January 16 | Living by Faith
Genesis 12:2, “I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.”
When God gave the above promise to Abraham, he didn’t have a child, his wife was barren and in her sixties; and, he was seventy-five years old. As a matter of fact, his name was still “Abram” (“high father”), because God hadn’t changed it to Abraham yet (“father of multitudes”). However, God didn’t speak to Abraham from an earthly and natural perspective, He spoke to him from a heavenly and spiritual perspective.
God was declaring the future to Abraham in the present. God was giving Abraham a promise that was grounded in the very power and nature of Himself. The moment Abraham believed what God said to him, he was acting in faith. From that time on, when he would talk to people about what God said, he was speaking in faith because he trusted and believed in God’s good character. A.W. Tozer wrote, “True faith rests upon the character of God and asks no further proof than the moral perfections of the One who cannot lie. It is enough that God has said it.”
Can you imagine how funny it must have been for some people to hear an old man with no kids, in his seventies, say that God promised to make his descendants a great nation? Even Sarah, his wife, who was barren, in her sixties, laughed when she heard about God’s plans for her. However, the Bible teaches in Galatians 3:6 that, “Abraham ‘believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.’”
Paul also wrote, in Galatians 3:9 that, “Those who rely on faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.” When we believe and speak the promises God has for us, we are blessed like faithful Abraham. God kept His word to Abraham and made his descendants the great nation of Israel; and, it was from the Jewish people that Jesus was born and made an even greater nation of Christians from all the different nations in the world.
Remember, God is not a man that He should lie (Numbers 23:19). What He has promised you according to His Word, He will do!
Take some time, today, to learn from our faithful father, Abraham, and decide to put your faith in God and believe what He has said He will do.
Reflection
Action
- Find and write down three promises from God found in the Bible.
- Pray and speak the promises, out loud, and believe them to be true.
- Walk and talk, in faith, because God will keep His Word!