Send us Fan Mail Genesis 15 has God establishing a covenant with Abram, promising an heir with countless descendants, and the land of Canaan. Chapter 16 tells the story of Sarai, Abram, and Hagar, highlighting human impatience and God’s compassionate response to the afflicted Hagar. Chapter 17 records God appearing to 99-year-old Abram to reaffirm His covenant, change his name, and institute circumcision as the sign of the covenant. As you read through or listen to the Bible, look for lessons that can impact your life. There are several in 15:1. Nothing is more important than Gen.15:6 where it says, “Abraham believed God and He accounted it to him for righteousness.” Abe was declared right with God when He believed the promise of God. He set the precedence for all others to be saved. This the N.T. declares many times (Rm.4:3,22-25; Gal.3:6; Jas.2:23). We are justified by faith. But a close second to that is, “The just shall live by faith.” (Rm.1:17; Gal.3:11; Heb.10:38) Living by faith we inherit all the many other promises of God from the time we are saved till we die. All the promises of God but one has to do with how we live by faith. There are literally hundreds of these promises. God not only wants us to be right; He wants us to live right. To do that we must believe the promises of God. Because this is so important, we find that the Bible and the experiences of believers reveal there are many hindrances to living by faith. Those hindrances rise from our own flesh, this sinful world, and the devil. Abe didn’t believe the promise of God one day and wake up the next day with the title deed to all the land of Canaan and multitudes of children. These would come as he learned to live by faith. To be born is one thing, but that is only the beginning. There’s a lot to learn about living a productive and meaningful life in this life and in our life with God. And there are many hindrances. I see two in these chapters I want us to consider. I. Abraham’s God was too small. It’s not that his God was small, but his perception of God was way too small. He just found it hard to believe that God could fulfill His promises to give him an inheritance of land and children. He was 100 years old with no kids, and Canaanites owned the land God said He had given to him. This is the life of many Christians. There are many precious promises but for various reasons so many of the promises have yet to be realized. God has abundant life promised to you but you are not living in that abundance. Do you want that abundance? You do if you have half a spiritual brain. Realizing, inheriting and obtaining those promises will require faith and endurance. “Do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.” (Heb.6:12) Abraham had an excuse for his inadequate concept of God. He didn’t have a Bible. We do. We have a huge book filled with stories telling us how big God is. He can create the universe with the power of His spoken word, He can part a sea, heal multitudes, and raise the dead. We are told, “Nothing is impossible with God,” and He proved it with many miracles. Do you believe the miracles God did in the Bible? He hasn’t changed. For example, by faith we have peace WITH God (Rm.5:1), but the peace OF God is another thing. That comes with praying correctly; so we have to learn how to pray. Even the disciples had to ask Jesus to teach them how to pray (Lk.11:1), and He did. Do you really know how to pray? The proof is in how many answers to prayer you have experienced. The peace of God also requires pondering. “Think on these things…and the peace of God will guard your heart.” (Phil.6:6-9) “He will keep in perfect peace, those whose minds are fixed on Him.” (Is.26:3) You can’t have peace if you’re worried, or depressed, or sinning. Say out loud, “God is big enough to do anything. God is big enough to do the impossible. I have a big big God.” And say, “I will not be defeated and I will not quit until His promises are fulfilled in my life.” II. Abraham’s Patience was too short. He tried to talk God into making his servant and Ismael his heir. Both times God said, “NO!” He had to be patient for 25 years. Fortunately it doesn’t take that long for most promises to be fulfilled. Sometimes they are fulfilled instantly. When the blind man asked Jesus to heal him, Jesus said, “Go your way; your faith has made you will.” And immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus.” (Mk.10:51-52) But that doesn’t always happen. Noah had to wait before the promise came to pass. So did Jacob, Joseph, and David. Many times we must brood over the promise until it hatches. Sit on it, and don’t get off the nest. Find a promise that relates to your situation, and like Abraham, meditate, imagine, confess, and never give up until the promise comes to pass. Our daughter had hyaline membrane disease. We prayed and prayed for weeks until she was healed. We refused to give up. I would not accept this. If you can live with something, you probably will. If it is contrary to a promise of God you don’t have to live with it. Fight the good fight of faith. Stay Connected with Grace Church! Dive deeper into sermon notes and see how Christ is moving in our community by visiting our website: https://sites.google.com/view/gracehouseclinton/sermons If you feel led to support our ministry, you can give securely here: https://give.tithe.ly/?formId=674824c2-5d42-11ee-90fc-1260ab546d11 Thank you for being part of our ministry! #GraceChurch #FaithInAction #terrysimpson #terry #simpson #clintonar #sermons #pastor #ministry #discipleship
