#DailyDevotion What Promises Has God Made To You?

Lent day 12 Tuesday

Read Gen 21:1–21

Gen 21:17-20  And God heard the voice of the boy, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What troubles you, Hagar? Fear not, for God has heard the voice of the boy where he is.  (18)  Up! Lift up the boy, and hold him fast with your hand, for I will make him into a great nation.”  (19)  Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. And she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink.  (20)  And God was with the boy, and he grew up. He lived in the wilderness and became an expert with the bow.

 

While the promised seed is to come from Isaac, God’s promise rest on all of Abraham’s children.  Ishmael is a child of Abraham also.  Though the child of the slave woman would have no part in Isaac’s inheritance, he will become a great nation because of Abraham.  We will see in few chapters after Abraham’s death that Ishmael has 12 children who are 12 princes.  They inhabit the area opposite of Egypt to Assyria.

 

So God takes the boy and his mother and provides for him.

 

What can we learn from this?  God keeps his promises.  What promises has God made to you? Mat 6:33  But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.  Mat 7:7-11  “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.  (8)  For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.  (9)  Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone?  (10)  Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent?  (11)  If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him! Act 2:38-39  And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.  (39)  For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.”

Rom 4:22-25  That is why his faith was “counted to him as righteousness.”  (23)  But the words “it was counted to him” were not written for his sake alone,  (24)  but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord,  (25)  who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.

Rom 9:6-8  But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel,  (7)  and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.”  (8)  This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring.

Gal 3:26-29  for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith.  (27)  For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.  (28)  There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.  (29)  And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.

 

And of course there are many more which our Lord has kept and will keep.

 

O Lord our God, you have made and kept so many wonderful promises.  Grant us faith to believe these promises until you have fulfilled them before our very eyes. In Jesus’ name, amen.