Prioritising the Promise

Scriptures:
Romans 4
Hebrews 11:1
Ephesians 3:20
Psalm 23:5
Genesis 15:6

“We become what we most consistently consume.”

Romans 4 presents a bold and freeing truth: God’s promises are not earned by our performance, but received through faith. In a world obsessed with output, statistics, and status, Paul’s words stop us in our tracks: “It was not through the law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise… but through the righteousness that comes by faith.” (Romans 4:13)

Faith is the delivery system of heaven. And according to Scripture, it’s not based on our perfection, but God’s promise.

Faith Feeds on Promise, Not Performance

We live in a culture that trains us to measure our worth by how much we can prove. The danger is that this mentality creeps into our faith. We think, “If I read enough, serve enough, give enough—maybe then God will move.” But the gospel flips that equation. God moved first. We respond in faith, not to earn, but to receive.

Abraham’s story reminds us that even when his physical body weakened, his faith strengthened. His hope wasn’t in his ability to change the circumstance, but in God’s ability to fulfill His promise.

In our world, faith often feels like foolishness. But heaven’s math is different. It says: believe when it looks barren. Trust when nothing makes sense. Because “God… gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were.” (Romans 4:17)

So what are you feeding? Your performance? Or His promise?

Hope Over History

The Scripture says, “Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed.” This isn’t poetic fluff—it’s a picture of a man with a dead body, a barren wife, and a vibrant faith. He had every reason to give up, yet he fed on hope, not history.

Hope is dangerous in the best way. It refuses to be limited by what has been and dares to believe in what could be. It trades nostalgia for vision. Where others recall the “good old days,” faith-filled people look ahead to God’s greater days.

In your story, history may hold pain or disappointment. It may feel safer to stay in the past than to risk trusting for the future. But feeding on hope means saying: “My story is now part of His story. My past may explain me, but it doesn’t define me.”

Magnify His Ability, Not Your Limitations

We’ve all had moments where we measure our own ability and feel the pressure rising. Do I have what it takes? Can I handle this? Will I make it through? But that’s the wrong question. The right question is: What does this moment require of God?

When we stop obsessing over our strength and start magnifying His, everything changes. That’s what Abraham did. And that’s what we’re invited to do too.

Because God is not limited by our limitations. He is able to do “exceedingly and abundantly above all we can ask, think or imagine” (Ephesians 3:20). And that’s not a motivational phrase—it’s a faith reality.

The Crowd-Out Effect:

You can’t starve yourself into goodness. Just like fad diets that cut out joy and end in a crash, legalistic Christianity burns out the soul. The better way is what some call the “crowd-out effect”: instead of cutting out everything bad all at once, you simply start adding more of what’s good.

Instead of trying to fix everything in a day, just take one small step toward God’s promise: a prayer, a declaration, a generous act, a worship moment. And slowly but surely, grace begins to crowd out everything that doesn’t belong.

Because what you feed grows. And what you starve dies.

So let your soul feast on the goodness of God. Feed your heart the promises of Scripture. Nourish your spirit with hope. And don’t just wait for evidence—walk by faith.