If you and your family God is about (wants) to do A NEW THING IN 2023. 

DIGGING DEEP NO. 973 – February 21st, 2023 ABRAHAM – A STUDY OF FAITH IN GOD (PART 21) Gen.12: 1- 9.

Compromise – First steps of faith are not always giant steps, which explains why Abraham did not fully obey God. Abraham took his nephew Lot with him when he left Ur. Whatever you bring with you from the old life into the new is likely to create problems. Lot created serious problems for Abraham until they finally agree to part. The life of faith demands total separation from what is evil and total devotion to what is holy 2 Cor.6: 14- 18. When you walk by faith, you lean on God alone; His Word, His character, His will, and His power. You don’t isolate yourself from your family and friends, but you no longer consider them your first love or your first obligation Lk.14: 25- 27. Your love for God is so strong that it makes family love look like hatred in comparison. Our call is personal and we must not compromise Is.51: 1- 2.

A commitment – Gen.12: 4- 9. Thomas Fuller said that all mankind is divided into three classes: the intenders, those who endeavor, and the performers. Terah may have been an intender, but he never made it into the land of promise Gen.11: 27- 32. Lot endeavor up to a point, but he failed because he could not walk by faith. Abraham and Sarah were the performers because they trusted God to perform what He promised Rom.4: 18- 21. They committed their lives and future to God, obeying what He commanded, and received all that God planned for them.

Faith brings us out – Gen.12: 4- 5. Abraham and Sarah had to leave Haran and go to the land God chose for them. Faith and a double mind never go together Jam.1: 6- 8. Faith demands commitment. Commitment is a vanishing commodity in today’s world. Where would we be today if Abraham and Sarah had not committed themselves to obeying God by faith?

Faith brings us in – Gen.12: 6- 8. God brings us out that He might bring us in Deut.6: 23. The Bible did not give us the full details of their long journey from Haran to Canaan because it was the destination that is important. Entering Canaan is not a picture of dying and going to heaven. It is a picture of believers claiming their inheritance by faith. God has appointed a “Canaan” for each of His children Ephe.2: 10 and it is obtained only by faith. Claiming your inheritance involves tests and temptations, challenges and battles, but God is able to see you through Phil.1: 6. Obedience leads to new assurance from God Gen.12: 7. What comfort it must have brought when Abraham and Sarah had this fresh revelation of God as they arrived in a strange and dangerous land. When you walk by faith, you know that God is with you and you don’t need to be afraid Heb.13: 5- 6. Most of us are not commanded to pull up the stakes and go to a strange country, but the challenges to our faith are just as real in our homes, jobs, health, finances and church. If you are to claim your spiritual inheritance in Christ, you must display faith in God’s Word and obedience to God’s will.

Faith brings us on – Gen.12: 9. the life of faith must never stand still. Gen.12: 4 Abraham departed, 12: 5 pass-through, 12: 8 moved from there, 12: 9 Abraham journeyed, going on still. God kept Abraham moving so that he would meet new challenges and be forced to trust God for new “grace in time of need”. Comfortable Christianity is opposite the life of faith for pilgrims and strangers must face new circumstances if they are to gain new insights about themselves and their Lord. In the pilgrim life, you must go from faith to faith if you must go from strength to strength Rom.1: 17, Ps.84: 7.

How did Abraham know where to go and what to do? Gen.12: 8 he called upon the name of the Lord (He prayed). Abraham’s pagan neighbors saw that he had an altar but no idols. You could trace Abraham’s steps by the altars he left behind. He was not ashamed to worship God openly. By faith Abraham obeyed.

Faith is not believing in spite of evidence; it is obeying in spite of consequences.

The faith that saves is the faith that proves itself in good works Ephe.2: 8- 10, Tit.2: 14; 3: 8. Abraham was saved by faith Heb.11: 8, but his faith was made evident by his obedience Jam.2: 21- 24.

In Conclusion – Abraham is now in the place of God’s appointment, doing what God told him to do. But this is not the end; it is the beginning. Even in the place of obedience, you will face tests and trials, for that is how faith grows. But the same Lord who brought you out brought you in, and brought you on in your pilgrim journey will also bring you through if you follow Him by faith