This morning I continue our series entitled, “Standing on a Word from God.” This is Part 15. Yesterday I introduced you to a passage in Genesis 22. I want to go back to it today.
After these things God decided to test Abraham’s faith. God said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Yes!” Then God said, “Take your son to the land of Moriah and kill your son there as a sacrifice for me. This must be Isaac, your only son, the one you love. Use him as a burnt offering on one of the mountains there. I will tell you which mountain.” In the morning Abraham got up and saddled his donkey. He took Isaac and two servants with him. He cut the wood for the sacrifice. Then they went to the place where God told them to go. After they traveled three days, Abraham looked up, and in the distance he saw the place where they were going. Then he said to his servants, “Stay here with the donkey. The boy and I will go to that place and worship. Then we will come back to you later.” (Gen 22:1-5 ERV)
So what does this mean to you today? Let’s glean a few nuggets as we carefully and prayerfully walk through this passage.
1. Your faith will be tested. The Bible says, “After these things God decided to test Abraham’s faith.”
a) The Bible calls Abraham the father of faith. He had to believe God without a Bible to read, a Pastor to listen to or counsel with, a choir to sing him happy, or a fellow believer to keep him encouraged. Abraham had to believe in a God he could not see and then believe that this could He could not see would SHOW UP in his life in ways he could see.
b) After 42 years of walking with God you would think that Abraham’s faith was solid and that God would see no need to test it anymore. But after 42 years, at the age of 117, God tested Abraham’s faith. If God did that Abraham, you can rest assured that your faith will be tested.
c) God will put you in situations where your faith will be tested so you can come out on the other side with faith that is proven, strong and unwavering.
2. Never allow a blessing to become an idol. The Bible says, “Then God said, “Take your son to the land of Moriah and kill your son there as a sacrifice for me. This must be Isaac, your only son, the one you love.”
a) You should not have anything or anyone in your life that you place above God. Anything or anyone you place above God has become an idol to you.
b) God will bless you, but He wants to know that He can give you what you are asking for without the blessing becoming an idol. In other words, if you ask God for something and He gives it to you, only for you to in turn shift your worship from God to what He gave you, then you have mismanaged your priorities.
c) God wanted Abraham to prove that his confidence was completely in Him. Abraham had to show that he believed God to the point where He knew that the same God who gave him the boy would somehow bring him back from that mountain. There will be times, as we walk with God, when our faith will be tested like this. God wants to know if we truly believe Him to the point where we will do whatever He tells us to do.
3. Faith requires you to act based on a reality that cannot be validated by your senses.
a) Faith cannot be validated with your physical senses. The Bible says:
(Hebrews 11:1 New International Version)
Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.
(Hebrews 11:1 Amplified Bible)
Now faith is the assurance (the confirmation, the title deed) of the things [we] hope for, being the proof of things [we] do not see and the conviction of their reality [faith perceiving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses].
b) If you can validate something with your physical senses, you say, “That makes sense to me.” In other words, it is reasonable and logical. However, faith requires you to believe the unseen. Faith requires you to display confidence in what God said, without the support of any sense-realm evidence. This means that faith is often unreasonable, illogical and nonsensical.
c) God is a Spirit. He does not communicate with you through your senses. He communicates with you through your spirit. God is Spiritual, not sensual. He does not have to make sense. Faith requires you to BELIEVE even when it does not make sense.
We will stop here for today.
Closing Confession:
Father, this is a season of expectation for me. I expect You will do ALL You said You would do in my life. I expect this by faith. I express my confidence in the unseen by doing what You tell me to do, even when I have no sense-realm evidence to support my decisions or actions. I am committed to living by faith, even when it means I seem unreasonable and illogical. I am not moved by what my senses are telling me. I am only moved by what You say! I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name, Amen!
This is Today’s Word. Apply it and prosper!
