God Will Provide!

 “So Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide. And to this day it is said, ‘On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.’” (Genesis 22:14 NIV) 

What an incredibly intense encounter with God! Abraham was told by God to sacrifice his son, Isaac, as a burnt offering. Nothing was more precious to Abraham than his son. Abraham had so much faith in God, and was obedient to the point of preparing to sacrifice Isaac when God, at the last moment, provided the lamb needed for the sacrifice. 

What can we learn from Abraham’s encounter with God?

We are called upon to sacrifice the BIG “I” or SELF at the foot of the cross. We do this by trusting in God’s provision for our salvation. We renounce, reject, and repent from trusting in “self-justification” by works, behavior, or anything else for our salvation. Instead, through faith, we accept the gift of Jesus’s sacrifice of his own life on our behalf.

Daily, we are called upon to put to death the misdeeds of the body. Daily, we need the power of the cross to crucify the sinful desires that constantly rear their ugly head. Daily, we rely on the Holy Spirit to help us say “no” to the lures of the world that would keep us from presenting ourselves as instruments of righteousness for expanding the Kingdom of God.

Yes, the BIG “I” or SELF, needs to be tightly fastened to the altar of sacrifice. If we consent to obeying God in this exercise, God will provide the substitute of his life of empowerment, blessing, and fulfillment far beyond anything we could ask, think, or imagine. As we give SELF to him, he gives himself and his LIFE to us. 

Compromise

Pray that you will not compromise with temptation. It's in the Bible, Matthew 26:41, TLB. "Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak."

Don't even start down an evil path. It's in the Bible, Proverbs 4:14-15, TLB. "Do not set foot on the path of the wicked or walk in the way of evil men. Avoid it, do not travel on it; turn from it and go on your way."

Don't let sinners influence you. It's in the Bible, Proverbs 1:10, TLB. "My son, if sinners entice you, do not give in to them."

The man who walks righteously does not compromise. It's in the Bible, Isaiah 33:15-16, TLB. "He who walks righteously and speaks what is right, who rejects gain from extortion and keeps his hand from accepting bribes, who stops his ears against plots of murder and shuts his eyes against contemplating evil—this is the man who will dwell on the heights, whose refuge will be the mountain fortress. His bread will be supplied, and water will not fail him."

You don't have to give in to compromise. It's in the Bible, I Corinthians 10:13, TLB. "No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it."

Don't give the devil a chance. It's in the Bible, Ephesians 4:27, TLB. "And do not give the devil a foothold."

There can be no compromise when it comes to the devil, we are either for Christ or Satan. It's in the Bible, Matthew 12:30, NIV. "He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters."

God Ways, Higher Than Man's Ways!

“As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:9 NIV) “But Naaman went away angry and said, ‘I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, wave his hand over the spot and cure me of my leprosy.’” (2 Kings 5:11 NIV) 

Namaan, the Syrian general, was furious! When he came to see Elisha to heal his leprosy, he never imagined Elisha would send a messenger. He assumed Elisha himself would come out, call on the name of the Lord, wave his hand over his leprosy and cure him. How mistaken he was!

God had a different plan. Perhaps he wanted to break Namaan’s pride. Namaan was told to go dunk himself in the Jordan River seven times. This made no sense to Naaman, and he almost missed the blessing of God’s healing by refusing at first to do as he was commanded. He mistakenly thought he could have dunked himself in a river back home that was, in his opinion, cleaner than the Jordan.

The Scripture makes it clear that God’s ways and thoughts are higher than ours as the heavens are higher than the earth. Often, we don’t understand why certain things are happening or why we need to go through certain experiences. Perhaps, like Namaan, we need discipline or God needs to break our pride. 

In Christainity, we study the people in the Old Testament because we can learn so many lessons that we need to apply to our own lives. This is a part of soaking our heart, as a sponge, in the Word of God.

Words

Our words should please God. It's in the Bible, Psalm 19:14, NIV. "May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in Your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer."

Words are so powerful that silence is sometimes the best action. It's in the Bible, Proverbs 13:3, NIV. "He who guards his lips guards his life, but he who speaks rashly will come to ruin."

Our words reveal what is in our heart. It's in the Bible, Matthew 12:34, NIV. "You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks."

Our words are important because we represent Christ. It's in the Bible, Colossians 4:6, NIV. "Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone."

What should characterize the words that we speak? It's in the Bible, Ephesians 5:4, TLB. "Dirty stories, foul talk and coarse jokes—these are not for you. Instead remind each other of God's goodness and be thankful!"

Our words can help others along life's way. It's in the Bible, Proverbs 25:11, NIV. "A word aptly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver. Isaiah 50:4, NIV says, "The Lord God has given Me the tongue of a teacher, that I may know how to sustain the weary with a word…"

One of the commandments forbids the misuse of God's name. It's in the Bible, Exodus 20: 7, TLB. "You shall not use the name of Jehovah your God irreverently, nor use it to swear to a falsehood. You will not escape punishment if you do."