Part 1 of 2
If ….. Then ….. When ….. are the keys to promises that have been given to me from God. “Now, IF you faithfully obey the Lord your God, and are careful to follow(do) all the commands that He has given and is giving you each day, THEN the Lord your God will raise you up and all these blessings will “come and overtake you”. Deut.28:1,2 (Blessings follow the doing of me meeting the conditions) (Blessings are following after me is the when of His proper timing)
So, the way it all works with God: Except for a very few, All His promises to us are NOT yes and amen UNLESS I meet all the conditions of and for that promise to be mine. Add to that; I will be seeing the promise through the eyes of my RM (relational maturity) level. And the promise may not look as I think it should look. (The exception promises are generally for all of mankind, like “I will return to earth”, I will not destroy the earth again by water” …)
Jesus gave us promises in the beatitudes that are principles based on our heart condition; If my heart is pure, I will see God …. If I am merciful I will be shown mercy …. If I am persecuted and accused falsely, I am in good company and have a great reward in heaven ….
So, let’s take a look at a promise in scripture that is for me! …… One of the most popular, most misquoted, and most misunderstood promises; “God will give me the desires of my heart!” And I want a million dollars! I just need to name it and claim it! That’s what a relational “child” would try. ….. Woops …. The surrounding verses have several conditions and the verse itself says “delight myself in the Lord” and “my heart.” NOT my mind. Not my passions. I am now back to Jesus and His principles. Since He is in charge of my heart, what does He see that is the real underlying desire of my heart that He has placed within me? Without God-sight I will have a tough time seeing it.
We will look at principles and God-sight along with our relational maturity levels in Part 2 of Accessing My Promises!