Tag: Abraham

Posted in Bible study, Devotion, From the Beginning to Forever, From the Insideout, Journey Through The Word, Know These Truths, LGG Study

A Beautiful Love Story ~ of Faith and Provision

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Based on the LGG Study, From the Beginning to Forever/w2d3

Read: Genesis 22:1-14; SOAP verse 13

1Some time later, God tested Abraham’s faith. ‘Abraham!’ God called. ‘Yes,’ he replied. ‘Here I am.’

2Take your son, your only son — yes, Isaac, whom you love so much — and go to the land of Moriah. Go and sacrifice him as a burnt offering on one of the mountains, which I will show you.’

3The next morning Abraham got up early. He saddled his donkey and took two of his servants with him, along with his son, Isaac. Then he chopped wood for a fire for a burnt offering and set out for the place God had told him about. 4On the third day of their journey, Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. 5Stay here with the donkey,’ Abraham told the servants. ‘The boy and I will travel a little farther. We will worship there, and then we will come right back.’

6So Abraham placed the wood for the burnt offering on Isaac’s shoulders, while he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them walked on together,

7Isaac turned to Abraham and said, ‘Father?’ ‘Yes, my son?’ Abraham replied. ‘We have the fire and the wood,’ the boy said, ‘but where is the sheep for the burnt offering?’

8God will provide a sheep for the burnt offering, my son,’ Abraham answered. And they both walked on together.

9When they arrived at the place where God had told him to go, Abraham built an altar and arranged the wood on it. Then he tied his son, Isaac, and laid him on the altar on top of the wood. 10And Abraham picked up the knife to kill his son as a sacrifice.

11At that moment the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven, ‘Abraham! Abraham!’ ‘Yes,’ Abraham replied. ‘Here I am!’

12Don’t lay a hand on the boy!’ the angel said. ‘Do not hurt him in any way, for now I know that you truly fear God. You have not withheld from me even your son, your only son.’

13Then Abraham looked up and saw a ram caught by its horns in a thicket. So he took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering in place of his son. 14 Abraham named the place Yahweh-Yireh (which means ‘the Lord will provide’). To this day, people still use that name as a proverb: ‘On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.’

Genesis 22:1-14 NLT or KJV

What a beautiful love story of faith and provision we see in Abraham’s life and his ongoing encounters with God.

Abraham had placed his faith in God many years before this experience. He had remained in, and even grown in, his habit of listening for and responding to God obediently. Because of this, when the call came for Abraham to sacrifice his son – the son God had promised him – the son through whom the ‘rescuer’ would come -the son through whom would come a great nation and make the name of Abraham great … he did not hesitate to answer obediently, despite what it meant. Keep in mind, Abraham’s obedience wasn’t because he knew the exact outcome; he obeyed because he loved God more than family and self, and because he knew he could trust Him.

Abraham had not forgotten God’s promises. He had even seen some fulfilled, and he lived and hoped accordingly.

Me from the Inside~out🦋

Friends, throughout the six decades of my life, I have seen the hand of God. I have known His goodness, seen His protection, been blessed by His provision, been comforted by His compassion, experienced the realities of His promises, and in both the chaos and fear of anxious-filled moments or the unsettled stillness of a long night, I have heard His ‘still small voice’. Each event has drawn me closer to Him and helped (even caused) me to trust Him more. Don’t get me wrong, doubts and fears still arise – like when I can’t see a way out of a problem, or a health crisis arises; and I’m still prone to drag my feet when He leads in a direction out of my comfort zone… but this one thing I know, like Abraham, I may not know the exact outcome of any situation, but I know I can trust in the name of the Lord my God.

My prayer for you, dear readers, is that you will remember how He has shown Himself to you. I pray you will watch for Him daily and listen for His still small voice. May we, like Abraham, respond to His call, whatever it may be, with obedience, trusting that God is in complete and perfect control.

The More We Know

Consider these words of encouragement from today’s LGG Journal entry:

“While God never again asked anyone to kill their child, He was willing to sacrifice His very own Son, Jesus Christ, to rescue and redeem humanity from their sin. He gave of His very self, perfectly paying the price we deserve.

Do you trust God to the point that you’d be willing to give up everything, even the things you value most? As God did not hold anything back for us, we, too, are to be willing to give everything to Him.”

LGG Journal/From the Beginning to Forever, p77

Do you know the God of Abraham? I invite you to read, Know These Truths, at the link below.

https://atomic-temporary-62140760.wpcomstaging.com/2023/03/14/know-these-truths/
Posted in Bible study, From the Insideout, Journey Through The Word, LGG Study, Quiet Time, The Armor of God

Declared Righteous

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based on the LGG Study, The Armor of God, w2d4

Scripture: Genesis 15:1-6; Romans 4:1-5/ SOAP: Romans 4:3

For what does the scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”

Romans 4:3

Oh the joy I find diving into God’s Word! I marvel as I travel from the Old Testament through the New Testament reading messages of the redemptive stories of those, who, by no merit of their own – were saved by grace through faith. Today’s Scripture reading is an example of this, as we read that Abram (later named Abraham) who was credited with the righteousness of Christ, not because of anything he had done but because of his faith. Verse six of chapter fifteen says that “Abram believed the LORD, and the LORD credited it as righteousness to him.” We should note that this is not the first evidence of his belief in God. We find that part of the story in Genesis chapter twelve, verse four, when he leaves country, home, and family to follow God’s command.

Go out from your country, your relatives, and your father’s household to (the land) that I will show you. 2 Then I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you, and I will make your name great, so that you will exemplify divine blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, but the one who treats you lightly I must curse, so that all the families of the earth may receive blessing through you.” 4 So Abram left, (read the rest of the story)

Genesis 12:1-4

I hope you won’t skip through the Genesis portion to focus on the SOAP verse. A walk through the story of Abram – who left all he knew for an unknown location and a promise that he could not see – much less understand – reveals much. In Abram we see both faith and curiosity, that some would say was born of doubt; and if you look carefully you will even see the evidence of what appears to be fear in Abram(v1). In God we see, comfort and encouragement as well as personal interaction as He answers Abram’s questions and goes a step further with a beautiful and demonstrative sky-gazing moment of the promise yet to come. Finally, we see first-hand evidence(v6) of the account that Paul speaks of in Romans chapter four. As the old saying goes, “stop and smell the roses”, so to speak, before moving on to Paul’s account. Let yourself imagine walking in Abram’s shoes (for an even better understanding back up to chapter twelve), consider his questions – and then close your eyes and imagine the vision in verses four and five. Hear God say, “But look,” Do you feel the hope? Do you hear it in these two little words and in the message that follows? Visualize walking outside with him and looking up into the sky at the countless stars and hearing God say that Abram’s descendants would be as numerous as the stars. – I love that we serve a God who understands who we are and what we are thinking or feeling and responds with such compassion and such an excitement for what is ahead that He infuses hope into our hearts and minds that helps us to press on.

Fast Forward

“There is no one righteous, not even one,
11 there is no one who understands,
there is no one who seeks God.
12 All have turned away,
together they have become worthless;
there is no one who does good, not even one.”

Romans 3:10-12

In today’s focus passage, Paul picks up right where we left off with Abram. Keep in mind that Paul had just announced that “man” can be justified/saved (which is to be made right with God) by something other than the law, (Rom 3:21-26). Now, with this one question, he takes them back to Abraham/Abram to show them how. The question was perfect, for anyone who knew of Abram knew the answer. God had credited Abram with righteousness simply yet profoundly because He had “believed God“. Paul goes on to give an example that teaches the people that FAITH is greater than works when it comes to righteousness. The outcome of work is an obligatory payment or accolade – but what comes from belief/faith in God is His gracious gift of a righteousness that covers all of our sin and shame. It was the righteousness of His only son, given to take the sins of the world on himself and die on a cross that did not belong to him – but to each of us. – Now this is love and grace at their greatest!

Reflection for the Journey
  • What does Romans 4:3 teach us about the relationship between faith and righteousness?
  • How doe it challenge the lie that we must earn righteousness through what we do?
Going Further

How It All Began

Posted in Bible study, LGG Study

Everlasting Covenant: The Promised Land

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Today’s Scripture: Genesis 15:7-21; Hebrews 11:8-10 (S.O.A.P. Hebrews 11:9-10)

Then the Lord told him, “I am the Lord who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land as your possession.”

8 But Abram replied, “O Sovereign Lord, how can I be sure that I will actually possess it?”

9 The Lord told him, “Bring me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” 10 So Abram presented all these to him and killed them. Then he cut each animal down the middle and laid the halves side by side; he did not, however, cut the birds in half. 11 Some vultures swooped down to eat the carcasses, but Abram chased them away.

12 As the sun was going down, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a terrifying darkness came down over him. 13 Then the Lord said to Abram, “You can be sure that your descendants will be strangers in a foreign land, where they will be oppressed as slaves for 400 years. 14 But I will punish the nation that enslaves them, and in the end they will come away with great wealth. 15 (As for you, you will die in peace and be buried at a ripe old age.) 16 After four generations your descendants will return here to this land, for the sins of the Amorites do not yet warrant their destruction.”

17 After the sun went down and darkness fell, Abram saw a smoking firepot and a flaming torch pass between the halves of the carcasses. 18 So the Lord made a covenant with Abram that day and said, “I have given this land to your descendants, all the way from the border of Egypt[a] to the great Euphrates River— 19 the land now occupied by the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, 20 Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, 21 Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and Jebusites.”

Hebrews 11:8-10

It was by faith that Abraham obeyed when God called him to leave home and go to another land that God would give him as his inheritance. He went without knowing where he was going. 9 And even when he reached the land God promised him, he lived there by faith—for he was like a foreigner, living in tents. And so did Isaac and Jacob, who inherited the same promise. 10 Abraham was confidently looking forward to a city with eternal foundations, a city designed and built by God.

LGG Blog
Hebrews 11:9 Reference
Hebrews 11:10 ReFERENCE
Posted in Bible study, LGG Study

Everlasting Covenant

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Today’s Scripture: Genesis 15:1-6; Galatians 3:15-18 (S.O.A.P. Genesis 15:6)

The Lord’s Covenant Promise to Abram

Some time later, the LORD spoke to Abram in a vision and said to him, “Do not be afraid, Abram, for I will protect you, and your reward will be great.”

2 But Abram replied, “O Sovereign LORD, what good are all Your blessings when I don’t even have a son? Since You’ve given me no children, Eliezer of Damascus, a servant in my household, will inherit all my wealth. 3 You have given me no descendants of my own, so one of my servants will be my heir.”

4 Then the LORD said to him, “No, your servant will not be your heir, for you will have a son of your own who will be your heir.” 5 Then the LORD took Abram outside and said to him, “Look up into the sky and count the stars if you can. That’s how many descendants you will have!”

6 And Abram believed the LORD, and the LORD counted him as righteous because of his faith.

LGG BLOG
Posted in LGG Study

Jesus Our Everything: Week 5, Day 4

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Question of the Day: How did Abraham obey? What does verse 11 tell us was the secret to his faith?

Today’s Scripture: Hebrews 11:8-22 (S.O.A.P. Hebrews 11:8)

By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place he would later receive as an inheritance, and he went out without understanding where he was going. 9 By faith he lived as a foreigner[a] in the promised land as though it were a foreign country, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, who were fellow heirs[b] of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the city with firm foundations,[c] whose architect and builder is God. 11 By faith, even though Sarah herself was barren and he was too old,[d] he received the ability to procreate,[e] because he regarded the one who had given the promise to be trustworthy. 12 So in fact children[f] were fathered by one man—and this one as good as dead—like the number of stars in the sky and like the innumerable grains of sand[g]on the seashore.[h]13 These all died in faith without receiving the things promised,[i] but they saw them in the distance and welcomed them and acknowledged that they were strangers and foreigners[j] on the earth. 14 For those who speak in such a way make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. 15 In fact, if they had been thinking of the land that they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 But as it is,[k] they aspire to a better land, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them. 17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac. He had received the promises,[l] yet he was ready to offer up[m] his only son. 18 God had told him, “Through Isaac descendants will carry on your name,”[n]19 and he reasoned[o] that God could even raise him from the dead, and in a sense[p] he received him back from there. 20 By faith also Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning the future. 21 By faith Jacob, as he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph and worshiped as he leaned on his staff.[q]22 By faith Joseph, at the end of his life,[r] mentioned the exodus of the sons of Israel[s] and gave instructions about his burial.[t]

Bible Reference