I've been doing a series of teachings I’ve entitled, “The Journey of Faith”. They all come from Hebrews 11, and the subsequent stories in Genesis (and later Exodus).
Faith is the most basic aspect of our relationship with
God. While we use the word frequently,
it's crucial that we understand what it means to "journey" through
life by Faith.
The most important thing to learn about how Faith intersects with our lives is by first realizing that Faith is an everyday thing - because it's a relationship
with Someone, God, and not a religious something. That is crucial, but the second thing is equally important: We should realize how much God
enjoys our actions based on Faith.
Hebrews 11:6
6 …without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.
6 …without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.
I mentioned this last week…God
blesses, and rewards Faith…
When we put our Faith in an
active way, it is an exercise of choice, and it's like a Spiritual Muscle, the more it's exercised, the stronger it gets…
BUT, our acting in Faith also provokes a response in
terms of Spiritual Warfare. In other words, there
is an enemy that fights our Faith. Since Faith is an everyday thing, we can expect that our Faith gets put under Pressure
in everyday things: stress,
disappointment, annoying things, circumstances…
What we need to realize is that
Faith gets tested…that’s where we are today in Hebrews.
Hebrews 11:17-19
17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son,
18 of whom it was said, “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.”
19 He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back.
17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son,
18 of whom it was said, “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.”
19 He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back.
Faith is Tested in our Waiting
God had given Abraham a promise…
Genesis 12:1-3
1 The LORD had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you.
2 "I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.
3 I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you."
1 The LORD had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you.
2 "I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.
3 I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you."
Abram comes to the land when
he is 75 years old. God’s promise to him
is that he will get LAND, CHILDREN, BLESSING.
Abram is settled in the land,
but years pass. In fact, - 10 years pass.
In those first 10 years, There
were ups and downs.
· > Abram goes to
Egypt and gets caught in lies
· > He rescues Lot and
God speaks of His promise to him.
· > He waits, and
waits, and waits, and finally gets tired of waiting, and so he forces the
issue. He tries to force
the promise by his own fleshly way and has a son he names Ishmael…not the child of God's promise, but one produced by his own will.
Genesis
16:15-16
15 And Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram called the name of his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael.
16 Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram.
15 And Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram called the name of his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael.
16 Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram.
The problem is not Ishmael,
nor is it Hagar…they are merely caught up in Abram’s loss of faith in waiting
for God to come through. But "Ishmaels" happen in any life that decides waiting on God isn't working. We all - at times - are prone to have them, and we live with them. What do we do with
Ishmaels? We take responsibility before
God and we do what we need to do to be faithful in a bad situation. Ishmael’s happen in
relationships, in finances, in business, in all sorts of places.
The reason they occur...we get tired of waiting.
Faith is always TESTED IN
WAITING.
I confess, I hate waiting.
Most of my waiting has been nothing more than annoyances. I admit that is petty
stuff compared to people who are waiting for more significant things:
· > A Single Person
Waiting for the Right Person to Come along because they want to get married.
· > A Married couple
waiting for a pregnancy to happen
· > A person waiting
for the diagnosis, and then waiting for the results of their treatments
· > A couple waiting
for a decision on financing to get a new business started.
We all wait at times, and it
can be frustrating…and it certainly tests our Faith in God.
SO…what should we do when we
find ourselves in this spot of waiting? I learned many years ago:
Be faithful where you’re at,
and pray.
Hebrews 11 reminds us that
“God rewards those who seek him” and Proverbs tells us to “trust in the Lord
with all your heart…don’t lean on your own understanding”.
Have confidence in God’s
timing.
Finally, after 25 years of
waiting, God comes to Abram.
Genesis 17:1
1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless,
1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless,
This is when Abraham gets his
new name: Genesis 17:5
5 No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations.
5 No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations.
·
Now, Abram = Exalted
Father; and Abraham = The
Father of a Multitude;
but remember, at this time,
Abraham is no father at all.
God had
promised him that he was going to be a Father of many nations…so he names him
this because this what God knew would occur.
Faith is calling into existence that which has not yet happened.
God speaks about us as
forgiven, as righteous, as holy, as his children…when we know that we don’t act
forgiven, righteous, holy or as His children. Yet this is how he sees us, and this is what he knows is happeing in and to us. Faith is always calling us to
see things that are not yet true but someday will.
Romans 4:13
13 For the promise to Abraham [came] through the righteousness of faith.
13 For the promise to Abraham [came] through the righteousness of faith.
Romans 4:17
17 as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who … calls into existence the things that do not exist.
17 as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who … calls into existence the things that do not exist.
Abraham is 99 years old, and
God is re-stating to him the promise. Not just a
son will be born, but a multitude of children will occur.
Whatever you think of
yourself, and whatever you might think of others when you hear their name…it
might be completely different than what God feels about them.
Remember Faith means that God
calls into existence things that are not yet occurring.
The same is with people.
Abraham and Sarah are not yet who they are
going to be. But it soon begins to
occur:
Genesis 21:1-7
1 The LORD visited Sarah as he had said,
and the LORD did to Sarah as he had promised.
2 And Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age at the time of which God had spoken to him.
3 Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore him, Isaac…
5 Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.
6 And Sarah said, “God has made laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh over me.”
7 And she said, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.”
2 And Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age at the time of which God had spoken to him.
3 Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore him, Isaac…
5 Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.
6 And Sarah said, “God has made laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh over me.”
7 And she said, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.”
ISAAC = LAUGHTER. I think Abraham and Sarah had a deep belly laugh at what happened.
Ecclesiastes 3:4
4 a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
4 a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
It was a time to laugh…a time
to dance.
If your are a parent, do you remember seeing your children
born? It’s an amazing thing to be there
and it is a great time of fulfillment.
Abraham and Sarah had waited
for 25 years to see what God had promised to them come true.
This is the nature of Faith…
We wait,
we hope,
we believe,
we trust, and
we work,
we sweat,
we pay the
bills, and stick with it…
and it leads to something very fulfilling.
BUT, there is more tests to occur yet. That we will get to next time.
Peace
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