The Life Of Abraham Pt 2

REPROACH, RECOVERY, & REVELATION

Genesis 22:1-14 open to…

Lessons to learn From The Life Of Abraham: tonight we continue our Character study from the life of Abraham… While Abraham will go down in the history books as a “friend of God” he was by no means a perfect man.

Abraham had his defects just like us, and tonight we will take a trip into his life… to see how God provided for him even when he falls short, how his repentance brings him back into the fullness of his relationship with God

and we will end up reviewing just how God revealed himself to Abraham, not only in an introductory way (to say hi) but how God reveals HIS character to Abraham… and to us

Lets read from our text passage…

Genesis 22:1-14

This is a great passage that shows not only Abrahams trust in God, it also reveals Gods willingness to provide for us… even to the point of providing our offering to Him.

But lets take a step back and see what was happening in Abrahams life before this time of testing… Abraham suffers a reproach of sorts… a failure on his part to fully trust God, to fear man more that God.

Lesson #1. (REPROACH) NO LIE IS WORTH TELLING!

Genesis 20:2, 11-13 (review the background of the story)

Abraham falls into the same trap that many after him have… we try to skirt the truth by telling a little white lie. The problem is that any deviation from the truth is a lie.

It only takes one drop of black paint to change white to gray, and in the same way it only takes one drop of falsehood to compromise the truth.

Abraham failed to trust God and took matters into his own hands, and this act of the flesh almost led to disaster…

Have you ever fallen prey to the temptation to lie about a situation in order to get your way… don’t tell the whole truth about who your living with in order the get on government aid… the disaster comes in when you pass your poverty mentality onto your children…

You exadurate an injury in order file a frivolous law suit cause you think that will set you up for that financial come back… the disaster happens when you blow thru that money on junk, just to be in a more serious financial struggle that takes an act of bankruptcy which is in itself a bad example of Christian integrity that will haunt you for years and tells your kids its ok to do the same.

when a Christians back is against the wall they must turn their eyes toward heaven, pray and trust the creator of the universe to deliver them from their trouble. To lie is to mistrust God, and to mistrust God is to fall prey to the schemes of the devil who is the father of all lies.

Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. Col. 3:9-10

A little white lie can destroy lives and will always compromise the integrity of a Christians testimony. Had Abraham trusted God nad not feared man, the story could have been one of victory and stood as a Biblical illustration of faith and trust.

No one who practices deceit will dwell in my house; no one who speaks falsely will stand in my presence. Psalm 101:7

Are you a man of woman of truth, or have you compromised the pure white for the gray? Commit the words of your mouth to God and ask His help in walking today in truth… its never to late to repent, the time is now to ask for forgiveness and turn to live an uncompromised Christian truthful life.

Then Abraham prayed to God for forgiveness…Genesis 20:17

2. (RECOVERY) GOD STILL PROVIDES! (as our text shows)

Abrahams sleep must have been uneasy as he tossed and turned on the bed, wrestling with the unusual request of God to sacrifice Isaac.

Regardless the next morning Abraham sets out on his journey of faith, knowing that if he was obedient even to the unusual… God would provide the sacrifice.

What out of the ordinary, unusual thing has God asked of you… perhaps God has asked you to bless someone in an unusual way… are you going to trust Him enough to the point of obedience…

I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread. Psalm 37:25

Do you want to see your children break the bondage of a poverty mentality handed down from generations before? Than it starts with you trusting him to provide without trying to cut corners.