Determined to obey, Genesis 22:1-19

Determined to obey

Genesis 22:6 Abraham took the wood for the offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife.

There is something important here and I don't quite have it all settled in my mind. Here are my thoughts...

We cannot imagine what thoughts must have been going through Abraham's mind. Certainly there must have been seconds thoughts, maybe third and fourth thoughts... maybe not for Abraham. Maybe I'll just talk about me...

As I would place the wood on my sons shoulder and see him bogged down with the load and walking away, my heart would ache. My mind would surely talk to me and say, are you really going to carry this out. How can this be happening, why would God ask me to do this? Certainly I would be crying, if not on the outside, I would be on the inside. Heartbroken, I would turn and pick up the fire and reach to grab the knife... Here is where the next test of faith would come in. I look at the knife and think of what it means. With this knife I will slay my son and sacrifice him to the Lord. I would have to consider God's promise and his faithfulness. Is God trustworthy? Can I count on him to carry out his word? yes. Yes! YES!! I do believe! Then I would pick up the knife and walk with my son.

K and A, What has God promised to you? What has he called you to do? Be determined to obey. You did it for your initial salvation, now follow through for your sanctification. God has given you the determination to carry it out. Now pick up the knife and walk (John 5:8)!

~Dad

Amazing Faith, Genesis 22:1-19

Amazing Faith

Genesis 22:5 He said to his servants "Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and the we will come back to you."

How many times can you discuss one verse? When the verse is so rich and you can find may truths that you can take to heart, you just have to talk about them. Here we see in action the great faith of Abraham portrayed. Faith usually precedes actions. Hebrews talks about that; by faith Noah built, by faith Abram went, by faith Rahab welcomed (Hebrews 11)... Abraham tells his servants to stay and they, he AND the boy, would return. Even though his plan was to sacrifice his boy on the altar to the Lord as commanded, Abraham said "we will come back to you". Before his obedience to God, Abraham had the faith to believe that God would carry out his promise that Isaac would be his heir.

K and A, Do you trust God to do as his word says? Do you believe can will protect you, will guide you, and lead you throughout your life to better and higher ground. If you do, then carry out his tasks for you. You may wonder what that is... look ahead to see what he has for you but don't forget to do those thing you already know to do: Be faithful to others. Keep you word, Be diligent in your tasks, live holy lives, Care about and for others. It is hard to do the work of the Lord if you don't believe he will be there for you. First, know that he is faithful, then trust him to walk along side of you as you step into his will. He is faithful, and will build in an amazing faith in you!

~Dad

Alone With God: Part Two: Private Meeting, Genesis 22:1-19

Alone with God: Part One: Private Meeting

Genesis 22:5 He said to his servants "Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and the we will come back to you."

From the movie War Room

Abraham made his servants stay behind as he and Isaac went up on the mountain to worship God. Alone, they went. Alone they planned to make sacrifice before the Lord. Alone, they would honor God by carrying out his desires.

What is it that makes being alone with God so special? One could ask the same question of why it is so special to be alone with your fiancé. Why get married? Why do they have booths for two at restaurants? I guess there could be all kinds of answers, but suffice it to say that when two people love each other that time creates a feeling that can't be denied.

Loving God is similar. There is a special and undeniable feeling, a connection that happens when we love God and let him know it. Remember that Christ is described in the Word as our husband. That connection is real. It is developed by spending every breaking moment with each other. It is enhanced by words said and loving acts given. Not only do we do that for him, he does it back to us... in fact he did it first! Certainly we would want to spend uninterrupted time with him to worship and adore him.

K and A, Find time to be alone with God. He is there for your hurts and your joys. He want to know all of them and wants to help you solve every issue, rejoice with you in every happy moment. The Bible says to go into your closet and close the door behind you and pray to the Lord there (Matthew 6:6). You know where my corner is, my prayer corner and writing corner. I have spent some special times with the Lord there some at one in the morning (or is that night). I felt the special presence of the Holy Spirit so great that I asked him not to come any closer. Sometimes I wish I had never said that. Now, I seek those times again. I pray that you find Christ so real in your life, that you love him so much that his presence blesses you beyond anything you ever thought possible. When you do, you will understand true worship. Your desire for him will be so great that you will want to do everything he ever tells you. And you will want to spend even more time in private.

~Dad

Read and sing the words to this song. Will help build your resolve to be alone with God.

Alone With God - Hymn, One arrangement appears to be written by William J Kirkpatrick. He was a native to the local town of Duncannon.

Alone With God - Video with Lyrics

Alone With God: Part One: Worship, Genesis 22:1-19

Alone with God: Part One: Worship

Genesis 22:5 He said to his servants "Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and the we will come back to you."

In continuing on with story, Abraham, his son, and two servants traveled three days to the region of Moriah. Arriving there, Abraham, who hasn't told anyone what God had asked him to do, told his servants to stay put while he and the boy went to worship God alone.

There is specialness that comes when one worships God alone. Corporate worship is very important, but to be alone with God is crucial to ones spiritual health. The sad thing is that most people that call themselves Christians do not worship God alone. If and when they go to church, most people believe they have done their duty; they have met with others, waved their hands, rocked back and forth to a contemporary rhythm while repeating words to a catchy melody... "Oh, I feel good now. I must have worshiped." they think. Feelings aren't worship. Swaying together as if you went to a secular music concert isn't worship, hopping up and down to a heavy beat while in smoke fills the room isn't worship, neither is head banging, break dancing, or surfing across the crowd! Worship has less to do with us and more to do with God. He becomes the focus of our attention, our honor and our respect. We seek to lift him up in all parts of our life. Worship is a life thing, making a "worship" service a very small part of our act of worship. Worship is living a life holy and pleasing to God (Romans 12:1).

A and K, do you know how to worship God? It can be confusing with all the stress that is put on feeling good, today. But, it is important for you to remember that feeling good is to be a result of true worship. Maybe you have noticed how some "worship" services use songs and atmosphere to heighten your emotions to get you to feel good. These can make you feel good, but they do not cause you to worship... Daughters, figure out what the Lord desires by reading his Word, then live out those desires. This will bring the feelings sought by so many, feelings of satisfaction, hope and love.

~Dad

Prepared To Follow, Genesis 22:1-19

Prepared To Follow

Genesis 22:3 Early the next morning Abraham got up and saddled his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about.

Abraham was directed by the Lord to sacrifice his son. Now, we know this was just a test for him, but to Abraham, it was real. So, the next morning he began the preparation.

If you are going to bake a cake, you need to gather all the ingredients, cookware, and utensils to satisfactory complete the task. The first time you would have watched others or received some training. Follow the Lord in the same way. It doesn't come naturally. It takes preparation. Here are some areas where you might need to prepare

• Training - being in church and around other Christians is important, but there is more that is needed to serve God effectively.
• Formal training may not be required, but it is helpful. If you can afford it, and have the time, do it.
• Avail yourself to seminars and trainings. VBS meetings, even SS and Worship helps to prepare us.
• Bible study, Special services, Revivals, Discipleship classes, especially one on one discipling is effective
• Ingredients - giving the right info and truths from the source are crucial
• Of course having Christ to give out is most important
• The Bible, books, study material, and task specific materials are very important
• Cookware and Utensils - got to be able to take the ingredients and put them together and to serve the product with
• Start with the Spirit to lead you
• Use a well oiled plan
• Stir in the ingredients
• Try it out on friends to see how good it is
• Serve it - what good is it to make, if no one gets to partake
• When ready, serve it to the hungry

A and K, get your donkey saddled up. Gather all you have been through over your short lifetime; your experiences, your training, and take them on the road God has asked you to travel and feed the spiritually hungry he has called you to. You will be surprised how effective the preparation becomes as you go out to serve the Lord to others.

~Dad

Instant Obedience, Genesis 22:1-19

Instant Obedience

Genesis 22:3 Early the next morning Abraham got up and saddled his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about.

God had given Abraham a strange command, go to the mountain and sacrifice your son to me there. Certainly, that would have been a difficult command. In the least, that command would cause you to think and wonder, did I hear God correctly? Once you were sure it was God speaking and you had heard him correctly, you would now deal with the issue of obedience, would you or could you do such a thing as sacrificing your only son. Then, you would need to agree to the concept of sacrificing your only child, and finally you come the decision whether to actually follow through. What is it that causes one to delay in doing what God says?

Instant obedience requires full surrender. When one is not fully surrendered, they obfuscate or muddle around in order to delay carrying out their commitment. Of course, how could one be fully committed if they procrastinate in order to purposefully delay completing their task?

A and K, God calls you to complete surrender. That is what holiness is. And, it is what God has told you to be (1 Peter 1:16). If you ever find it difficult to act upon what you believe God is calling you to do, check you heart. See if you are fully devoted to him. Do you really trust him as Abraham, who believed and went on his way the next day. Faith demands action, immediate action. How quickly you respond shows the authenticity of your faith. Surrender yourself to him, act without reservation, and you will find his promises being fulfilled.

~Dad

Complete Obedience, Genesis 22:1-19

Complete Obedience

Genesis 22:18 and through your offspring, all nations will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.

Abram believed and it was credited to him as righteousness (Genesis15:6). Paul repeats this truth in the New Testament in the books of Galatians and in Romans as well. He said it, because we who have the faith that God will do what he says through Christ will be saved (Romans 10:9)! This is great! But, where does obedience fit in. Works alone do not save us. But neither does faith by itself save us (James 2:24)! They must work hand in hand.

Here, in this story of Abraham's willingness to be completely obedient to God even if it made no sense nor no matter the cost he would incur, we see the great picture of true faith. Abraham didn't know what God would do. He knew God's promise that Isaac was the avenue through which God would bless the world and through which he would have descendants. Despite this strange request to have his only son sacrificed (the scripture calls him his only son even when there was Ishmael) as an offering to the Lord, Abraham also knew that somehow God would work it all out. Somehow, Isaac would live even though he died (John 11:25). This truth Abraham believed (Hebrew 11:19), therefor he obeyed God when it seem wrong to do so.

K and A, how strong is your faith? Believing God requires obedience. You technically are not Protestants, you are Anabaptists, and as Anabaptists we believe that we are called to follow the commands of the Lord. All of the Old Testament must be viewed through the eyes of the New, but follow we do. Looking at life this way, we work to follow what he asks of us because of our faith in him, believing he will lead and guide us in ways that will best complete his plan. Daughters, believe in the Lord and give yourselves completely to him. Obey his Word and walk on the path he is laying out for you. There is now sweeter place to be.

~Dad