God's Promises for Men (Paperback)

Chapter One

God's Plan for
Men Is ...

To Worship God

    And you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day. Then it shall be, if you by any means forget the Lord your God, and follow other gods, and serve them and worship them, I testify against you this day that you shall surely perish.

Deuteronomy 8:18-19

    God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.

John 4:24

For the Lord is the great God, And the great King above all gods. In His hand are the deep places of the earth; The heights of the hills are His also. The sea is His, for He made it; And His hands formed the dry land. Oh come, let us worship and bow down; Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker. For He is our God, And we are the people of His pasture, And the sheep of His hand.

Psalm 95:3-7

    The world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.

1 John 2:17

The Lord is great and greatly to be praised; He is to be feared above all gods. Give to the Lord the glory due His name; Bring an offering, and come into His courts. Oh, worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness! Tremble before Him, all the earth.

Psalm 96:4, 8-9

    Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come; and worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water.

Revelation 14:7

    Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

    For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls.

Hebrews 12:2-3

    Now I, John, saw and heard these things. And when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel who showed me these things.

    Then he said to me, "See that you do not do that. For I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren the prophets, and of those who keep the words of this book. Worship God."

Revelation 22:8-9

Exalt the Lord our God, And worship at His footstool— He is holy.

Exalt the Lord our God, And worship at His holy hill; For the Lord our God is holy.

Psalm 99:5, 9

    Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord.

    We are the circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.

Philippians 3:1a, 3

To Obey God's Word

    From there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul. When you are in distress, and all these things come upon you in the latter days, when you turn to the Lord your God and obey His voice (for the Lord your God is a merciful God), He will not forsake you nor destroy you, nor forget the covenant of your fathers which He swore to them.

Deuteronomy 4:29-31

    Jesus answered him, saying, "It is written, `Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.'"

Luke 4:4

As for God, His way is perfect; The word of the Lord is proven; He is a shield to all who trust in Him.

Psalm 18:30

    Oh, that they had such a heart in them that they would fear Me and always keep all My commandments, that it might be well with them and with their children forever!

Deuteronomy 5:29

    Whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.

Romans 15:4

    The word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

Hebrews 4:12

    As newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby.

1 Peter 2:2

The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul;
The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple;
The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart;
The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.

Psalm 19:7-8

I understand more than the ancients, Because I keep Your precepts. I have restrained my feet from every evil way, That I may keep Your word.

Psalm 119:100-101

    You shall observe My judgments and keep My ordinances, to walk in them: I am the Lord your God.

Leviticus 18:4

    Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

James 4:8

As for God, His way is perfect; The word of the Lord is proven; He is a shield to all who trust in Him.

Psalm 18:30

To Come to God in Prayer

    Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.

Matthew 7:7-8

    Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:6-7

    And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.

Matthew 21:22

    Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

    If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

2 Chronicles 7:14

    Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven.

Matthew 18:19

    Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints.

Ephesians 6:18

Hear a just cause, O Lord, Attend to my cry; Give ear to my prayer which is not from deceitful lips.

Psalm 17:1

For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, And His ears are open to their prayers; But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.

1 Peter 3:12

Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness! You have relieved me in my distress; Have mercy on me, and hear my prayer.

Psalm 4:1

To Listen to the Holy Spirit

    As His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

2 Peter 1:3-4

But those who wait on the Lord Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.

Isaiah 40:31

    But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. And those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

Galatians 5:22-25

Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, "This is the way, walk in it," Whenever you turn to the right hand Or whenever you turn to the left.

Isaiah 30:21

    If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.

    If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.

    But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.

John 14:14, 15-18, 26

    Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.

    However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.

John 16:7, 13

    Being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, "which," He said, "you have heard from Me; for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now."

    "But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."

Acts 1:4-5, 8

    For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!

Luke 11:10-13

    For it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.

Philippians 2:13

Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.

    But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. These things we also speak, not in words which man's wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

1 Corinthians 2:9-14

    Who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

    Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.

2 Corinthians 3:6, 17-18

    If the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.

    The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.

    For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

    Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.

Romans 8:11, 16-18, 26-27

God's Plan for Men Is ...
    1. To Worship God................................................2
    2. To Obey God's Word............................................5
    3. To Come to God in Prayer......................................8
    4. To Listen to the Holy Spirit.................................10
God Freely Gives to Men ...
    1. Eternal Hope for Life........................................16
    2. Wisdom for Each Day..........................................20
    3. Victory Over Sin.............................................25
    4. Peace in Troubled Times......................................30
    5. Power to Defeat Their Deepest Fears..........................33
    6. Courage to Be Men of Integrity...............................37
God Asks a Man to ...
    1. Witness to the Lost..........................................42
    2. Love His Neighbor............................................46
    3. Reach Out to the Poor and Homeless...........................50
    4. Trust God....................................................55
    5. Honor and Support His Church and Pastor......................58
God Gives a Man Strength When ...
    1. He Comforts His Loved Ones...................................64
    2. He Feels Defeated and Powerless..............................68
    3. A Member of His Family Dies..................................73
    4. He Is Angry and Needs Peace..................................76
    5. His Loved Ones Grow Apart....................................78
God Challenges a Man to ...
    1. Grow in His Christian Walk...................................82
    2. Deal Honestly with Others....................................86
    3. Ask Forgiveness of Others....................................89
    4. Share His Faith with Others..................................91
    5. Be Wise with His Finances....................................94
    6. Be Accountable to Christian Brothers.........................97
God Listens to a Man's Prayer When ...
    1. No One Else Will Listen.....................................102
    2. He asks for Patience........................................105
    3. He Asks for Guidance from the Holy Spirit...................108
    4. He Confesses His Sins and Seeks Forgiveness.................112
    5. The Responsibilities of Life Overwhelm Him..................115
God Fills a Man with Joy When ...
    1. He Praises the Lord.........................................120
    2. His Children Grow to Love God...............................124
    3. He Worships God.............................................127
God Keeps a Man Secure When ...
    1. He Puts God First in His Life...............................130
    2. He Makes a Major Job Change.................................133
    3. Worry and Doubt Threaten His Well-Being.....................137
    4. He Doesn't Have Money to Pay the Bills......................140
God Comforts a Man When ...
    1. He Feels Inadequate for His Responsibilities................144
    2. His Loved Ones Are Ill......................................147
    3. His Loved Ones Don't Understand Him.........................150
    4. He Must Discipline His Loved Ones...........................152
    5. He Feels Powerless to Shield His Loved Ones from Evil.......155
God's Love Is with a Man When ...
    1. He Brings His Problems to God...............................160
    2. He Relies on God to Guide His Life..........................166
    3. He Shares His Good Fortune with Others......................170
    4. He Prays with His Family....................................173
    5. He Forgives Those Who Have Offended Him.....................176
God Rejoices When a Man ...
    1. Anticipates Christ's Return.................................180
    2. Dedicates His Life to God...................................184
    3. Trusts and Waits for God's Answers..........................187
    4. Is Reconciled with His Brother..............................190
Dynamic Examples of Godly Men
    1. Abraham.....................................................194
    2. Jacob.......................................................198
    3. Joseph......................................................201
    4. David.......................................................204
    5. Noah........................................................207
    6. Paul........................................................209

Chapter One

God's Plan for
Men Is ...

To Worship God

    And you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day. Then it shall be, if you by any means forget the Lord your God, and follow other gods, and serve them and worship them, I testify against you this day that you shall surely perish.

Deuteronomy 8:18-19

    God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.

John 4:24

For the Lord is the great God, And the great King above all gods. In His hand are the deep places of the earth; The heights of the hills are His also. The sea is His, for He made it; And His hands formed the dry land. Oh come, let us worship and bow down; Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker. For He is our God, And we are the people of His pasture, And the sheep of His hand.

Psalm 95:3-7

    The world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.

1 John 2:17

The Lord is great and greatly to be praised; He is to be feared above all gods. Give to the Lord the glory due His name; Bring an offering, and come into His courts. Oh, worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness! Tremble before Him, all the earth.

Psalm 96:4, 8-9

    Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come; and worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water.

Revelation 14:7

    Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

    For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls.

Hebrews 12:2-3

    Now I, John, saw and heard these things. And when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel who showed me these things.

    Then he said to me, "See that you do not do that. For I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren the prophets, and of those who keep the words of this book. Worship God."

Revelation 22:8-9

Exalt the Lord our God, And worship at His footstool— He is holy.

Exalt the Lord our God, And worship at His holy hill; For the Lord our God is holy.

Psalm 99:5, 9

    Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord.

    We are the circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.

Philippians 3:1a, 3

To Obey God's Word

    From there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul. When you are in distress, and all these things come upon you in the latter days, when you turn to the Lord your God and obey His voice (for the Lord your God is a merciful God), He will not forsake you nor destroy you, nor forget the covenant of your fathers which He swore to them.

Deuteronomy 4:29-31

    Jesus answered him, saying, "It is written, `Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.'"

Luke 4:4

As for God, His way is perfect; The word of the Lord is proven; He is a shield to all who trust in Him.

Psalm 18:30

    Oh, that they had such a heart in them that they would fear Me and always keep all My commandments, that it might be well with them and with their children forever!

Deuteronomy 5:29

    Whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.

Romans 15:4

    The word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

Hebrews 4:12

    As newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby.

1 Peter 2:2

The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul;
The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple;
The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart;
The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.

Psalm 19:7-8

I understand more than the ancients, Because I keep Your precepts. I have restrained my feet from every evil way, That I may keep Your word.

Psalm 119:100-101

    You shall observe My judgments and keep My ordinances, to walk in them: I am the Lord your God.

Leviticus 18:4

    Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

James 4:8

As for God, His way is perfect; The word of the Lord is proven; He is a shield to all who trust in Him.

Psalm 18:30

To Come to God in Prayer

    Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.

Matthew 7:7-8

    Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:6-7

    And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.

Matthew 21:22

    Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

    If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

2 Chronicles 7:14

    Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven.

Matthew 18:19

    Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints.

Ephesians 6:18

Hear a just cause, O Lord, Attend to my cry; Give ear to my prayer which is not from deceitful lips.

Psalm 17:1

For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, And His ears are open to their prayers; But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.

1 Peter 3:12

Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness! You have relieved me in my distress; Have mercy on me, and hear my prayer.

Psalm 4:1

To Listen to the Holy Spirit

    As His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

2 Peter 1:3-4

But those who wait on the Lord Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.

Isaiah 40:31

    But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. And those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

Galatians 5:22-25

Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, "This is the way, walk in it," Whenever you turn to the right hand Or whenever you turn to the left.

Isaiah 30:21

    If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.

    If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.

    But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.

John 14:14, 15-18, 26

    Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.

    However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.

John 16:7, 13

    Being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, "which," He said, "you have heard from Me; for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now."

    "But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."

Acts 1:4-5, 8

    For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!

Luke 11:10-13

    For it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.

Philippians 2:13

Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.

    But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. These things we also speak, not in words which man's wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

1 Corinthians 2:9-14

    Who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

    Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.

2 Corinthians 3:6, 17-18

    If the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.

    The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.

    For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

    Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.

Romans 8:11, 16-18, 26-27