Daily Reading: 6-6-16
Genesis 22:1-14 New Living Translations (NLT)
Has the Lord been stretching your faith? For every child of God who calls on the name of the Lord (Here I am, Lord!), he or she will experience salvation. Please remember salvation of the spirit is instantaneous; because of Grace we become a new (redeemed) spiritual creature. Our spirits are reborn in the righteousness of Christ; the Holy Spirit remains our Companion. Salvation of the soul (mind, will, emotions) is revealed and learned experientially; the journey for the salvation of the soul is taught by the Spirit. Not only does the Spirit help us to learn Truth about God’s heart and ourselves through the Word, the Spirit stirs our desire and offers the power for us to bring our minds, wills, and emotions into obedience with God’s plan for us as His children of faith and Love.
The fear of the Lord is reverence for His authority as our Creator. God allows experiences to strengthen our faith and secure our devotion to Trust Him; He knows the plans He has for us and He desires to love us into that plan. When our faith is being tested, we will be tempted to question God’s love. It is a refining fire that purifies our faith. God allows the test, but we must always remember God brings the provision for salvation, as well. The revelation of God’s salvation for us and in us brings us a testimony of His goodness and an increase to our faith. We become greater instruments for God’s plan to redeem the world.
Genesis 22:1-14 Abraham’s Faith Tested
22 Some time later, God tested Abraham’s faith. “Abraham!” God called.
“Yes,” he replied. “Here I am.”
2 “Take your son, your only son—yes, Isaac, whom you love so much—and go to the land of Moriah. Go and sacrifice him as a burnt offering on one of the mountains, which I will show you.”
3 The next morning Abraham got up early. He saddled his donkey and took two of his servants with him, along with his son, Isaac. Then he chopped wood for a fire for a burnt offering and set out for the place God had told him about. 4 On the third day of their journey, Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. 5 “Stay here with the donkey,” Abraham told the servants. “The boy and I will travel a little farther. We will worship there, and then we will come right back.”
6 So Abraham placed the wood for the burnt offering on Isaac’s shoulders, while he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them walked on together, 7 Isaac turned to Abraham and said, “Father?”
“Yes, my son?” Abraham replied.
“We have the fire and the wood,” the boy said, “but where is the sheep for the burnt offering?”
8 “God will provide a sheep for the burnt offering, my son,” Abraham answered. And they both walked on together.
9 When they arrived at the place where God had told him to go, Abraham built an altar and arranged the wood on it. Then he tied his son, Isaac, and laid him on the altar on top of the wood. 10 And Abraham picked up the knife to kill his son as a sacrifice. 11 At that moment the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!”
“Yes,” Abraham replied. “Here I am!”
12 “Don’t lay a hand on the boy!” the angel said. “Do not hurt him in any way, for now I know that you truly fear God. You have not withheld from me even your son, your only son.”
13 Then Abraham looked up and saw a ram caught by its horns in a thicket. So he took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering in place of his son. 14 Abraham named the place Yahweh-Yireh (which means “the Lord will provide”). To this day, people still use that name as a proverb: “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.”
Prayer: Lord, on this rainy day, help me to pause and reflect on just how far You have brought my faith in Your Word and trust in Your promise to love me into wholeness. Help me, Holy Spirit, to remain faithful in keeping Jesus-the Living Word-my first love. I choose to bow to Your authority and Love. In Jesus’ name. Amen.