Tag: God

The Lord will Provide

Abraham was not lying to his servants when he said, “I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you.” He firmly believed that the two of them would come again. He spoke words of faith and exemplified obedience.

As Abraham and Isaac climb the mountain a ram climbs the other side of the mountain. Someone has said, “For every step Abraham takes toward the top the ram also takes a step. And it was God’s plan all along that they meet in the same place at the same time for the same purpose.”

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Isaac was not a little boy. He was a full grown man. According to Josephus he was about twenty-seven. It seems he shared his father’s confidence and faith in the promises and provisions of God. He willingly allowed his old father to tie him there. After all, Isaac’s very existence was a direct result of God keeping His word.

“And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together. And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood” (Genesis 22:9).

Of course, God did not allow Abraham to take the life of his beloved son. With the knife raised, positioned to come down, God stopped him. God doesn’t require a burnt, human sacrifice from us. But, he does asking us to present ourselves a living sacrifice (Romans 12:1-2).

This story is also prophetic that the Lamb of God would provide Himself a sacrifice. Perhaps, it is a glimpse of Calvary when the Lamb would take away the sin of the world (John 1:29).

“And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son. And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah-jireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the Lord it shall be seen” (Genesis 22:13-14).

God tests us so that we can learn to trust Him. You may feel like you are climbing a mountain alone, struggling with each step, worried about what the summit will bring. Remember, God’s provision is already on its way. The Lord will provide. The ram will be at the top. As “Jehovah-Jireh” God provides our needs.

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Leaving Everything in God’s Hands

What challenges, hindrances, or disadvantages hang over your head at this stage of your faith journey?

Pick up a newspaper. Tune into a radio station. Surf the Net. Dreary stories are plentiful. The economy plummets. Terrorists provoke panic. Political chaos prevails. Extortionists plunder. Calamities produce pressure. The future is pessimistic. It would be easy to be caught in despair, depression, and desperation. It’s a fact. We live in unsettling times.

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When looking at the future it is easy to think of one word to describe it: “unknown.” I love this famous poem, written by Minnie Louise Harkins and used in the end-of-the-year message of King George VI, in 1939:

I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year
’
Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.’

And he replied,
‘Go into the darkness and put your hand into the hand of God
That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way!’

So I went forth and finding the Hand of God
Trod gladly into the night
He led me towards the hills
And the breaking of day in the lone east.

So heart be still!
What need our human life to know
If God hath comprehension?

I’m not sure what you may be going through, or what may be taking place in your lives individually, or with your families. Put your hand into the hand of our all-knowing God and walk into the unknown. Abraham did and thousands of years later we are still telling the story.

God is in control. Someone said, “Those that see God’s hand in everything, best leave everything in God’s hand.”

One senior minister earnestly prayed repeatedly, “I put my tiny, little hand into your big, big hand.”

How true!

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Promises in God’s Word!

“God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?” (Numbers 23:19).

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It was one of those rare moments sketched in memory. During the introduction to my Sunday morning message I asked the African village congregation, “How many promises are there in God’s Word for you!” Enthusiastically, a young girl raised her hand and said, “There is one promise in God’s Word.” Someone else added, “There are two promises.” Finally, the church drummer enthusiastically proclaimed, “There are seven promises in God’s Word for His people.” All were wrong. All were far from the answer.

There are 7,487 promises in the Bible from God to man, and many of them are directed to us. Sadly, through ignorance, we live far below what God has in mind for us. We are the children of the promise (Romans 9:8; Galatians 4:28) and the heirs of promise (Hebrews 6:12, 17). It is our inheritance. God has many good things in mind for us.

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A Very Little Man in a Very Big Tree

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Once upon a time there was a very little man and a very big tree. Their relationship to each other, my friends, is a very interesting story. You see, one day the very little man had a very big problem. This is what it was: He wanted to see a King and he was too selfish; too much of a bad man; too proud; and too short to see Him. (He didn’t deserve to see him anyway.) Yet, being used to getting what he wanted he was sure he would find a way. As he was mulling over his predicament he looked up and saw it: the very big tree. So, he decided to climb it, borrowing it’s height as his own so that he could see. When he reached the top, he found that he could indeed see very well. He watched breathlessly from his tall perch, his eyes glued to the King who wore no crown. Suddenly, the man he wanted so much to see looked up and called his name: “Zacchaeus! Come down from that tree! I’m going to your house today!” So the very little man climbed out of the very big tree and went home with the very big God – The God That Visits.

Great story! It’s incomprehensible how a God with so many other things to do and so many places to visit would take the time to visit Zacchaeus. Yet, He did. Now, He is willing and waiting to visit with us as well. “God is so very big and we are so very small” you may say. “How can we ever be deserving of a visit from Him?” Well, you certainly do not want to miss any of His potential visits and should prepare for them by serving, obeying, magnifying, and expecting Him all the time. Yet, when it all boils down to it, the best of us very little people still find ourselves very little deserving of a visit from a God such as ours. That is one of things that makes Him so unique. He loves us all and wants to spend time with each and every one of us. All we need provide is the desire to see Him. We serve the God that visits even the undeserving.

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