Promises of Future Blessings

 None of us can foretell the future. We don't even know what is going to happen for the rest of today. We can make plans, but we don't know if we will be able to see them come to fruition  God is the only One who knows the future. He sees everything at once, past present, and future. Therefore, He can see what we need before we even need it. He is all-powerful, too, so He can assure us of future blessings, and make it happen just like He said it would. Those kinds of promises are very special.

God gave one of those promises to the people who had returned to rebuild the Temple after the Exile. Haggai delivered the promise to them, once they had laid the foundation for the new Temple. (Haggai 2:19) "I am giving you a promise now while the seed is still in the barn. You have not yet harvested your grain and your grapevines, fig trees, pomegranates, and olive trees have not yet produced their crops. But from this day onward I will bless you." The seed was still in the barn, but God promised to bless the crops once they were planted, so they would have a bountiful harvest. What a blessing!

As Christians, we know that there are a lot of promises in the Bible. We need to cherish those promises when we read them. We need to change our lives, so that God can see that we are waiting for His promises to come true. That is really living by faith in God. Those promises are for everyone who believes in the Lord and in His Word. I guess we could call them general promises because of that. God loves to give us promises, and He always keeps His promises completely. We should rejoice in the Lord and in His promises all of the time.

Then, I believe there are "specific" promises that are given to us, as individual believers. Those promises are like what He gave Israel through Haggai. God gives us promises when we are faithful to do His will. He even goes so far as to promise future blessings on things we have not started to do yet. He makes these promises when He sees that we are being faithful, and we are going to complete the work He has for us. He loves to see our faithfulness, and those promises are rewards for our faithfulness. I pray that all of us will be faithful to God every day and receive His promises of future blessings.

Tomorrow, I intend to read Zechariah 1-3.