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Not One Word
John DangananNot one word of all the good promises that the LORD had made to the house of Israel had failed; all came to pass - Joshua 21:45
Let that settle--Not one word. Not a single word of all the good promises God made failed. Every single word came to pass. Notice that it is every word of the“good” promises that did not fail. In other words, God fulfilled every single positivepromise of blessing, fruitfulness and life when the people obeyed. The thing is,God alsomade “bad promises” but He did not follow through on every single word of them. When the people failed, disobeyed and rebelled they were supposed to suffer the full gamut ofthenegative consequences yet God chose mercy and withheld punishment. When it came to promises that would only fully benefit His people He fulfilled every single word. When Godswore to give their fathers the land, He made good on that promise by themtaking possession of it and settling there (Joshua 21:43). When God swore to give them rest on every side, He followed through by making sure not one of their enemies was left standing (Joshua 21:44).
No wonder Paul can say in Romans 8:31that if God is for us, then who can be against us? The good promise that I need to settle from my mind to my heart is from Matthew 28:20, “And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Jesus is always with me even though there maybe times where I feel like he isn’t. When I go into the world and make disciples he is always with me through failure, sickness and suffering. Another promise that I need to live by is that His grace is sufficient. When I am inadequate and who I am is not equal to the task his grace is sufficient. When I don’t feel like I’m enough as a husband, father and pastor His grace is enough for me.
