May 25 – Only One Like No Other

“From of old no one has heard or perceived by the ear, no eye has seen a God besides you, who acts for those who wait for him.” - Isaiah 64:4 (ESV)

Our verse today is one that we have visited several times. Its promise is rich. In the beginning God created the universe and then He created people. Since that time people have worshiped other things and forces as if they are gods. But, they have been mistaken. No matter how they try, no one can see and no one can hear from any God besides the Creator God. There is only one true God and He is a personal God who takes a personal interest in His creation and the people He created. Our verse today teaches us that our God acts on behalf of those who wait for Him. He responds to us who look to Him for help. He has declared that He is the one who helps us and He does things for us which we are unable to do for ourselves. Let's be thankful to our God for taking a personal interest in us and for taking action in our behalf when we look to Him.  Let's thank Him as the prophet Isaiah did by confessing that there is no other god that we can hear or see besides our true God.

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August 20 – In Person Experience

“What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life—” – 1 John 1:1 (NASB)

Each of us who by faith believe Jesus of Nazareth is the Word of Life has a beginning point of faith in Him. The Apostle John, who also wrote the Gospel of John, the phrase “from the beginning” is used here in a different way than he used it in the Gospel, “in the beginning.” In the Gospel Account, the apostle John wrote referenced eternity past, even before the creation of the world and where there is no first point. In this letter, written some years later, John is not saying "in" but “from” the beginning referring to the beginnings of preaching the gospel. A time when his readers first heard about Jesus. Within the context of verses 1-4* (see below) the phrase promises and emphasizes the stability of the gospel message; which does not change but remains stable from the very beginning;   it is not subject to change because of fads or popular philosophical ideas. John affirms his testimony with the words, “we have heard…we have seen…we have had physical contact with Jesus. We can trust John’s witness.

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*...the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us— that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete." 1 John 1:2-4 (ESV)

December 11 – Waiting While He Works

“From of old no one has heard or perceived by the ear, no eye has seen a God besides you, who works for those who wait for him.”  -  Isaiah 64:4  (ESV)

Is it not our normal understanding that we are the ones working for God?  How often, then, do we take the time to think about and meditate on this truth from God's word in Isaiah – God loves us and demonstrates who He is and what He is like by the work He does for us.  But God does not need a job and is not our employee. That is NOT how He works for us. For as we have in our passage today, no one has ever heard or seen a God like our God.  His promise of working for us means He is doing what we cannot do.  We are weak and He gives us strength.  We find ourselves defenseless and He is our shield and protector.  We are foolish and need His wisdom.  We are lost and in need of rescue by God.  It is in our utter helplessness that God works to provide us while we wait for Him. He freely gives understanding to us because our understanding is faulty.  He does the work for us that we cannot do.  God the Giver, gets the glory, praise and honor with thanksgiving from us.  

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July 14 – Love Who is Not Seen

“Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory,  obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.”  1 Peter 1:8-9 (ESV)

The Apostle Peter wrote the letters that make up the books of 1 Peter and 2 Peter to believers in many cities.  They were circular letters and Peter wanted all to have a chance to read them.  The gathering of believers in Jesus was still new and they were in need of teaching.  Most all who received the letters had never seen Jesus as Peter and others had.  They were like us today and like them we can take the truth and promises of these verses as given to us.  We agree that we do love Jesus even though we have not seen Him with our own eyes. We have experienced a glorious joy as we have put our faith in Him as our Savior.  As we realize that our souls are saved for eternity, the joy that fills our hearts is really greater than we can express in words.  Let's be sure to always remember to thank our Lord for this and to rejoice in Him today and everyday.

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May 25 – Wait For It

“Since ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who acts on behalf of those who wait for him.” Isaiah 64:4  (NIV)

These words were written by Isaiah nearly 2700 years ago at a time that the people of Israel were divided into two kingdoms.  Even at that time, the people of Israel and Judah had influences around them of other so-called gods.   Isaiah declares that even in the  'ancient times' of his day, there was no other God beside the God of Israel.  There never has been and never will be.  He is assuring the people that the true and only God was He who had revealed Himself to them and was working on their behalf.  It required belief then, just as it requires belief now, to know, hear, and see God working in our lives.  When we believe in the one True God we will trust Him and we will wait for Him to act on our behalf.  The promise is the God will respond to our faith.  As we look to Him for help He does respond.  God has promised to provide all our needs today according to the riches in Christ Jesus.  Believe, exercise faith and then...wait for it.  

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May 9 – The End Result of Faith

“Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.” 1 Peter 1:8-9 (NIV)

The Apostle Peter wrote these words in the first letter he wrote and sent to Christian believers who had not actually been eyewitnesses of Jesus.  Some time had passed after Jesus died, was buried, and rose again to return to heaven. The Good News message had spread to many who had never had the opportunity to see Jesus but had believed in Him. Peter is assuring them that God knew that they had believed and He was promising a great joy was theirs even in the midst of trials and difficulties they were facing.  It is not easy to face tribulation and persecution for what one believes and such difficult times tend to test our faith in Jesus.  Peter is assuring the readers of His letter - and that includes us today - that inexpressible joy is also a blessing and result of our faith.  Our faith brings salvation of our souls.  So, we know that we have eternal life because we believe even though we have only heard, and have not seen our Savior Jesus in person . This is the promised end result of the faith we have in God. 

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April 10 – Assurance and Conviction

“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”    Hebrews 11:1 (NASB)

We all have hopes, don't we?  We hope for good things and good outcomes when challenged by troubling circumstances.  But are we convinced that these kind of hopes will be realized?   True faith trusts the promise of the things we hope for because by faith we realize the promises we have received are true and so, we live by and we hope for their fulfillment.  We have faith in things we can't really see.  Our faith becomes our conviction they are real and they exist.  Having faith is not a pathway to material wealth and prosperity.   No, faith is knowing what we believe, we have been promised by God, is already ours. Faith is knowing that what God says will be, already is in Him.  All of Hebrews 11 is an account of examples of this kind of faith where God fulfilled His Word in the lives of those who believed His promises.  He does the same for us today.  We might be able to write a bit about our examples of when we've had assurance and conviction of what we have been promised but do not see right now.    

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February 18 – Hear, Perceive, and See

“Since ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who acts on behalf of those who wait for him.”   Isaiah 64:4 (NIV)

These words by the prophet Isaiah are written as if he was speaking to God and acknowledging Him.  What is revealed here for us are promises we can carry with us each day.  The first promise is that God is the only true God.  From the earliest times there has not been any perceivable God by hearing or seeing besides our God Almighty.  Many create ideas of gods and they worship them but they do not exist. Some  claim their gods are the same one as our God, but the promise here is none have ever seen, heard, or perceived any other God besides ours.  We keep saying it because it is true.  The other promise we find is that our God actually is active in His relationship with us who believe.  As we wait for His guidance, wisdom and direction, God acts. We have heard, we have perceived and we have seen what God does for us out of His love for us.  Those who do not see, perceive or hear, can if they chose to believe and receive by faith what God offers to all, forgiveness and eternal life through Jesus Christ. 

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February 8 – Knowing the Deep Things of God

“But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard,  nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”— these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.”   2 Corinthians 2:9-10  (ESV)

The Christian life is an experience of learning truths of great eternal value.  We can learn from this verse the promise that God has prepared things for us, His children.  But no one has seen them or heard of them so how do we know what they are because they are even beyond our ability to imagine.   There is no way for us to know what God wants us to know except in the way that He has planned for us to learn it.  God has prepared great lessons for us to learn as we live our Christian lives and He has also planned how we can learn these lessons.  That's why He has given us His Holy Spirit to teach us.  Our verse calls these truth the deep things of God.  Let's be sure that we leave ourselves open to learn what the Holy Spirit wants to teach us in our experiences each day, even today.  

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We ask for your prayers as we also pray over this endeavor that it will meet the spiritual needs of those who read it.  We also welcome any encouragement on how this blog has helped you.
Contact us at: GodsPromises90@gmail.com 

December 31 – Need To Know

“But, as it is written,  “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”— these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.” 1 Corinthians 2:9-10  (ESV)

What do you see ahead for yourself in the new year?   Whatever is ahead, some of it is uncertain and some of it is unclear but most of it is unknown if we really think about it.  We may have plans that we hope to fulfill  or we may have things we fear and are anxious about.  There are some things we can be absolutely certain about even if we do not know all the details.  We know that our God will be with us everyday, every hour, every minute.  God has prepared the next year for us and our verse tells us a lot about this preparation.  For one thing God's preparation is for those who love him – that means those who have believe and received His gift of love and eternal life.  But these things are beyond our imagination no matter how much we try to figure them out.  God does reveal them to us through His Holy Spirit who abides in us.  The Spirit knows what these prepared things are and He reveals them to us as we have a need to know.  Does not this promise and truth fill our hearts with joy and peace and our mouths with praise to our God and Father?  We thank Jesus for coming so that we can be part of God's Family.  

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Happy New Year!

December 27 – See What is Unseen and Live

“So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”  2 Corinthians 4:18  (NIV)

We have a question to think about today.  What is it that makes things real in our lives?  Our verse selected for today deals with that question.  We have all probably hear the sayings, “Seeing is believing,” or “I'll believe it when I see it.”   Some people believe that only what they can actually see is truly real but the Bible teaches us differently.  The Bible teaches us that there is reality which can't be seen with our physical eyes.  Our eyes do guide us through our world each day and those who have lost their sight are still guided by their other heightened senses – they learn to 'see' in a different way.  We believe that the things we see are real but we also believe that there are spiritual realities which we do not see with our senses.  What is seen physically with our eyes is temporary and will not last.  What we believe in by faith may be unseen in the physical world, but it is eternal and will not pass away.  These are the permanent things that are unseen but are real and eternal.  Believing and following them makes our life real and eternal. 

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June 21 – Love Him Not Seen

“Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy,”  1 Peter 1:8 (NIV)

Peter, of course, had been one of the twelve disciples of Jesus and had been with Him in His ministry for 3 years. He was writing this letter to people who had come to believe in Jesus although they had never seen Him.  That is how we are so we can apply these words to ourselves today.  I hope it is true that you love Jesus even though you haven't seen Him with your physical eyes. And I hope that when you think of Jesus you believe in Him and that the very thought of His love for you give you great joy. Yes friends, Jesus is a great Savior. He died to take the penalty for our sins.  Now, He is praying for us each day and promising to fill us with joy.  As we pray to God in the name of His Son our own hearts can experience being filled with a joy that is hard to express. That is what comes when we by faith believe and grow to love Jesus whom we have never seen with our eyes but have experienced through the Holy Spirit who lives in us.  

May 25 – No Other Heard or Seen

“Since ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who acts on behalf of those who wait for him.” Isaiah 64:4 (NIV)

In the beginning God created the universe and then He created people. Since that time people have worshiped other things and forces as if they are gods. But, they have been mistaken. No matter how they try, no one can see and no one can hear from any God besides the Creator God. There is only one true God and He is a personal God who takes a personal interest in His creation and the people He created. Our verse today teaches us that our God acts on behalf of those who wait for Him. He responds to us who look to Him for help. He has declared that He is the one who helps us and He does things for us which we are unable to do for ourselves. Let's be thankful to our God for taking a personal interest in us and for taking action in our behalf when we look to Him.  Let's thank Him as the prophet Isaiah did by confessing that there is no other god that we can hear or see besides our true God.

February 17 – Seeing the Unseen

“So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” 2 Corinthians 4:18 (NIV)

The Christian life is a life of faith. This makes a difference in the way we look at things and at events. The Bible verse we have chosen for today reminds us of this. This might sound like a contradiction. Why should someone look at something invisible? Of course we realize that this verse speaks of two kinds of eyes. It means that with a spiritual eye we can see what our physical eyes cannot see.  And our spiritual eye is the vision of our faith. When we believe the promises of God we are looking at spiritual truth through the eyes of our faith. And we believe what God says even though we don't always see the evidence with the eyes in our head. Let's thank God for the eye of faith to see His promises as real and to see our eternal future as real too. 

November 19 – One and Only

“Since ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who acts on behalf of those who wait for him.” Isaiah 64:4 (NIV) 

Isaiah's words remind us again today of the greatness and love of God and how singular He is in this universe. These words were true in Isaiah's time nearly 2600 years ago. He declares that since the beginning there has been only one God who would respond to the needs of the human race. And during all these years since Isaiah wrote these words, there has been no other God – although many have tried to create them. What a joy to know that we do have a God who acts on our behalf when we turn to Him. We can trust in the promise that He acts on our behalf. This is the one and only God and He is our God, our heavenly Father who is near us every day.