Hebrews 11:8 By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went.
Faith is not daring God to do something that He has not commanded you to do. That is what the devil tempted Jesus to do by daring Him to jump from the pinnacle of the temple. In Hebrews 11, God told Abraham to leave his homeland and head somewhere that God did not disclose to Him. Abraham obeyed what God said. He didn’t say, I’m “feeling” like it is time to leave my homeland. He didn’t tell his family, “Let’s take a leap into the unknown and see what God will do.” He obeyed what God told him to do, even though he did not know all of the details that lay ahead of him.
Beloved, faith doesn’t dare God to do something that He has not told you to do. Faith doesn’t tempt God to do something that He has not told you to do. Faith hears from God, believes what God says, and obeys Him, knowing that whatever God has said will surely come to pass.
Pastor Ray,
We are blessed today to have Jesus guide our paths. Old testament days, not as easy. You mentioned Abraham and his obedience leaving his homeland. How about putting his beloved Isaac under the knife? Wow! Contrast that with his nephew Lot who should have had a pretty good idea what God wanted him to do but remained chained to his desires. When Abraham graciously said to Lot “Let’s part company. If you go to the left, I’ll go to the right; if you go to the right, I’ll go to the left.” Lot looked around and chose the well watered land. Sweet! Easy life with many of the goodies he had enjoyed in Egypt. Although Lot did not know Jesus, his uncle was a pretty good role model. Did Lot offer Abraham to split the watered land? Nope. Like what we see in the world today and often in our own lives, we seek the goods, the easy path.
Lot winds up in Sodom and in spite of seeing evil all around him, he tolerates it. Although he counsels people from Sodom to leave their ways, he lives within the muck, offers his daughters, calls Sodomites his “friends”, lands an influential job watching over the entrance to the city. Big difference between him and Daniel in Babylon! Abraham speaks to God on Lot’s behalf, and is ultimately persuaded by angels to get out of Sodom. “Lot? You listenin’?? Hellooooo??? Get outta there! Now!!!”. Well, he practically gets dragged out, fears to go to the mountains, settles in a nearby town after his wife gets “a-salted” for her disobedience. There are consequences for both our actions and lack of actions.
Through angels and his uncle, Lot should have gotten the picture. You ended your devotional saying “Faith hears from God, believes what God says, and obeys Him, knowing that whatever God has said will surely come to pass”. Abram heard from God and followed Him even though he was an imperfect man. Joseph heard from God and took his family to Egypt; Mary followed without knowing all the details. Daniel followed God, often to his peril, but always to his blessing. Jesus followed God even though as Son of Man He knew He would suffer. What God says will surely come to pass. As you said, faith has three steps: hearing, believing, and obeying. Familiar number. There may be a connection… 🙂
Thank you for these devotionals, Pastor Ray! God bless,
JoseM