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Articles

Standing on the Promises

What would be the theme song for your life?  "Standing on the Promises" would be a good one as it calls for glory and praise to go to God.  As Christians, we'd all like to be known for that.

Standing on the promises of Christ my King, Thro' eternal ages let His praises ring; Glory in the highest, I will shout and sing, Standing on the promises of God.

But, if we were honest, we might have to change a few letters for it to be sung as "Sitting on the Premises."  Ouch!  Have we withdrawn so much into the walls of our church buildings that we only glorify and praise Him there?  What do we have to do for us to truly sing that we are indeed "Standing on the Promises" (Romans 12:1-2)?

I. Hebrews 10:19-23.  The reason that we can stand on His promises at all is because He is faithful who makes the promises.  In Psalm 119, we see that He promises to save (v41), comfort (v50), answer prayer (v58), and to uphold us (v116).  We must long for His promised salvation (v123) as He keeps steady our steps (v133), and His promises are well-tried (v140) as He lets us meditate on them (v148).  So, we must offer ourselves as living sacrifices to stand on His promises that are needed in life's storms.

Standing on the promises that cannot fail, When the howling storms of doubt and fear assail, By the living word of God I shall prevail, Standing on the promises of God.

Are you standing on the promises that cannot fail?

II. John 5:21-24.  Our Father is faithful in His promises, but how about Christ?  He makes similar promises to us (John 14:1-3).  He is able to fulfill His promises because all that the Father has has been given over to the Son through the cross.  Only if we are living in Him can we overcome the world ... because He has overcome the world (John 16:30-33).  Once baptized into Him, we can begin the transformational process of rejecting the world and living for Christ to truly stand on His promises.

Standing on the promises of Christ the Lord, Bound to Him eternally by love's strong cord, Overcoming daily with the Spirit's sword, Standing on the promises of God.

Are you standing on the promises of Christ the Lord?

III. 2 Peter 1:3-11.  Once standing on the promises, are we ever able to step off?  It is by His divine power that God has given us everything for life and godliness.  His glory and excellence has given us His "precious and very great promises."  But, here it speaks also of the process we must go through to hold onto them or "never fall."  We must "make every effort" to add certain "qualities" to our faith in "increasing" measure.  This is walking with the Spirit (Galatians 5:16-25) and lets us test what is God's will.

Standing on the promises I cannot fall, List'ning every moment to the Spirit's call, Resting in my Savior as my all in all, Standing on the promises of God.

Are you standing on the promises so you cannot fall?

So, is the chorus of your theme song "Standing on the Promises" or is it sung more like this:

"Sitting on the premises, sitting on the premises, Sitting on the premises of God my Savior; Sitting on the premises, sitting on the premises, I'm sitting on the premises of God"?