10/25/12. Hebrews 11:8-9. THE FAITH OF ABRAHAM-my devotional
10/25/12. Hebrews 11:8-9. THE FAITH OF ABRAHAM-my devotional
Hebrews 11:8-19 Kevin Jesmer
Key Verse: 11:17 NIU UBF 10-25-12
““By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had embraced the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son,”
Dear Lord, Jesus Christ. I thank you that we can trust you in this trying times and ever changing times. So many families are living on the edge in their relations and in their finances. They do not know what to do. Their hearts are full of fear. Sometimes my own heart begins to worry about the future. Lord, I place all of my hope and faith and trust in you. I trust you with my life, my family and my future. I pray that all of America may trust you. May Matthew 6:33 be the mantra of our nation as we seek first your kingdom and your righteousness. Lord, continue to work in my life and family and ministry to bear much fruit among us. Illumine my heart with your word. I pray in Jesus’ name. Amen!
Part 1: Abraham and Sarah’s Faith (8-12)
Verses 8-12, “8 By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. 9 By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. 11 And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because sheconsidered him faithful who had made the promise. 12 And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.”
God used this family as ancestors of faith. Abraham heard God’s direction and promise and went to live in the Promised Land. Although there were other peoples living there, he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, heirs of God’s promise. Sarah was old and barren. She believed God’s promise and God gave her a son. All who believe God’s promise are children of this legendary couple.
I thank God for Abraham. He really showed a great example of a person who believed in God’s promises to him and answered God’s call even though he was old and he and his wife were barren. He was going out into the unknown, following God’s leading. He trusted God all the way to the Promised Land.
I can follow his faith. I can believe God’s promise to me. He promises to forgive all of my sins. He promised to be with me to the very end of the age, as I follow him. He promised to be with me and never forsake me. He promised me that and my household will be saved. In 1998 Julie and I set out to NIU believing that NIU will be a campus that Julie and I can be shepherds for. This hasn’t changed. But our capacity to be stewards of the campus has diminished, we can be blessings in some small way. God will bless our faith. He has led James and Rob and Greg into our lives. They are all NIU students. We occasionally attend the Network of Nations on the campus. It is what we can do. I thank God what is going on in Jenn’s life. She is studying at Montreal. God called her and she answered God’s call. She is blossoming in her faith. She kept the flickering flame of FCA alive at the DeKalb High School starting in 9th grade and now it is flourishing. Augi and Sarah are attending and contributing with their prayers and presence. Four of the kids attend a youth group that they have chosen. That is a great work of God. I still trust God. I trust God’s leading and I trust his promises. Living by faith is turning out a little different than I expected. But God is working. He is leading me and my household to the true Promised Land, the Kingdom ofGod.
Part 2: The Hope of The Patriarchs (13-16)
Verses 13-16, “All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. 14 People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. 15 If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.”
Living by faith is a pilgrimage that begins with God the Creator and ends in his heavenly city. A pilgrim’s hope is in the destination, God’s reward. God is pleased to call such pilgrims his people, so he prepared for them a city and will live with them. That is our true hope. We live by faith in this world and we don’t seem to accumulate much. We struggle to live pay check to pay check. We flounder around as if we are going to drown and there does not seem to be anyone willing to step in and rescue us from our plight. The struggle in this world seems to never end. But we live by faith, not thinking that everything will be fulfilled in this life. Our hope reaches beyond this life. It goes to the Kingdom of God, which is our true hope. My struggles will always be here. They will not end while I live and breathe. But God has his will me and my family and he is carrying us along on our journey. Praise God for his guiding hand. Thank you Lord. I trust you.
Part 3: Abraham’s Resurrection Faith (17-19)
Verses 17-19, “By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had embraced the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, 18 even though God had said to him, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.” 19 Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead, and so in a manner of speaking he did receive Isaac back from death.”
After living my faith for about 40 years, God tested Abraham’s faith by asking him to offer Isaac. How could he do this? We are shocked by this. But as Abraham thought about God and his promises, he realized God could raise the dead. He knew that God was greater than death. God proved this by raising Jesus from the dead. With this faith he could obey God. He knew that God was asking him to love God more than anything else in the world. He knew that he was not actually sacrificing Isaac for God would raise Isaac from the dead. Isaac must have shared this same faith and submitted to this. Abraham was right! God intervened and sent a ram to sacrifice. Isaac would live and he demonstrated that he loved God more than anything.
Nobody should do what Abraham was called to do. But we are called to love God more than the most precious things in our life. I need to love God more than my own personal freedom. I need to love God more than seeking recognition from ministry. I need to love God more than my own personal fulfillment and generating my own meaning in my life. I must be ready to sacrifice these on the altar and know that God will resurrect it and bless me spiritually a 100 fold for everything I lay on the altar. I must lay down my own life, knowing that God will take it back up again.
Prayer: “Thank you Father for your promises. Help me live by faith, looking forward to your kingdom.”
One Word: Abraham believed God raises the dead
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