HOW TO USE THIS BOOK OF GOD’S PROMISES

There is a wonderfully rich hymn that should be the anthem of every Christian. The refrain goes like this:

This is the kind of song you sing at the top of your lungs when you’re faced with an eviction notice or pink slip, when you get that unexpected phone call or unwanted medical result. Russell Carter’s song is rooted in an encouraging promise from God’s Word that reminds us, “The earth and sky will wear out and fade away before one word I speak loses its power or fails to accomplish its purpose” (Matthew 24:35 TPT).

What a wonderful promise, one of many that God has spoken over your life. Did you know there are hundreds of similar guarantees from God for every one of your needs?

From fears to forgiveness, provision to protection, security and God’s ultimate salvation through his Son, these promises don’t change and are always true. They are for all people, for all time, because they reflect the character of God and his ultimate purpose: the all-embracing blessing and flourishing of the world in and through Jesus Christ.

At the center of all God’s promises is the Hebrew word berit, the word for “covenant.” It’s one of the Bible’s most important themes and crucial for unlocking numerous verses that remind us of what our heavenly Father has personally guaranteed.

Covenant is different from contract, because the intent is to form and solidify a relationship. It’s the difference between a business contract with your mortgage company and a marriage relationship with your spouse—in sickness and in health, till death parts you!

At the heart of covenant is a relationship between God and people, a relationship characterized by faithfulness and loyal love. While people are anything but faithful and loyal, the promises of the Bible are guaranteed because the God who created his berit has hesed.

English Bibles often translate hesed as “loving kindness” or “steadfast love.” These definitions really don’t capture the true nature of this rich Hebrew word, however. At the center of the character of God isn’t just loving kindness, but a fierce, faithful covenantal loyalty.

A passage from the book of Jonah captures best the true character of God, who is “a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity” (4:2 NIV). This refrain is repeated through the Hebrew Scriptures to remind those people and us today that God is loyal to the relationship he’s formed, a relationship formed by a covenant that has as its goal the ultimate restoration of the world.

The glue that binds all biblical covenants together is God’s re-creative purpose of universal divine blessing. With each of the Bible’s covenants—from Noah to Abraham, the kings to Israel, and to the Church—God has had one ultimate unifying goal: to restore this broken world to the way he originally envisioned it in the beginning before the fall.

That ultimate goal is what you should keep in mind as you explore this handbook and let it guide your life. All God’s promises are founded upon God’s ultimate plan: the one God, requiring obedience and loyalty from his special people, who are saved through his promised Savior and forgiven of their sins in order to be re-created anew.

What this means is that the gospel—God’s story of rescue and re-creation through Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection—is at the heart of God’s promises. All God’s divine promises have their fulfillment in what the Father did in and through his Son on the cross, signing a new covenant in his blood!

This everlasting covenant absolutely guarantees God’s promises and purposes for our lives—both now and in the future. While Jesus’ death and resurrection set into motion the fulfillment of all God’s promises, we still await their ultimate, final fulfillment when everything will be made new!

But this gets to two important questions: Who are all God’s promises meant for, and which of his promises still matter today? Are they for those people in the Bible or can they be for us too? Yes!

Throughout the Bible we see that God gave promises to three groups of people: individuals (like Abraham and David), the nations (usually Israel), and every person (like you). Sometimes Bible teachers refer to these as general versus specific Bible promises.

General promises are ones God has given to every one of his people, in every age—first to Jews and then to non-Jews who’ve been “grafted in” to God’s family. In the Psalms, for instance, God promises to “never walk away from his people, never desert his precious people” (Psalm 94:14 MSG). While this promise was originally given to Israel, now Christians are also included because of Christ. God also promises that through Jesus, “We have redemption, the forgiveness of sins, in Him” (Colossians 1:14 HCSB). There are lots of these promises given to every person who is a child of God for every one of their needs!

A specific promise is something God promised to a specific person or group of people, mainly the children of Israel. For instance, early in Genesis God gave this promise to Abraham: “And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great” (Genesis 12:2 ESV). And in an often-quoted passage in Jeremiah, God promised Israel, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” (29:11 NIV).

Understanding these two kinds of promises helps us discern how to apply the hundreds of guarantees found in God’s Word to our lives today. A few other principles will also help you:

1.Check the context. Often a promise is part of a bigger story, like Abraham’s or Israel’s. Referencing your Bible will help you determine the promise’s background.

2.Look for “if.” Some of God’s promises are conditional—meaning “if” you do something, “then” God will do something. This is important because many of God’s promises help us yield to his will in obedience.

3.Seek God’s Character. Whether a promise is general or specific, the character of God will be evident. This “character principle” will help you discern how God’s personal assurances are relevant and applicable to your own life.

Consider this verse on forgiveness: “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14 NIV).

The surrounding context makes it clear that “my people” refers to Israel. There’s also a condition: If his people will humble themselves, pray, and repent, then God will hear, forgive, and heal them. While this specific promise was given to a specific group of people, we can see a broader “character principle” here: God is ready, willing, and able to forgive people of their sins and put them to right! So even though this is a specific promise, we can still claim it as our own when we need to feel and know God’s forgiveness.

How about the promise from Genesis 12 above, the one about God making Abraham a great nation? Does that mean God promises every person a house full of kids? Not exactly. Obviously this was a specific promise given to Abraham. Yet it reminds us that the God who provided a very old Abraham and Sarah a son is the same God who has a plan and purpose for you. The Holy Spirit often uses verses like this to show us that God really can be trusted with every ounce of our lives—even our families.

What you are holding is the ultimate handbook to every one of your needs, because it brings together in one place all the personal guarantees God has given to us in his Word. Here are a few things to keep in mind when using this handbook:

1.The more than 2,100 promises in this guide are arranged in 145 relevant life topics, and in alphabetical order—making it the perfect reference when you need God’s reassurance most.

2.Some people use promise books at certain moments when they are down and need to be encouraged, discouraged and need to be lifted up, or searching for a reminder of who God is and what he has promised to do for them. If this describes you, then simply flip to the topic that describes your need most.

3.Other people use these kinds of books as devotionals, choosing to start at the front and work their way to the back in order to learn more about God’s assurances and his character behind them. If you choose this route, keep a journal handy to jot down what you’re learning and how these specific promises apply to your life.

4.Regardless of how you approach this book, remember to pray and listen. We’ve chosen to only include Scripture, rather than devotional or verse study notes, because we believe in the power of God’s Word and Spirit to speak to us in our times of need and...