Abraham - Taking Hold of What is Promised

To Walk With God Series

Abraham - Taking Hold of What is Promised

Broken Promises

One thing we all have in common is broken promises.  People promise a lot but often fail to deliver, creating mistrust in the hearts of those affected.  The key to moving forward is who you’re connected with.  Fear because of mistrust cripples us from advancement.  We refuse to open up and share our heart and therefore stay distant.  God moves through His body so this isolation due to mistrust prevents us from moving forward with God.  Until fear which is the opposite of faith is removed we remain the same, for we stay disconnected from God’s body, the church.

The worst thing to do as a parent is promise something and then not follow through, for it leaves a scar, and each time it occurs, it deepens.  A scar not treated gets infected, becoming a disease, and what is infected spreads.  Hurting people, hurt others.

God unlike imperfect man, fulfills what He promises.  Yet, many don’t attain what He promised because of unbelief. For the necessary ingredient to taking hold of what is promised is Faith.  Abraham the father of Faith is the greatest Old Testament example to help us overcome fear and grow in faith.  Let’s study in depth His journey.

Faith Lesson #1 - Separate from ungodly attachments.

Gen. 13:8-9 Abram said to Lot, “Let’s not have fighting between us, between your shepherds and my shepherds. After all, we’re family. Look around. Isn’t there plenty of land out there? Let’s separate. If you go left, I’ll go right; if you go right, I’ll go left.”

There are people in our lives especially family who will fight against us to keep us from moving forward.  We may lose something by going our separate ways but in time we will gain much more in return.  We will continue to have lot’s of unnecessary problems until we stop enabling those God is trying to teach a lesson. 

Faith Lesson #2 - Once we are free we begin to see.

Gen.13:14-17After Lot separated from him, God said to Abram, “Open your eyes, look around. Look north, south, east, and west. Everything you see, the whole land spread out before you, I will give to you and your children forever. I’ll make your descendants like dust—counting your descendants will be as impossible as counting the dust of the Earth. So—on your feet, get moving! Walk through the country, its length and breadth; I’m giving it all to you.”

Have you ever cleaned a room and discovered things you forgot you owned.  As we begin to become free from our past we begin to see how our future is.  God wants us to have a multi-generational vision.  He wants us to see so beyond our lifetime that we are no longer caught up in daily trivial concerns, for we see the bigger picture.

Faith Lesson #3 - Never let closed relationships go beyond recovery.

Gen 14:13-16A fugitive came and reported to Abram the Hebrew. Abram was living at the Oaks of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol and Aner. They were allies of Abram. When Abram heard that his nephew had been taken prisoner, he lined up his servants, all of them born in his household—there were 318 of them—and chased after the captors all the way to Dan. Abram and his men split into small groups and attacked by night. They chased them as far as Hobah, just north of Damascus. They recovered all the plunder along with nephew Lot and his possessions, including the women and the people.

God desires all people to be saved.  He will lead us to extend helping hands during crisis with the hope that salvation will occur. There is a time and season for everything.

Gen. 19:29 But God had listened to Abraham’s request and kept Lot safe, removing him from the disaster that engulfed the cities on the plain. 

Faith Lesson #4 - What we cannot let go of has a hold on us. 

Gen.14:17-20After Abram returned from defeating Kedorlaomer and his allied kings, the king of Sodom came out to greet him in the Valley of Shaveh, the King’s Valley. Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought out bread and wine—he was priest of The High God—and blessed him:

Blessed be Abram by The High God,

Creator of Heaven and Earth.

And blessed be The High God,

who handed your enemies over to you.

Abram gave him a tenth of all the recovered plunder.

The tithe was established under Abraham not Moses, meaning it is a principle of faith not law.  We can argue all we want about giving, but bottom-line those who don’t give are not blessed.  Giving comes from an attitude of gratitude, in which a tenth is a good place to start.  We don’t give to man we give to God.  The hand of God is the living church.

Notice that Melchizedek was king of Salem. That is the city of Jerusalem. "Salem" comes from the Hebrew word meaning "peace." That would make Melchizedek the "King of Peace" (Hebrews 7:2). The Hebrew name Melchizedek itself means "King of Righteousness" (Hebrews 7:2). The same individual is mentioned in Psalm 110:4. Speaking prophetically of Christ, David stated: "The Eternal hath sworn, and will notrepent, Thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek." This verse is quoted again in Hebrews 5:6, 10.

Faith Lesson #5 - Faith means to “Just Believe!”

Gen. 15:1After all these things, this word of God came to Abram in a vision: “Don’t be afraid, Abram. I’m your shield. Your reward will be grand!”

2-3Abram said, “God, Master, what use are your gifts as long as I’m childless and Eliezer of Damascus is going to inherit everything?” Abram continued, “See, you’ve given me no children, and now a mere house servant is going to get it all.

4Then God’s Message came: “Don’t worry, he won’t be your heir; a son from your body will be your heir.”

5Then he took him outside and said, “Look at the sky. Count the stars. Can you do it? Count your descendants! You’re going to have a big family, Abram!”

6And he believed! Believed God! God declared him “Set-Right-with-God.”

How far we go with God will be determined by how much we are willing to believe.  We are simply made righteous by believing.  Once we believe we can now receive.  

Faith Lesson #6 - What is done in fear creates a door for the enemy.

Gen. 16:9-12the angel of God said, “Go back to your mistress. Put up with her abuse.” He continued, “I’m going to give you a big family, children past counting.

From this pregnancy, you’ll get a son: Name him Ishmael;

for God heard you, God answered you.

He’ll be a bucking bronco of a man,

a real fighter, fighting and being fought,

Always stirring up trouble,

always at odds with his family.”

There are consequences to our actions.  Once we open the door to the enemy, we have brought forth an unnecessary war.  Peace will no longer come easy.  Every advancement will come with a great fight.  Fear and faith are at odds, the enemy will constantly throw arrows of fear, the shield of faith must always be in rightful position or great trouble will follow.  Just look at the history of Jews and Muslims.

Faith Lesson #7 - Remain in Covenant Agreement.

Gen. 17:1When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am El-Shaddai—‘God Almighty.’ Serve me faithfully and live a blameless life. 2I will make a covenant with you, by which I will guarantee to give you countless descendants.”

3At this, Abram fell face down on the ground. Then God said to him, 4“This is my covenant with you: I will make you the father of a multitude of nations! 5What’s more, I am changing your name. It will no longer be Abram. Instead, you will be called Abraham, for you will be the father of many nations. 6I will make you extremely fruitful. Your descendants will become many nations, and kings will be among them!

7“I will confirm my covenant with you and your descendants after you, from generation to generation. This is the everlasting covenant: I will always be your God and the God of your descendants after you. 8And I will give the entire land of Canaan, where you now live as a foreigner, to you and your descendants. It will be their possession forever, and I will be their God.”

The Mark of the Covenant

9Then God said to Abraham, “Your responsibility is to obey the terms of the covenant. You and all your descendants have this continual responsibility. 10This is the covenant that you and your descendants must keep: Each male among you must be circumcised. 11You must cut off the flesh of your foreskin as a sign of the covenant between me and you.

Covenant Understanding.

1. Remain Faithful, live blameless - free of guilt; not subject to blame; "of irreproachable character"; "an unimpeachable reputation.”
2. God guarantees to give us what He has promised.
3. Take on a new identity.  We now have the legal right to use the name of Jesus.
4. The covenant blessings are passed down to my descendants, in which God will confirm.
5. We are responsible to obey the terms of the covenant by being set apart.
6. The entire household.   Singled out but obligated to pass on.  

Gen. 18:17“Should I hide my plan from Abraham?” the Lord asked. 18“For Abraham will certainly become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed through him. 19I have singled him out so that he will direct his sons and their families to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just. Then I will do for Abraham all that I have promised.”

Faith Lesson #8 - Our Faith Grows as it is tested, and with it comes promotion.

We must remember “it is only a test.”  Wherever there is lack of trust, lies fear.  To grow in faith takes removing fear.  Many of our tests are in the areas of what we have difficulty surrendering.  

Gen. 22:1Some 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.”

Gen. 22:15Then the angel of the Lord called again to Abraham from heaven. 16“This is what the Lord says: Because you have obeyed me and have not withheld even your son, your only son, I swear by my own name that 17I will certainly bless you. I will multiply your descendants beyond number, like the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will conquer the cities of their enemies.18And through your descendants all the nations of the earth will be blessed—all because you have obeyed me.”