Saturday, November 17, 2012

Abraham's Faith

Heb 11:8  By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went.

By Faith.
Can you even imagine being told by someone to go somewhere but not exactly where.
Let's say you get a phone call and the person tells you to pack up and leave your home to start out for a new home, but they don't tell you where to go, just to start walking. You'd hang up right? You'd probably even laugh and think what a loony on the other end of the phone.

No, Abraham's situation wasn't the same at all. He didn't get any message from another human being, He received a message from GOD HIMSELF. Yet if Abraham did NOT believe GOD was who He said He was, if Abraham hadn't had complete FAITH in GOD, He would NOT have listened.

What amazing FAITH!

Gen 11:27  Now these are the generations of Terah: Terah begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran begat Lot.
Gen 11:28  And Haran died before his father Terah in the land of his nativity, in Ur of the Chaldees.
Gen 11:29  And Abram and Nahor took them wives: the name of Abram's wife was Sarai; and the name of Nahor's wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah, and the father of Iscah.
Gen 11:30  But Sarai was barren; she had no child.
Gen 11:31  And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran his son's son, and Sarai his daughter in law, his son Abram's wife; and they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan; and they came unto Haran, and dwelt there.

Gen 12:1  Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee:
Gen 12:2  And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
Gen 12:3  And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
Gen 12:4  So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran.
Gen 12:5  And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came.

Terah took Abram and Lot and other family members from UR of the Chaldees to the land of Canaan.

Obviously God didn't think Abram was done moving.

God didn't call Abram's father to lead Abram further. God called Abram himself. God SPOKE to Abram-

Get thee out of thy country.
Get thee away from thy family.
Get thee away from thy father's house.

Go to a land that I (GOD) will show you.
I will make you a great nation.
I will bless you.
I will make your name great.
You will be a blessing.

God talked with Abram.
Abram listened.

God talked.
Abram listened.

God told.
Abram obeyed.

Every part of Abram's life as he'd known it for a really long time was about to change drastically.  Drastically how? He didn't KNOW where He was going!

He had to go, but He wasn't given an exact location, He wasn't told how long it would take, He wasn't told it would be problem free.

Did Abram have a choice?

YES!

Abram was NOT forced.

Again, people love to say that if God spoke directly to them that they'd do whatever He said too. Yet God speaks to us all. His will has been revealed to us in His Word and we don't listen to even a smidgen of what He tells us.

And people will go on and counter saying that's not the same. But it is.

Abram didn't have God's Word to read, to study, to live.  God had to speak directly to those who were forming the Fathers of His chosen people, the Fathers of the ONE who would one day be a descendent from whom GOD would bring forth His ONLY SON. 

We cannot allow ourselves any pity for not being spoken to directly by God, we CAN'T! We cannot long for the voice of GOD to speak to us directly as if we'd suddenly obey Him because we hear the sound of His voice. It is such a miracle that we even have HIS written Word as we do and yet people don't believe that it's all that important, they treat it so flippantly, so lightly.

Abram heard God and obeyed.
We need to hear God and obey.
We need to OBEY.
So many read and read and read, they hear but they do NOT obey. They think obeying is old school, obeying was done away with in the Old Testament.  God did NOT give us the entire Bible without reason. It's His WORD and we must OBEY.

More tomorrow all by the GRACE of our LORD and SAVIOR!

From His love may we live!

ALL in HIS LOVE!

ALL IN HIM!

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