I want you to recognize that all of My promises are sealed and fulfilled through My Son, and those promises made to your father Abraham, as you see them recorded in this portion, had in view not merely a temporary and earthly fulfillment but an ultimate and lasting fulfillment through My Son.

I want you to recognize that when it says that all of those who have faith are the true sons of Abraham that this is the fulfillment in the fullest sense of My promise when I said to Abraham, “Look up at the heavens and count the stars if you can. Even so will your offspring be.” And also when I declared to him that he should not only be the father of a great nation but I would also make him the father of many nations. These promises do not merely refer to the natural offspring but also to those who are the children of faith. But I want you to observe something very important regarding the fulfillment of these promises, for you see that in each of them there were obstacles, opposition, and what according to man’s reckoning would be great delays in time. You see that the promise of a son coming from his own body was greatly tested by his advanced age as well as Sarah’s dead womb, and in addition to these tests there was the delay of time that also tested both Abraham and Sarah’s faith very greatly. You see that even the sacrifice that I commanded as a means of confirming the covenant was attacked by birds of prey so that Abraham had to drive them away. Thus, even the very confirmation of My covenant was opposed. You see that the formation of the nation itself was accomplished over four hundred years and through much trial and suffering. Also the promise of the inheritance of the land itself was to be accomplished through much conflict, for those peoples which inhabited the land had to be driven out before possession could be achieved. What would I have you understand from all of this? I would have you recognize and embrace in your hearts that each of My promises requires the kind of faith that will not only believe for their fulfillment but will endure and persevere through the trials and testings that attend their fulfillment whether they be delays in time, according to man’s reckoning, or a fulfillment which defies all natural possibilities, or conflict with enemies that seem relentless and overpowering. I say these things to you so that you will not lose heart concerning My promises when you experience the trials and the testings that inevitably attend their fulfillment. That you, with your father Abraham, will against all hope, in hope believe, that you will not waver through unbelief but be strengthened in your faith and give glory to Me, being fully persuaded that I have the power to do what I promised no matter how great the obstacles may seem to be.

Tags: God Confident, Promises, Trial Trust

Here you see a most glorious picture and an awesome and terrible one side by side. Here you see the city and the surrounding country assaulted and besieged by forces too powerful for her. But you see that I have declared My purpose, and those forces are unable to overcome the city and the surrounding country. But I want you to look more closely and see an even greater work, for the deliverance is not merely outward against the attacking enemy, but is in the hearts of the people as well. You see how their hearts are changed and that there is true and deep repentance because it has been revealed to them that their resistance and rejection of My Son is in truth resistance and rejection of Me. It says, “They will look on Me, the one whom they have pierced and yet they will mourn for Him as one mourns for an only Son.” You see that the leaders gain understanding and they know that it is of Me and not of themselves. It is because of this that they become to the nations that surround them like a consuming fire.

But you see also that I declare that I will bring them into the fire, not to destroy them but rather to refine them so that they will call on My name from the heart and in truth. Now there are many words being spoken today about this city and this land, and there are many who are troubled about these things which are happening. But I would not have you to be troubled, even though you may not understand exactly how these words that I have given through My servant Zechariah will be fulfilled completely. Yet I would have you know that what you read here is to be the foundation of your hope and not the surmising and the speculations of men. If indeed your hope is in what I have said you will not be moved, you will not be deeply troubled, you will not be confused or overwhelmed. You might say to Me, “But Father, what if that which you have promised here is not for these days but for a far off day?” Then I would say to you, “Did I not give these words long ago, and have not many years and many trials passed since them, and yet were not these words intended to comfort and encourage those who would trust in Me? Has not My word declared that many of them did not live to see the fulfillment of the promise, but nevertheless because their hope was fixed securely in Me they were sustained by the promise? So may it be with you and with all of those who would fix their hearts steadfastly upon My promise and thus you shall find your peace, even in these days and always.

Tags: End Times, God Confident, God Purpose, Heart Change