God honors His promises to those who honor Him

By Greg Holt

“²⁸ And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”  Romans 8:28

(ICB)  ALL things work together for our good, pretty fantastic right?  Like all of God’s promises however, there is a condition to this promise He makes to us.  In order to obtain the promise, we must meet the required conditions.

First and most obvious, we must love God – God doesn’t hand out His favor and goodness to those who hate Him.  Second, we must be living a life that honors God, and not the world.

Too many want to grab a hold of God’s promises to us while ignoring the conditions that come with those promises.

One cannot say that they love and revere God while “earning” a living as a thief, a porn star, a mobster etc. and expect to reap the rewards of God’s promises.  Nor can you attend church on Sunday and live the remainder of the week just like the rest of the world does.  God does not honor that style of behavior.

^“1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.”  Romans 8:1

Romans 8:1 is yet another example of a verse with a promise – only those who quote it often leave off the end of the verse, namely this part: “who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.”  Again, living like the rest of the world does, that’s not going to fly to well with God.

It is important for God’s people to understand that in order to obtain the results promised by God, we must understand that there are conditions we are expected to meet.  This seems blindingly obvious, but considering the state of today’s Church, I don’t think it really is, obvious that is.

Just like salvation itself, it’s not enough to only believe in God, our actions must also indicate out trust in, and willingness to follow the Lord’s decrees.  Remember, the demons believe in God too, and you certainly won’t see them in heaven.