SOMETIMES ALL WE HAVE IS WHAT GOD HATH SAID
Let me show you what happens when we let that suffice us...
Apparently some 249 fires in Canada have forced over 50,000 Canadians to evacuate their homes, and the smoke has filtered as far down as NY City and beyond. Up here in Central NY it’s pretty awful, though from what I see in this photo of St. Paul MN, other US locations and even NYC to the south of us, have it worse by far.
Still, the air outside here in CNY, that smells like the inside of a burn pit, has managed to infiltrate my house. Which is bad enough, but it gets worse. On top of the bad air here, I’m writing with difficulty today, my wrists are red, swollen and oozing from a terrific bout of poison ivy. My eyes are swollen, and every afflicted part is blistered and itchy. Overall, it’s pretty miserable.. Job comes to mind.
My son called me from his job on his lunch hour. He’s having to work outdoors in the fire precipitated smog.. :>{
Our house had a showing yesterday, its 1st since we put it back on the market in May. The visiting realtor only said ‘Not the right fit’, for their client.. (we hoped that this would be a sale, so that we could count the days to leaving here..)
We sighed together, as those who were put to sing by the Rivers of Babylon. (Here’s a typical local grocery store pic: The Cananite was in the land..)
On the phone, my son and I reminded each other of a Word that the Lord God recently gave us to hold onto - Leviticus 25.. verse 21 says:
“I will command my blessing upon you in the 6th year’.
→ We are in our 6th year here. So, it is a Word we are holding on to.
One of my favorite records in all of Scripture - about one of the men I most admire - ‘Joseph’ - explains COMPLETELY how - and why - to hang onto a ‘Word’ from God - and know assuredly that He will bring it to pass.
Hear the story of Joseph and you will understand. Perhaps it will enable you also, to hold onto something God has said to you - until the manifestation of the promise….
In Genesis Chapter 12, The Lord God called out Abraham, (verse 1)
‘Get out from your country, and from your family, and from your father’s house - to a land that I WILL show you’. (..not ‘showed you’, thus Abe’s going out was strictly by faith and not by sight.)
And Abraham obeyed God - not even knowing where he was going.1
The verse that so says, Hebrews 11:8 is a loaded verse -
By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went.
CALLED to an UN-NAMED place;
AFTER receive for an inheritance.. No specific day or date..
Abe ‘WENT’. That Abraham ‘departed’ is repeated TWICE in Genesis 12:4 and again in 12:5. This fact is repeated 3 times to EMPHASIZE the corresponding faith - which is the POINT of this Biblical record.
In Genesis 15, the Lord returned to speaking to Abraham. He gave him a promise, and a prophetic warning. The promise (in verse 5) was that Abraham’s descendants would be like the stars of the sky for number.
‘And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be.’
The warning is in verse 13:
‘Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years.’
Abraham never lived to see his seed as numerous as the stars.
Forget the 400 years’ affliction in Egypt.. He didn’t even live to see his seed as slaves.
But Abraham ‘believed God’ and it was counted unto him for righteousness.2
How was Abraham able to believe things he would never see? How as he able to build faith to the point where he would even offer up his only son as a sacrifice when initially asked to do so?..
..Because The Lord God gives us ‘TOKENS’ of His faithfulness to convince us of the ultimate ‘delivery’ of His promises to us according to His Word that is never broken.
What Abraham did see was Isaac.
A man and his wife, well up in years, having no offspring, were told they would have a son - as a ‘token’ of the promise to come. Sarah even laughed inside of herself, at the preposterous idea. Then she got pregnant…
WE have today the ‘gift of holy spirit’ as a ‘token’ - or ‘down payment’ of the fullness of our inheritance to be revealed in that day.3 (If you speak in tongues - how happy are you - as you have visible proof of the down-payment of our inheritance.)
What about Joseph.. Let’s continue with the story.
TESTING ABRAHAM
Did Abe get the goods without a trial? Naw. In Genesis 22, he is tested. You know the story. In verses 1 &2 Abraham is told by GOD to offer up his son Isaac as a sacrifice. True to form, Abraham got up and went - this time taking his son of promise with him.4 In verse 12, the Lord God STOPS Abraham RIGHT in the NICK of time - satisfied that he would withhold nothing from Him. HE PASSED THIS TEST TOO!
Genesis 26:2 - 6 By now, Abraham has passed away, NOT seeing progeny as the stars of heaven, NOT even seeing Isaac’s children; NOT seeing Egypt.. or a period of slavery..
After this, the Lord God visits his son Isaac and repeats the promise to him, that He had first told to Abraham.
‘And the Lord appeared unto Isaac, and said, Go not down into Egypt; dwell in the land which I SHALL tell thee of: (EXACTLY LIKE HIS PROMISE TO ABRAHAM.. I WILL TELL THEE EVENTUALLY.. Isaac ALSO is to take the promises on faith.)
Sojourn in this land, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee; for unto thee, and unto thy seed, I will give all these countries, and I will perform the oath which I sware unto Abraham thy father; (That Abe never saw and that Isaac will never see.5)
And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall → all the nations of the earth be blessed → because Abraham OBEYED my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.’
6 And Isaac (obeyed) and dwelt in Gerar:
Though, like his father, neither did Isaac live to see the promises of an endless progeny, and 400 years servitude. Neither of them went to Egypt for anymore than a brief sojourning.
TESTING JACOB
In Genesis 28 we see the beginning of the testing of Jacob:
In verse 4 Isaac reminds his son Jacob of the promise made to his father Abraham. Then in Genesis 4:13 - 15 God Himself tells Jacob the same promises that He told Jacob’s grandfather and father:
‘I am the Lord God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac…
The land whereon thou liest, to thee WILL I give it, and to thy seed.’ (I WILL GIVE IT.. not.. I HAVE given it. THERE IS AN ELEMENT OF ‘TRUSTING AND WAITING ON GOD’ IN ALL OF THIS.).And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, (As HE told Abraham and Isaac - who never saw it manifested)
and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: (An ADDITION to the promise) and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.
And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, (An ADDITION to the promise)
and will bring thee (WILL BRING THEE) again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of.6
God added to the promise originally given in Genesis 12, 15, and 26, That - not only would the progeny be as the ‘dust of the earth’, but they would SPREAD all over the earth, that He would GIVE the land of Canaan to Abraham’s offspring, AND - that HE WOULD BRING THEM THERE HIMSELF’.
THESE are promises YET to be FULFILLED. A prophesy yet future. (Jacob DIED in Egypt - not in Canaan).
YOU WILL BE TESTED
Do you get a grade in school without being tested? Do you think I don’t know that I’m being tested right now? Think again.
Do you know when YOU are being tested? When this sort of thing happens, you will be accused of ‘lacking faith’ (ask me), or ‘you did something wrong’.. ‘you’re ‘in sin’.. etc. (Ask Job).
But these records of faith tell a totally different story.
(NOTE: Whenever you feel yourself being tested, study these Bible records. In THEM the Lord can and will show you what He means to do for you.. and when.)
END OF PART I
Hebrews 11:8 “By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went.’
Romans 4:3 Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.
‘The ‘token’ of our inheritance..’ Ephesians 1:14
Too many Christians would like the wealth of Abraham, without having to withstand the testing.
Hebrews 11:13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises,…
A repeat of Genesis 15:14
Dad never collected his 💜 he earned in Recife Brazil during WWII. In fact I didn’t find out about it until 20 years post mortem. He died in 1998, 25 years ago without telling a soul. I presume, of course, that Mom knew. They both took it to their graves. Someone suggested that I collect it. 🤔 His record reflects the original meaning of cut and paste. Swiss cheese has nothing on it.
I am asking myself and the Lord if there is any profit involved. If there is, I cannot see it. He would have been 104 this August.
Talk about your cliffhangers...