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Scripture Reading:
Romans 4:16-22 (New American Standard – NAS)
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16For this reason it is by faith, that it might be in accordance with grace, in order that the promise may be certain to all the descendants, not only to those who are of the Law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all, 17(as it is written, “a father of many nations have i made you”) in the sight of Him whom he believed, even God, who gives life to the dead and calls into being that which does not exist. 18In hope against hope he believed, in order that he might become a father of many nations, according to that which had been spoken, “so shall your descendants be.” 19 And without becoming weak in faith he contemplated his own body, now as good as dead since he was about a hundred years old, and the deadness of Sarah’s womb; 20yet, with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief, but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God, 21and being fully assured that what He had promised, He was able also to perform.
22 Therefore also it was reckoned to him as righteousness.
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Thought for the day:
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Notes When I was a child attending Sunday School, we used to sing one of the most repetitive songs ever ‘composed’. It was called Father Abraham. The lyrics went like this ‘Father Abraham had many sons, many sons had Father Abraham. I am one of them and so are you. So let’s all praise the Lord’. Then came the most bizarre thing. We would, for each subsequent verse start shouting out body parts, such as right arm, left arm, right leg etc. It was totally crazy and didn’t teach me anything about Abraham, the covenant or our part (if any) in that covenant.
In later life, I discovered that Abraham was the father of the Jewish nation and that all non-Jews were called Gentiles. That really confused me because, most of my life, I had been singing that Abraham was my father! No-one had pointed me to Romans 4:16 which clearly states that Abraham is ‘the father of us all’.The faith that he exhibited is exactly the same type of faith that we are called to have and therefore we can legitimately refer to him as a father. He provided an incredible example to us all in how to hold our belief in God regardless of the circumstances with which we are faced.In verse 20 we read that he didn’t waver through unbelief. The promise of God had been given and even though many things were closing in on him that questioned that promise, Abraham knew beyond a shadow of doubt that not only was God able to perform everything that He had promised, Abraham knew that God was faithful and that He would never break a promise. He knew his God and this allowed him to hold on to everything that God had purposed for his life.
Verse 18 says ‘Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed’. Despite all the physical evidence that was screaming a message of ‘no-hope’, Abraham chose to listen to the quiet whisper of hope that the Almighty God was speaking into his very soul.
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Prayer and Application:
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It’s so easy to give up on things when the going gets tough. It’s never easy to dig deep and battle through our problems and difficulties. As we close out another week, my prayer for this weekend is that we shut out the noise of trials and issues and that we all listen carefully to the voice of hope. He is faithful and will never let us down.
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