Live By God’s Promises

February 17, 2008 by admin.

Two boys were walking through the woods along side a river. They came to a tree that had fallen across the river and decided to walk across it. The younger boy started out on the log, but after taking a couple of steps, he got scared and backed off the log. The older boy assured him that it was safe, and offered to go over first. He walked across the log and then turned to urge his friend to come across. He was a bit surprised to see the younger boy already crossing the tree and congratulated him when he reached the other side.

Sometimes we all need a little reassurance before we trust someone or something. And many times if we have a reference or someone who has been successful before us, we are more willing to venture ahead. In our text for today, we have an example set by Abraham that will encourage us in our lives of faith. God made a promise to Abraham which he fully trusted and acted on in faith. As a result, Abraham was blessed by God. When we hear and believe God’s promises and act on them in faith, we will also be blessed by God. God’s Word today will teach us to

“Live by God’s Promises”

I. Listen and Believe

II. Respond

Moses wrote, “The Lord had said to Abram, ‘Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you.’” What God asked Abraham to do was quite a challenge. By this time Abraham was pretty comfortable in Haran. He had a family and friends and was settled in his homeland. God came to him and told him to leave his country, his people, and his father’s household. And to top it off, he didn’t tell Abraham where he was supposed to go!

To encourage Abraham, God attached a seven-fold promise to his command. He said, “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. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” God never expects his people to blindly put their faith in him or his promises. Remember the words of the hymn verse that say, “How firm a foundation, O saints of the Lord, is laid for your faith in his excellent word…”(CW 416:1) In Romans 10:17 Paul explains, “Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.”

The command from God to Abraham and the promise that God made were both pretty impressive. Abraham had a lot at stake as he listened to what God told him to do, and God offered him some pretty bold promises. God promised to bless Abraham and make him a great nation. He promised to bless others through Abraham, going as far as to say, “…and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” Abraham had a lot to consider and his response would require a great faith.

The commands that come from God are sometimes quite challenging. He told Noah and his family to build an ark warning them of a world-wide flood that he was going to send. He told Moses to lead his people through the wilderness and promised to be with him. Jesus told twelve men to leave their families and follow him and promised to give them everything that they would need. In each case the people listened to the Lord because the promise he gave them was powerful. If they had been told to do those things by anyone else, they may have hesitated or refused. But God’s word has power to convince people to do what he commands.

Each of us has been influenced by that power in our own lives. God has called us to put our faith in him for eternal life and promised that he will take us to heaven. How do we know that he will? What proof do we have that there is a heaven or that those who trust in Jesus ever go there? If you thin about it, the only assurance that we have is that the promise comes from God. And yet we, along with millions of others, believe and have believed that God will do what he has promised. Psalm 33:4 says, “For the word of the Lord is right and true; he is faithful in all he does.” David also wrote in Psalm 25:10, “All the ways of the Lord are loving and faithful…”

We can live by God’s promises because they are God’s promises. The examples that we have from the Bible give us added assurance that God is faithful, but his Word alone has the power to make us listen and believe what he says. Remember that God created the entire world with his word alone. He cast out demons and healed the sick and raised people from the dead simply by saying the words.

Through the Word of God we have been given many promises by God, and we have been called by God to do certain things. Our text shows us today that those who listen to God’s promises and believe them will

The Lord had told Abraham to leave his homeland and had promised him many blessings if he obeyed. The very next verse of our text says, “So Abram left, as the lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was 75 years old when he set out from Haran. He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Haran, and they set out for the land of Canaan, and they arrived there.” The call to Abraham was unique, but the principle remains the same. The promises God makes creates faith, and faith empowers a person to do what God says.

As Abraham carried out the command of God, he was further encouraged by God. Moses wrote, “Abram traveled through the land as far as the site of the great tree of Moreh at Shechem. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. The Lord appeared to Abram and said, ‘To your offspring I will give this land.’ So he built an altar there to the Lord, who had appeared to him.” God gave Abraham another promise, one that might have seemed a bit unlikely. The Canaanites were well established in the land and strong warriors. But God said that one day Abraham’s offspring would possess the land, and in response, Abraham built and altar and worshiped God.

As he moved further, he went with the assurance of the Lord. Moses says, “From there he went on toward the hills east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord.” As Abraham followed the Lord, the Lord led him safely. In response, Moses says that Abraham “…called on the name of the Lord,” which means he publicly professed the name of the Lord, or in other words, he told people about his God. No doubt the people wondered who he was and what he was doing there, and Abraham wasn’t afraid to tell them. He acted on the faith that God’s promises created.

During the season of Lent, we see another perfect example of faith in action. The faith that Jesus had in his heavenly Father is clearly demonstrated by his perfect obedience and willing sacrifice. There were some pretty ugly moments in the story of Jesus’ suffering and death. There were times when his followers couldn’t take the heat any longer and deserted him. But when Jesus felt the burden of his responsibility, he turned to his heavenly Father in prayer. In the Garden of Gethsemane, Matthew says he “…fell with his face to the ground and prayed.” (Mt. 26:39)

The challenges that we face can lead us to God or away from him. The promises that he gives us pull us toward him. Those who use his word regularly, who read and hear it and make it a part of their lives, find it easier to trust God and his promises. When challenges come to the strong Christian, he is better equipped by the faith God has given him to meet them.

We all face attacks from the devil throughout our lives. We are encouraged in Proverbs 3:5,6 to “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.” Abraham responded in faith to the command of God and trusted the promises God gave him. As a result, Abraham was blessed by God and stands today as a pillar of faith for us to copy. Although each of us faces different trials and tests in our lives, we all have the common promise from God that he will “…be with you always, to the very end of the age.” Live by that promise from God. Listen and believe, then respond. When you do, God will be glorified and you will be blessed.

Amen.

–Rev Roger Rockhoff

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