Oct. 2, 2015

Trust and Obey

Genesis 12:1-4...Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee: (2)...And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing; (3) And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee; and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. (4)...So Abram departed, as the Lord had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran.

To the first time reader of the Bible or baby Christian, this story could cause one to say this, is totally unbelievable. But to the person who is willing to accept God's Word as truth, it is a story of faith and total obedience to God even though Abram didn't know who God was.

Genesis 11:27-32 gives you the background on the family of this guy named Abram. He was born five generation after the Tower of Babel, his father Terah lived in Ur of the Chaldees that served other gods (Joshua 24:2), married a beautiful lady named Sarai who was barren and had a nephew named Lot. Abrams father moved the family from Ur of the Chaldees to the land of Canaan (specifically Haran) and lived there. It was in that land that Terah, Abrams father died at 205 years old.

This background is significant because no one in this family knew anything about the One true and living God yet Abram hears God say to him in verse 1,move from your country, from your family and your father's house and go to a land that I will show you. 

Remember your life before God? You were doing whatever is was, having the time of your life. Things may not have been perfect but you had it going on. You may have rarely if ever attended Church, never had any conversation about God with anyone because it wasn't cool to talk that talk but life for you was good.

You are minding your own business one day when you hear something in your Spirit telling you to in essence, get away from everything familiar to you. Your neighborhood, your parents home and your relatives. Get away from them, you don't need to know where I want you to go yet but go. Would you do it? 

As you get deeper into this story, you find a reality waiting to knock you out and it isn't bad. In fact, it's a "BLESSING". As we drill down into these passages, count the word "and". In verse 1 and is used twice. In verse 2, "and" is used 4 times...And I will make of you a great nation...And I will bless you, And make your name great And you will be a blessing...In verse 3  "and" is used 3 times...And I will bless them that bless you And curse them that curseth you...And in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. 

Notice each use of the word "and" pronounces empowerment on Abram and it is done because he was obedient and believed that the things spoken into him would come to pass. Did they ever...you and I are living today under these "Blessings". Gods spoken Word to Abram guaranteed his greatness (great nation, great name) ...Abram would be a blessing and God Himself would bless those who blessed Abram and curse those who cursed Abram. The most profound is... in Abram every family of the earth shall be blessed. All of this happened because Abram was obedient to the God he didn't know and had faith in that same God.

God used and rewarded Abram, He is still using and rewarding us if we allow ourselves to be used by Him. In Genesis Chapter 13:14-18, God makes Abram promises that He still honors today. In chapter 15 God tells Abram in a dream "Fear Not, I am your shield and your exceeding great reward" and promises him an heir. Remember, his wife Sarai is barren, so how can this be? Chapter 15:13 God in another dream reveals his (Abrams seed) the children of Israel... coming out of bondage from the Egyptian Pharaoh.    

If you knew the outcome of your obedience to God, everyone would be more than willing to be obedient but that would mean we don't have faith. The Bible say's, without faith it is impossible to please God...Hebrews 11:6A...the writer then qualifies it in the B part of that verse...for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder to them that diligently seek Him. 

Not only is your blessing dependent on your obedience and faith but countless other people as well.