Always True
God’s 5 Promises When Life Is Hard
by James MacDonald
Moody Publishers, Chicago, 2011. 151 pages.
This is one of those bread-and-butter good spiritual reminders books. James MacDonald goes over five promises from God that you can always count on.
This makes good reading to slowly go through in your devotional times, and that’s how I was approaching it. The first four promises were nice steadying, comforting, encouraging reading.
Promise #1: God Is Always With Me.
I Will Not Fear.Promise #2: God Is Always in Control.
I Will Not Doubt.Promise #3: God Is Always Good.
I Will Not Despair.Promise #4: God Is Always Watching.
I Will Not Falter.
Those were great, they were uplifting, and it encouraged me to read about them. But the fifth promise blew me away.
Here’s the deal. Back in 2006, when I first learned that my husband had filed for divorce, and I was completely devastated, God gave me this verse:
“If anyone does attack you, it will not be my doing;
whoever attacks you will surrender to you. . . .
No weapon forged against you will prevail,
and you will refute every tongue that accuses you.
This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord,
and this is their vindication from me,” declares the Lord.— Isaiah 54:15, 17 (NIV)
Now, over the years that followed, whenever my husband would mention the word lawyer or threaten me with legal action, this verse would come up, somehow or other. It happened over and over and over again.
Eventually we did get divorced, but last April there was one part of the agreement my ex-husband had not complied with. I didn’t want to do it, but I felt I had to take him to court. My lawyer filed a motion for him to comply and it went to court in April, and things got taken care of, and I was awarded court costs.
The next morning, I opened up this book to read a devotional chapter. Here’s what jumped out at me, in a highlighted box as the chapter heading:
Promise #5: GOD IS ALWAYS VICTORIOUS
(I will not fail)“No weapon formed against you shall prosper, and every tongue which rises against you in judgment you shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is from Me,” says the Lord. Isaiah 54:17 (NKJV)
Yes, in that moment, I felt very loved, very protected, very cared for, and very noticed.
James MacDonald sums it up in a heading for this chapter:
Jesus Christ the Lord, who is Himself all the Promises of God, will be forever victorious. I’ve read to the end of the Book, and God wins.
This book is, plain and simple, a book of encouragement; a book to cheer you on as you overcome. Here’s another statement he makes that I love:
If we have to think hard to come up with God’s blessings, we must be walking around with our eyes firmly shut, our ears closed, and our hearts hard.
Read this book if you can use some encouragement and some reminders of God’s faithfulness.
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Source: This review is based on my own copy, purchased through Crossings Book Club.
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