Genesis 22:9-10 Then they came to the place of which God had told him. And Abraham built an Altar there and placed the wood in order; and he bound Isaac his son and laid him on the Altar, upon the wood. And Abraham stretched out his hand ad took the knife to slay his son.
God commanded Abraham to offer Isaac as a sacrifice. God was testing Abraham’s faith. Did he have enough faith to offer up his son as a sacrifice? Yes, he did and because he did, he passed the test the Lord had put in front of him.
We may not realize it, but God is putting us all to that same test all the time. When the Holy Spirit speaks to your spirit and directs you to make an offering, this is a test of your faith. How you respond will indicate whether or not you pass the test.
God’s test will start off rather easy. He will ask us to obey His Word and give in to His Kingdom something that will not be that self-sacrificing. If we pass that test, He will tell us to give more. Then more and more. As we respond in obedience, we will see the Hand of God in our lives and watch Him miraculously provide more and more.
When God instructed Abraham to give Isaac as a sacrifice, Abraham did not argue with God. Nor did he evaluate the situation. He simply acted in pure, unadulterated faith in God to both provide and keep His Promise which was that he would one day be the father to many nations.
When God instructs us to give something to His Kingdom, it will be a sacrifice. Otherwise, it would not take faith on our part to do it. For example, for God to ask a millionaire to give $1.00 per week would not be a sacrifice on their part. Therefore, it would take absolutely no faith to do this. Their comfort zone would not be infringed upon at all. It would be like God telling us to put the nickel we found on the street yesterday in the offering plate at church this Sunday. This would not be a sacrifice at all. Therefore, it would not be a test of our faith.
God’s test of our faith will always take us out of our comfort zone. If we can easily do something, it doesn’t take any faith to do it and it is not a sacrifice. A sacrifice is just that, a sacrifice. Like the widow woman who offered two mites. Now Jesus sat opposite the treasury and saw how the people put money into the treasury. And many who were rich put in much. Then one poor widow came and threw in two mites, which make a quadrans. So He called His Disciples to Himself and said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all those who have given to the treasury; for they all put in out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all that she had, her whole livelihood.” (Mark 12:41-44)
Jesus gave His all on the Cross of Calvary. Is it not our reasonable service to give our all to Him? After all, He created your comfort zone in the first place. Do we not have the faith to believe He can make our comfort zone bigger and better than it was before? Believe and you shall receive. Give and it shall be given unto you.
Today is the day to surrender your all to Christ and the Kingdom of God. Tomorrow may be too late.
God is about to……….turn the tide
I surrender all, Doreen
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