THE PROMISES OF GOD ARE CONDITIONAL!
Kay Keith Peebles 2/4/22 22.04
We know that the love of God is unconditional. Scripture confirms this truth over and over. (See Romans 5:8). What some do not realize is many of His promises ARE conditional! Even some prophetic words are conditional. We often tend to grab the good or bad and ignore the conditions laid out for their fulfillment. Many believe true prophetic words are given by false prophets because they are not fulfilled. Sadly, some blame God when their prophetic promise isn’t fulfilled. It is important for us to read and hear clearly to avoid disappointment down the road.
I recently posted a word HOLD FAST TO THE PROMISE. You can find it on the blog page at our website Thykingdom.com. I presented testimony of a promise the Lord gave me in 1980 and 1988 giving the details of how the Lord has fulfilled it over the years. When the Lord gives a promise or a prophetic word, He has expectations on our behalf to partner with Him to bring it to pass. We do nothing great, our job is to simply obey His instructions each step of the way and never give up or let go of the promise. He is the one and only one who can bring it to pass.
Right now our nation is in a spiritual upheaval. The atmosphere is filled with anger, hatred, accusations, blame, injustice, perversion, violence and murder. The Lord gave a prophetic promise to Israel when they found themselves in the same condition which is still a viable promise for us today.
“IF My people (Christians, not the unsaved) who are called by My name will humble themselves (condition), and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways (repent and ask for mercy) (condition), then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land (promise).” 2 Chronicles 7:14. (Emphasis added). Totally conditional!
Listen to the words Jesus spoke to His disciples and all Christians to follow: “He who has My commandments and keeps them (condition), it is he who loves Me (condition) and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father and I will love him and manifest Myself to him (promise).” John 14:21. This scripture means if we really love the Lord and worship Him, obedience is the proof of our love for Him. It is the fruit of our genuine love for God.
“Abide in Me (condition), and I in you (promise). As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me (condition). I am the vine, you are the branches, he who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. IF anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned (warning). IF you abide in Me and My words abide in you (condition), you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you…IF you keep My commandments (condition), you will abide in My love (promise), just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.” John 15:4-7, 10. God will always love us, He is love; but for us to abide in His love, meaning we feel and experience His love consistently, we must abide in Him.
If we abide in Him, then He will abide in us! He is the miracle worker but we have a part to play by allowing Him to work in and through us. Jesus left us in charge to allow His Kingdom to come on earth. If we do not cooperate with Him, His Kingdom cannot do what He wants to do in us and those around us. It is undeniable we have a part to play when the Lord gives a Word or a Promise.
God gave a promise to Abraham but Abraham and Sarah had to keep the faith so that His word would come to pass. Hebrews 11 confirms they stood fast, although they were not perfect, and the Lord gave them Isaac and made a nation out of his descendants.
The Lord gave a promise to Joseph through two dreams. Joseph had no idea how greatly the devil would fight against him for those dreams to come to pass. He went through crisis after crisis, injustice after injustice but kept the faith that he would see God’s promise completed. Through his perseverance, Joseph became second in command under Pharaoh and the Lord used him to protect and multiply Israel which was also a part of Abraham’s promise! All believers in Jesus, Israel’s Messiah are also a part of Abraham’s promise.
“Because the patriarchs (Joseph’s brothers)were jealous of Joseph, they sold him as a slave into Egypt. But God was with him and rescued him from all his troubles. He gave Joseph wisdom and enabled him to gain the goodwill of Pharaoh king of Egypt. So Pharaoh made him ruler over Egypt and all his palace.” Acts 7:9-10. (Emphasis mine). Joseph never gave up on God!
Abraham and Joseph persevered to the end because the Lord enabled them to succeed. As they kept their relationship with God fresh and vibrant, the Lord empowered them to stand strong all those years they waited for the promise to come to pass. Abraham waited 25 years from God’s first mention of descendants to the day Isaac was born. Joseph went through trials for 13 years before he experienced his family bowing down to him because of his high position in Egypt. See Genesis Chapters 42-48. In addition, Moses waited 40 years on the back side of the desert and Jesus waited 30 years before He began His ministry. David waited almost 15 years to become king of Israel and during that time he was chased by king Saul who wanted to kill him.
These are some promises of God which are clearly conditional:
“The LORD’s curse is on the house of the wicked, but He blesses the home (promise) of the righteous (condition). He mocks proud mockers but shows favor (promise) to the humble and oppressed (condition). The wise inherit honor, but fools get only shame.” Proverbs 3:33-35.
Psalm 84:11. “For the LORD God is a sun and a shield (promise); the LORD bestows favor and honor (promise); no good thing does He withhold from those whose walk is blameless (condition).”
You can clearly see we have a responsibility to walk in righteousness before the Lord and blessings follow. It is not works. It is our responsibility. He gave us everything, including His very life to save us. In exchange, we give Him everything, including our life. That is true salvation. Forgiving others and asking for forgiveness is a huge responsibility a believer has in order to walk in righteousness. Forgiveness is connected to our offerings and our healing according to scripture. See Matthew 5:23.
“So do not worry (condition), saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness (condition), and all these things will be given to you aswell (promise).” Matthew 6:31-33.
Hebrews Chapter 11 is God’s Hall of Fame for many of those who walked in faith and perseverance. He honors several of the Bible’s Patriarchs for their faith and perseverance. We know that the Lord gives us the gift of faith. Ephesians 2:8 declares: For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” God gives us faith to believe. It is a gift from the Lord. Everyone who believes in Him unto salvation receives this gift because it takes faith to believe in Him.
Our faith should increase over the years because our challenges will require our standing to the end. It grows by our hearing the Word of God through studying, reading and being faithful to worship together with the body of Christ. We need to continually grow in faith because the enemy does not give up once we’re saved. In fact, he works even harder trying to get us to become discouraged and give up the faith!
Enjoy these encouraging scriptures regarding the promises of God and standing firm to the end!
“Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering , for He who promised is faithful.” Hebrews 10:23.
“For He satisfies the longing soul, and fills the hungry soul with goodness .” Psalm 107:9.
“Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead. I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:13-15.
“My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.” James 1:2-4.
“Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:1-2
“For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin.” Hebrews 1:3-4.
I close with the Apostle Paul’s admonition to his spiritual son, found in 1 Timothy 1:18-19. “This charge and admonition I commit in trust to you, Timothy, my son, in accordance with prophetic intimations which I formerly received concerning you, so that inspired and aided by them you may wage the good warfare, holding fast to faith (that leaning of the entire human personality on God in absolute trust and confidence) having a good (clear) conscience. By rejecting and thrusting from them [their conscience], some individuals have made shipwreck of their faith…” It is tragic to run a race only to become disqualified just before we reach the finish line. Often, our opponents (competition, the enemy) are the closest to us as we near the last turn of the race where the finish line is in clear view. May we not succumb to defeat!
We have been given a glorious and everlasting Covenant with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Jesus, as a man, having laid aside His divine privileges, persevered to the end, taking our judgment and chastisement upon Him in order to redeem us. He is more than able to give us the strength to do the same!
“But you, beloved, build yourselves up [founded] on your most holy faith [make progress, rise like an edifice higher and higher], praying in the Holy Spirit; guard and keep yourselves in the love of God; expect and patiently wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah)—[which will bring you] into life eternal. And refute [so as to] save others, snatching out of [the] fire; on others take pity [but] with fear, loathing even the garment spotted by the flesh and polluted by their sensuality. Now to Him Who is able to keep you without stumbling or slipping or falling, and to present [you] unblemished (blameless and faultless) before the presence of His glory in triumphant joy and exultation [with unspeakable, ecstatic delight].” Jude 20-24.
The Lord is faithful to fulfill His promises to us. May we be faithful to fulfill our obligations to Him in order to receive them in full because He Who promised is faithful!
