Believe God

Believe God (Gen. 17:15-19; 18:10-15; 21:1-5) Promise:

1. An assurance given by one to another that the former will perform a specified act. 2. A reasonable ground for hope or expectation

In Greek, faith is pis tis and means a conviction in the truthfulness of God. Faith must have a reliable basis upon which to be founded God is faithful/trustworthy (Deut. 7:9; Isa. 49:7; 1 Cor. 1:9; 10:13; Heb. 10:23; 2 Thess. 3:3; 1 Thess. 5:24; Titus 1:2; 2 Tim. 2:13; John 1:9) Hearing about God’s faithfulness strengthens our own faith (Rom. 10:17) The Bible is a record of God’s promises and his faithfulness in keeping those promises Joshua wrote, "Not one of all the Lord’s good promises to the house of Israel failed; every one was fulfilled (Joshua 21:45)." A few hundred years later King Solomon reminded his generation of the same thing when he said in 1 Kings 8:56, "Not one word has failed of all the good promises He gave..." But we need to be careful not to limit what God can do in our own minds Doubt comes from leaning upon our own understanding (Prov. 3:5) Abraham tried to substitute Ishmael as his heir because he did not believe God could produce a son through he and Sarah in their old age. (Gen. 17:18) How big is your God? Is anything impossible for the Lord? (Gen. 18:14) NO!!! (Job 42:2; Matt. 19:26; Luke 1:37; Eph. 3:20) God has the power to carry out his promises (Rom. 4:17 & 21, Eph. 6:10, Jer. 32:17) God can/does honor promises despite circumstances/appearances as we observe them (Rom. 4:17-18; 2 Cor. 5:7; Heb.11:7; 13 & 33; Matt. 19:26; Luke 1:37) Faith is not about ignoring/denying circumstances, it is about believing God anyway, in spite of circumstances! (Rom. 8:24) A young, new preacher was walking with an older more seasoned preacher in the garden one day and he was feeling a insecure about what God had for him to do. So he

inquired of the older preacher. This older preacher walked up to a rose bush and then handed the young preacher a rosebud and told him to open it without tearing off any petals. The young preacher looked in disbelief at the older preacher and was trying to figure out what a rosebud could possibly have to do with his wanting to know the will of God for his life and for his ministry. Because of high respect for the older preacher, he proceeded to try to unfold the rose, while keeping every petal intact…it wasn’t long before he realized how it was impossible to do so. Noticing the young preachers inability to unfold the rosebud while keeping it intact, the older preacher began to tell the following poem. “It is only a tiny rosebud, A flower of God’s design; But I cannot unfold the petals’ With these clumsy hands of mine. The secret of unfolding flowers Is not to such as I. God opens this flower so sweetly, When in my hands they fade and die. If I cannot unfold a rosebud, This flower of God’s design, Then how can I think I have wisdom To unfold this life of mine. So I will trust in him for his leading Each moment of every day. I will look to him for guidance Each step of the pilgrim way. The pathway that lies before me, Only my Heavenly Father knows. I’ll trust Him to unfold the moments, Just as He unfolds the rose. God can even bring life from the lifeless! Ray Stedman, wrote, "If you have a God who can raise things from the dead and who can call into existence the things that do not exist … [then] you will never know when a thing that is dead and dull and lifeless may be touched by the grace of God and brought to life again." We are called to have “Child-like Faith” - A firm belief in the reliability of God and the truth of His word. Just as a child learns to implicitly trust its mother, so a young Christian relies on the Lord for its spiritual leading, feeding and protection (Mark 10:15) Living Exercising/Demonstrating faith strengthens/grows faith, develops confidence in God and a firm reliance on the certainty of God’s grace, counsel and enabling. (Matt. 7:7-11) We can demonstrate our faith by, waiting patiently/persevering in faith, for the fulfillment of God’s promises (Heb. 6:12 & 10:36; 1 Cor. 16:13)

Abraham waited 25 years, until he was 100 years old, between God’s original promise & the birth of Isaac (Heb. 6:15; Gen. 18:14) David waited for years during the wicked reign of Saul before he came to the throne of Israel. God’s first promise of a Messiah appears all the way back in Genesis (Gen. 3:14-15) The Lord has His own perfect timing (2 Pe. 3:9) God has promised salvation/eternal life (John 10:28; 1 John 2:25; 5:11-12; Heb. 9:15) People can gain the benefits of God’s promise to be declared righteous by their faith, through His grace (Gen. 15:6; Rom. 4:3; 16 & 24; Gal. 3:6-7; James 2:23) Jesus Christ is the ultimate fulfillment of God’s promises (Rom. 15:8; 2 Cor. 1:20; Gal. 3:16;1 Cor. 15:45) "In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed (Gen. 22:18) "He will swallow up death for all time" (Isa. 25:8) "His kingdom is one which will not be destroyed" (Dan. 7:14). Sarai = Princess Sarah = Noblewoman