20 Jan Stepping Out in Faith
Last Sunday, Pastor Jason Finley introduced our new series, God Will Provide: A Study of Genesis 12-25, with a sermon that recapped what we previously learned from Genesis 1-11. We considered the unity of the Bible, why Christians need the Old Testament, why Christians need Genesis, and then we took a closer look at the Bible’s introduction in Genesis 1-11. These chapters can be categorized as “God’s Rule (1-2),” “Humanity’s Fall (3),” “Humanity’s Problem (3-11),” and “God’s Promise (3:15).” Praise the Lord for his divine revelation in the Scriptures that points us to trust in his salvation through Jesus Christ, the promised Savior!
Read: Genesis 11:27-12:9
This Sunday, Pastor Jason will continue with a sermon from Genesis 11:27-12:9. We will consider the calling of Abram and God’s covenant with him that has reverberated throughout history and even unto today. Ultimately, God chose to make a people for himself through Abram, through whom he would bless the nations by providing the promised Savior and a people to tell the world about the Savior and how to follow him.
As you prepare for our Sunday gathering, let this devotional from John MacArthur encourage you to live by faith, pursuing God’s will for your life to rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances, abide in his Word, and bear much fruit in this life as a disciple who makes disciples of Jesus (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18; John 15:4-5; 2 Timothy 2:2).
Reflect: “Stepping Out in Faith”
“By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he was going” (Heb. 11:8).
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The life of faith begins with a willingness to forsake everything that displeases God.
Abraham is the classic example of the life of faith. As the father of the Jewish nation, he was the most strategic example of faith available to the writer of the book of Hebrews. But the people to whom Hebrews was written needed to understand that Abraham was more than the father of their race; he also was, by example, the father of everyone who lives by faith in God (Rom. 4:11).
Contrary to popular first-century Jewish thought, God didn’t choose Abraham because he was righteous in himself. When called by God, Abraham was a sinful man living in an idolatrous society. His home was in the Chaldean city of Ur, which was located in ancient Mesopotamia between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers.
God’s call to Abraham is recorded in Genesis 12:1–3: “Go forth from your country, and from your relatives and from your father’s house, to the land which I will show you; and I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great; and so you shall be a blessing; and I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
Note Abraham’s response: “So Abram went forth as the Lord had spoken to him” (v. 4). He listened, trusted, and obeyed. His pilgrimage of faith began when he separated himself from the pleasures of a pagan land to pursue God’s plan for his life.
So it is with you if you’re a man or woman of true faith. You’ve forsaken sinful pleasures to follow Christ. And as your love for Christ increases, there’s a corresponding decrease in worldly desires.
I pray that your focus will continually be on fulfilling God’s will for your life and that you’ll always know the joy and assurance that come from following Him.
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Suggestions for Prayer: Ask God for the grace and spiritual fortitude to walk by faith today.
For Further Study: Memorize 1 John 2:15 as a reminder to remain separate from the world.
“Stepping Out in Faith,” November 16th Devotional, in Drawing Near, by John MacArthur
Sing: Song List for Sunday
1. “The Lord Our God,” by Kristian Stanfill
2. “Behold Our God,” by Sovereign Grace Music
3. “Ancient of Days,” by CityAlight
4. “Yet Not I but Through Christ in Me,” by CityAlight