"Then Abraham raised his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him a ram caught in the thicket by his horns; and Abraham went and took the ram and offered him up for a burnt offering in the place of his son. Abraham called the name of that place The Lord Will Provide, as it is said to this day, 'In the mount of the Lord it will be provided.'" -Genesis 22.13-14
I read these words yesterday, and felt like there was something there. It's been a long day, and I've been thinking about them a lot. And I think what this says to a man is that a man worships with his children, and declares what God has and will do.
Abraham has been faithful and obedient to God, and God has showed Abraham that child sacrifice does not happen in His kingdom. And then, God provides the lamb for the sacrifice. Abraham takes the ram, and with his son Isaac, offers it as a burnt offering to the Lord. Together they praise God for what he has done.
I don't think this is the first time that Isaac had been part of a sacrifice. After all, he's probably in his twenties, and he's aware that they didn't have a lamb to offer. But he has gotten to take part in the sacrifice to God. He and his father worshiped together. Men, we must worship with our families. I don't remember the specific statistic, but if a dad sets the example of church worship to his children, they are much more likely to stay active in the church as they grow.
But it isn't enough simply to worship, there is more we see with Abraham here. He declares what God has done, by calling the place "The Lord Will Provide". He identifies the place by how he has seen God work there. Are there places like this in your life? Do you have places where you have encountered God and He has done something great? What do you call that place? Have you shared the place and experience with your children?
Men, let us worship God with our families, let us lead them in worship. Let us declare what God has done, and share that with our families. Let us celebrate the goodness of God.
"Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another."
To God alone be the Glory!
Strength and Honor
Showing posts with label Genesis 22. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Genesis 22. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 12, 2014
Tuesday, February 11, 2014
A Man's Willingness
"Then they came to the place of which God had told him; and Abraham built the altar there and arranged the wood, and bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood." -Genesis 22.9
We don't know how much time has passed between Genesis 21, when Isaac is born, and Genesis 22, when Abraham goes to offer him as a sacrifice. I've seen different thoughts, some say it was 15-25 years, one said it was 37 years. But no matter which one is correct, we know two things. First, Abraham is over 100, anywhere from 115-137, he's an old man. Second, Isaac is young and strong, anywhere from 15-37, in the prime of his life.
And so with that in mind, you begin to look at the story with another perspective. Isaac, was more than capable of overpowering his father. He could have easily outrun him if he didn't want to fight his father hand to hand. But he doesn't. He willingly carries the wood to the top of Mt. Moriah. He willingly allows himself to be tied up. He willingly allows himself to be place on the altar. He was willing to allow his father to sacrifice him. Why? Because it was the will of God.
You'll see many similarities to Jesus in this story. And we have another example of what a man is to do. Are we willing to do whatever God asks? Are we willing to struggle and sacrifice ourselves if that is what God's plan is? Our are we trying to figure out how to gain the upper hand in wrestling match with Him? Or looking for the clearest route to book it out of there?
Are you willing to go to death for God? Are you willing to die to yourself to fulfill His will? And more than that, are you willing to carry the wood to the place where you will be sacrificed? Are you willing to do whatever God asks in order to do His will? Are you willing to help it be fulfilled no matter the cost to you? Are you willing?
"Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another."
To God alone be the Glory!
Strength and Honor
We don't know how much time has passed between Genesis 21, when Isaac is born, and Genesis 22, when Abraham goes to offer him as a sacrifice. I've seen different thoughts, some say it was 15-25 years, one said it was 37 years. But no matter which one is correct, we know two things. First, Abraham is over 100, anywhere from 115-137, he's an old man. Second, Isaac is young and strong, anywhere from 15-37, in the prime of his life.
And so with that in mind, you begin to look at the story with another perspective. Isaac, was more than capable of overpowering his father. He could have easily outrun him if he didn't want to fight his father hand to hand. But he doesn't. He willingly carries the wood to the top of Mt. Moriah. He willingly allows himself to be tied up. He willingly allows himself to be place on the altar. He was willing to allow his father to sacrifice him. Why? Because it was the will of God.
You'll see many similarities to Jesus in this story. And we have another example of what a man is to do. Are we willing to do whatever God asks? Are we willing to struggle and sacrifice ourselves if that is what God's plan is? Our are we trying to figure out how to gain the upper hand in wrestling match with Him? Or looking for the clearest route to book it out of there?
Are you willing to go to death for God? Are you willing to die to yourself to fulfill His will? And more than that, are you willing to carry the wood to the place where you will be sacrificed? Are you willing to do whatever God asks in order to do His will? Are you willing to help it be fulfilled no matter the cost to you? Are you willing?
"Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another."
To God alone be the Glory!
Strength and Honor
Monday, February 10, 2014
A Father's Faith
"Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son, and he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So the two of them walked on together. Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, 'My father!' And he said, 'Here I am, my son.' And he said, 'Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?' Abraham said, 'God will provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.' So the two of them walked on together." -Genesis 22.6-8
Father and son have come to Mt. Moriah, and after loading up they begin their trek to the top. The son knows they are there to offer a sacrifice. They have wood, fire, and the knife, but something is missing, the lamb to offer. So the son asks his father, "Where is the lamb?" His father knows what God has told him, offer your son. But he also knows that this is the son of promise. This is the son that God has made a covenant to bless the world through. And so the father replies, "God will provide the lamb." And the two continue on together.
We see here the faith of a father. God has made a promise, and then has asked for the fulfillment of that promise to be sacrificed. But he has faith in God that the promise will still be fulfilled, somehow. And we see in the father, the reassurance to his son, that God will provide the lamb.
Father's we don't have all the answers. We don't know what God is up to, or how He is going to work. But our children look to us for comfort and guidance. They look to us for security. It is our job to provide it. It is our job to trust the Father. God's will may come with difficult requests. We may find ourselves, time and again, in difficult situations with very few answers. But it is not our job to have every answer. It is our job to trust God.
Our children will learn that God is dependable and trust worthy from us. They will learn faith and confidence in God from us. What example are you setting? Do you have faith in God to provide, or are you overcome with worry and doubt?
God will provide, have faith and trust Him. Your children are watching you, and they will learn from what they see. As their father, set an example of faith.
"Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another."
To God alone be the Glory!
Strength and Honor
Father and son have come to Mt. Moriah, and after loading up they begin their trek to the top. The son knows they are there to offer a sacrifice. They have wood, fire, and the knife, but something is missing, the lamb to offer. So the son asks his father, "Where is the lamb?" His father knows what God has told him, offer your son. But he also knows that this is the son of promise. This is the son that God has made a covenant to bless the world through. And so the father replies, "God will provide the lamb." And the two continue on together.
We see here the faith of a father. God has made a promise, and then has asked for the fulfillment of that promise to be sacrificed. But he has faith in God that the promise will still be fulfilled, somehow. And we see in the father, the reassurance to his son, that God will provide the lamb.
Father's we don't have all the answers. We don't know what God is up to, or how He is going to work. But our children look to us for comfort and guidance. They look to us for security. It is our job to provide it. It is our job to trust the Father. God's will may come with difficult requests. We may find ourselves, time and again, in difficult situations with very few answers. But it is not our job to have every answer. It is our job to trust God.
Our children will learn that God is dependable and trust worthy from us. They will learn faith and confidence in God from us. What example are you setting? Do you have faith in God to provide, or are you overcome with worry and doubt?
God will provide, have faith and trust Him. Your children are watching you, and they will learn from what they see. As their father, set an example of faith.
"Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another."
To God alone be the Glory!
Strength and Honor
Sunday, February 9, 2014
God's Difficult Requests
"He said, 'Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you.' So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him and Isaac his son; and he split wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him." -Genesis 22.2-3
I wonder what was going through Abraham's mind as he heard this? He came out of a pagan culture where child sacrifice was a common practice, so I don't think God asking for this would have been a shock to him. But the fact that God has promised him a son, who would be the beginning of a nation, and Isaac is the son of promise, he's probably wondering how God will fulfill the promise. At the time he doesn't know what's going to happen, he just knows that God has given him a command.
We are able to look at the whole story, we know the ending just as we know the beginning. But Abraham didn't. And yet look at his response. God says do this, and Abraham does it. He gets up early, gets ready, and prepares wood for the offering, and then goes to where God told him to go, planning to do what God told him to do.
What is your response to the requests of God. God has never asked you to sacrifice your child to Him, but what has he asked you to do, or to stop doing? Your fantasy league? An addiction? Overtime that takes you away form your family? Maybe it's a food, or working on your car. Why are they so difficult to let go of? Why is it so hard to do what God has asked?
And maybe He isn't asking you to give up anything. Maybe He's asking you to accept a calling. Maybe He wants you to leave everything behind and go to an unreached people group in Africa. Maybe He wants you to stay right here, and go to the unreached people next door.
God was testing Abraham, and in this test He showed Abraham more about Himself, and saw Abraham's unquestioned faithfulness to Him. What are you unable to learn about God because of the things you are refusing to do? What is God seeing about your faithfulness? God will requests of us that are difficult, but all of it is for our good, and our gain.
When we give up something temporal, and physical, we gain the eternal and the spiritual. When we are willing, and determined, to obey everything God says, we grow into Men of God.
What is God asking you? What is holding you back?
"Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another."
To God alone be the Glory!
Strength and Honor
I wonder what was going through Abraham's mind as he heard this? He came out of a pagan culture where child sacrifice was a common practice, so I don't think God asking for this would have been a shock to him. But the fact that God has promised him a son, who would be the beginning of a nation, and Isaac is the son of promise, he's probably wondering how God will fulfill the promise. At the time he doesn't know what's going to happen, he just knows that God has given him a command.
We are able to look at the whole story, we know the ending just as we know the beginning. But Abraham didn't. And yet look at his response. God says do this, and Abraham does it. He gets up early, gets ready, and prepares wood for the offering, and then goes to where God told him to go, planning to do what God told him to do.
What is your response to the requests of God. God has never asked you to sacrifice your child to Him, but what has he asked you to do, or to stop doing? Your fantasy league? An addiction? Overtime that takes you away form your family? Maybe it's a food, or working on your car. Why are they so difficult to let go of? Why is it so hard to do what God has asked?
And maybe He isn't asking you to give up anything. Maybe He's asking you to accept a calling. Maybe He wants you to leave everything behind and go to an unreached people group in Africa. Maybe He wants you to stay right here, and go to the unreached people next door.
God was testing Abraham, and in this test He showed Abraham more about Himself, and saw Abraham's unquestioned faithfulness to Him. What are you unable to learn about God because of the things you are refusing to do? What is God seeing about your faithfulness? God will requests of us that are difficult, but all of it is for our good, and our gain.
When we give up something temporal, and physical, we gain the eternal and the spiritual. When we are willing, and determined, to obey everything God says, we grow into Men of God.
What is God asking you? What is holding you back?
"Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another."
To God alone be the Glory!
Strength and Honor
Saturday, February 8, 2014
When God Calls
"Now it came about after these things, that God tested Abraham, and said to him, 'Abraham!' And he said, 'Here I am.'" -Genesis 22.1
What is your response when God calls? In Genesis 3, Adam hid from God, ashamed because he was naked. Here, Abraham hears God call him by name and responds, "Here I am." He isn't hiding, ashamed and afraid to hear from God. He welcomes the conversation, ready to hear what God has to say.
What is your response? God is calling you. He's reaching out to you. Are you hiding from Him, or are you calling out to Him, "Here I am"? Some of you have been hiding from Him for years, maybe decades, afraid and ashamed of something in the past. You're hoping He won't find you. That is no way for a man to live.
A man must own up to his mistakes if he is ever to find healing from the past. God cannot work in us, or through us, if we are determined to try and hide from Him. We'll see a King who tried this at some point in the future. But when we are open, and available, with "Here I am" God can work and teach us. He's about to test Abraham, and in the testing, to teach Abraham more about Himself.
God is calling us because He wants to know us more deeply. He wants to reveal more of Himself to us, and mold us more into the image of His Son. God is calling you, what will your response be?
"Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another."
To God alone be the Glory!
Strength and Honor
What is your response when God calls? In Genesis 3, Adam hid from God, ashamed because he was naked. Here, Abraham hears God call him by name and responds, "Here I am." He isn't hiding, ashamed and afraid to hear from God. He welcomes the conversation, ready to hear what God has to say.
What is your response? God is calling you. He's reaching out to you. Are you hiding from Him, or are you calling out to Him, "Here I am"? Some of you have been hiding from Him for years, maybe decades, afraid and ashamed of something in the past. You're hoping He won't find you. That is no way for a man to live.
A man must own up to his mistakes if he is ever to find healing from the past. God cannot work in us, or through us, if we are determined to try and hide from Him. We'll see a King who tried this at some point in the future. But when we are open, and available, with "Here I am" God can work and teach us. He's about to test Abraham, and in the testing, to teach Abraham more about Himself.
God is calling us because He wants to know us more deeply. He wants to reveal more of Himself to us, and mold us more into the image of His Son. God is calling you, what will your response be?
"Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another."
To God alone be the Glory!
Strength and Honor
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