God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent; has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?

  Numbers 23:19

If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. In that day you will not question Me about anything. Truly, truly, I say to you, if you ask the Father for anything in My name, He will give it to you. Until now you have asked for nothing in My name; ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be made full.

          John 14:14,15:7,16:23-24

The authority of the Word of God (The Bible) is what we, as Christians, turn to in all matters dealing with life in this world and in eternity. The Bible has the very words of life that bring salvation to everyone who hears and responds appropriately in faith. Today, we look at the reality that what God says, we can absolutely count on. When looking at the promises of God, the issue isn’t whether or not God has made the promises or whether or not He will keep those promises…He has and He will. When dealing with the promises of God, the issue always boils down to whether or not we are going to believe them and order our lives around them. So let’s begin with an important passage from the Old Testament.

“God is not a man, that He should lie…” I was thinking recently, how nice it would be if everyone would simply tell the truth. My thought wasn’t even a consideration of mankind’s actions and behaviors rather I was simply pondering how wonderful it would be if everyone just told the truth. Of course, we don’t live in that world. People lie, people are dishonest, and people don’t always value the truth. It’s part of our fallen nature. As Christians, we should be an honest, truthful people but we certainly do not live in that world. But with God, we do not have this problem. God doesn’t lie…ever! He is not a man. He is not subject to the fallen, sinful nature that plagues mankind. He can be trusted because He is not like us. We are imperfect, He is perfect. This is why we can count on everything God has ever said. People will let us down, we will let others down, but God will never let us down. 

“Nor (is God) a son of man, that He should repent.” God is not tainted with sin so He needs never to repent. Unlike ourselves, who require repentance and a turning away from evil, God is not affected by dishonestly or evil. He can be completely trusted. “Has He (God) said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?” I love these remarks because rhetorical questions are being used to drive home the point that while mankind cannot always be trusted, God is flawless and entirely trustworthy. 

One of the things we notice, after giving our lives to Jesus Christ, is that God is willing to be faithful to us even when we fail Him. We will never find a human being that is more willing to demonstrate grace and mercy than God’s willingness to do so. You will never find people who are more willing to show redemption more than God. People are hard on each other. We might even be hard on ourselves. This is the problem with our sin nature. We are often hesitant to simply tell the truth, be honest with others, and have a willingness to show a redemptive spirit, but God is perfectly willing to do all of the above, even when we do not deserve it. This is the significance of the passage in Numbers. God is truthful, trustworthy, and altogether faithful!

So let’s get specific. Where might we find an example of something that God has said, in which we are invited to believe and take to heart? How about Jesus’ words in the gospel of John. I have pulled three (3) passages from three (3) different chapters of this amazing gospel. All three (3) statements that Jesus makes are related and reiterate important truths for us, as Christians, to live by. “If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you (John 14:14, John 15:7). These words are given to Jesus’ disciples and, by extension, are still applicable to the new covenant, Spirit-filled church throughout history, even today. You and I can claim these precious promises from God’s Word. The issue is whether or not we will live our lives claiming these promises and building our lives on the foundation of the truth of God’s Word or allow ourselves to ignore them. Notice that Jesus specifies these truths for those who meet the criteria (there is almost always a criteria in claiming the promises of God). And what is the criteria in this passage? “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you”…then the promise remains. Asking God, in the name of Jesus, believing that what we are asking, we will receive is all part of having faith in our prayer life (Mark 11:24). Of course, this applies to asking for God-honoring, Kingdom-focused things (James 4:3). If you are a serious Christian and have been walking with the Lord for any length of time, I need not remind you of that. But the other side of that same coin is that we, as Spirit-filled Christians, can often find ourselves living beneath the abundant life that God intends for His own (John 10:10). And what would keep us from forfeiting God’s best and missing out on God-sized things? Unbelief, of course (James 1:5-8). That pesky imperfection that afflicts us in our flesh. Want to try it out? “If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.” These are the words of Jesus. So check the criteria first. Have you surrendered your life to Christ? Do His words abide in you? If you cleared those two questions with a, “yes” and “yes” then look at Jesus’ words. Do you believe that? Do you see what I mean? It’s one thing for us to sit in church and hear the pastor preach on such a passage but it’s entirely another for us to begin to pray in the power of the Spirit, asking as a conquerer over all things worldly (Romans 8:26, Mark 11:24, James 1:5-8). God wants us to recognize that He is completely trustworthy. If He said it, we should take it to heart. But do we? “Ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.” These are also the words of Jesus. They are not from a man-made doctrine or some fanciful imaginations. These are the very words of God, promises, realities that we, as Spirit-filled Christians, are to believe and build our lives around. I personally believe that this is exactly what the world is waiting for and needs to see from the church. We can no longer afford to live lives that, on the outside, look no more powerful than any others and look just like the rest of the world. Keeping private, our spiritual power, found in the presence of God living within our hearts, is not a winning formula for reaching the lost for Jesus Christ and doesn’t bode well for equipping believers with the resources necessary for being victorious in this world either (John 7:38-39, Ephesians 3:16, Ephesians 6:10-11). 

Jesus, anticipating His departure from the earth and His sending of the Spirit on the church, is encouraging His disciples with these instructions and promises. And they are still as true today, for the believer in Jesus, as they were the day that He spoke them. But when we get to John 16, we begin to see God’s motive for making such amazing promises to His own. “In that day you will not question Me about anything. Truly, truly, I say to you, if you ask the Father for anything in My name, He will give it to you. Until now you have asked for nothing in My name; ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be made full.” Asking and receiving from God is one of the avenues that bring incredible joy. I believe that, too often, we get caught up in the discussion revolving around our undeserving nature and we are undeserving of salvation and these kinds of promises. But God, in HIs mercy, grace, and love, still makes them to us and desires to see us claim them, live in them, and simply take Him at His word. This is the victory for the Christian! We have access to heavenly resources that the rest of the world does not understand, cannot boast about, and certainly cannot claim. These words are for those who belong to Christ! 

So the issue is the same as it has been in every generation. Faith or unbelief? The promises are there! Are we living in them and discovering the awesome power of the Spirit of God in our lives or are we shrinking back into a mode of unbelief, expecting nothing but the ordinary in our lives? The choice is ours! Let’s live in the tremendous promises of God and see the victory!