Tuesday Treasures: The Treasure of His Promise

What things has the Lord said to you that, like Mary, you’ve treasured in your heart? These are things that aren’t to be shared flippantly or with just anybody. It doesn’t mean that the things the Lord has spoken are not true or will not come to pass—it’s just that these things are precious and need to be protected.

I think this may be what God is referring to in 2^nd Peter 1—as Peter talks about God’s “very great and precious promises,” indicating that they come to us through a) God’s divine power; and b) our knowledge of Him. Verses 3 and 4: “His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.”

What is the purpose of these promises? So that we may participate in the divine nature.  Certainly, we are given a divine nature when we profess faith in Christ—but I also believe that we grow in this nature over time, as we know Christ more and more—thus, the process of maturity. Becoming all we were designed to be as “children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham's offspring” (Romans 9:8b).

Peter wanted those who were in Christ to become mature in Him, so he went on to admonish them to add to their faith “goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness;  and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love” (verses 5b-7).

All these things are needed in order for each of us to fulfill our “promise.” I believe God put a promise in each of us when He created us—a destiny—the plan He had for us from before the creation of the world. And our destiny is always “too big” for us. We need his divine power and a close, intimate relationship with Him in order to carry it out.

The enemy will come against us, and we will have to fight for that promise. Thus, perseverance, through which we become more like Him—and as we do, we must put love for others at the forefront. God wants us to be a blessing—that is a big part of why we each carry the promise that we do—to be unique expressions of His multi-faceted love to the world.

People may know parts of our promise at different times—but the whole of it—that’s between the Father and us. If we start sharing randomly every little detail of what God shows us, a few things can happen: a) pride can set in; b)others may see us as prideful, even if we are not; c) we can actually derail ourselves from God’s plan as others give us their ideas and interpretations of what we should do.

I am not saying that input is always a bad idea—what I am saying is that we must be sure of our calling—and that we hear, first and foremost, from the Lord. That is why we must guard His promises with wisdom and humility. Not false humility—where we are always confessing how low we are, never able to accomplish anything great. I’m talking about true humility, in which we follow His leading in living out each part of our destiny, with Holy Spirit boldness and purpose—as He enables us, with a heart to glorify Him.

Remember when Joseph shared his promise? His brothers became enraged that he would be so presumptuous—Joseph didn’t take care to guard the promise. However, God worked in his heart and he kept it right. And so God worked all things together for good in Joseph’s life—and in the lives of an entire people. God is a redeeming God.

So ask the Lord what treasures of your promise He might wish to share with you. Take His words seriously. Ask Him questions. Ponder. Seek Him. Guard your heart. There is much more He has for you than you could ever imagine; in fact, you are a promise—and you’ve been given “the Holy Spirit of promise” (Ephesians 1:13) to equip you to fulfill all that you were created to be.