You Promised - Holding Tight to the Promises of God

by Barb Darbey

Have you ever gotten a direct word from God and then had it seem that you had to fight tooth and nail to get what He promised you? I have.

It was my second litter of puppies and thier mother's milk went bad a week and a half after they were born. Needless to say, they were in bad shape. Now this might seem a little strange to you, but God had promised me a strong, healthy litter; not just any litter, but one that would grow up to be a blessing to thier owners, thier community, and maybe even lead people to Christ. He also promised that for each puppy, there would be a soul won for Christ. Knowing full well ten puppies would equal ten souls, I was not about to give up easily. After all, He promised.

I stood firmly on that promise, for days, even to the point of telling him I was willing to "wrestle the angel" like Jacob did, even if it meant he had to break my hip in the process. Fortunately for me, God is not only faithful, he's merciful!

By their fourth week, the puppies were back on track and doing well. By ten weeks, you would never know they had had a problem.

Lately, as I look back on this ordeal, I wonder if the time spent with God crying "You promised" would have been better spent not crying, but standing on and quoting the scriptural promise that he is faithful. How much faster might the puppies have mended? Would there have been a second round of fighting for a few of the puppies? I'll leave that as food for thought with a recommendation: READ YOUR BIBLE. KNOW YOUR BIBLE. QUOTE THE SCRIPTURE.

As for me, I'm chalking this lesson up as a lesson in faith and understanding, knowing full well I'll probably need the experience later on.


A Few Verses to Stand on When You've Gotten a Promise:

Hebrews 10:23
"Let us hold fast to the profession of our faith without waivering; for he is faithful that promised."

Numbers 23:19
"God is not a man that he should lie."

Jeremiah 1:12
"I watch over my word to perform it."

Hebrews 6:18
"So God has given us both his promise and his oath. These two things are unchangeable because it is impossible for God to lie."

The Separation of Church and State

Politics and Religion
by Barb Darbey

Let's start this article off with some basics: There is no real separation between church and state as the statement is being used!

It was stated in a letter by Thomas Jefferson as "I contemplate with solemn reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should ‘make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,’ thus building a wall of separation between Church and State."

The "wall of separation" was not intended to keep religion out of politics, but to preserve the freedom of religion as stated in the First Amendment (“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof….”).

Let's keep in mind that this was during a time of recent separation from England, and was designed to prevent the governing body from forcing the religion that they have chosen on the peoples of this country.

Today, it is unfortunate that the "non-religious few" have taken so much from the "religious many". Perhaps more Christians need to stand up and lobby for thier religious freedoms instead of standing silently by and allowing others to make thier decisions for them.

After all, “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord….” (Psalm 33:12), right?

Links for more info:
Jefferson’s Wall of Separation Letter
Separation of Church and State: what does it really mean? *PDF file