keep buying books published by the same author? Because you like the last book they wrote! When we love the Lord…we will love and believe His promises!
Man has the liberty to differ in conscience between man and man, but man does not have the liberty to differ with God. Man You see, we often mistake man for God and God for man. When the original source is man it will be on shaky ground, but when the original source is directly from God…it’s a whole different story. God is an anchor and a rock. His ways are unmovable! The Romans may have invented concrete, but our God created the rock, sand, lime, and all the elements that make concrete possible. The word of God contains all of the elements we need to have a solid relationship with Him if we will just mix them up with our faith in our hearts and lives!
Faith must be built upon what God has said, nothing more, nothing less. Faith builds upon faith just as stone upon stone and board upon board. Faith clings to faith. Doubt has no place in the building of faith!
“Do as you have said, Lord!” That is the only solid foothold that faith has. “It is written…and God has spoken!” When a person comes to God for the first time they must rely on one thing and one thing only: “Lord…Do as you have said in my life!”
Most people have the tendency to bring things before God that He did not say. Too often we ask God for things that He did not promise and we set ourselves up for disappointment. Solomon asked for wisdom instead of riches and God gave him riches anyway. It is doubtful that Solomon would have gained riches if that is what his heart was set on….because the scriptures state that riches make themselves wings and fly away toward heaven. Set your heart on the things of God and He will give you that which you did not ask for or deserve!
Sometimes we come to God and make the mistake of asking Him to give us somebody else’s experience. We might say, “Lord, give me the same experience that this great man of God had and then I know I will be happy.” That is the wrong approach…we ought to simply say, “Lord, do only what you have said in my life, I don’t want leftovers from somebody else’s experience, but I want the fresh, direct plan of God for my own personal life that flows directly from the mandate of God’s throne!
Some people think they are saved because they may have experienced some sort of dream or vision. While dreams and visions can be from God, they are not the way we get saved. Salvation is through faith in Jesus Christ alone and not in any experience apart from Jesus. I believe in visions and dreams, but that is not where I anchor my faith…my faith is anchored in Christ the solid rock!
We must always get back to this: “Lord, do what you have said!”
You may be here having never experience a supernatural dream or vision….you may sometime between now and the rapture, but if you simply came to God and said, “Lord, I am a sinner, forgive me of my sins, I will obey the command to be baptized, and fill me with your Spirit!”….that is where faith stands her mightiest!
When you talk to some people about their personal salvation, they want to refer to something else, it seems. They want to talk about the time the were caught up to the seventh heaven and they could touch the portals of the New Jerusalem…that may be wonderful…but that has nothing to do with your initial salvation experience….don’t confuse future experiences with that initial born again experience….
You may never have an out of the body experience like the Apostle Paul…you may never go blind and have your eye sight restored…you may never be prayed back from a dead condition. God can do all those things and we believe in miracles….but that is not where our salvation is found! Our Salvation is in a relationship with Him….that is where we place our faith and trust!
