
Hosted by Peggy Joyce Ruth · EN

Do you know the difference between a promise in the Word and a conditional covenant? There are very few promises in the scripture that are not conditional. Meaning there is something each of us must do to see God's promise come about in our lives. So the question becomes, how do we meet the conditions?

We can miss God when we have a preconceived idea of how God is going to do something. Very seldom, if ever, does God do something our way. His ways don't line up with our reasoning, but when we learn to trust God with all our heart, peace comes. God always comes through, but He seems to work differently each time.

What are we supposed to do to enter into the deeper things of God? Many times, we get our roles reversed. We start out trusting God, but get lost between point A and point B, when God comes through. Our thinking needs to be reprogrammed to believe without a shadow of a doubt that God will do exactly what He has promised to do.

Passive faith does not deny the truth. It is quick to say – ‘Yes, I believe the Word’, but passive faith too often believes that God can, but not necessarily that He will. Passive faith is a bigger enemy of victory in our lives than doubt itself. Faith can become such a common word that it loses its significance. The Lord wants us in ACTIVE faith and not PASSIVE faith.

How do we turn loose of fear and the world's thinking, and securely grab hold of God's promises? We must become like a child. We cannot approach Psalm 91 or the promises of God from adulthood. We are not to become childish but childlike. As adults, we wrestle with the knowledge of good and evil because of Adam and Eve's choice to sin, but to receive only from the Tree of Life, we must again become like children.

When we let offense set in our hearts, it can become deadly. How you handle opportunities to be offended will determine whether you continue to grow spiritually. Offense can trip us, cause us to stumble, and ultimately entice us into sin. Offense is something we need to eliminate completely. Ask the Lord if there is any area where you have been offended, and then repent to the Lord until you feel that area is cleared up.

It is time to overcome the past disappointments in your life. Peter 2:6 tells us, "And he who believes in Him will not be disappointed." Subconsciously, we can become disappointed with God, and it sets us up to stumble. But God wants to deal with all the areas of disappointment. The first step to getting rid of the disappointment is to actively trust God again in the same area where we have been disappointed.

Pride is the covering that keeps deception hidden in our lives. If we are going to stay out of deception, everything in our lives must be backed up by the Word of God. We cannot live our lives based on someone else's word or beliefs. Truth must become personal to us as we humbly search out the Word. In the end, everything we believe and live by must line up with the Word of God.

Do you know the fullness of God's love? 1st John tells us that God is love and God wants His love to be tangible in our lives. We can miss the fullness of God's love when we fall for the world's substitute. When Jesus healed the multitudes, the bible says He was moved by compassion. So God's compassion is greater than the "love" or empathy we are used to. Many times, we mistake human empathy or sympathy for love. But Jesus' compassion is so much more than the world's empathy.

Jesus came to carry the load. Many times, we are carrying weights that Jesus promised to carry for us. Sin, sickness, and everything that came as a consequence of sin fell on Jesus on the cross. We don't need to continually pay for things that Jesus paid for on the cross. Jesus died so that we might live. He carried what we deserved to break the power of the curse. So we can live a life of freedom.