| A good example of this
truth is the life of Abraham, the friend of God. God
touched Abraham many years before he spoke directly to
him. God was working in Abraham's life when Terah,
his father, took Abraham, Sarah and his nephew, Lot and
left Ur of the Chaldees. Those people were worshippers
of fire, so God evidently wanted to get Abraham away from
the influence of idol worship.
God does work in marvelous ways to get those He calls where
He can get their attention and give them His plan for
their lives.
Terah led them to Haran where he died, and his descendants
settled there. So,
God called Abraham a second time to leave Haran and go to a place He would show
him. So Abraham left Haran with his wife and nephew, Lot. I doubt
that any of us have ever called a mover and loaded all of our 'things' and drove
off not knowing where we were going.
Here's a lesson we can all learn. God has a plan for every life and He
works through His divine providence to get us to where He wants us.
God's plan will not work out unless we are fully committed
to follow Him. That
means we must surrender our will to God, like Abraham did by obeying God. We
must be clay in the Potter's Hands. We cannot do it our way; go where we
want to go; be what we want to be; nor even say what we want to say. It
must be God, His will, His way, and His time, and we simply follow Him.
When we are fully yielded to Him, we have only one desire
to know and do the will of our loving, wise Heavenly
Father. It is never what we want but
always what He wants. When God is in control of His people collectively,
things really happen.
God was able to work miracles in
Abraham's life, and they were many. Abraham
was wise enough, that in Haran he pitched his tent toward Bethel. Bethel
meant "house of God."
Abraham was able to deliver Lot and the Amalekites from
the enemies who had taken them captive. When Abraham had
brought back all the enemy had captured, he was generous
to others in sharing, and took nothing for himself.
In chapter 18, Abraham entertained angels who told him
that his wife Sarah would bare a son in her old age All
things are possible with God even in this, our day.
Abraham even offered Isaac, his son of promise, as a burnt
offering just as God had commanded him to do. But
as he lifted the knife to slay his son, God withheld him
and provided a ram that was caught in a thicket. Because
of his obedience to God's voice, God promised many good
things for him.
"In blessing I will bless you and multiply your descendants as stars of
the heaven and as the sand by the seashore, and your descendants
will possess the gates of their enemies. In your seed, all the
nations of the world will be blessed."
This story gives us the know-how to receive God's miracles. We
must obey God's voice and seek His will at all times. So
let each one of us commit ourselves to God so that He can
pour out His blessings on us individually and collectively.
Joyfully Serving You,
-Rev.
Glenn Eagle, Associate Pastor
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