Sunday, July 08, 2012

Faith that gets God's attention - Part 2

Continued from previous post..

Lesson #7  Faith is not shortsighted.
Gen 15: 6 God appears in a vision and tells Abram, 'I am your shield, your very great reward'. But all Abram can see is God has not given him an heir and that his servant is likely to inherit his wealth. So, God takes him outside and reiterates his promise. Abram believes and his faith makes him righteous before God. God reminds Abram that it was He who had orchestrated his move out from Ur. God also tells Abram that his descendants will suffer for 400 years in slavery but they will be saved at the right time. Abram will not witness their struggle as it will not happen in his lifetime. God seals His promise to Abram with a covenant.

God's faithfulness is forever. Abram was limiting God to the present. He forgot God had been working in his past and would continue to work in the future. 'For I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day'- 2 Tim 1:12.

Lesson #8  Faith waits patiently.
Gen 16:3 Ten years have passed since Abram moved to Canaan. There is no sign of the promised heir. Sarai is growing impatient. She blames God for her barrenness. Later she takes Abram to task when her maid looks down on her for not being able to give him an heir. Sarai mistreats her badly, causing her to run away.

We can choose how to respond when God delays His answer. Perseverance and patience produce character but self-pity produces bitterness and anger. 'The testing of your faith produces perseverance.  Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.' - James 1:3-4.

Lesson #9  Faith doesn't take matters into its own hands.
Gen 16: 1-6 Sarai reasons that since she is unable to conceive, God must not want her to bear Abram a son. So she decides to build her family through another woman. She proposes Hagar, her Egyptian maid. Abram agrees and Hagar soon conceives and bears him a son, Ishmael.

We can rationalize and justify our actions but God's ways are not our ways. 'For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,' declares the Lord. 'As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts' - Isaiah 55:7-9.

Lesson #10  Faith is not presumptuous.
Gen 17 God appears to Abram after a long period of silence. Ishmael is now 13. Abram pleads with God to accept Ishmael and to perpetuate the promise through him. But God will not change His plan to accommodate Ishmael. Instead God changes Abram's name to Abraham and Sarai’s name to Sarah. He tells them Isaac, the true heir of promise, will be born the following year.
                          
Presumption is expecting God to bless our willful actions. The bible calls it sin. God will not conform to our will, rather we must conform to God's will. Don't try to change God but allow God to change you. 'Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins; Let them not have dominion over me. Then I shall be blameless, And I shall be innocent of great transgression' - Psalm 19:13; 'Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him' - I John5:14-15. 
   
Lesson #11  Faith knows God CANNOT fail.
Gen 20 Abraham repeats his mistake in Egypt this time with King Abimelech of Gerar. God warns the king in a dream and rescues Sarah. Abraham and Sarah slip up yet again even though though they are so close to seeing the fulfillment of God's promise. God is committed to keeping His word despite Abraham’s apparent weakness.

Man may fail but God never fails. What He starts, He finishes. It is God who pioneers, perfects and completes our faith in Him. 'The Lord will perfect that which concerns me; Your mercy, O Lord, endures forever; Do not forsake the works of Your hands’ – Psalm 138:8; ‘Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ’ – Phil 1:6; 'Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith' - Heb 12:2.

Lesson #12  Faith proves itself in obedience.
Gen 22 In the final test, God asks Abraham to sacrifice his beloved son, Isaac. Abraham does not hesitate. He takes supplies, loads them on a donkey and together with his son and two servants sets out to the sacrificial site. When Isaac innocently asks, "We have the fire and the wood but where is the lamb for the sacrifice?", Abraham simply replies that God will provide. He builds an altar, lays the wood and after binding Isaac places him on the altar. 

Often it seems that God is a sadist, demanding everything of you until you are left with nothing. Abraham gave up his home and native land to go where God was leading him. He and Sarah made the journey alone, leaving behind family and friends; even his closest family member, Lot, bailed out halfway. He wandered the land as a nomad making his home in tents in an occupied country. Not only that, he waited 25 years for Isaac to be born. Abraham suffered the pain and humiliation of one who had nothing to show for all the years spent waiting for his destiny. And now that he had finally attained the promise, the God he's given up everything for is demanding he offer his son as a sacrifice? No one would have blamed Abraham if he had thrown in the towel and cried, "Enough is enough!"  But Abraham knows who God is.   

'The Maker of Heaven and Earth is my God. My God keeps His promise. My God does not lie. My God judges rightly. My God protects me from harm and rescues me from danger. My God supplies all my needs. My God knows my weakness. My God understands my pain and all that I have suffered. My God is faithful even when I fail Him. Nothing is impossible with my God. If need be, my God is able to raise my son back to life after I have sacrificed him. I will not doubt. I will not fear. I will not question. I will simply trust and obey'

Just as he stretches out his hand to slay him with his knife, God calls Abraham, “Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son. ” God is proud of Abraham's faith! And indeed not only does God give Isaac back to Abraham but He also seals the deal with a personal oath. 'I swear by myself, declares the Lord, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me. - Genesis 22:16ff

The test of a man's faith is his obedience to God.

All this took place some 4,000 years before God sent His only Son, Jesus, to earth. At the appointed time, Jesus in obedience to His Father’s Will, willingly went to the cross. He paid the ultimate price for sin with His sinless blood which cleanses every sinner who comes to Him by faith. Faith not only reconciles us to God but makes it possible to know Him and experience His Presence in our lives in a real and tangible way.

Abraham’s story is an amazing story of how one man believed God and became a hero of faith, the founder of the Jewish nation, and most importantly a friend of God. Today you and I are bearers of Abraham’s promise; we receive it by faith just as Abraham inherited the promises of God by faith!

It is important to remember that faith is not a destination but it is a journey. Won't you put your hand in His and with all the trust and simplicity of a child begin your own journey with Him?

Sunday, July 01, 2012

Faith that gets God's attention - Part 1

What is faith?
'Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see' - Heb 11:1

Why do we need faith?
'And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him' - Heb 11:6
'Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls' - I Peter 1: 8,9.

In the context of the verses above, faith is belief in the existence of God without actually seeing Him. Unless you have faith, you cannot please Him or expect to receive anything from Him. Faith connects you to God whom you cannot see. Even though he is invisible to you, yet you can have a real love for Him, experience unspeakable joy; these are tangible proofs of eternal salvation which is yours by faith.

In Hebrews 11, we read the account of a few ancients who impressed God with their life of faith and obedience to Him. You see, our works do not impress God the way faith does. The writer of Hebrews commends several individuals who impressed God with their life of faith and obedience (chapter 11) and it is them we turn to in order to understand the kind of faith that gets God's attention and earns His approval.

Abraham (formerly Abram) was one such person who heard the call of God at age 75. Genesis records his experiences in detail. His life turned out to be most eventful eventually leading to the birth of a nation from which Jesus the Messiah would come. We can learn many important lessons, particularly about faith, simply by tracing the different milestones of Abram's journey.

Who is Abram?
Read Genesis 11: 27 – 32; Joshua 24:2, Acts 7: 2
Abram's father, Tehrah, was an idol worshiper who lived in the Ur of the Chaldeans. He had 3 sons: Abram, Nahor and Haran. When his son Haran died, Tehrah took Abram, his daughter in law Sarai and his grandson Lot (Haran's son) and set out for Canaan. But when he came to Harran, he settled there where he remained until his death. 

The Call of Abram
God calls Abram and promises him an amazing destiny. Read Gen 12: 1-3. God's promise can be summarized in the following way.
1. LAND - Go to the land I will show you
2. DESCENDANTS - I will make you into a great nation
3. BE BLESSED - I will bless you, make your name great
4. BE A BLESSING - You will be a blessing, I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse, and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.
                               
Lesson #1  Faith takes God at His Word.
Gen 12: 4 -5 Abram believes God and uproots his family, livestock, servants and everything he owns and sets out to Canaan. In obedience to God, Abram leaves the comforts of his father's home, his country and everything familiar to him even though he isn't really sure where he is heading - 'By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going' Heb. 11:8.

Lesson #2  Faith cooperates with God.
Gen 12: 6 – 8 Abram arrives at Canaan. God appears to him and says, "To your offspring I will give this land". Abram reciprocates by building an altar to God. It is not clear why he did this. Perhaps it was an act of worship or surrender. Or to ask God for guidance. Whatever his motive, it appears Abram wanted to commemorate the moment with an altar. Again along the way, he builds another one between Bethel and Ai where he calls upon the name of the Lord.

When we call upon God, we are saying we can't make it on our own. We realize our limitations and surrender to the One who is greater than us to lead us, guide us and keep us on the right path. ‘Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding;  In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths'  - Prov 3:5-6 NKJV

Lesson #3  Faith is NOT fearful.
Gen 12: 10 – 20. Abram flees to Egypt to escape famine. But he fears the Egyptians will kill him to have Sarai because she is very beautiful.  So he pretends that Sarai is his sister and urges her to do the same. His fears come true. Pharaoh is smitten and takes Sarai into his palace with the view to make her his wife. He rewards Abram with many gifts. But God plagues the royal family with serious diseases. Pharaoh discovers Abram's deceit and ejects him from Egypt in disgrace. Abram retraces his steps and finds the 1st altar he had built and once more calls on the name of the Lord.

When our decisions and actions are motivated by fear, they only lead us away from God's purpose. Just like Abram, we need to yield ourselves to Him again. 'Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe' - Prov 29:25 NIV; 'For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind' - 2 Tim 1:7 NKJV
                                               
Lesson #4  Faith doesn’t trust what it sees.
Gen 13: 8 – 17 As long as Abram and Lot stay together, there isn't enough space to contain their possessions and livestock for they are great. There are constant clashes and misunderstandings between their servants, so Abram and Lot agree to part ways. Abram allows Lot to choose his dwelling. Lot surveys the land and settles for the well watered plains of Jordan. Unknown to Lot, he has chosen a path that will eventually lead him to Sodom and Gomorrah, two accursed cities ripe for God's judgement. Lot leaves but God comes to Abram and tells him to take in the length and breadth of the vast land, for God was giving it to him and his descendants. Abram pitches his tent in Hebron and marks the moment with another altar.

Two men looked at the land before them, but only one saw with eyes of faith. It's tempting to trust our own judgement at times but keep in mind that as believers, 'We walk by faith, not by sight' - 2 Cor. 5:7 NKJV
                               
Lesson #5 Faith looks to God for provision. 
Gen 14 Lot is caught in the middle of  a revolt. Five kings including the King of Sodom refuse to pay tribute to Kedorlaomer king of Elam, so he assembles his allies and attacks the rebel kings, seizing their goods and food. Lot is taken captive along with the other men and women.  When Abram hears the news, he gathers a small army of trained men and sets out on a rescue operation. The mission is a success and he recovers the stolen goods as well as the captives. The King of Sodom is grateful and allows Abram to keep the goods. But Abram declines the king’s reward, refusing to accept even a shoelace lest the king takes credit for blessing Abram and making him rich.

Abram resolved within himself that he would not rely on man to provide for his needs. 'I have been young, and now am old; Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, Nor his descendants begging bread' Psalm 37: 25

Lesson #6  Faith grows with first hand revelation.
Gen 14: 22 – 24 Melchizedek, king of Salem and priest of God most High, brings bread and wine, and blesses Abram in the name of God, Maker of Heaven and Earth. Abram pays him a tribute - a tenth of all his possessions. The writer of Hebrews says, Melchizedek's name means king of righteousness and peace; that he has no genealogy, resembles the Son of God and remains a priest eternally - Heb 7:1-3. Abram pays allegiance to the heavenly king and rejects the favours of the earthly kings. Abram's declaration comes with the revelation of Melchizedek who is a type of the Holy Spirit.

It is easy to trust someone once you get to know them. In the same way, faith increases when we know who God is. But the best kind of knowledge doesn't come from textbooks or pulpits but by  first hand revelation by the Holy Spirit! Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.- Matt 16: 16-17; 'All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He (Holy Spirit) will take of Mine and declare it to you' - John 16: 15 ; 'For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came through the revelation of Jesus Christ' - Galatians 1:12.


To be continued..