Just as Abraham
“believed God,
and it was accounted
to him for righteousness,”
therefore know that
only those who are
of faith are sons of
Abraham.
And the Scripture,
foreseeing that God
would justify the
Gentiles by faith,
preached the gospel
to Abraham beforehand,
saying, “In you all
the nations shall be blessed.”
So then those who are
of faith are blessed
with believing
Abraham.
Galatians 3:6–9
There is an
old saying: “When you are waist deep in alligators it is hard to remember that
the object was to drain the swamp.”
When we are assailed on every side by the trials of this world, whether
we caused those trials or the trials come from outside of us, we so often look
at the trials and try to determine the solution. We place our eyes on the trials we lose sight of the reason we
are faced with those trials. Our faith
wavers that we can be rescued, that there is anyone who can help. Therefore we begin to look for answers, and
as the song goes: “We are looking for love in all the wrong places.” Someone yells: “Look here I have a rope for
you, grab onto it and I will pull you to safety.” This sounds right, it is the help we so desired, but when we grab
onto the rope we didn’t see that the person is standing on the other side of
the lake and we must go through those infested waters. We think we are safe. We are not safe, and what we did not know
during our flight to safety was that the person on the shore offering help had
other motives for saving you. We are
tired, we don’t have the energy to care about any motives, we are glad to be
saved as we lie on the shore breathing hard, but now glad to be alive. We have
lost sight of what was already there for you to give you salvation. While you were staring at the alligators you
forget that you were only a few feet away from the shore and you could have
escaped easily. Now, on the other side
of the lake you gladly follow the one who pulled you to safety (what you
thought was safety), and whatever he asks of you, you do it, and this without
question. When the alligators were
swimming around you, ready to attack, to kill you, there on the shore that was
so close was the one person who could reach out and by His hand pull you to
safety and this person has only one motive: to save you. Our faith was misplaced, we looked for help
in the wrong place. We placed our faith
upon the wrong person. Our salvation
was near, but our faith that He could save us wavered as we looked more onto
out struggles and not to Him Who has all the answers, but He does ask us for one
thing: FAITH! Why did you or I not have
the faith that would grant to us safety and salvation? Is it because we have not, or did not really
believe what God has revealed to us in His word? Is it because God is invisible, and His Son who died on the cross
did so several thousand years ago and is only a hope that it is true that He
can still save us? Do you believe that
He sent to His bride, the children of God the Holy Spirit, the Third Person of
the Trinity, the One who is God, and while being the Third Person of the
Trinity, being of the same essence as one of the Godhead; it just seems so far
away, so hard to believe, to put our faith in this unseen God, His Son, and the
Holy Spirit. So, we look for answers
and we so often find those answers that seem good, seem to be Scriptural and we
follow them without looking into His word.
Works become our focus. Do you
believe that the Holy Spirit will supply all that you need every our and every
moment? Have you progressed in your
faith to understand that to be in God’s work, in His love, will have mighty
works, not just some supernatural work, rather will be living in accordance to
the will of God. All works we do must
have first faith as did Abraham who never saw God in person, yet, was told to
leave the land he lived in and to travel to an unknown place. God did not give him a map and God did not
tell Abram where He wanted him to go. Faith in God, living in a land full of
alligators (pagans). Abram did not
listen to those false teachers, those religious men who taught what seem to be
right, to have a connection with God.
Abram believed in Jehovah, Yahweh, and was not ensnared by those false
teachers and left his home to go where God would lead him. How could Abram be so true to Jehovah? He possessed the grace of discerning the
spirits, those things which may have sounded true but by his discernment did
not follow after them. Abram did not rely on his own strength, he did not look
upon all those alligators as something that would destroy him for his faith was
in God, his hope was in God, as should ours be: “Now hope does not
disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the
Holy Spirit who was given to us. For when we were without strength, in due time
Christ died for the ungodly” (Romans 5:5–).
Abraham
believed God and it was reckoned to him for righteousness. Do you believe God? If you are truly converted to Him you do,
and God will as He did for Abraham, reckon you righteous. You can triumph over this fact, your faith is
counted for you and you are righteous in Him.
Put your faith into action by reading His word, taking the time to
study, to examine what is being preached and taught to you. Remember, God has given His Holy Spirit to
lead you and guide you, and while we use common sense our common sense has its
foundation in His word. We are valiant
warriors and no lake full of alligators will destroy us, and if we are destroy
in this world we have everlasting life with God, His Son, and the Holy Spirit
forever where there are no alligators, no trials, rather a life that God has
planned for you, and this for eternity. PRAISE GOD!
But God demonstrates His own love
Toward us,
in that while we were
Still sinners, Christ died for us.
Much more
then, having now
Been justified by His blood, we shall
Be saved
from wrath through Him.
For is when we were enemies we were
Reconciled to
God through the
Death of His Son, much more having
Been reconciled,
we shall be
Saved by His life. And not only that,
But we also
rejoice in god through
Our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we
Have now
received the reconciliation.
Romans
5:8–11
Our salvation is sure: Praise God
Richard L. Crumb
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