Promises, Promises

We all make and receive promises. Jim Rohn has said, "For every promise, there is price to pay." Perhaps that is the reason so many of them are broken. We should consider the price to be paid before we make the promise. In the case of God's promises to us the price was considered and paid before they were made. The price for all of the promises of God was the sacrifice of his Son on the cross.

One of the great promises of God that resulted from the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus is found in Acts 1:8, "You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you." Jesus had risen, walked with the disciples and then promised that upon his ascension God would send the Spirit to be our Comforter and Guide. We need not fear that God's promise will fail. However there are some things we are expected to do in order to benefit from the promise. First, we must do like the disciples had to do. We must wait. It is difficult to wait but to be Spirit-powered we must hold back from our own plans and reason and wait for Him to guide us. Even the disciples had to be doing something, so they elected one to replace Judas. Another thing we must do is believe in the promise. Often our hurried actions indicate that we really don't expect the guidance of the Spirit. Finally, we must make use of the Holy Spirit's presence in our life. In Acts 1:8 God said that when the Spirit comes "you shall be witnesses to me..." Our witness is to take the form of sharing our faith, but it is also to take the form of living our faith. As people observe us they should see the presence of the Spirit in the decisions and actions of our life.

God has made the promise, He has paid the price and now we must exercise the power by waiting upon the Spirit and reflecting the presence of the Spirit each day.