DAY 15: THE TRYING OF THE FAITH II (ABRAHAM)

 30 DAYS DEVOTIONALS WITH PREACHER SAM

THE RHEMA WORD FOR TODAY

SEPTEMBER 15, 2022.

TOPIC: THE TRYING OF THE FAITH II (ABRAHAM)

BIBLE READING: GENESIS 22:1-19

VERSE FOR MEDITATION: HEBREWS 11:17 NKJV

By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son.

Yesterday we started a topic; the trying of the faith. And we will be continuing this journey from today, in the next two days. We will be looking at three Bible characters of whose faith were tried.

The test of Abraham was not to produce faith, but to reveal faith. God built Abraham slowly, piece by piece, year by year, into a man of faith. This test would reveal some of the faith God had built into Abraham. And in remembering Abraham’s faith, we should never forget Isaac’s faith. To Abraham, the test reveals his faith in God. To Isaac, the test produces faith in God.

The Bible says, “By faith Abraham obeyed…” (Heb. 11:8). Meaning to Abraham, faith is an act of obedience, and Abraham’s obedience showed three things; that he trusted God, even when he did not understand. That he didn’t debate or seek counsel from others. And that he trusted God, even when he did not feel like it.

We may think the trying or the testing of Abraham’s faith was quite easy for him, but it wasn’t. Our Bible reading reveals to us that Abraham came to the place on the third day. So he had three long days to think over what God commanded him to do; this made the test even more severe. Charles Spurgeon wrote, “To be burnt quickly to death upon the blazing fagot is comparatively an easy martyrdom, but to hang in chains roasting at a slow fire, to have the heart hour by hour pressed as in a vice, this it is that trieth faith; and this it was that Abraham endured through three long days.”

And like we said, the test actually revealed Abraham’s faith. Because after the three days of pondering, he knew how God is faithful in keeping His promises, “… for in Isaac your seed shall be called.” (Gen. 21:12). And so he concluded that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead (Heb. 11:17-19). So how God would do that was none of his concern, because he understood how even got Isaac as a child (Ref: Rom. 4:17-21).

The test did not only reveal the faith of Abraham, but brought him eternal rewards. He became the father of faith (Rom. 4:11), paradise became Abraham’s bosom (Lk. 16:22), he also became an ancestry to our Lord Jesus Christ (Gal. 3:16).

Could it be that that challenge that you are passing through is not necessarily to produce faith but to reveal the faith for eternal rewards?

PRAYER:

DEAR FATHER, PLEASE HELP ME TO PASS THROUGH THE TEST OF TIME SO THAT MY FAITH WILL BE REVEALED. AMEN!

DECLARATION:

THIS CHALLENGES THAT I’M PASSING THROUGH IS REVEALING THE FAITH IN ME. GLORY TO GOD!

 JOURNEY THROUGH THE CHRONOLOGICAL STUDY OF THE LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST:

MATTHEW 17; MARK 9; LUKE 9:28-62