{"id":8361,"date":"2004-12-20T18:14:59","date_gmt":"2004-12-20T23:14:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/?p=8361"},"modified":"2011-07-06T08:28:47","modified_gmt":"2011-07-06T13:28:47","slug":"4813","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2004\/12\/20\/4813\/","title":{"rendered":"God’s Promises Are More Than Just Words"},"content":{"rendered":"

EL CAJON, CA (December 20, 2004)\u00a0 – Editor’s note: In preparation for the\u00a0 Christmas observance, Covenant Communications is sharing seven\u00a0 devotionals that originally appeared in local church newsletters and are\u00a0 being published here by permission. The following comes from Craig\u00a0 Knudsen, pastor of Community Covenant Church.<\/em><\/p>\n

By Craig Knudsen<\/p>\n
“For with God nothing is impossible.” (Luke 1:37 in New Living\u00a0 Translation – words from the angel Gabriel to Mary regarding the Virgin\u00a0 Birth)<\/strong><\/p>\n
I want to alert you to a mistranslation that appears in most Bibles\u00a0 regarding the Christmas story.<\/p>\n
It hasn’t been corrected – except in the Amplified Bible – because\u00a0 people have gotten so used to hearing it that, if it was changed, there\u00a0 would be an uproar. But (in Luke 1:37) the word “nothing” is incorrect.\u00a0 The Greek word is ‘rama,’ which means “words spoken” or, more\u00a0 specifically in this case “God’s words spoken.”<\/p>\n
Here’s what Luke 1:37 should say: “For with God, no word shall be\u00a0 without power!”<\/em> Or it could be translated this way: “No word from\u00a0 God will be impossible to fulfill!”<\/em> And that was probably very\u00a0 reassuring to Mary’s ears . . . that whatever God says, they aren’t just\u00a0 empty words, but you can count on them happening, even if you can’t\u00a0 figure out how in the world He is going to pull it off.<\/p>\n
Another way we could read this text for us is, “For no word of God is\u00a0 without power!” In other words, any “word” from God will be accompanied\u00a0 by the appropriate POWER to see that it is executed. When God speaks His\u00a0 words, He commissions the Holy Spirit to perform. God will come through\u00a0 on what he says.<\/p>\n
This is good news for us, for when God makes a commitment to you or me,\u00a0 we can know it is not just verbs, adjectives and nouns flowing from His\u00a0 lips. God isn’t saying these words just so we can play with them. With\u00a0 His words comes the power of the Holy Spirit to make them true in your\u00a0 life. And so, God brings life into the dark womb of a teenage girl in\u00a0 order to work out deliverance for a lost and confused human race.<\/p>\n
I know that many of you have had some major life change over this past\u00a0 year. For some, Christmas will be a joyful time, a fun time. For others,\u00a0 this could be a Christmas of “firsts,” such as the first Christmas\u00a0 married, first Christmas with a child (or a second child), first\u00a0 Christmas without a child coming home, first Christmas without a spouse,\u00a0 maybe first Christmas with no presents because the dollars aren’t there.<\/p>\n
It’s when our circumstances are darker that we lean into the true\u00a0 translation of this sentence in Luke from Gabriel, “For no word of\u00a0 God is without power!”<\/em> I wonder what other promises you need to grab hold of in that spirit:<\/p>\n