God with Us

Genesis 12:1 (NET) - “Go out from your country, your relatives, and your father’s household to the land that I will show you.

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God told Abraham to leave the familiar and step into the unknown.

God did not even say exactly where this was.

Rather, God said that He would “show” him.

Abraham was no longer a young man when God gave him these instructions.

How did Abraham respond?

Genesis 12:4-5 (NET) - So Abram left, just as the Lord had told him to do, and Lot went with him. (Now Abram was 75 years old when he departed from Haran.) And Abram took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, and all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Haran, and they left for the land of Canaan. They entered the land of Canaan.

Abraham obeyed God.

God called Abraham and Abraham responded.

This would not be the only time that Abraham would answer God’s call.

There would come a time when God would ask much more of Abraham.

Genesis 22:2 (NET) - God said, “Take your son—your only son, whom you love, Isaac—and go to the land of Moriah! Offer him up there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains which I will indicate to you.”

Abraham dearly loved his only son.

How did Abraham respond?

Genesis 22:3 (NET) - Early in the morning Abraham got up and saddled his donkey. He took two of his young servants with him, along with his son Isaac. When he had cut the wood for the burnt offering, he started out for the place God had spoken to him about.

This time, just like the time before, Abraham obeyed God.

God called Abraham and again Abraham responded.

Abraham was prepared to do everything God asked of him.

He was even prepared to sacrifice his only son Isaac.

In the end, God spared Isaac.

Genesis 22: 11-12 (NET) - But the Lord’s angel called to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!” “Here I am!” he answered. “Do not harm the boy!” the angel said. “Do not do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God because you did not withhold your son, your only son, from me.”

God provided a ram for the sacrifice.

The name Abraham gave to the place means “The LORD provides”.

Romans 4:3 (NET) - For what does the scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”

God was with Abraham.

I think it is more than fair to say that God was with Isaac as well.

That is the way it is.

God calls and we are to respond.

What will our response be?

If we obey God’s call then God will be with us.

The prophet Isaiah understood this.

Isaiah 7:14 (NET) - For this reason the sovereign master himself will give you a confirming sign. Look, this young woman is about to conceive and will give birth to a son. You, young woman, will name him Immanuel.

This prophecy was fulfilled.

Matthew 1:23 (NET) - Look! The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will name him Emmanuel,” which means “God with us.”

When my ancestors first came to the region where I now live, most of them did not even speak the local language.

They had no idea what awaited them in this new land.

But they did know one thing.

They knew that God was with them.

When they built their first church in the area 150 years ago, their pastor painted “God with Us” behind the pulpit as a reminder.

He panted these words in the language they knew.

God was with Abraham and Isaac.

God was with those who preceded me.

God is with me.

God is with us!

Blessings,

Jim Pokorny

The Other Brother Jim

Look for me at http://otherbrotherjim.blogspot.com/ on Friday, August 11, 2017.

I’ll be back here on Friday, August 18, 2017