"Because You Have Obeyed MY Voice" Gen 22:18

Gen 22:1-19-Abraham's faith confirmed.

This is an account of the Lord's loyalty to His covenant and to His servant Abraham. It reveals Abraham's incredible faith and points to the future sacrifice of God's only Son-Jesus.

V. 22: Begins with "After these things," meaning a new story is about to begin in Abraham's life where the "True God" reigns. He is no longer led by any false gods but obeys the voice of Jehovah-jireh-the Lord will provide. God tested Abraham to show his true character. After years of waiting for the birth of his son Isaac, God said, "Take now your son, your only son, whom you love and offer him as a burnt offering on the mountains I will tell you v 2." Abraham obeyed, he built an alter, arranged the wood, bound his only son and layed him on the alter. Then he stretched out his knife to slay him. Imagine...the test of belief and trust...

The angel of the Lord called from heaven and said, "do not stretch out your hand against the lad, FOR NOW I KNOW THAT YOU FEAR GOD, since you have not withheld your only son from me v 12." From this point on Abraham FEARED God and was in awe of Him. God told him he would be blessed and all the nations of the earth will be blessed through his seed "because you have obeyed MY voice v 18."

Prior to this moment in Abraham's life he feared man and listened to others because he had not fully recognized the Lord's voice. Years earlier because he feared to speak the truth to the Egyptians, he lied, and said his wife Sarai, who was beautiful, was his sister and they took her to Pharoah to be his wife. Plagues came to Pharoah, the truth was revealed and his wife was returned to him. One of the snares of the "fear of man" is when it is in our power to communicate the truth and we do no do so. Silence in some cases is good, we wait and we pray, however, there are times when being silent when we know the truth, and do not fully communicate that truth because we are afraid to do so, can lead to confusion, misunderstanding even destruction. Relationships can end because some part of truth is left unspoken.

Another example of fearing of man in Abraham's life was when he mistakenly listened to his wife, thinking the son of promise would come through Sarai's maid-servant Hagar, by sleeping with her and giving him a son-Ishmael. This led to family division.

When Abraham finally came to the place of recognizing the Lord's voice, he believed that no matter what God required of him, obedience to His plan was most important.

I love Jesus with all of my heart. In loving Him, my highest goal is to please and obey Him. This past weekend the Lord called me to lay something at the cross that has brought me an incredible sense of peace and I feel like a huge weight was lifted off my back that I realized was there but didn't think the Lord would remove.

Over the past 3 years the Lord has drawn me into a relationship and depth with Him that I so needed. I've struggled with deep insecurity most of my life and the Lord wanted to show me who I am in Him. My security and identity comes from Him not from others and my relations with them. So much of the fear issues I've had were from giving power to people in my life that didn't belong to them. We cannot be in right relation with others until we are in right relation with Jesus. In order for Jesus to do this we have to allow the Lord to draw us away to Himself so He can love us, minister to us and heal our deep wounds. This doesn't mean we exclude our self from fellowship. We need trusted friends to pray for us and share His truth with us. I've shared before my tears with the Lord have healed me. He loves me and cares for me so much. And I trust Him to know just what I need and how to provide it.

Sunday the Holy Spirit was unmistakably speaking to my heart of a sense of loneliness and torture that He wanted me to admit. Having lived a portion of my life in isolation feeling separated by my mental illness, in my heart I just didn't think Jesus was bigger than this or that He could release that fully. I thought I may live with that sense of separation and fear for the rest of my life. In faith the Holy Spirit mended a trust issue in my heart. In faith I obeyed the Holy spirtit speaking to my heart that superseded the voice of reason in my mind forcing me out of my comfort zone to a new level of trust in my Lord. Last week the Lord was helping me see that my mind needed to surrender to the Spirit. We can't experience God in our mind and intellect. He is much bigger and much greater than that. It takes faith to know and experience the voice of the Lord in our heart.

Surrendering in faith gives me the hope and promise of new life in my life. I couldn't know it until after I obeyed in faith but I layed down a great pain before Jesus that I believe His stripes only could heal. Thank you Jesus for the cross and for dying for my sin and for your forgiveness. Holy Spirit thank you for helping me. Fill me with your love and presence with an obedient heart.

In this walk of faith we never "arrive." We are continually being conformed into the image of Jesus until our last breath.

Is the Lord stretching your faith? Is He asking you to surrender something before Him that you are resisting?

To overcome fear and move in faith there is some act of obedience the Lord requires of us. A surrender to be layed at the cross of Christ. A death of self in some way whether it is an addiction, the letting go of a relationship, forgiving someone who has hurt you or a fear that has crippled you. Make it right with the Lord today. When we obey in faith, God reveals more of Himself to us.