2 Peter 1:4 (KJV)
⁴  Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

The promises of God are indeed exceedingly great and precious.  They involve things that we do not deserve, and, at times, that our minds cannot even comprehend.  The promise of heaven, for example, involves a place too beautiful for us to intellectually grasp.

God’s promises are also great, not just because of the promises themselves, but because they come from One who can deliver on them, and always keeps His Word.  As we think about the promises of God this week, let us have this truth that God cannot lie firmly fixed in our minds.  

Hebrews 6:18 (ESV)
¹⁸  So that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us.

No matter how remarkable the promise may be, we know that God will keep His Word.  What we need is the faith to believe God.  Abraham is a wonderful example of this.  God promised him that through his offspring all nations would be blessed.  That offspring would come through the lineage of Isaac.  He was Abraham’s son of promise.  In comparing the sons of Sarah and Hagar, Paul said, “But the son of the slave was born according to the flesh, while the son of the free woman was born through promise” (Galatians 4:23).  The son of the slave was Ishmael, while the son of the free woman was Isaac.  Paul went on to tell the saints at Galatia, “Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise (ver. 28). 

The significance of this, as it relates to the promises of God, is that God later commanded Abraham to kill Isaac by offering him as a sacrifice (Genesis 22:1-2).  What did Abraham do?  He got up early the next morning to do what God commanded, even though he knew that Isaac was the son of promise.  He ultimately concluded that God would raise Isaac from the dead because it was the only way that He could keep His promise (Hebrews 11:19), and one thing Abraham was sure of is that God would keep His word.

This is the kind of faith we should all have, and it will lead us to believe all the great and precious promises of God.  For the rest of the week, let us look at some of these promises, and let’s do it through the eye of faith.     

As you wind down for the night, think about these things.