RANDOM GRACE, JUNE 18-24, 2007
Monday, June 18
‘Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.”‘
Genesis 22:2 NIV
Abram was 75 years old when God called him and said he would make him a great nation. After waiting for 25 years, Isaac was born as the one through whom the seed of promise would be reckoned.
Then God requested the humanly unthinkable: Abraham was to sacrifice that only son! He took the journey to the mountain, without questioning God’s rights, wisdom, power and love.
We all know the result of that faith based obedience: God renewed and expanded His promises to Abraham while the foundation of faith was laid for an eternal Son that will bless us all.
What has God asked you to do? You don’t know what wonders He will bring about through your obedience. Do it now!
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Tuesday, June 19
‘When you hear them sound a long blast on the trumpets, have all the people give a loud shout; then the wall of the city will collapse and the people will go up, every man straight in.”‘
Joshua 6:5 NIV
Joshua was a trained warrior. His traditional weapons were the sword, knives, spears and arrows- so we must understand how puzzled he must have been when God demanded that all they needed to do was walk around Jericho, blow trumpets and shout. But because Joshua was also a man of faith, despite his military skills, he obeyed God .We know the result.
Do you doubt God’s tactics for your life? Very often, when we read His words we tend to disagree with His tactics on some issues like how to deal with our enemies or handle our financial resources. But if we ask Him for the gift of faith, with patience, we will come to realise that He is always right.
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Wednesday, June 20
‘The LORD said to Gideon, “With the three hundred men that lapped I will save you and give the Midianites into your hands. Let all the other men go, each to his own place.” So Gideon sent the rest of the Israelites to their tents but kept the three hundred, who took over the provisions and trumpets of the others.’
Judges 7:7-8 NIV
Gideon was another man who learnt the value of obeying God. He had prepared for the battle the way any commander would. He had 30 thousand men who were ready to march out with him against the oppressive power of Midian.
God reduced the 30 thousand to 3 thousand, then to 3 hundred soldiers. Worse still, their primary tools were not to be spears and swords but trumpets and jars. Gideon obeyed, God fought for them and Israel had the victory.
Perhaps you have refused to move forward in obedience to God because your resources appear insufficient for the tasks ahead. If your resources were humanly sufficient, would you really need God? Rather, by raising the need beyond your means, He is preparing the stage for His involvement. With patient and obedient faith, you will overcome through God.
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Thursday, June 21
‘After a long time, in the third year, the word of the LORD came to Elijah: “Go and present yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain on the land.” So Elijah went to present himself to Ahab.’
1 Kings 18:1 NIV
There was famine in the land; God withheld the rains for three years. Elijah was concerned and God was ready to grant relieve. Elijah received a very simple instruction, he was spared the details. “Present yourself to Ahab, I will send rain”, it was that simple. Elijah did not question how one was connected with the other, he simply obeyed.
I have a ten year old boy who always asks “why?” While I respect his inquisitiveness and see it as a learning process which can also prevent him from harm when other people want to lead him astray, it sometimes communicates distrust. When we deal with God, the brain must bow in reverence and retire in obedience.
Israel had been led into Baal worship by the house of Ahab, all that was required of Elijah was to present himself before Ahab, the real confrontation was between God and Baal. Once the problem was solved, God granted rain to his people whose minds had been cleansed from the abomination of idol worship. God always knows the real problem. He deals with problems from the roots rather than granting us superficial relief. As His arks, our duty is simply to be positioned where he wants us to be. The battle belongs to Him.
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Friday, June 22
“Naaman’s servants went to him and said, “My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more, then, when he tells you, ‘Wash and be cleansed’!” So he went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times, as the man of God had told him, and his flesh was restored and became clean like that of a young boy.”
2 Kings 5:13-14 NIV
The wisdom and words of God does not always come to us through distinguished, respected and learned media. It came to Naaman through his maid. Through humility, he scaled that hurdle. But once more, when he was asked to go and wash in the Jordan his nationalistic pride nearly robbed him of his healing. God’s solutions for many of our problems are often so simple and humbly packaged that we may miss them- if we are not humble and unquestionably obedient. The test is not always that we do the near impossible, sometimes it is the surprisingly simple task that is required of us.
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Saturday, June 23
‘Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Go south to the road-the desert road-that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.”‘
Acts 8:26 NIV
The walk of faith is taken one step at a time. Before we come to understand what the Lord is working out, we often have to start out on simple, obedient faith. Philip knew this.
Why should I go down to the south road?
What am I going to do there?
Am I going to be there for long (so I can pack a lunch)?
We can think of so many questions we would have asked, as if the one who instructs us has not figured it all out. We reduce God to men whose plans often fail us. Through our disobedience, the failure we fear often becomes out lot.
Philip went to where he was directed. When he got there, he saw and heard the eunuch reading the book of Isaiah. Philip witnessed to him and the eunuch was converted. While our earthly team members may have to “break it all down” for us nothing replaces simple faith when God is in the picture.
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Sunday, June 24
‘Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”‘
Matthew 26: 39
To teach us that no one becomes great and walks with the Lord unless by obedient faith, the master himself faced this test.
It’s easy to risk wasting a few hours, days or years going somewhere without knowing why. Following a God who has proved himself at the Red Sea and at the Jordan may not be too tasking when He gives you a plan to bring down walls (especially when you have no plans of your own). It’s also not fully self-giving when you are asked to offer someone close to you as a sacrifice. When compared to laying down your own life and making your flock feel your absence, all other acts of obedience look mild.
He made an appeal not a complaint. As the physical counterpart of the invisible God succumbed to the will of the mental counterpart, he taught us a lesson that even God must obey God. How much more men!
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This article has been contributed by ‘Yemi Ogunjimi.
To find out more about him please follow this link
http://blogtheword.wordpress.com/about/
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