LIVING FOR THE PROMISE (21)
Scripture: Genesis 13:1-18
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Living for the Promise (21)
Series: Genesis
Robert Dawson
Genesis 13
In preparing for the message, I ran across a statement describing Abram's life that I found interesting. It said Abram's ''life is a paradoxical mixture of self-reliance and trust in God.'' Now a paradox is a ''statement or proposition that seems absurd and self-contradictory but in reality, expresses truth.'' Trust in God and self-reliance do not mix and yet we see both in the life of this great man.
As I read that statement the words of the great philosopher, Curly from the Three stooges, when responding to an insult, came to mind, ''I resemble that remark!'' I assume that some of you may resemble that remark as well.
• We all ride the pendulum from doubt/fear to confidence in God.
• Our lives titter totter from disappointing spiritual failures to encouraging spiritual victories.
• We are like a ping pong ball batted back and forth by the various challenges/trails of life with our responses alternating between self-reliance and trust in God.
Early on we've seen this back and forth in Abram's story.
• God calls Abram. He commands Abram to go. Abram goes.
• God makes Abram a promise, a big promise. Abram believes.
• Abram is confronted with an obstacle on his journey of faith, a severe famine. His faith waivers.
o He leaves the land of promise and goes down to Egypt. A move that symbolizes man trusting his own devices and acting independently from God.
o His lack of trust in God gives way to human schemes, self-reliance and deception which create an even bigger obstacle. His beloved wife Sarai, because of his deception, is taken from him and made part of Pharaoh's harem.
o God miraculously and mercifully delivers Abram and his bride.
• Abram returns to the Promised Land, and he returns to God, worships God, and calls on the name of the Lord.
In that summary we have a microcosm of Abram's life and his paradoxical mixture of self-reliance, doubt, and confident trust i ...
Series: Genesis
Robert Dawson
Genesis 13
In preparing for the message, I ran across a statement describing Abram's life that I found interesting. It said Abram's ''life is a paradoxical mixture of self-reliance and trust in God.'' Now a paradox is a ''statement or proposition that seems absurd and self-contradictory but in reality, expresses truth.'' Trust in God and self-reliance do not mix and yet we see both in the life of this great man.
As I read that statement the words of the great philosopher, Curly from the Three stooges, when responding to an insult, came to mind, ''I resemble that remark!'' I assume that some of you may resemble that remark as well.
• We all ride the pendulum from doubt/fear to confidence in God.
• Our lives titter totter from disappointing spiritual failures to encouraging spiritual victories.
• We are like a ping pong ball batted back and forth by the various challenges/trails of life with our responses alternating between self-reliance and trust in God.
Early on we've seen this back and forth in Abram's story.
• God calls Abram. He commands Abram to go. Abram goes.
• God makes Abram a promise, a big promise. Abram believes.
• Abram is confronted with an obstacle on his journey of faith, a severe famine. His faith waivers.
o He leaves the land of promise and goes down to Egypt. A move that symbolizes man trusting his own devices and acting independently from God.
o His lack of trust in God gives way to human schemes, self-reliance and deception which create an even bigger obstacle. His beloved wife Sarai, because of his deception, is taken from him and made part of Pharaoh's harem.
o God miraculously and mercifully delivers Abram and his bride.
• Abram returns to the Promised Land, and he returns to God, worships God, and calls on the name of the Lord.
In that summary we have a microcosm of Abram's life and his paradoxical mixture of self-reliance, doubt, and confident trust i ...
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