Bible Study - Walking in Confidence (6) - Confidence in Times of Testing - Genesis 22:1-14 - November 28, 2021

Bible Study – Walking in Confidence (6) – Confidence in Times of Testing – November 28, 2021

This is our final lesson in our series entitled, “Walking in Confidence. “

Our focus scripture is Genesis 22:1-14.

I stated in an earlier lesson that this last lesson would be profound. Our walk with GOD, through our faith in JESUS, grows as we build our relationship with GOD. We learn to trust GOD and we learn to know HIS voice and HIS leadership by the indwelling Holy Spirit. GOD tested Abraham to the limit. Let’s explore!

GOD was building a trust relationship with Abraham and Sarah. GOD had promised Abraham an heir who would come from Sarah. This is recorded in Genesis 17:15-22:

¹⁵ God said to Abraham, “As for your wife Sarai, do not call her Sarai, for Sarah^[f] will be her name. ¹⁶ I will bless her; indeed, I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she will produce nations; kings of peoples will come from her.”

¹⁷ Abraham fell facedown. Then he laughed and said to himself, “Can a child be born to a hundred-year-old man? Can Sarah, a ninety-year-old woman, give birth?” ¹⁸ So Abraham said to God, “If only Ishmael were acceptable^[g] to you!”

¹⁹ But God said, “No. Your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will name him Isaac.^[h] I will confirm my covenant with him as a permanent covenant for his future offspring. ²⁰ As for Ishmael, I have heard you. I will certainly bless him; I will make him fruitful and will multiply him greatly. He will father twelve tribal leaders, and I will make him into a great nation. ²¹ But I will confirm my covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this time next year.” ²² When he finished talking with him, God withdrew^[i] from Abraham.

We read in Genesis 18:1-2 and in verses 9-15:

18 The Lord appeared to Abraham at the oaks of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance of his tent during the heat of the day. ² He looked up, and he saw three men standing near him. When he saw them, he ran from the entrance of the tent to meet them, bowed to the ground, 

Sarah Laughs

⁹ “Where is your wife, Sarah?” they asked him.

“There, in the tent,” he answered.

¹⁰ The Lord said, “I will certainly come back to you in about a year’s time, and your wife Sarah will have a son!” Now Sarah was listening at the entrance of the tent behind him.

¹¹ Abraham and Sarah were old and getting on in years.^[e] Sarah had passed the age of childbearing. ¹² So she laughed to herself: “After I am worn out and my lord is old, will I have delight?”

¹³ But the Lord asked Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Can I really have a baby when I’m old?’ ¹⁴ Is anything impossible for the Lord? At the appointed time I will come back to you, and in about a year she will have a son.”

¹⁵ Sarah denied it. “I did not laugh,” she said, because she was afraid.

But he replied, “No, you did laugh.”

Our LORD knows all about us, so do not try to hide it but reveal and confess what is in our heart because GOD already knows. This is why GOD often waits to give us a promise. HE wants us to know it is from HIM. So, do not give up on GOD, HE always fulfills HIS promises.

 

Those of us who have children know how precious they are to us. GOD had fulfilled HIS promise to Abraham that he and Sarah would have a son of promise, Isaac. When Sarah over heard the angel telling Abraham that she would conceive, she laughed, thus the name of Isaac means laughter. Don’t ever laugh at what GOD promises you. HE is faithful to deliver on HIS promises. Just make sure a promise is HIS and not something we make up in our minds that GOD wants us to have. I know, I have been there and done that.

Put yourself in Abraham’s place as you study this lesson. Think back to where Abram was and where Abraham is now as revealed by GOD’S Word. He has come a long way building the right relationship with GOD.

It is through the ancestral lineage of Abraham that GOD planned for HIS only son, JESUS, to come to earth in the flesh. JESUS lived in the flesh, subject to sinning, yet willingly choose to remain sinless to be the perfect acceptable sacrifice to GOD to pay, in full, the price for sin. What did HIS sacrifice do? When the sin barrier was removed by JESUS, it opened the path between GOD and all of mankind to accept JESUS as their Savior and be Spiritually born into GOD’S Family. Thus, JESUS opened and cleared the pathway to GOD, HIS FATHER and The FATHER of all who place their faith in JESUS as their Savior.

So, why study Abraham? GOD declared the faith of Abraham as righteousness and faith coupled with the shedding of the blood of certain animals was a place holder until GOD’S Only SON, JESUS, would give HIS sinless life to fully atone for sin. Why did JESUS do that? It was because HE loves us with a love that transcends all human understanding. The timing of the crucifixion, burial and resurrection of JESUS was precisely orchestrated by GOD.

HE did it just for you and all the people of the world. If you had been the only person to ever accept JESUS as your Savior, HE would have given HIS sinless life just for you. Now that is personal.

So why do we study Abraham? How much faith had GOD built into Abraham? We fast forward to Isaac as a young lad. Let’s explore!

Let’s read Genesis 22:1-2:

The Sacrifice of Isaac

22 After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!”

“Here I am,” he answered.

² “Take your son,” he said, “your only son Isaac, whom you love, go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.”

Very important, GOD tested Abraham. Do not test GOD by setting up your own test project. It will blow up in your face every time. If testing is done, let GOD design the test.

Notice, GOD said, “Take your son,” “your only son Isaac, whom you love, go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.”

What!!! Notice, “your only son, Isaac.” To do what? “To offer him as a burnt offering.” Do you know what that meant? It meant that Abram was to slaughter and burn his only son, the son of promise, and reduce him to a pile of ashes.

Notice, Abraham did not question GOD but did what, HE said, as we read on ----

Let’s read Genesis 22:3-10:

³ So Abraham got up early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took with him two of his young men and his son Isaac. He split wood for a burnt offering and set out to go to the place God had told him about. ⁴ On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. ⁵ Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey. The boy and I will go over there to worship; then we’ll come back to you.” ⁶ Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and laid it on his son Isaac. In his hand he took the fire and the knife, and the two of them walked on together.

“On the third day,” they arrived at the point GOD had led them. That day, Isaac was as good as dead but would GOD prepare a sacrifice to take the place of Isaac?

This is a foreshadow of GOD allowing HIS only SON to be crucified to pay, in full, as the final sacrifice for sin. To prove it, GOD would allow HIS only SON, JESUS, to die and GOD would resurrect HIM from being physically dead to be eternally alive.

JESUS was in the tomb for three days and on the third day, GOD raised HIM from the physically dead. Would GOD raise Isaac from the physically dead? Abraham believed HE would.

⁷ Then Isaac spoke to his father Abraham and said, “My father.”

And he replied, “Here I am, my son.”

Isaac said, “The fire and the wood are here, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”

⁸ Abraham answered, “God himself will provide^[a] the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” Then the two of them walked on together.

⁹ When they arrived at the place that God had told him about, Abraham built the altar there and arranged the wood. He bound his son Isaac^[b] and placed him on the altar on top of the wood. ¹⁰ Then Abraham reached out and took the knife to slaughter his son.

This reveals the trust Isaac had in his father, Abraham. JESUS trusted HIS FATHER with the end result. JESUS did give HIS sinless life to atone for sin and GOD raised HIM from the physically dead to eternally alive.

Abraham got up early and went about preparing for what GOD had instructed him to do. Abraham had grown Spiritually to trust GOD and he would trust GOD with HIS only son of promise.

Abraham took “two young men with him.” Why? Were they to be witnesses to what Abraham was doing? Notice the level of faith Abraham had in GOD. He told the two young men “Stay here with the donkey. The boy and I will go over there to worship; then we’ll come back to you.”  “Then we’ll come back to you.” Abraham was instructed to reduce his only son to a pile of ashes but they would be back. How can that be?

Abraham’s faith was such that if his only son was reduced to a pile of ashes, GOD would resurrect him and they would return.

Notice that Isaac carried the wood upon which he would be sacrificed. JESUS carried HIS own cross upon which HE would be crucified.

Isaac knew what it meant to make a sacrifice and he questioned his father. Isaac said, “The fire and the wood are here, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”

⁸ Abraham answered, “God himself will provide^[a] the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” Then the two of them walked on together.

GOD himself will provide! Abraham trusted GOD.

GOD tested Abraham to the limit as we read on.

Was Abraham intent on offering Isaac as a burnt offering? YES!

Abraham trusted GOD. Abraham had walked with GOD and they had built such a relationship that Abraham believed that if he reduced Isaac to ashes, GOD would resurrect HIM. This is a foreshadow of the resurrection power of GOD for all who place their faith in JESUS.

Abraham was going to be obedient to GOD’S command as we read verses 9 and 10:

⁹ When they arrived at the place that God had told him about, Abraham built the altar there and arranged the wood. He bound his son Isaac^[b] and placed him on the altar on top of the wood. ¹⁰ Then Abraham reached out and took the knife to slaughter his son.

Isaac knew who was going to be the sacrifice. Isaac was willing to trust his father and to trust in his earthly father’s relationship with GOD. Abraham told Isaac that GOD would provide the sacrifice. What was running through Isaac’s mind as his father placed him on top the wood and raised the slaughter knife to do the deed? Isaac had to trust GOD.

In times of uncertainty, all who have placed their faith in JESUS must trust GOD for the results regardless of what they see around them. We must keep our eyes upon JESUS as illustrated when Peter wanted to get out of the boat and walk on water as JESUS approached the boat the disciples were in, walking upon water.

We read that Abraham had a knife. This was not an ordinary knife but a slaughter knife made to kill an animal for sacrifice. Isaac knew what that meant. Isaac trusted his father for the end result. Would GOD provide another sacrifice to take his place on the alter? Isaac trusted his father and GOD with the result.

It is so vital that we, as parents, pass onto to our children our faith and trust in GOD. Many take their children to church for them to learn about GOD and JESUS. But the best place for them to learn about GOD and JESUS is from the parents at home. Yes, still attend church but do not depend upon the church staff and volunteers to do all the teaching. Children learn from seeing their parents live the truth and trust in the leadership of JESUS through the indwelling Holy Spirit.

Abraham took the knife and lifted it to do what GOD had asked him to do. Isaac was good as dead. The child of GOD’S promise to be killed? But ----

Let’s read Genesis 22:11-14:

¹¹ But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!”

The angel of the LORD, in an urgent shout, called Abraham’s name. Yes, Isaac was as good as dead. Abraham had passed the ultimate test that he trusted GOD with his only son. He trusted that GOD would resurrect Isaac even if he had reduced him to ashes.

Do you think Abraham was listening and hoping that GOD would intervene? We are not sure but I know I would.

Abraham heard his name called out and quickly responded.

He replied, “Here I am.”

¹² Then he (GOD) said, “Do not lay a hand on the boy or do anything to him. For now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your only son from me.” ¹³ Abraham looked up and saw a ram^[c] caught in the thicket by its horns. So, Abraham went and took the ram and offered it as a burnt offering in place of his son. ¹⁴ And Abraham named that place The Lord Will Provide,^[d] so today it is said, “It will be provided^[e] on the Lord’s mountain.”

Today, GOD does not challenge us to prove our faith in JESUS before HE accepts us into HIS Family through our faith in JESUS. Since the passion of JESUS there is no longer a need for animal sacrifices. JESUS, the perfect Lamb of GOD, paid for our sins, in full, by the shedding of HIS sinless blood. JESUS died where we should have died but HE willingly gave HIS life in place of all who will place their faith in HIM.

We read in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20:

¹⁹ Don’t you know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, ²⁰ for you were bought at a price. So, glorify God with your body.^[e]

Where was this mountain GOD led Abraham and Isaac to? It was Mount Moriah, where Solomon built the temple years later.

Let’s read Genesis 22:15-19:

¹⁵ Then the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven ¹⁶ and said, “By myself I have sworn,” this is the Lord’s declaration: “Because you have done this thing and have not withheld your only son, ¹⁷ I will indeed bless you and make your offspring as numerous as the stars of the sky and the sand on the seashore. Your offspring will possess the city gates of their^[f] enemies. ¹⁸ And all the nations of the earth will be blessed^[g] by your offspring because you have obeyed my command.”

How would GOD accomplish this? It is through the physical birth of GOD’S only Son, JESUS. HIS physical death, physical resurrection, ascension into Heaven and confirmed by GOD the FATHER of JESUS sending the Holy Spirit into the heart of every person who places his or faith in JESUS. The Holy Spirit confirms within every person’s heart, who has asked JESUS to forgive him or her sins, the fact that he or she has been Spiritually born into GOD’S Family. He nor she will ever be Spiritually unborn.

¹⁹ Abraham went back to his young men, and they got up and went together to Beer-sheba. And Abraham settled in Beer-sheba.

Just as Abraham had promised the two young men that accompanied Abraham and Isaac, they returned to them. But what a story of faith building they had to tell to the world then and even today.

GOD gave Abraham a foreshadow of HIS redemptive plan for all mankind through the physical birth, life, death and resurrection of JESUS. GOD’S redemptive plan is so beautiful through the miracle of Spiritual birth. The instant you ask JESUS to forgive you for your sin and ask JESUS into your heart, GOD’S Spirit joins your human spirit. A Spiritual conception takes place quicker than the twinkling of the eye. You are Spiritually conceived, never ever to be unconceived. That is something to shout about! And to be thankful for as a Spirit-born child of GOD. Feast at the banquet table of our LORD this Thanksgiving season knowing that as Spirit-born Christians, the best is yet to come!

Ask our LORD to reveal to you your journey with HIM as you consider the journey of Abram/Abraham. What has our LORD taught you through the leadership of the Holy Spirit? What have you learned? What do you desire to learn? Talk with HIM in prayer and walk with HIM in faith as you look to HIM for HIS leadership.  

Please pray for our family as we gather to celebrate the marriage of one of our grandsons on Saturday.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING WITH BLESSINGS FROM OUR LORD!

Blessings!!!

  

Bible Study - Special (6) In the Abram Series - Give Thanks to GOD - Psalm 100:1-5 - November 21, 2021

Bible Study – Special (6) In Abram Series – Give Thanks to GOD – November 21, 2021

Happy Thanksgiving to all with bountiful blessings from our LORD JESUS!

This is a special lesson for Thanksgiving. The last study on Abram will follow dated November 28, 2021. Our theme in this study is “Our thanks and worship belong to GOD.”

Our focus scripture is Psalm 100:1-5.

I plan to follow up this lesson with our last lesson in the Abram series because it to me is a profound lesson and reveals the Spiritual growth of Abram/Abraham. However, this study focuses on our relationship with GOD and our worship of HIM.

Some attribute Psalm 100 to David but there is no way to be certain that David wrote it. Whoever wrote it revealed their personal discovery of the attributes and character of the One True GOD, Yahweh based upon experience. We do know that David, over his lifetime, had built a personal and enduring relationship with GOD. David knew GOD, not just about GOD and trusted HIM to guide his life and to watch over him. His relationship with GOD began when was shepherding sheep as a young boy. This trust relationship does not come about haphazardly but by design by GOD.

Our first step is to acknowledge the One True GOD, Yahweh, as our GOD through a personal relationship. We do this by placing our faith in JESUS. JESUS was and is GOD in the flesh.

The Apostle John recorded in John 9:19-24:

¹⁹ Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, the Son is not able to do anything on his own, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father^[e] does, the Son likewise does these things. ²⁰ For the Father loves the Son and shows him everything he is doing, and he will show him greater works than these so that you will be amazed. ²¹ And just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so the Son also gives life to whom he wants. ²² The Father, in fact, judges no one but has given all judgment to the Son, ²³ so that all people may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Anyone who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.

Life and Judgment

²⁴ “Truly I tell you, anyone who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not come under judgment but has passed from death to life.

In the Old Testament there were many gods people worshipped. Today, there are still many gods that people worship. The question is, have we placed our faith in the worship of the One True GOD, Yahweh, through faith in JESUS? Why? It is because all others gods are false. What does placing your faith in JESUS mean to you? It means Spiritual birth into the family of GOD and eternal life.

Since the beginning of time the ONE True GOD, Yahweh, has revealed Himself to mankind. HIS crowning revelation is when HE revealed JESUS as HIS only Son, Who, willingly came to earth in the flesh and lived upon earth. JESUS was 100% human and was capable of sinning. But HE chose not to sin in order for HIM to be the sinless, perfect sacrifice for all mankind from the beginning of HIS life upon earth to the end.

If JESUS had died upon the cross and been buried and that, was it, then we would have no other reason to believe in him than any other good person martyred. What is the defining difference?

The resurrection of JESUS by GOD, Yahweh!

Why did JESUS choose to give HIS sinless life to redeem all who place their faith in HIM from eternal death? It was because JESUS loves every person and does not desire for any to be eternally separated from GOD or HIM in eternal death/Hell.

When was GOD’S redemptive plan conceived?

The Apostle Paul wrote in Ephesians 1:4 - ⁴ For he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless in love before him.^[c] 

We were chosen before the foundation of the world. How about that! GOD plans before HE takes action.

But GOD gives each of us the freewill to choose and HE does all within the parameters of HIS Word to lead and guide us to willingly and freely accept JESUS as our Savior. HE does place stumbling blocks in front of us as we journey through life to get us to focus on our need of salvation and the eternal importance of JESUS being our Savior.

Now, that is infinite love. Some may say, “Well, if GOD loves us that much, HE would never allow us to go to Hell!” You are correct. We send ourselves to Hell by refusing to accept JESUS as our Savior. We believe Satan’s lies instead of GOD’S truth. There is no other way to Heaven and eternal life other than through the miracle of Spiritual birth through faith in JESUS – NO OTHER WAY! No person can work long enough and hard enough to earn his or her way to Heaven and have eternal life. Why?

If a person could earn his or her way to Heaven then GOD sent JESUS to earth in vain. Why did GOD send JESUS?

It is because that is GOD’S redemptive plan through the miracle of Spiritual birth. We see this when a member of the Jewish Sanhedrin came to JESUS at night. Nicodemus JESUS the question, as written in John 3:1-2. This reveals JESUS teaching Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish Sanhedrin and all since him.

3 There was a man from the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. ² This man came to him at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God, for no one could perform these signs you do unless God were with him.”

³ Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, unless someone is born again,^[a] he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

⁴ “How can anyone be born when he is old?” Nicodemus asked him. “Can he enter his mother’s womb a second time and be born?”

⁵ Jesus answered, “Truly I tell you, unless someone is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. ⁶ Whatever is born of the flesh is flesh, and whatever is born of the Spirit is spirit. ⁷ Do not be amazed that I told you that you must be born again. ⁸ The wind blows where it pleases, and you hear its sound, but you don’t know where it comes from or where it is going. So, it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”

⁹ “How can these things be?” asked Nicodemus.

¹⁰ “Are you a teacher^[b] of Israel and don’t know these things?” Jesus replied. ¹¹ “Truly I tell you, we speak what we know and we testify to what we have seen, but you do not accept our testimony. ¹² If I have told you about earthly things and you don’t believe, how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? ¹³ No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven —the Son of Man.^[c]

¹⁴ “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, ¹⁵ so that everyone who believes in him may^[d] have eternal life. ¹⁶ For God loved the world in this way:^[e] He gave^[f] his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁷ For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. ¹⁸ Anyone who believes in him is not condemned, but anyone who does not believe is already condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the one and only Son of God. ¹⁹ This is the judgment: The light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil. ²⁰ For everyone who does evil hates the light and avoids it,^[g] so that his deeds may not be exposed. ²¹ But anyone who lives by^[h] the truth comes to the light, so that his works may be shown to be accomplished by God.”

The fact that GOD sent JESUS into the world did not condemn the world. Sin had already sentenced all people to eternal death with no way for them to escape eternal punishment. That is why GOD sent JESUS to freely give HIS sinless human life for all who will place their faith in HIM. It is the shed blood of JESUS that paid the price for sin, in full and opened the path to GOD and eternal life.

It is the miracle of Spiritual birth that releases every person from eternal death to eternal life. No person can earn salvation, it takes a step of faith by accepting what JESUS did for all people. But every person must accept GOD’S gift of salvation.

When we realize the infinite love of GOD through faith in JESUS, we begin to see and comprehend what GOD has done for us. It was something we could never do for ourselves. We were without hope but GOD opened the way to HIM for all people through faith in JESUS.

When we study the life and Spiritual journey of Abram/Abraham, we get to see the love, patience and guidance of GOD. It is all about building the right relationship with GOD through faith, which begins with faith in JESUS. Abram made mistakes but GOD taught him and revealed Himself to Abram/Abraham.

JESUS revealed Himself to Saul/Paul on the road to Damascus.

When we realize the love GOD and JESUS has for us, it is only then can we begin to understand and appreciate what GOD and JESUS did for us. This understanding leads us to praise both GOD and JESUS for their boundless mercy and grace for there is no other way to Heaven other than by faith in JESUS.

We read in 2 Corinthians 5:1-5:

5 For we know that if our earthly tent we live in (human body) is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal dwelling in the heavens, not made with hands. ² Indeed, we groan in this tent, desiring to put on our heavenly dwelling, ³ since, when we are clothed,^[a] we will not be found naked. ⁴ Indeed, we groan while we are in this tent, burdened as we are, because we do not want to be unclothed but clothed, so that mortality may be swallowed up by life. ⁵ Now the one who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave us the Spirit as a down payment.

How is this accomplished? Let’s consider 2 Corinthians 5:21:

²¹ He (GOD) made the one who did not know sin (JESUS) to be sin^[e] for us, so that in him we (All who place their faith in JESUS)  might become the righteousness of God.

Now, we who have accepted JESUS as our Savior, do we have anything to shout about? Most Certainly! GOD is building within each of us a new tent or a new Spiritual house or body. The instant a Spirit-born person dies physically, he or she leaves their earth suit. I believe moments before the Spirit-born person experiences physical death, their Spirit-born body is released and is in the presence of GOD, JESUS, angels and all of Heaven. We will not be found naked in Heaven and we will not, as Spirit-born people, experience the death of our earth suit (human body).

This Spiritual tent gets us around in Heaven while we wait for JESUS to return to earth at HIS second coming. We who are in Heaven will come back with HIM and receive our Glorified Body.

Let’s read 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18:

¹³ We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, concerning those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve like the rest, who have no hope. ¹⁴ For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, in the same way, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. ¹⁵ For we say this to you by a word from the Lord: We who are still alive at the Lord’s coming will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. ¹⁶ For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout,^[e] with the archangel’s voice, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. ¹⁷ Then we who are still alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. ¹⁸ Therefore encourage^[f] one another with these words.

Is that worth shouting about and praising GOD and JESUS for looking out for those who have placed their faith in JESUS? Absolutely!!! Could you do this for yourself? NO! Is this worth praising GOD and JESUS for? Absolutely!!!

Now let’s consider the praise of GOD through the relationship the Psalm writer had with GOD through an intimate relationship with GOD.

GOD desires for each of us to learn of HIM by first placing our faith in JESUS. That is ground zero. What psalm would you write regarding your walk with GOD and JESUS? Would it be a psalm of praise or a psalm with many questions? You are writing a Psalm whether you realize it or not.

Let’s read Psalm 100:1-5:

A psalm of thanksgiving.

¹ Let the whole earth shout triumphantly to the Lord!
² Serve the Lord with gladness;
come before him with joyful songs.
³ Acknowledge that the Lord is God.
He made us, and we are his^[a]—
his people, the sheep of his pasture.
⁴ Enter his gates with thanksgiving
and his courts with praise.
Give thanks to him and bless his name.
⁵ For the Lord is good, and his faithful love endures forever;
his faithfulness, through all generations.

First, we must know GOD. The writer of Psalm 100 was expressing what he had discovered by walking with GOD. What have you discovered about GOD? GOD sent JESUS into the world to live as a human. JESUS, living as a human, means HE can understand what being a human is all about. HE understands why we sin because HE was tempted in all ways like us. HIS understanding is not a license for us to sin but JESUS, our advocate, pleads our case before our Heavenly FATHER, GOD. Why does HE have to plead our case? It is because Satan instantly accuses us when we sin. Satan wants the wrath of GOD to come down upon us. JESUS knows our faith in HIM and is our advocate. In essence, JESUS says, back off Satan because this person is covered by MY shed blood and is not under the law but under GOD’S Grace for eternity. Next case!

Is that worthy of praise and worship? You bet! Could you achieve such grace by your own effort? NO! Are you grateful to GOD for sending HIS only begotten Son to earth to be the Savior of all who will place their faith in HIM? What is your answer? Does your answer result in you praising JESUS and GOD?

Let’s go back to Psalm 100 and read it again and ask GOD to help each of us, who have asked JESUS into our hearts or those who have not, to build the right relationship with GOD through faith in JESUS.

When we know JESUS and not just know about JESUS and we realize what HE has done for us, does it bring the joy of HIS salvation to our hearts and minds? JESUS is worthy of our praise and shouts of adoration.

We who know JESUS can break out in expressions of praise any moment of the day because HE is worthy and HE thinks you are worthy of HIS love and the sacrifice HE made just for you. Oh! You did not know that? JESUS would have given HIS sinless life just for you. If you had been the only person in the eons of time to ever to accept HIM as your Savior, HE would have given HIS sinless life just for you. Now, that is personal and individual.

Please do not reject GOD’S love for you by rejecting the eternal salvation GOD offers through faith in HIS only SON, JESUS. Think about this as you read Psalm 100, again. Consider writing your own Psalm expressing your walk with GOD through faith in JESUS.

Blessings!!!

  

Bible Study - Walking in Confidence (5) - Confidence After We Fall - Genesis 16:1-5, 17:1-9 - November 14, 2021

 

Bible Study – Walking in Confidence (5) – Confidence After We Fall – November 14, 2021

This is lesson five (5) in our series entitled, “Walking in Confidence.”

Our focus scripture is Genesis 16:1-5; 17:1-9.

Trust GOD to redeem your failures.

In last week’s study we ended with GOD cutting a covenant with Abram. GOD instructed Abram in Genesis 15:7-13:

⁷ He also said to him, “I am the Lord who brought you from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess.”

⁸ But he said, “Lord God, how can I know that I will possess it?”

⁹ He said to him, “Bring me a three-year-old cow, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.”

¹⁰ So he brought all these to him, cut them in half, and laid the pieces opposite each other, but he did not cut the birds in half. ¹¹ Birds of prey (Could be Satan) came down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away. ¹² As the sun was setting, a deep sleep came over Abram, and suddenly great terror and darkness descended on him.

¹³ Then the Lord said to Abram, “Know this for certain: Your offspring will be resident aliens for four hundred years in a land that does not belong to them and will be enslaved and ------

We circle back to last week’s scripture to review the promise GOD made to Abram and the eternal covenant GOD made with Abram.

As stated in last week’s study, the three-year old animals could be a foreshadow of the coming of JESUS Who will complete the covenant GOD made with Abram and his descendants, the Jews, and those who will become Jews by proxy, people of faith. That is those who will place their faith in JESUS after HIS passion. The number three carries the idea of the resurrection of JESUS from death and the grave.  In essence, when a person accepts JESUS as his or her Savior, by faith, he or she, comes under the covenant between Abram and GOD. Since the physical birth of JESUS, HIS physical sinless life, HIS physical death, HIS physical resurrection of JESUS from the physically dead by GOD, JESUS completed the covenant GOD cut with Abram. JESUS fulfilled the covenant which began by GOD and permanently defeated Satan by giving new life to that which was dead and without hope.

The animals were cut in half and GOD walked between them. Abram did not because he was asleep. The covenant was not complete. It was a foreshadow of the moment that the covenant would be made complete when the perfect sacrifice would be willingly made by GOD’S only SON, JESUS, Who would reconcile the Old Testament Law with the new covenant of Grace completed by the shed blood of JESUS and confirmed by the resurrection of JESUS. 

GOD built HIS redemptive plan upon the physical nature of salvation by faith and then completed it with the miracle of Spiritual rebirth through faith in JESUS.

GOD chose Abram to build HIS redemptive plan based upon faith as expressed in Genesis 15:6 - ⁶ Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness. Faith was a place holder until the perfect sacrifice could be made by the sinless, physical life of JESUS.

JESUS gave HIS sinless life to fulfill the penalty for sin, which is eternal death. By doing so, HE opened the path between GOD and mankind. The way is open but each person, regardless of national orgin, must either accept or reject JESUS as his or her Savior, believing that HE paid the penalty for his or her sin, in full.

The instant a person accepts JESUS as his or her Savior, his or her physical body is cleansed by the shed blood of JESUS and is made righteous. This step is vital because it sanctifies the believer’s human body and renders it pure and Holy to be occupied by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit enters the physical body of the person receiving JESUS as his or her Savior and a miracle takes place. The human spirit of the person receiving JESUS as his or her Savior is Spiritually conceived. The Bible tells us that the Holy Spirit is the Divine Sperm of GOD, thus when the Divine Sperm unites with the human spirit, conception takes place in an instant. That is what Spiritual birth is all about and once a person is Spiritually born into GOD’S Family, he nor she can never be Spiritually unborn.  Now that is Good News.

Let’s continue to look over the shoulder of Abram as he struggles with what GOD has promised him. How often do we get tired of waiting on GOD and take matters into our own hands? When we do, we learn lessons but what it teaches us is magnificent and one that most us do not desire to repeat. It gets our attention.

Let’s explore!

Let’s read Genesis 16:1-5:

16 Abram’s wife, Sarai, had not borne any children for him, but she owned an Egyptian slave named Hagar. ² Sarai said to Abram, “Since the Lord has prevented me from bearing children, go to my slave; perhaps through her I can build a family.” And Abram agreed to what Sarai said. ³ So Abram’s wife, Sarai, took Hagar, her Egyptian slave, and gave her to her husband, Abram, as a wife for him. This happened after Abram had lived in the land of Canaan ten years. ⁴ He slept with^[a] Hagar, and she became pregnant. When she saw that she was pregnant, her mistress became contemptible to her. ⁵ Then Sarai said to Abram, “You are responsible for my suffering!^[b] I put my slave in your arms,^[c] and when she saw that she was pregnant, I became contemptible to her. May the Lord judge between me and you.”

The symbol of trouble in the Japanese language is two women under one roof.

When reading this was Sarai using the gift of her Egyptian slave to Abram her way of testing to determine if she was the problem in not being about to conceive a child or was it Abram that could not produce a child? Oh my, we will never know. But One thing we do know is that when Hagar conceived the claws came out of both Sarai and Hagar. Trouble in the Promised Land.

Apparently, Hagar, went nanny, nanny, boo, boo and rubbed it in that she had conceived a child. Sarai was not a happy camper.

When we take matters into our own hands, it often spells trouble and, in this case, it spelled trouble from the moment of conception and even evident to today. Now that was a long time ago and it is not over yet. Guess what this conception spawned? The birth of Islam.

GOD waited to see what Abram would do. Would he trust GOD to the bitter end or take matters into his own hands. He could have refused the offer from Sarai to take her Egyptian slave but instead he took up her offer. Oh my!

Where did the Egyptian slave come from? If you said she likely was a gift from the Egyptian Pharaoh, when Abram took his people into Egypt looking for food, you would be correct. It was not uncommon for a surrogate to be used to carry on a family line in those days. But again, does one of faith wait upon GOD or take matters into his or her own hands?

Many of us are wired to “don’t just stand there, do something.”

What next?

Much goes on between the conception of Hagar with the birth of Ishmael.

As we read in Genesis 16:6-15:

⁶ Abram replied to Sarai, “Here, your slave is in your power; do whatever you want with her.” Then Sarai mistreated her so much that she ran away from her.

⁷ The angel of the Lord found her by a spring in the wilderness, the spring on the way to Shur. ⁸ He said, “Hagar, slave of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?”

She replied, “I’m running away from my mistress Sarai.”

⁹ The angel of the Lord said to her, “Go back to your mistress and submit to her authority.” ¹⁰ The angel of the Lord said to her, “I will greatly multiply your offspring, and they will be too many to count.”

¹¹ The angel of the Lord said to her, “You have conceived and will have a son. You will name him Ishmael,^[d] for the Lord has heard your cry of affliction. ¹² This man will be like a wild donkey. His hand will be against everyone, and everyone’s hand will be against him; he will settle near all his relatives.”

¹³ So she named the Lord who spoke to her: “You are El-roi,”^[e] for she said, “In this place, have I actually seen the one who sees me?” ^[f] 14 That is why the well is called Beer-lahai-roi.^[g] It is between Kadesh and Bered.

¹⁵ So Hagar gave birth to Abram’s son, and Abram named his son (whom Hagar bore) Ishmael. ¹⁶ Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to him.

The Bible tells it like it was and does not sugar coat what happens in the lives of those GOD used. Back to our selected scripture ----

Let’s read Genesis 17:1-2:

17 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him, saying, “I am God Almighty. Live^[a] in my presence and be blameless. ² I will set up my covenant between me and you, and I will multiply you greatly.”

When Abram was how old? He was ninety-nine years old and the LORD appeared to him. GOD had promised Abram that HE would provide an heir that would come from his own body. Well, Hagar produced a child and it was from the seed of Abram. Was GOD proud of Abram and Sarai for taking matters into their own hands? Were they in the will of GOD? Since GOD is all knowing, did HE know what they would do before HE fulfilled the promise HE had made to Abram? Absolutely!

We must keep in mind that Abram could have refused Sarai’s offer but did Abram wonder if he was the problem and not his wife Sarai. We will never know and it really does not matter. The important thing is that GOD knew and GOD is in control.

Yes, Sarai and Abram took matters into their own hands but GOD knew what they would do. It was no surprise to HIM.

The same is true with us today. HE knows how we will choose in the matters we face in life. We see in our next scripture that even though Sarai and Abram took matters into their own hands, GOD’S redemptive plan did not change.

Let’s read Genesis 17:3-9:

³ Then Abram fell facedown and God spoke with him: ⁴ “As for me, here is my covenant with you: You will become the father of many nations. ⁵ Your name will no longer be Abram;^[b] your name will be Abraham,^[c] for I will make you the father of many nations. ⁶ I will make you extremely fruitful and will make nations and kings come from you. ⁷ I will confirm my covenant that is between me and you and your future offspring throughout their generations. It is a permanent covenant to be your God and the God of your offspring after you. ⁸ And to you and your future offspring^[d] I will give the land where you are residing—all the land of Canaan—as a permanent possession, and I will be their God.”

⁹ God also said to Abraham, “As for you, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations are to keep my covenant.

Why did GOD wait until Hagar got pregnant by Abram and gave birth to Ishmael before HE came to Abram to confirm that Abram would produce a child with Sarai?

GOD made a covenant with Abram and changed his name from Abram to Abraham.

GOD gave Abram a name change, from “exalted father” to Abraham “father of many or multitudes.”

Sarai also got a name change by GOD from Sarai, carrying the idea of princess but one who strives/quarrelsome to Sarah which means “princess.”

JESUS was a physical descendant of Abraham. And guess what? We who have accepted JESUS as our Savior are also children of Abraham through the miracle of Spiritual birth through faith.

The Apostle Paul reveals in Galatians 3:27-29:

²⁷ For those of you who were baptized into Christ have been clothed with Christ. ²⁸ There is no Jew or Greek, slave or free, male and female; since you are all one in Christ Jesus. ²⁹ And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, heirs according to the promise.

Notice it is “Abraham’s seed and not seeds.” The “seed” is JESUS alone.

Faith in JESUS includes all Spirit-born Christians as children of Abraham. Therefore, as a Spirit-born person you are included in the promise/covenant GOD promised Abram.

Does that mean those of Islam are included? Only, if they place their faith in JESUS. JESUS gave HIS sinless life for all who place their faith in HIM. The same is true of the Jews. Physical birth, as a Jew, does not translate to salvation. A Jew must accept JESUS as his or her Savior the same as any other human being. All people come to GOD through faith in JESUS.

Have you accepted JESUS as your Savior? If not, now is that opportunity. Ask JESUS to forgive you for your sins believing that HE gave HIS sinless life to pay for sin, in full, and for HIM to come into your life and save you from the consequence of sin, which is eternal death. By accepting JESUS as your Savior, you will be Spiritually born into GOD’S Family, never to be Spiritually unborn. You become GOD’S Child and your citizenship is permanently in Heaven. Your name is permanently in the Lambs Book of Life. This is all guaranteed and assured by the indwelling Holy Spirit as recorded in Romans 8:15-17:

¹⁵ For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear. Instead, you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry out, “Abba,^[i] Father!” ¹⁶ The Spirit himself testifies together with our spirit that we are God’s children, ¹⁷ and if children, also heirs—heirs of God and coheirs with Christ—if indeed we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.

Ephesians 1:13 - ¹³ In him you also were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and when you believed.

Ephesians 4:30 - ³⁰ And don’t grieve God’s Holy Spirit. You were sealed by him^[a] for the day of redemption.

What a joy it is for us to be able to see and know GOD’S redemptive plan through our faith in JESUS.

Blessings!!!