Power in His Promises

Power in His Promises

by Ted Webb

October/November/December 2016

In 2011 our Lord emphasized, “The time is even more urgent than ever before for the Quorums and Orders to more fully magnify their callings,” (Doctrine and Covenants R-156:3a), which recognized that the signs of the times spoken of in Doctrine and Covenants R-150 are upon us. The decline in morality and political upheaval have not only increased in the world, but also in the Promised Land, and more people and nations have been confronted with economic adversity and natural calamities. It is now more important than ever for those called specifically to reach out (the apostles, seventy, and traveling elders), to heed the call to “…move out in great faith, spreading the word to all who will hear, preparing them for the day when they will come to Zion.” (D&C R-150:4b)

Preparation encompasses many aspects of our daily life. It asks us to change or give up things that we may have long held on to. Asking the Lord to show us our weaknesses, and then being willing to repent and replace that sin with God’s will, starts the preparation. The twelve and seventy must continue to preach the gospel with great enthusiasm and reach out to all who will listen.

The signs tell us that times are bad, but we all must hear and come to understand God’s love for us so that we might reflect it back to our neighbor. We must come to know the promises that our Father and His Son have made and sealed with those who believe in them. Remember “… my word shall not fail, neither will my promises, for the foundation of the Lord standeth sure.” (D&C 140:5d). Our preparation must include prayer and study to know the promises that make up the foundation of the gospel and to recognize the signs of the times that indicate the impending fulfillment of those promises.

Promises have been made for centuries to the suffering, sick, fearful, fallen, doubting, and dying. Today we live in a world of broken promises and shattered dreams. People seem to never be who or what they appear to be.

QUESTION: Is there anyone out there who is what he claims to be?

ANSWER: Numbers 23:19:

“God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent; hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?”

Seldom, if ever, do we find such a person in this world. God is one hundred percent faithful, and patient one hundred percent of the time. To say that God is faithful goes to the very core of who God really is. He keeps His word because if He didn’t, He wouldn’t be God! Because God is faithful, there are three certainties we can lean upon at all times:

1. Every trial has a purpose

2. Every promise will be kept (Joshua 21: 43-45)

3. Every word shall be fulfilled (D&C 140:5d)

Lewis Sperry Chafer, an American theologian, said: “He [God] not only advances and confirms that which is true, but in faithfulness abides by his promises, and executes every threat or warning he has made.”

In other words, the Lord says what He means and means what He says, and therefore does everything He says He will do. He does not fail, forget, falter, or vacillate. If He says it, He means it, and you can stake your life on it. There was, is, and always will be power in His promises.