Let's take relationships as one example. In the initial stages, you're in love and promising to love each other forever. After a while things start to change. It could be you realise the relationship is no longer what you want; or you've changed and your dreams are no longer in harmony. Your partner could even pass away. That's what happens in the human dream where we appear to be separated and exploring what works for each individual; promises are made to be broken.
Although I don't follow any religion, I do enjoy reading passages from the Bible, which I believe has many God-given promises that are forever. In other words, just because the ONE/God made a promise 3,000 years ago to a particular group of people written about in the Bible doesn't mean that promise only applies to them. I believe that since there is only ONE, that group was simply an instrument receiving for all of us for all time. In order for a promise to be relevant to my own life experiences, I have to claim it for myself here and now. To claim is to believe in the promises and expect to experience them in my every day reality.
Here are a few promises I claim for myself now:
2: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: Genesis 12There are times when I haven't been feeling well and I've simply recalled God's promise about healing or remembered a healing miracle and it has done the job.
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1: The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
2: He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
3: He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
4: Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
5: Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
6: Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever. Psalm 23
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1: The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? Psalm 27
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1: God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Psalm 46
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9: Because thou hast made the LORD, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation;
10: There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.
11: For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.
12: They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone. Psalm 91
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1: Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name.
2: Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits:
3: Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases;
4: Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies;
5: Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle's. Psalm 103
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24: This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it. Psalm 118
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1: I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.
2: My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth.
3: He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber.
4: Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.
5: The LORD is thy keeper: the LORD is thy shade upon thy right hand.
6: The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night.
7: The LORD shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul.
8: The LORD shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore. Psalm 121
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28: Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding.
29: He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.
30: Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall:
31: But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint. Isaiah 40
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2: I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron:
3: And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the LORD, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel. Isaiah 45: 2
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1: Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.
2: Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. [...]
8: For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.
9: For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
10: For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater:
11: So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. Isaiah 55
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16: That he who blesseth himself in the earth shall bless himself in the God of truth; and he that sweareth in the earth shall swear by the God of truth; because the former troubles are forgotten, and because they are hid from mine eyes.
17: For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.
18: But be ye glad and rejoice for ever in that which I create: for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy.
19: And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people: and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying.
20: There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days: for the child shall die an hundred years old; but the sinner being an hundred years old shall be accursed.
21: And they shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them.
22: They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat: for as the days of a tree are the days of my people, and mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands.
23: They shall not labour in vain, nor bring forth for trouble; for they are the seed of the blessed of the LORD, and their offspring with them.
24: And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.
25: The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock: and dust shall be the serpent's meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the LORD. Isaiah 65
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7: Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:
8: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. Matthew 7
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24: Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them. Mark 11
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20: For the Father loveth the Son, and sheweth him all things that himself doeth: and he will shew him greater works than these, that ye may marvel. John 5
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12: Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. John 14
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9: But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. 1 Corinthians 2
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20: Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us. Ephesians 3
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13: For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. Philippians 2: 13
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17: Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. James 1: 17
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2: Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth. 3 John 1
One time I woke up in the middle of the night and felt an invisible hand trying to throttle me. When I recalled part of Psalm 23: "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil," the hand instantly left me.
I am aware that God's promises are not just in Scriptures but appear through many different instruments. This is when I have to listen to my heart. When something resonates as true, I see it as another God-given promise that I can claim for myself here and now.
I believe in the promises of God which are for all time and can NEVER be broken.
Enocia
Related articles: Promises, Promises! - Part 2; Nothing New Under the Sun; The Greatest Day of My Life; Living in a Story; God Helps Those Who Help Themselves - Revisited; The Nature of the ONE; The Importance of Self-Belief; When One is Blessed, All is Blessed; Making the Good Old Days Last Forever; Activating Love - Revisited; Listen to Your Heart; Living Under Grace - Revisited; As Light as a Feather; The Temple of God; Being Here Now; Practical Spirituality; Of Spirit and Claiming Your Spirit Passport; How I Conquered Fear with Belief; Nice Words and So What?
