Genesis 22:1 – “Some time after these things God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” “Here I am!” Abraham replied.”

As I read, prayed, and mused on the Word of God today, I was challenged deep in my spirit about “mindset” or, more specifically, how we view everything.

As I read the story of Abraham in Genesis, my hope expanded.   Knowing that although God uses particular people for specific tasks, He exhibits no partiality.   God has no favorite children.   Some exhibit the attitude that they are more special than others, but what He does for one, He is willing and able to do for all.

After God gave Abraham the miracle son when old Abe was 100, God challenged him beyond belief.   Genesis 22:1 – “Some time after these things God Tested Abraham.”   The test was not a small challenge but a monumental, life-altering challenge.  The challenge: sacrifice your son! Sounds contradictory to the revealed heart and nature of God, right?

Abraham had the covenant promise that through his descendants a multitude would come!  Through his offspring, the entire planet would be blessed. Now, God asks or directs him to take that link (Isaac), the miracle child, and kill him as a burnt offering.  The Bible calls that a test!  To the flesh, that would be a nightmare.

Abraham’s response was immediate obedience.  Notice verse 3. “Early in the morning, Abraham got up and saddled his donkey.”   Immediately, without question or hesitation, he began the process of obeying.

That screams Total Trust!   

• No wonder we read that Abraham is the father of faith.  
• No wonder we read that Abraham staggered not at the promise.
• No wonder we read that Abraham believed God, and God credited it to him as righteousness.   His mindset was unshakable confidence in God!

Out of that act of obedience flows all we now know and experience. Out of that example, we should be inspired to trust God completely and obey Him explicitly.   When Abraham sent his servant to find a wife for Isaac, God’s faithfulness is impossible to miss.   The servant began praying at the well for a sign.   In Genesis 24:15, we read, “Before he had finished praying, there came Rebecca (the answer).” She did not start toward the well because of his prayer; before he prayed, she was already on her way.  Remember, before we pray, He answers.

This is the God Abraham trusted. This is the God we serve. This is the God who created all things.  Therefore, our requests are small compared to all He has done for all time.   Why do we find it so difficult to trust completely?

We are like the church praying for Peter in Acts 12.   They prayed earnestly and fervently but not expectantly.  Read the account.  They were shocked that their prayers had been answered. They should have been shocked if they weren’t!

What is our mindset?  How do we view God, ourselves, and life?  The urge I sense is to surrender my imagination and hope to God!  If I trust Him with my eternal soul, why is it hard to trust Him with my life?  It is mindset.  It is relinquishing control. It is trust.

Lord, I repent of my lack of trust. That lack of trust screams that I, in some way, question Your character. Please forgive me!  Let’s surrender our All to Him. He never fails.

Genesis 20:11 –  Abraham replied, “Because I thought…”

As I read, prayed, and pondered the Word of God today, I was drawn to the transition from Abram to Abraham. It pictures our development in God and our spiritual walk.

• As Abram, he encountered the Living Creator God. 
• As Abram, God cut the covenant with Him. 
• As Abram, he received the promise of an heir from his loins even in old age.

In Genesis 17, he received the directive, “Walk before me and be blameless.” God placed that condition on the confirmation of the Covenant, which included an heir and the Promised Land.  As God saw his heart, he received the name change.  Abram means “exalted father.”  He came from a noble lineage.  Abraham means “father of a multitude.”   It was a constant reminder of God’s covenant.

Abraham’s journey was one in which his flesh ruled him.  He lied about his wife.  In Genesis 20, his explanation was, “I thought…”   Proverbs 3:5-6 is the remedy.

• He became the man known as the father of faith or faithfulness. 
• He became a man known for having his prayers answered.
• He became a man God could trust, bless, and use.
• He became the depository of the promise. He carried the seed of salvation in his heart and body.

We are all in transition.  Setbacks must not be stopping places, but life lessons.  Failures must not identify us but become reminders of the danger of trusting the flesh.   

We want a utopia or storybook life. God wants a surrendered heart that trusts and serves no matter what.  He wants those who, like Abram, are willing to go places they have never been to become what they had never dreamed they could.    People who, like orthodox Peter, will go where directed, even though they do not know what or why.  Total Trust.  We want to be happy in the flesh; God wants to promote us to a higher place, Joy!

Happiness is tied to conditions, circumstances, and people.   Joy is a divine supernatural condition that is birthed in surrender and trust!  He wants to change our names (hearts) so we can fulfill our purpose! Stop allowing conditions, events, people, or things to be your focus.

Become who He designed you to be!  You are God’s heir! Victory or defeat is conditioned in our thoughts about God, ourselves, and our circumstances.  Through the lens of the Cross, we can see victory and become victorious!

Today would be a great day to give it all to God.

Genesis 1:26 – “Then God said, Let us make humankind in our image, after our likeness, SO THAT they may RULE over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the cattle, AND over ALL the earth, AND over all the creatures that move on the earth.”

Today is beginning as a day when it feels like I am a step behind and catching up.   However, I reject the temptation to shortcut or cut short my needed routine of beginnings. I will honor God, not the clock.

As I read, prayed, and meditated on the Word of God today, I saw things I had never seen in the way I saw them.   I won’t address all of that, but what rose like a mountain before me was Eve’s encounter with the sneaky snake and God’s initial directive to Adam & Eve.

The directive was Genesis 1:26 – “Then God said, Let us make humankind in our image, after our likeness, SO THAT they may RULE over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the cattle, AND over ALL the earth, AND over all the creatures that move on the earth.”   Do you see the magnitude of that directive and objective?   It is Impossible without verses 27 and 28. Created, ordained, anointed, appointed, and blessed (empowered).

This creation (Eve) met the snake in the garden.  This one with rulership authority over all, including the snake, met the master manipulator.  God’s prohibition was one tree.  He said (verses 16-17) – “Eat from this prohibited tree and die.”   The Hebrew is “in dying you will die.”

Death was a foreign concept, but if we consider or understand death as separation, not extinction, we see that they could understand.  Physical death is separation from the earth.  Spiritual death is separation from God. Not extinction but separation.

The snake subtly asked, “Did God really say you can’t eat from any tree in the Garden?”  He knew that was not what God said but was planting the seed of a question of being deprived of something good.

He was partially truthful in describing what would happen. Separation from God’s peace, purpose, and presence occurred, resulting in real death.  Death that would be in the DNA of their lineage. Death that would require a Redeemer to restore us.

A break in fellowship through disobedience is a kind of death. In dying, you will die!  We, too, will succumb to the deception and manipulation of the snake if we fail to keep our focus on God and our assignment.

The early chapters of the Book of Acts give us a pattern and pathway to perseverance and peace.  Acts 2:42-47 should be studied and adopted as a lifestyle.  They became The Body of Christ. It was not a ritual but a relationship!

Lord, help us realize the purpose, power, and authority we have IN Jesus by the Holy Spirit. Help us to be and do that!

Malachi 2:17 – “You have wearied the Lord with your words. But you say, “How have we wearied him?” Because you say, “Everyone who does evil is good in the Lord’s opinion, and he delights in them,” or, “Where is the God of justice?”

Each day has its challenges and opportunities.  Each day is an adventure or an adversity. Each day is a gift, and its value is in our response to it. We do not face the day alone.  We have others, and more importantly, we have God. His love guides and provides.

As I read, prayed, and pondered the Word of God today, I was moved by one word in Malachi 2:17. God said, “You have wearied me…”  What?  How is it possible, and what is the danger of wearying God?

The weariness stemmed from a perversion of Grace.  Read the verse and realize that it is present today!   Cheap Grace.   Grace is abundant and freely bestowed, but never to be presumed upon.

God desires and demands our Whole Heart!   Anything less is to be guilty of offering Him second-rate offerings.   If we want God’s best, we must give Him ours.   It is not a good exchange for God, but He takes our gifts and transforms them.   Only as we are fully surrendered can we enter God’s rest through His peace.

In John 20:19, Jesus said, “Peace be with you.”   That suggests or reveals that Peace is a Presence!  It is a supernatural presence, not a gift but a presence!   It is a divine empowerment enabling us to endure any trial or test and secure His promised provision.

In verse 21, Jesus said, “Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.”   We go with that presence working its divine purpose in our lives.   Then He said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”   There is a connection between the presence (peace) and the infilling of the Holy Spirit.

In verse 26, He said, “Peace be with you.”   Peace is not an emotion; it is a presence!   It guides.   It enables one to stand.   It assures.   It encourages. It is the divine power and person of Jesus with and in us.   It transforms.

Having done all to stand, we stand in peace.   When Jesus said, “My peace I give unto you…” He was offering divine enablement!   The pathway to peace is surrender and pressing into the presence of Jesus.   If God has my whole heart, I am In Him, and He is In me.   If that condition exists, Peace is the prevailing presence.  In peace, we can love and live like Jesus because there is no fear, and there is complete assurance and confidence.

Do you want Peace?  Give Jesus everything and seek Him above all else.