Tuesday, March 21, 2006

By Faith... Abraham - Part I, Part 2 of 56

TEXT: "By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going" (Hebrews 11:8).

IDEA: God tests our faith by calling us to give up our securities and to find our security in Him.

PURPOSE: God sometimes asks us to make difficult changes in what we depend on for security.

Have you ever moved to a new location? Did you find it difficult or challenging?

Moving from a familiar job to a new job is stressful. We wonder if we will fail in the new position.

Moving from one neighborhood or town to another is stressful. Not only do we have to deal with the physical challenges of packing, moving, and settling into a new house, but we also have to learn new stores, etc.

I. God sometimes calls us to move away from our securities to an insecure situation.

Abraham was called by God to leave all that was familiar and go to a strange new land (Hebrews 11:8).

"Now the Lord had said to Abram, 'Get out of your country, from your family and from your father's house, to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed' " (Genesis 12:1-3).

Abel, Enoch, and Noah showed their faith in the places where they already lived, but Abraham has been asked to give up all that is familiar for a strange new place.

Have you ever experienced a time when you have been called away from something that gave you security to face some situation that made you feel insecure?

II. Is it better to go to the unknown with God than to live with what you know without Him?

Why is it so easy to say that and so difficult to do?