Well, hey there, hello to ya and welcome to episode number 185 of The Burt (Not Ernie) Show, getting the promises of God into the people of God so that we can live in a state of belief, knowing and trusting that all God’s promises prove true. Today we are taking a look at Psalm 145, from the New Living Translation. I'm the Prayer Coordinator for Kerry Beck's Homeschool Summit in late July - click for details about the free ticket option & share this with your friends who homeschool! Let’s start by reading verses 3 and 4, since they give us a solid foundation to start with. Great is the LORD! He is most worthy of praise! No one can measure His greatness. Let each generation tell its children of Your mighty acts; let them proclaim Your power. Our God is great, He truly is. And He acts in greatness, doing great things and moving in great ways. He is most worthy of praise - literally, the most worthy of our praise and our time and our focus and our hearts. No one can measure His greatness. That is indeed a true statement. God’s greatness cannot be measured. Are we telling the next generation about God’s mighty acts? I mean, you could say this podcast has that express purpose, since I’m Generation X and many podcast listeners are from younger generations. When we pass along what we know about our God, talk about His mighty acts, what He has done in our lives, what we know about Him, and what the Bible says, then we make way for the next generation to proclaim His power. Let’s jump down to verses 8-9. The LORD is merciful and compassionate, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. The LORD is good to everyone. He showers compassion on all His creation. Here we find some promises, and these promises bring me hope and peace right now, in the place I’m living out my life. Let me speak these promises over you and your life today. The Lord is merciful and compassionate to you, He is slow to get angry with you, and He is filled with unfailing love for you. The Lord is good to everyone - and that includes you! He showers compassion on you. Your promises today are right here: God is merciful and compassionate to you, He is slow to get angry with you, He is filled with unfailing love for you, He is good to you, He showers, not sprinkles, but showers compassion on you. Verse 13 says this: For Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom. You rule throughout all generations. The LORD always keeps His promises; He is gracious in all He does. His kingdom is everlasting - so no matter what you feel like you are up against in this life, doesn’t it put things into perspective to remember that God’s kingdom is everlasting and all the drama, stress, darkness, evil, nonsense, junk in this life is very, very temporary. And knowing that our God rules always, throughout every and all generations, that is big comfort for us. He has not and will never abdicate His throne or His rule. Yes, there is one who rules this world, the prince of the power of the air, satan, that old devil, but his rule is truly miniscule as compared to the eternal rule of our God. For those who don’t know Jesus as their Lord, who are not living as disciples of Jesus, both knowing what He said and obeying what He said - John 14:15 and 1 John 2:3 are the Bible verses I’m referencing when I say that - this is not their promise. They are at the mercy of the evil one, and this life is the best it will ever be for them, because eternity without Jesus is actually hell, contrary to what a lot of people seem to choose to believe to their own detriment. He rules in this generation right now, and if He is your God, you love Him, you know Him, you serve Him, you obey Him, Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life for you, well, then these promises are your promises and you ought to believe them. It says God always keeps His promises. Is there any room in that sentence for you to say, “Well, He doesn’t always keep His promises…” without being basically on the verge of blasphemy? I’m pretty serious about this. What is it, when we say or think or believe things like that, in direct contradiction and opposition to the very word of God, the Bible, what is it if it isn’t calling God a liar, basically? Now I know you don’t think that’s what you’re doing, but nevertheless, that is what you’re saying. And He is not a liar, the devil is the liar and as Jesus said, the truth is not in him. Let’s not attribute to God what belongs only to Satan. I am pretty serious when I say that any implication that God is not who He says He is and has repeatedly down through the ages proven He is, any implication is bordering on blasphemy. Could it be that satan the liar tries to convince us to think that God is lying to us, holding on us? He isn’t. Even when we cannot begin to understand what is going on, God is still never lying to us and satan is still always, only lying to us. Jesus said lying is satan's native ...
