#3 in FAITH & HOPE: Living in the Balance of Wisdom and Revelation
“By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country...”
Abraham, the father of faith-righteousness, made several mistakes. God told him to leave his family and go to a new land, but Abraham brought his nephew, Lot, and his family, which caused all sorts of problems. He lied about his wife to Pharaoh and gave his wife to him, the wife he was to have a promised child. He gave his wife away again to another king. He had a child with a different woman who was not his wife. And I'm sure there were more along the way.
Yet he is the man through which God birthed the nation of Israel. God's chosen people, his elect, the ones with whom he cut covenant and revealed his name.
I say this not to disparage Abraham but to encourage you. Abraham is someone we are to regard as a model of faith.
Why?
Because Abraham believed God.
That's it. That's faith. Believe what God said and make every decision accordingly.
Faith is not something you need more of, faith is a commitment to God's promised reality. God has a plan for your life. It comes with promises and purposes. Blessings and assignments.
All of those promises are in Christ, who is in you. The more you know and experience Christ in you, the more you will experience the promises of your joint inheritance with Christ.
The more you search out God's nature and character, the more you will understand his will for your life.
But it's not the accruement of time that yields the fruit of faith, it's being convinced of who God is and that he will accomplish what he promised, like in Abraham's life.
What has God promised you?
What purposes has God revealed to you?
How are you prioritizing your life to apply the wisdom he's giving you concerning those things?
There is more detail on these questions, along with a suggested exercise to write out the promises you are believing and the purposes you're pursuing.
Abraham's Faith
Hebrews 11:8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. 9 By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; 10 for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.
A few verses later, we're reminded that God asked Abraham to sacrifice his child of promise, Isaac. In Hebrews 11:19 we see that Abraham "reasoned" or rationalized that God could raise Isaac from the dead, so he was willing to sacrifice him. But that was just God's test to ensure that Abraham would see everything through. God never intended for Abraham to kill Isaac.
As a side note, God was doing something else with this test. He was rewriting what kind of god he was. Abraham was used to gods requiring blood sacrifices of children from living in the kingdom of Nimrod. But God wanted to reveal himself as the one who provides for himself a sacrifice, as a foreshadowing of Jesus. So this test was not an external trial, it was an internal searching out of Abraham's heart to make sure he had a willing vessel.
The word "reasoned" is an interesting choice. I think of it more as an equation. You must have all the correct integers or factors in the equation to come to the proper conclusion. Abraham persuaded his heart that God was faithful, even in a circumstance that was confusing to him. He reasoned or processed in his heart that God was a healer and could raise his son from the dead if that needed to happen.
We can learn a lesson from this. As we are believing God, we too must consider his nature, character, promises, and revealed purposes as we form beliefs and make choices. All of our beliefs and choices must consider who God has revealed himself to be throughout history and what he accomplished in the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ.
Ask yourself those two questions in everything; who is God? Did Jesus do anything about this? And whatever those answers are, do whatever it takes to believe those Word-based conclusions and do not deviate or doubt.
Setting Up A Home for Your Faith
Abraham built his tent or home in a foreign land before the promise was manifested. While this was a literal event for him, and might be for us in a way as well, this is something we can do in our hearts. You can dwell in or on the promises God has made to you in Christ before you see the manifestation as part of the process to persuade your heart of his promises.
Most of us dwell in or on what might go wrong, or the past, or a thought that usually never happens. We set up a home for our faith that is riddled with doubt, fear, worry, anger, disappointment, frustration, etc. But do you take the time to frame up a dwelling place in your heart for God's promises to manifest? His promises are in you already because Christ is in you. But is your heart receptive to his Word? Do you allow it to take root and bear full fruit, or do you uproot it with indecision, doubt, and self-reliance?
I hope you jump into the video above and apply my suggestion regarding the intentional stewarding of God's promises and purposes.
This series will continue for several more weeks as I look at what Jesus taught about faith and our role in persuading our hearts. Stay tuned!!
