STEPS OF ABRAHAM'S FAITH

Gen. 12:1-9

Morning Meditation 1/24/2013

Genesis 12:1-9, "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: 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: 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. 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. And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came. And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Sichem, unto the plain of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land. And the LORD appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto the LORD, who appeared unto him. And he removed from thence unto a mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west, and Hai on the east: and there he builded an altar unto the LORD, and called upon the name of the LORD. And Abram journeyed, going on still toward the south."

I will just choose a few of steps of Abraham's faith.

THE BEGINNING OF HIS FAITH

Abraham's faith so far as the record goes begins with, "Now the LORD had said unto Abram." All faith begins with Divine revelation. God spoke to him. Sometime you wish there was some way to know how this took place. It would be interesting to know if God just spoke out in the plain speech of the day. It is my conviction that it was the Hebrew language.

How does God speak to us? He speaks to me in the language of Scripture. I feel that it is the best way. God's way is always best. When you read a verse of Scripture, it is a call of God to salvation if you are not already God's child. It is a call of God to grow in grace and maturity if you are a Christian. It was a call of God to me to preach the unsearchable riches of Christ. I did not hear a voice. If I told you all the things I ask God to do to prove to me He was actually calling me to salvation, you would roll in the floor in breath taking laughter. So I'll just keep that secret. I was never certain until I allowed the Scriptures to become the living up to date voice of God for me.

I also believe that God speaks through intuition. When you know something by intuition, you just know what God is saying. Someone might ask me, "How do you know God has called you to preach?" My answer is simply, I just know. That's intuition. Then the intuition staying on tract with the Word of God gives peace, "And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful" (Col. 3:15).

This will work in all cases. When you seek God's will and direction for your life, do it with an open Bible and on your knees. Hebrews 11:6, "But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him." Next let's look at,

THE CALL OF FAITH

Genesis 12:1 says, "Get thee out." Abram is called to separate himself from his country and kindred. It was no light task, but faith is always obedient (Heb. 11:8). The same principle applies to every believer in Christ. Christ says we must be willing to leave all to follow Him, and no earthly relation must hinder. Read the three "cannot's" in Luke 14:26-33.

This illustrates the call of a missionary. He must answer the call, in many cases, to go to foreign lands totally strange to him. He must step over the wall of culture and preach to a people who hate God. Many of those to whom God sends the obedient missionary, bow to worship idols. This is forbidden by God, and the missionary as God's representative, to be "Laborers with God" to bring about their conversion and do away with the idols. 1 Thessalonians 1:9, "For they themselves shew of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God;"

Your call may not be a call to preach or go out as a missionary. But every Christian is a plan of God to be faithful and answer that call no matter what the situation is. Next we see,

THE PROMISE OF FAITH

See the four "I wills" in verses 1 to 3. The Lord told Abram what He would do:

1. "I will" show you the land I'm going to give you. It would be good for a Christian to read 1 Corinthians 15 and see what God is going to give you. Then again in Revelation chapters 21 and 22 and see the golden shore and the New Jerusalem. These are things God is going to give His people. In fact, He has already given them to us. My home address is the New Jerusalem. My temporary address is 4225 Van Deeman St. Bossier City, LA. Hallelujah what a Saviour!!! (The bold added for emphasis).

2. "I will" make of thee a great nation. God is the Author of this great nation. God waited long after this promise before Abram and Sarai had Isaac. It was certainly impossible from a human standpoint for them to have a child at their age. Abram 100 and Sarai 90. Sarai laughed when God finally announced that Isaac would be born a year from then. I would have laughed too, wouldn't you? God does things that seem impossible so that our faith will be stretched. Genesis 15:4-6, "And, behold, the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir. And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be. And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness." (The bold added for emphasis).

3. "I will" bless thee and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing. If I lived in the time of Abram and knew the truth of this verse, I would walk up to Abram and say, "Sir, I want to be your friend. Will you let me be your friend?" And if he said, "why yes, I would be blessed to have your friendship." Then I would shout all the way home. Then when someone said something negative about Abram, I would say, "please do not say bad things about my friend Abram." He is the friend of God, and if you know what is good for you, you will ask God's forgiveness for criticizing Abram because God has promised to bless his friends.

4. "I will" bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. Herein is the promise of the salvation of the Gentiles through a descendant of Abram. God carefully gives us the genealogy of Abram so that there will be no question about the fulfillment of this promise in the person of Christ. Look at the multitudes of Gentiles as a fulfillment of the promise of God to Abraham. Even though we are centuries removed from this promise to Abram, I believe the promise still stands.

THE OBEDIENCE OF FAITH

Genesis 12:4 says, "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." Abram departed as the Lord had spoken. It was enough for Abram that he had God's command to leave his kin and country; so to faith it is sufficient that the Lord speaks for it to act. From the standpoint of human reason, it was a foolish thing for Abram to leave home not knowing where he was going (Heb. 11:8), but it was enough for him that God had said, "I will show thee (Gen. 12:1). Someone has said, "It is better to walk with God in the dark than to go by ourselves in the light." Faith says, "yes," and acts accordingly. Next we see,

THE CONCERN OF FAITH

Abram did not leave his family behind him, but took them with him. Faith is ever concerned about the welfare of others.

I think many missionaries make a mistake if they do not bring their entire family into their call to the mission field. I am talking about a scenario something like this. The man surrenders to go to the mission field. He never discusses it with his wife. He expects her to join him and takes her for granted. That is a mistake that has a good chance in ending in tragedy. The mission field should be discussed with her. What she thinks is important. Most of the time a godly woman will sense the call of God upon her husband. She understands that if God has called her husband, He has also called her. She will share with him in the ministry. She needs to feel as drawn to the field as he.

If a preacher takes his wife for granted, he may look around one day and find she is not there. The preacher and family are a team who will share in the blessings and the heart aches. A preacher better have a different attitude than, I'm called, you are called, shut your mouth and follow me. That is a cruel unfeeling attitude for a preacher to have. The wife is more than the minister's cook. She is the best friend he has. He better acknowledge that and treat her like a queen. I like to think I am the head of my home. But I freely acknowledge that my wife is a necessary part of my ministry. The plans I make I discuss with her. I want her input. There has been many times I would have made some serious mistakes if I had not listened to the counsel of my godly wife.

THE ENEMY OF FAITH

Genesis 12:6, "And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Sichem, unto the plain of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land." There are those today who will openly question the believer's walk of faith.

I will never forget getting a call from a lady who was the mother of one of the missionaries sent out from our church. She dressed me down one side and up the other. I wondered at the time if she did not have a college degree in skinning preachers. She did not believe her son should be going to the mission field. She felt if we did not send him he would not go. There was a lot of "yes ma'am's" and "no ma'am's" on my side of the phone. I felt sorry for this dear lady because I got the idea that her security was in her son. I told her in the kindest way I knew that her son is the one who had surrendered to go to Mexico as a missionary. We as a church were simply behind him to accomplish the ministry that God had called him to do. I don't think I helped her much. She wasn't in a mood to listen to me. So I took my hide off the wall, put it back on, and went on to more pleasant things.

I am sure that Abraham was called a fool to believe in a God he couldn't see to the point where he would give up everything and walk with God in His direction for his life. Did Abram win out in the end? He surely did. God gave Abraham a name that is know world wide.

May the Lord give us grace to walk in the steps of Abraham's faith.

In Christ

Bro. White