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A promise a day keeps the devil away—I believe that is true. So here are seven promises to get you started for the week ahead—a week where you can know victory over all the onslaughts that the enemy throws your way. Then you can easily find seven more and keep doing this each week.
Our promise for Sunday is Isaiah 54:10:
“Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed,” says the Lord, who has compassion on you.
Seems like this year behind us has shaken our foundations, doesn’t it? Our normal lives have been turned upside down, and we don’t know even yet what our new normal is going to look like. Many of our freedoms have been taken from us, and we’ve been isolated and frightened a lot. Sure feels like our mountains are shaking and the hills we once knew and loved have been removed.
Could that be where you are? Well, here’s God’s promise for you for Sunday: His unfailing love has not been and never will be shaken and nothing or no one can take his peace from you. The Lord, the Creator of the universe, has compassion on you. Claim it because it is true. It is his promise to you and his promises never fail. For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ, as we read in 2 Corinthians 1:20.
Here’s your promise for Monday: 2 Thessalonians 3:3:
But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen you and protect you from the evil one.
I said that a promise a day would keep the devil away, right? So, here is the promise you can claim for protection from the evil one. The Lord will strengthen you.
Do you feel like your strength is about gone? Maybe you’ve been defeated lately by some temptation, some sin, and time and again your good intentions to resist the devil have just failed you. Here’s your promise for Monday: The Lord is faithful and he will give you the strength and will protect you from the evil one. You’ve failed because you don’t have the strength in yourself—none of us do. So, just claim this promise: God you are faithful; please strengthen me and protect me from all those arrows that the devil keeps sending my way. Take this promise with you on Monday; quote it and claim it. It’s there for you.
But what about Tuesday? Is there a promise for you on Tuesday? Absolutely: Deuteronomy 31:6:
Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.
Fear is usually at the root of most of our concerns, is it not? That’s why over and over and over in scripture God says to his people, to you and me, “Do not be afraid.” He speaks to us as a loving parent whose child is afraid of the dark. That parent knows there is no need for fear, but she also knows that her child is nonetheless afraid of it. So, she says with all tenderness and care, “Don’t be afraid.”
Well, you have a heavenly Father who speaks to you in his compassion and love for you: There’s no need for you to be afraid. I’m going with you. I will always be with you. Nothing can separate you from me. Be strong; don’t be afraid. What are you facing that has you gripped by fear? Who has terrified you by lies and threats? On this day claim this promise—you are not alone, never ever. And if the Lord is for you, who can be against you? You have every reason to be strong and courageous because you have this promise from the true God, the only God. Take it as yours.
Now you’re at mid-week, Wednesday. Sometimes Wednesdays seem interminable, don’t they? The weekend seems a long way off, and the doldrums set in. You need a promise for Wednesday, and here it is from Isaiah 58:11:
The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.
Even in your dry moments, even on those days when your spirits are low and you are discouraged—even in a place that is sun-scorched, right there where you may not want to be, the Lord will satisfy you and put springs of his life-giving water inside you.
If life seems joyless and maybe even purposeless to you right now, take this promise from Isaiah 58:11 and make it your own. This is your Wednesday promise, but it works every day of every week. In the midst of your desert, the Lord will make you a garden—a well-watered garden—springing up right there where you are. Claim this promise for yourself.
Here is your Thursday promise: John 5:24:
Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life.
Jesus clearly tells us how to know that we have eternal life. We must confess our sins, believe he and only he is the way to God, and trust his death, burial and resurrection as our redemption. Here’s the promise Jesus gives you and me: if you have heard his word and believed God who sent him, you have eternal life and your sins will not condemn you.
Do you have any doubts about your salvation? If you have done what Jesus told you to do—confessed your sins and believed in him—this promise is for you. Jesus says you have crossed over from death to life. And furthermore, no one can pluck you out of his hands, and nothing can separate you from his love. This is your Thursday promise. Repeat it, believe it. It’s for you.
Your Friday promise is Proverbs 2:6-7a:
For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding. He holds success in store for the upright, he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless….
God promises to give you wisdom, knowledge and understanding. And he will hold success in store for you as you walk with him in purity and love.
Maybe you’re struggling with your career, or it could be you’re in school and that is proving difficult. Claim this promise that the Lord will give you wisdom. He can make you wise. I have prayed for wisdom for years, and I remember once after I made a decision, I realized it was a good decision. I have to tell you that many of my decisions made on my own without God’s wisdom have been really bad, so recognizing a good decision was a big deal for me. And as I thought about it, the Spirit of God reminded me – You’ve been praying for wisdom and God answers prayer. You probably don’t think of yourself as wise, but here’s God’s promise for you today: Walk with God, hold fast to him, and he will give you wisdom. He will give you success. Claim it.
Our last day—Saturday—and here’s the promise in John 14:27 from our Lord Jesus Christ:
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
No better words were ever spoken by our Lord, were they? He gives you peace; his peace, lasting peace, and therefore you have no reason to be troubled or afraid.
Won’t you take this promise and live in its truth? In a world that is troubled on every hand, with people all around us who are frightened like never before, we can claim this promise of peace from our Lord and take that witness to a world in desperate need of peace. Notice that the peace of Jesus is not like other kinds of peace. The world’s peace is flimsy and temporary. It never lives up to its promise. We think that having this or that will give us peace. Or when we reach a certain success, that will give us peace. When we find the right person, he or she will give us peace. Jesus makes it clear that he gives peace that the world cannot give you. His peace is permanent and lasting, because he is our peace. Claim that promise and live in its joy.
Well, I’ve given you seven promises for a week, one for each day. Or you can claim them all every day. There are tons more in the Bible and you’ll find one that touches your exact need and gives you hope and joy and endurance and. . . peace.
As you claim these and other promises, remember not to doubt, for we read in Hebrews 10:23:
Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.
Our God is faithful. We are in turbulent times, and many are facing troubles and challenges like
never before. More than ever we need to cling to the promises of God. I remember an old hymn we sang when I was a kid, Standing on the Promises, and one verse says:
Standing on the promises that cannot fail,
When the howling storms of doubt and fear assail,
By the living Word of God I shall prevail,
Standing on the promises of God.
You can prevail—you can make it because the promises of God are true and he is faithful.
And 2 Corinthians 7:1 reminds us:
Therefore, since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.
As you stand on God’s promises—these seven and all the thousands of others—remember that since you have all these promises, since you have a God who cares for you personally, and because you have a Savior who paid the price for your redemption and promises you eternal life—since you have all these promises, it should cause you to get rid of anything that is contaminating your body and spirit. Anything in your life which stands between you and God, spoiling your fellowship, contaminating your mind and spirit, I pray you will ask God to purify you from it this very day.
I said that a promise a day keeps the devil away, and that is true because when you stand on a promise of God and you refuse to believe the devil’s lies, he is defeated. James 4:7 says, Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. He is not nearly as strong as he wants you to believe he is. He is a bully and a liar and his aim is to defeat you every day. But if you stand on the promises of God, and you resist him, submitting yourself to God, he will go; he has to because God has promised it.
Paul wrote to the Ephesians not to give the devil a foothold. And when you claim a promise a day, that goes a long way toward shutting the door on his foot. So, what we’ve done is prepared a handout for you with these seven promises, just to help you remember to claim a promise a day. Print out the promise sheet, take it with you all week, and put this new habit into your life of claiming a promise a day. This is a win-win any way you look at it, and I hope you’ll take this challenge. Remember, a promise a day keeps the devil away.