Tag: considered God faithful
Considering God Faithful
Scripture reading for November 19th: Romans 4-5
Faith always has an object and that object is God! God alone is trustworthy and faithful to His word. If He said it, He will do it! He has the power to do whatever He says He will and the character of never lying! Paul writes to us today about Abraham and Sarah and what they discovered in their journey with God.
“Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it has been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” “Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead–since he was about a hundred years old–and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had the power to do what He had promised. This is why ‘it was credited to him as righteousness.'” Romans 4:18-22
Sometimes things look impossible to the natural eye. When Abraham and Sara left their home to go to Canaan, God told them that He would give them offspring. (Genesis 15:4-6) In fact, their offspring would number more than the stars in the sky! Abraham believed God and it was counted as righteousness!
Time passed and they tried to produce the offspring. Nothing happened and they were getting older. Sarah gave Abraham her maid and she conceived a son, Ishmael. They thought that perhaps this child was the promised seed, but God visited them again and told them that in their old age that they would have a son from their own bodies! This seemed so impossible that Sarah, listening to the angelic visitor, laughed out loud! (Genesis 18:10-15) However, God restored their bodies and they had the child, Isaac, whose name means “laughter’! God’s word is good and He is faithful! He has the power to do whatever He says!
What lessons can we gain from today’s Scripture reading? Faith is not difficult. It is simply coming to the point of being fully persuaded that God is faithful! What He has promised, He will bring to pass! If you have heard Him promise you a child, believe it and prepare for a child! If He has shown you it is time to move to a new city and preach the Gospel, pack up and head out! Your faith is counted as righteousness! How marvelous is the grace of our amazing God!