My journey...
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Father of Faith
Am pondering on the story of Abraham. Our Father of faith. When you read about the story of Abraham, he hardly comes across as a Father of faith. One who is so fearful of his death that he passed his own wife as his sister so he will not be harmed. One who listened to his wife and slept with his maid cause he did not trust that God will bring about his promises for a son to come to pass through Sarah his wife. Yet Abraham is our Father of faith.
The incident which is the turning point was the sacrifice of his son Isaac. Imagine a man whose only heir is Isaac (for Ishmael has been banished). A son who will carry on his family lineage. How precious is this son. Yet God has asked him to sacrifice that which he has waited for so long. God himself refered to Isaac as His beloved. How difficult it must have been for Abraham. Yet he feared God more than his desire for Isaac to live. He trust that God will keep his promise. God did promise that Abraham will have many descendents. Abraham trust that God will fulfill that which he promised. If Isaac is sacrificed, God will provide. If one is to have faith, one has to trust fully the person whom he has faith in. We cannot rely upon our own strength and our own understanding. Trust in the Lord and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him...
God will give a promise and test our faithfulness. Not to the promise but to Him. It is our heart which He desires. Our walk with Him is a journey. Though Abraham started off with unbelief, in the end, he feared God more than anything he desires. Thus God branded him Father of Faith.
God desires obedience rather than sacrifice. A sacrifice can be out of our own pride or our own strength. Something that I want to give up. Not necessary that which God has called you to give up. Obedience is a humbling of heart. A will to want to follow. A heart attitude.
King Solomon started off with a heart after God. He desired wisdom among all that God is able to give him so that he can lead God's people in righteousness. But Solomon in the end did not complete the journey well. He worshipped other idols and have swayed far from God. He was refered to a bad King. One whom God has chosen to build His temple. Gave in to idolism.
Abraham's faith was not a blind faith. It is through his experiences and his walk with God. It is through the many failures that he went through. The lessons that he has learnt. To know that it is better to listen to God rather than to disobey. He knows the character of God. He trusted in that character. Our Father of faith.
The incident which is the turning point was the sacrifice of his son Isaac. Imagine a man whose only heir is Isaac (for Ishmael has been banished). A son who will carry on his family lineage. How precious is this son. Yet God has asked him to sacrifice that which he has waited for so long. God himself refered to Isaac as His beloved. How difficult it must have been for Abraham. Yet he feared God more than his desire for Isaac to live. He trust that God will keep his promise. God did promise that Abraham will have many descendents. Abraham trust that God will fulfill that which he promised. If Isaac is sacrificed, God will provide. If one is to have faith, one has to trust fully the person whom he has faith in. We cannot rely upon our own strength and our own understanding. Trust in the Lord and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him...
God will give a promise and test our faithfulness. Not to the promise but to Him. It is our heart which He desires. Our walk with Him is a journey. Though Abraham started off with unbelief, in the end, he feared God more than anything he desires. Thus God branded him Father of Faith.
God desires obedience rather than sacrifice. A sacrifice can be out of our own pride or our own strength. Something that I want to give up. Not necessary that which God has called you to give up. Obedience is a humbling of heart. A will to want to follow. A heart attitude.
King Solomon started off with a heart after God. He desired wisdom among all that God is able to give him so that he can lead God's people in righteousness. But Solomon in the end did not complete the journey well. He worshipped other idols and have swayed far from God. He was refered to a bad King. One whom God has chosen to build His temple. Gave in to idolism.
Abraham's faith was not a blind faith. It is through his experiences and his walk with God. It is through the many failures that he went through. The lessons that he has learnt. To know that it is better to listen to God rather than to disobey. He knows the character of God. He trusted in that character. Our Father of faith.
Sunday, September 06, 2009
Faith
I needed faith when I gave my life to Jesus. To trust and believe that He died on the cross for me. I needed faith in my journey as a new Christian to trust and believe that He will guide me and lead me in the way of the Kingdom. It was easy to have faith then. Perhaps as I grow older, the things I need to trust in Him in seems "bigger".
We need faith as a mustard seed to move mountains. Just faith as a mustard seed. How little faith is that? It seems more and more difficult to hold on to those promises and trust. Will it ever happen? One element of faith is perseverance. Perseverance to wait for HIS timing. Perhaps this is what I lack. I do want to believe and in a sense I do believe but the wait is killing me. In my heart I do have that peace that surpass all understanding... including my own. I do know that God is in control and that He is behind all that I am currently going through.
In Hebrews it says that Faith comes by hearing and hearing the word. The written plus the rhema word. I know now more than ever, God is calling me to a greater intimacy with Him. Perhaps He has guided me to this stage in my life, brought me to a place of wilderness for greater intimacy with Him. To hear His heartbeat. To know Him and to have Faith in a different manner. So much is going through my mind and so many things which I do not understand. However, I know that there is no short cut if I do want to walk in His ways and follow His path. I have to be lead by Him through an intimacy with Him. There is where I will find my faith. My faith to not only move mountains but also to touch the lives of the people around me. The faith to know that all is going to be ok and that I will be walking in the center of His will for my life.
Faith... Such a mysterious thing. Yet it is one which require the person to not be self dependent. To have faith, you will need to release all your desires and your abilty to the one that you have faith in. There is nothing you can do unless you do not wish to put your faith in the person or thing. For example, everytime we sit on a chair, we need to have faith that the chair will carry our weight and will not break. It is not something that is beyond our controi; if we want to sit. If you do not want to put your faith in that chair and you believe that it will break, then you do not sit. But if you still want to sit, you have to place your faith in it.
If I want to walk in the ways of God, I have to believe that He will lead me and that He has the best for my life. Otherwise, I will live my own life, make my own decisions and need not have faith. If I put my faith in Him, I have to get out of His way. That is the hard thing to do. To put yourself in someone whom you cannot see when things are not turning out the way you want it to.
But I am determined to want to walk in His ways. Father draw me near to You so that my faith in You will not parish.
Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. Your rod (which disciplines me) and Your staff (which guides me) will comfort me.
We need faith as a mustard seed to move mountains. Just faith as a mustard seed. How little faith is that? It seems more and more difficult to hold on to those promises and trust. Will it ever happen? One element of faith is perseverance. Perseverance to wait for HIS timing. Perhaps this is what I lack. I do want to believe and in a sense I do believe but the wait is killing me. In my heart I do have that peace that surpass all understanding... including my own. I do know that God is in control and that He is behind all that I am currently going through.
In Hebrews it says that Faith comes by hearing and hearing the word. The written plus the rhema word. I know now more than ever, God is calling me to a greater intimacy with Him. Perhaps He has guided me to this stage in my life, brought me to a place of wilderness for greater intimacy with Him. To hear His heartbeat. To know Him and to have Faith in a different manner. So much is going through my mind and so many things which I do not understand. However, I know that there is no short cut if I do want to walk in His ways and follow His path. I have to be lead by Him through an intimacy with Him. There is where I will find my faith. My faith to not only move mountains but also to touch the lives of the people around me. The faith to know that all is going to be ok and that I will be walking in the center of His will for my life.
Faith... Such a mysterious thing. Yet it is one which require the person to not be self dependent. To have faith, you will need to release all your desires and your abilty to the one that you have faith in. There is nothing you can do unless you do not wish to put your faith in the person or thing. For example, everytime we sit on a chair, we need to have faith that the chair will carry our weight and will not break. It is not something that is beyond our controi; if we want to sit. If you do not want to put your faith in that chair and you believe that it will break, then you do not sit. But if you still want to sit, you have to place your faith in it.
If I want to walk in the ways of God, I have to believe that He will lead me and that He has the best for my life. Otherwise, I will live my own life, make my own decisions and need not have faith. If I put my faith in Him, I have to get out of His way. That is the hard thing to do. To put yourself in someone whom you cannot see when things are not turning out the way you want it to.
But I am determined to want to walk in His ways. Father draw me near to You so that my faith in You will not parish.
Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. Your rod (which disciplines me) and Your staff (which guides me) will comfort me.
