I will Surely Bless You

 DEVOTION

GENESIS

I WILL SURELY BLESS YOU

Gen 22:15-19

15 The angel of the LORD called to Abraham from heaven a second time 16 and said, "I swear by myself, declares the LORD, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17 I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, 18 and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me." 19 Then Abraham returned to his servants, and they set off together for Beersheba. And Abraham stayed in Beersheba.

NIV

And all this has happened just as the Lord God told Abraham. Israel is a great nation, although it took many years for them to regain the land they once possessed. Nevertheless, they are in the homeland of Abraham, the land God promised him and his descendants. They may not have all of it as the Philistines have that area known as the Gaza Strip. The lesson we learned today is to always obey the word of our Lord God Almighty. He is our Sovereign God, and when he tells us to do something we need to do it, without hesitation. He did test Abraham, and we know we have gone through that test once, and we are confident that God knows we trust him and will do what he tells us. It is possible that he could test us again, but that is up to him, yet we know that whatever he tells us will happen, it will come to pass. Of course, we know our ultimate future because he told John in his revelation to write it all down. But he spoke directly to Abraham, and speaking personally, I can be sure that over the years of my life, he has spoken several times directly to me. Two of those times it was about moving locations and moving into a new home, he directed me right to them and provided me with all I needed to make it happen. However, he speaks to all of us through his written words, and through the inspiration of the Spirit who dwells within us. There are times when the Spirit gives us that impulse, that nudging, that sense of knowing it is God speaking to us from within and our response is to obey the voice of God. He put a call upon Abraham years ago, and he has been following the word of God since then. Has he made some mistakes, sure, all humans do, but his belief in God and his obeying God resulted in his righteousness, and God blessed him abundantly. This is the life we should live, following the word of God, obeying his call upon our lives, doing that which he directs us. Our faith in Jesus is credited to us as righteousness, this is not much different than Abraham’s faith in God. But it is after that faith and what our lives look like is still up to our Lord’s direction, for he orders our footsteps, he makes our path straight and smooth when we walk according to his cadence, keeping in step with the Spirit, doing that which is ordered. Abraham did not without his son, and we should not without ourselves from God, in fact, we are told to offer ourselves as living sacrifices holy and pleasing to God. If we never withhold ourselves from God, we will hear, “I will surely bless you”.