Obeying GOD

Gen 22:16  And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the LORD, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son:
 
Gen 22:17  That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies;
 
Gen 22:18  And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.
 
Because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky...because you have obeyed me.
 
From the time of Abraham, people have been learning that
when they obey God’s voice and surrender to Him whatever
they hold most precious, He multiplies it thousands of times.
 
Abraham gave up his one and only son at the Lord’s command,
and in doing so, all his desires and dreams for Isaac’s life, as well as his own hope for a notable heritage, disappeared.

Yet God restored Isaac to his father, and Abraham’s family became “as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore”. 

And through his descendants, “when the time had fully come, God sent his Son”

Gal 4:4  But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,
 
This is exactly how God deals with every child of His when
we truly sacrifice.

We surrender everything we own and accept poverty then He sends wealth.

We leave a growing area of ministry at His command then He provides one better than we had ever dreamed.

We surrender all our cherished hopes and die to self...then He sends overflowing joy and His “life...that [we] might have it more abundantly”.

John 10:10  The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

The greatest gift of all was Jesus Christ Himself, and we can
never fully comprehend the enormity of His sacrifice. 

Abraham, as the earthly father of the family of Christ, had to begin by surrendering himself and his only son, just as our heavenly Father sacrificed His only Son, Jesus.

We could never have come to enjoy the privileges and joys as members of God’s family through any other way. 

~Charles Gallaudet Trumbull~
 
We sometimes seem to forget that what God takes from us, He takes with fire, and that the only road to a life of resurrection
and ascension power leads us first to Gethsemane, the cross, and the tomb.
 
Dear soul, do you believe that Abraham’s experience was
unique and isolated?

It is only an example and a pattern of how God deals with those who are prepared to obey Him whatever the cost. 

After waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised”, and so will you.

Heb 6:15  And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise.

The moment of your greatest sacrifice will also be the precise moment of your greatest and most miraculous blessing.

God’s river, which never runs dry, will overflow its banks, bringing you a flood of wealth and grace.
 
Indeed, there is nothing God will not do for those who will
dare to step out in faith onto what appears to be only a mist.
 
As they take their first step, they will find a rock beneath their
feet.

~F. B. Meyer~