Genesis 12 Abram and Sarai, Season 3 Episode 33
Sue’s Notes:
Genesis 12 Abram and Sarai
Who are you God and What are you like?
God calls: Eph 4:1 (nasb) Therefore (because in previous chapter it’s God’s mighty power at work in us! Eph 3:14-21), I the prisoner of the Lord implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called.
You have been called! Calling in Greek is Invitation!!! To a feast!!! Invitation to embrace God’s gift of salvation and blessing!!!!
God Blesses us to be a blessing to others: What is blessing, then? Scripture shows that blessing is anything God gives that makes us fully satisfied in him. Anything that draws us closer to Jesus. Anything that helps us relinquish the temporal and hold on more tightly to the eternal. And often it is the struggles and trials, the aching disappointments and the unfulfilled longings that best enable us to do that.
Blessing is living in God’s completeness, His Rest, regardless of what the circumstance. And us doing this blesses others and passes this blessing to others!!
Receiving Jesus and the abundance of life in Him, receiving blessing is our calling.
God has desired to bless His children since day 6!!!! Gen 1:28. Receiving His blessing we can be fruitful, multiply. We can fill and rule in relationship with God and others!! God has desired to make us united to Him and each other since Gen 2.
Faith of a mustard seed: “You don't have enough faith,” Jesus told them. “I tell you the truth, if you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,' and it would move. Nothing would be impossible. Matt 17:20
Jesus saying what is truth of our faith, we don’t have much, but His promise is greater. Faith as small as a mustard seed in His hands is mighty. Baby steps of faith one day at a time. He refines and grows our faith! Troubles that test faith are an opportunity for great joy (blessings)!!! James 1:2-4 Dear brothers and sisters,[a] when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. 3 For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. 4 So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.
Eph 4:2-6 Through our calling, His working in us, His blessing us, we begin to produce fruit. When we truly receive His blessing and overflow it to others. This is where unity of the body begins. We are called to be united in the Spirit with God and other believers. Through Chapter 4 gifts given to build up the body/church to come to unity, and be mature believers, not tossing, not tricked, but speaking the truth in love.
Abram in a mustard seed of faith, took the step and went, before he even knew where he was going. Heb 11:8-10 It was by faith that Abraham obeyed when God called him to leave home and go to another land that God would give him as his inheritance. He went without knowing where he was going. 9 And even when he reached the land God promised him, he lived there by faith—for he was like a foreigner, living in tents. And so did Isaac and Jacob, who inherited the same promise. 10 Abraham was confidently looking forward to a city with eternal foundations, a city designed and built by God.
Oak is elon (ay-lone), oak or strong tree of Moreh=teacher. Abram sets up his tent by the strong tree in Shechem and receives God’s promise there. He has a teachable spirit, heart to hear and receive. Tree stands as a witness to God’s strong promise to Abram and all nations to be blessed through Abram. Tree of decision! Life or death? Sets up altar and worships the God of Promise!
Then travelled on in stages. Another altar, dedicating place to the Lord and worshipping. Step by step moving into His promises as He leads us!
Tent dwellers on this earth, this is not our permanent home!
Vs 10 a crisis comes. He was just given a promise of God’s blessing and protection and a severe (heavy, great, massive, abundant) famine drives him to Egypt. He lived as a foreigner there. We live as a foreigner on this earth as believers in Jesus. God allowed this detour.
Not unusual in our walk to be given a promise by God and the next thing that happens seems to be the opposite of that. Because the promise is always about Jesus being the Author and perfector of our faith and He will do just that. Heb 12:1-2. There are a great cloud of witnesses cheering us on that have had Jesus perfect their faith, that have finished their race. Heb 12:10-11 But God’s discipline is always good for us, so that we might share in his holiness. 11 No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening—it’s painful! But afterward there will be a peaceful harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way.
A severe famine in the promiseland seems contradictory to God’s Blessing? Paul faced many such trials in his walk too. 2Cor 11:23-27. He says in Phil 4:11-13 Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. 12 I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. 13 For I can do everything through Christ,[a] who gives me strength.
Jesus had brought Paul’s faith to place of knowing He is the Bread of life, John 6:35, He is the Living Water John 4:10. He is all sufficient, enough for us, provides for us in every place and situation. He wrote this while in prison. Went on to say he had all he needed Phil 4:19 this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus. Only God truly knows what we need!
God uses these places to reveal what’s in our heart. This is part of the blessing, refining of our faith. Abram’s fear that he would be killed! Fear can lead us to lots of deception to protect self! Always harms us and others when we take fear into our own hands rather than bring it to God!
Abram puts his wife in jeopardy to save his own neck! Wait, promise was to come through offspring of Sarai and Abram. Believing fear over lies! And getting all these gifts from Pharoah. Could settle right here in Pharoah’s blessing not God’s.
But God intervenes with a plague on Pharoah’s house. Wait this sounds so familiar!!! Pharoah could have killed them both, but sent them out of the land because this scared him, knew he shouldn’t mess with this man! Marked by God!!! Even as Abram is deceiving/lying. God’s Promises are greater than our faith. But great is the faith of a mustard seed that takes a baby step of believing God’s promises. And He promises to grow our faith, if we let Him!
Step by step. When we receive God’s love and promises and commit to Him, it is not all on us to fix ourselves up for the promise and purpose. He equips the called, does not call the equipped!
And immediately after receiving the promise, Abram’s fear is revealed when death confronts him. He had just been told by God that He would bless those who bless and curse those who curse. God had his back. But immediately his fear comes to the surface that he wouldn’t survive famine and wouldn’t survive Pharoah.
faith is a complete trust or confidence in someone or something. That trust or confidence we have in someone is built up over time as he proves himself faithful time and time again.
God will bring opportunities to prove himself faithful time and again, if we allow Him to baby step, by baby step.
The main reason we struggle with faith is that we don’t truly know the God in whom we profess to have faith. In our daily lives, we don’t trust complete strangers. The more intimately we know someone and the more time we have had to see him “in action,” the more likely we are to believe what he says. But, if God is essentially a stranger to us, we are less likely to believe what He has said in His Word. The only cure for this is to spend more time in God’s Word getting to know Him.
Remembering, writing down our journey and remembering what Jesus has done for us. Rev 12:11 And they have defeated him by the blood of the Lamb and by their testimony. And they did not love their lives so much that they were afraid to die.
Us having faith is believing God is faithful, not that we are faithful!
As we walk intimately with Jesus and He perfects our faith and gives us a testimony, death will cease to be a fear that drives us to act in unbelief. We will see that as we walk further with God into Abram’s story.
Rom 12:1-2 Baby step by baby step turning over to Jesus everything in our hearts: hurts, fears and faults that He reveals. Then we allow Him to transform us, changing our thought patterns, perfecting our faith to know He is Good, He loves us deeply, He is Faithful (good, pleasing and perfect)!