What if Abraham Had Missed It?

JUST AS HE CHOSE ABRAHAM, GOD CHOSE YOU

It's so important for the people of God to seek His face and get His direction down to the tiniest detail. Not only the big vision but also His strategy and everything associated with the assignment. I find that it's so easy to get the general directions but still mess up because I did not seek Him for all of the details. That means it's not just the "what" but we need to know the "how" as well, and it us usually one step at a time. Now I may not be so important to what God is doing but what if the father of the faith, Abraham, had missed it? The implications are so far-reaching it's hard to imagine. Could God have used someone else? Of course, He is God. But He didn't.

It's the same with you. God can find someone else to do and to be  what He has called you to? Of course, but He chose you. And only you can do and to be what He has called you to in your particular way with exactly what He has packed into you.  What if Abraham did not depart from among his family to be led by God to a place he did not know? God told him to leave and go to a place who builder and maker is God and I will make you a great nation. [Paraphrased]  Why? So that Abraham could be a big shot? No. God had nation-forming and Kingdom-expanding plans for what He would entrust to Abraham. That's why the following words have had such an impact on me. I hope they will bless you, too:

Gen. 12:2:
"I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great and you shall be a blessing." 

Ever hear the phrase "blessed to be a blessing.?" Abraham was not blessed with greatness for himself or his immediate family. He was to be a blessing to all. Look at verse 3 of the same chapter:

Gen. 12:3:
"I will bless those who bless you and I will curse those who curse you: and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.

All the families of the earth would be blessed through Abraham's blessing. Wow! But how?


ABRAHAM'S LINEAGE

The very Person we celebrate during this Christmas season, Jesus Christ, the Son of God and the Son of Man. You see, Abraham's forefather Shem, Noah's son, from which we get the word "Semite," the root of the Jewish people. And of course, Noah was Seth's, Adam and Eve's third son, great, great, great, great, great grandson. Yes, that's a lot of greats, give or take one. Suffice it to say, Noah was in the Seth's line and so was Abraham. However, by the time it came around to Abraham's family, they were not submitted to the Creator God but had become idolaters. But God has a way to re-align mankind and that was He aimed to do through Abraham. What a calling! So that's why the Jews refer to Abraham as their father today and in Jesus' day.


JESUS, OUR BLESSING, WAS A JEW

God chose to come into the world as a Jew so Jesus was a Jew. Therefore, to hate Jews is to hate God's chosen people. It's ridiculous and it is usually driven by jealousy. If you have a problem with Jews, ask the Lord to help you because it will be a stumbling block to your walk with Him. Trust me. But Jesus is the reason for the Christmas season and the One through Whom "all the families of the earth have been blessed." Through Christ, we have access to Abraham's blessing, but most of all, we have access to the Father of Lights Himself, the Source of all that is good.

And it's not so much Abraham that is the focus but Jesus Christ the only Way man can be reconnected with God after the Fall of our foreparents, Adam and Eve, in the Garden of Eden. 

So if Abraham had missed it perhaps God would have devised another plan and found someone else; but He didn't. Praise be to God! And as you know, it's a great honor and privilege to be the child of God and also to be His servant. Most people don't trust God to the degree Abraham did, so most will not be entrusted with what God entrusted to him. But we are all called to be the hands and feet of Jess here on earth to complete the Kingdom work Jesus started. Yet, we are also seated in heavenly places with Christ Jesus. God begot a people through Abraham's line, natural and adopted. And while life in Christ is also a life full of tests, trials and tribulations, To those who trust in Him, He always delivers us. And God gave this man Abraham, some very difficult tests. Tests such that most of us have ever faced or will ever face.


ABRAHAM'S FATHER - TERAH

One of the things that fascinates me about Abraham was his father, Terah. Terah had taken his son Abram and grandson, Lot and was headed for Canaan but he never got to his destination because he stopped and lived - and died - in Haran. And it was not until Terah died at round the age of 205 (Abram was born when his father was 70), that God called Abram to leave for Canaan, really to finish the trip. But God kept the destination hidden from Abram. He just said leave and go to this place that I'll show you. I wonder why God never talked to Terah and why did he wait until Terah was dead before He called Abram. Perhaps, knowing the characters of both men God saw Abram as the one who would be more faithful and submissive and carry through to the end as directed by God. And that while Terah was alive that same faithfulness would be a hindrance to the outward call. The bottom line is that Abram was a faithful son to his earthly father and perhaps that was a qualification for his faithfulness to the heavenly Father. We are blessed by the fact that Abram, re-named Abraham, did just as God asked. The Bible says He believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness. So he was faithful AND righteous. That is my personal prayer and from this foundation flow God's willingness to trust us.

What we know about God is that He is generous with His blessings but quite discriminate with His trust.


GOD's TRUST, UNLIKE SALVATION, MUST BE EARNED

So much is dependent upon the obedience of the saints. You never know what depends on your obedience. I believe it would boggle our minds if we did know. I am challenged by this and so I challenge you to be obedient to the Lord as He often asks you to do what makes little sense to others, believers and non-believers alike. I am not talking about God's commandments, those are not negotiable! But when the Lord says go here or there and do this or that or say this or that and you know beyond the shadow of a doubt that it's Him, just do it! And although it may often be uncomfortable, in the end you will not be sorry! In addition, obedience carries with it a supernatural peace and well-being that surpasses all understanding.

Abraham was faithful even to the point of preparing to sacrifice his own son upon God's command. And Isaac was not just any son, He was the promised son of Abraham's old age. I imagine that to be the ultimate test for anyone, especially for a parent.


ABRAHAM LIKE FATHER GOD

Abraham was a picture of our Father God Who sacrificed His own Son, Jesus Christ for our redemption. The difference is that God spared Isaac's life and provided a ram in the thicket instead, whereas He went all the way through with the sacrifice of His own Son so that mankind could be redeemed by accepting the sacrifice. God sacrificed perfection to gain imperfection. Wow! Glory be to God! That is an indescribable type of love. The blessings of Abraham the Old Covenant prophetic picture of the New Covenant fulfillment in Christ.

God bless you as we continue on this amazing path God has set before us. I pray that you and I will be like Abraham and follow the Lord wherever and in whatever He leads us. He may not call you to set out like Abraham but we are always to walk by faith and not by sight (2 Cor. 5:7). And ultimately, to be like Jesus who obeyed His Father always, even to the death.  Notice the level of obedience matches the level of ability to do the impossible. It was in Jesus's life and it is for us, too. Submission to our loving God is the key. There is every reason to trust Him and no reason not to. It not difficult but it does take practice. Why not start now with whatever it is you are facing that you see as impossible to get pass or to solve.
After all, it was through Jesus that His Father became our perfect Father. None of our earthly fathers were perfect, but praise be to His Holy Name our heavenly Father is! This means, we can release our earthly fathers from any inadequacies and just love them.


WALKING AS JESUS DID IN 2015 AND BEYOND

Jesus said His food was to do the will of the Father. He said what He heard His Father say and did what He saw His Father do! Praise God we don't have to walk blindly as we walk by faith. He also said that whoever did the will of the Father is His brother, sister and mother (Matt. 12:50). Matt. 7:21 says that not everyone who says "Lord, Lord" will enter the Kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of the Father in heaven. 

I leave you with this powerful Scripture of our blessing from Romans 4:11-13:

"that he [Abraham] might be the father of all those who believe, ... that righteousness might be imputed unto them also ..., but who also walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham which he had, being yet uncircumcised. For the promise that he should be the heir of the world came not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith."

There is so much more to this. I just felt led to share this again today.

Have a Happy and Wonderful 2015!