Better Promises
25 “So you shall serve the Lord your God, and He will bless your bread and your water. And I will take sickness away from the midst of you. 26 No one shall suffer miscarriage or be barren in your land; I will fulfill the number of your days.” Exodus 23:25-26 NKJV
In the verses above God was speaking to His people about the good things He had prepared for them in the Promised Land. His blessings promised to His people as they moved ahead to possess the things He had established for them. They are promised not just food and water (which was a daily struggle in those days), but they were going to be blessed with food, which indicates both abundance and quality. He would take sickness away from them as they obeyed Him in the Promised Land. This included two horrible but common occurrences throughout history that the Israelites had been suffering from, miscarriages and women that could not conceive and bear children. They would be blessed with this most desired blessing. He also promised to fulfill the number of their days. In other words, they would live to see the fullness of their days, ripe old ages filled with God’s blessing and favor if they would obey as they entered into all He prepared for them.
These are great promises when you think about them, but the amazing thing is the promises that He has prepared and established for you and me in Christ are exponentially better. We get to see the fullness of those promises from 2 Peter 1:3, Which says this in the Amplified Bible, For His divine power has bestowed upon us all things that [are requisite and suited] to life and godliness, through the [[a]full, personal] knowledge of Him Who called us by and to His own glory and excellence (virtue).
He has provided EVERYTHING you need for this life! It says “all things.” That means everything you need great or small. How awesome is that? When the Israelites were getting ready to enter the Promised Land they were entering a land where their needs were going to be met. The list of those blessings is awesome until you consider that when we enter into the promises He has prepared for us, we will find every need met by Him. Just like with the Israelites, all those blessings are already waiting for us. We just have to move ahead in faith and possess them. Be filled with a grateful heart at this realization, believe it, and move forward in faith and lay hold of all the great things He has prepared for you in this life.
J Todd Hostetler
www.cityonahillTC.org