Revelation Knowledge

Strength training is a type of physical exercise specializing in the use of resistance to induce muscular contraction which builds the strength, anaerobic endurance, and size of skeletal muscles.Other benefits of strength training are, develop strong bones, control weight, boost stamina, manage chronic conditions and sharpen your focus. It is estimated that Americans spends around $2.6 BILLION! per year on gym memberships. Another type of strength training so to speak is developing the mind. According to statistics, the USA spend approximately $809.6 BILLION per year on education. There is nothing wrong with strengthening our body and our mind, but when the rubber meets the road, both of these areas are limited. How so? Well, if a portion of the body (an arm or a leg for example) does not function then the entire body suffers loss. In the same way, if one of the five senses does not function, then knowledge also becomes limited.

The Apostle Paul in his letter to the church at Thessalonica writes, "Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." (1 Thessalonians 5:23) We see that man is not only body and soul (mind, will, emotions and intellect) but he is spirit. Man was made in the image and likeness of God (Genesis 1:26) and God is Spirit (John 4:24). If man is indeed spirit with a soul in a body then a dilemma exists. The part of man that is most important and needs to be strengthened, the spirit, becomes the part that is most neglected. It's not that we haven't tried to develop the spirit. We had thought that the only way to do this was through religion or religious education. Interestingly enough, most Bible Colleges, Seminaries and Local Churches only teach knowledge and tend to fail at bringing students and or congregants to a place of understanding spiritual things.

The knowledge obtained tends to become the only thing that is important, but again it is limited. This is why the apostle Paul warns us, "Knowledge puffs up..." (1 Corinthians 8:1) Paul was explaining to the church that their knowledge of things had filled them with pride and self-sufficiency, which could lead them to stray from the truth. The knowledge that they had filled their minds with was sense knowledge. Knowledge that comes through ones senses. This is the type of knowledge is the type of knowledge that fills the mind of every person. However, the Bible does exhort the believer to grown in the knowledge of the Father and Jesus the Son. (Ephesians 1:17, 2 Peter 3:18) This type of knowledge only comes through revelation by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit enables the believer to use the wisdom of God to use knowledge wisely.

Jesus tells us, "I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever, the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you." (John 14:16-17) and "However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come." (John 16:13) Here Jesus tells us that the Spirit of Truth, the Holy Spirit would come and take Jesus' place after He had fully completed His work of redemption. Unknown to most, the Holy Spirit does not communicate knowledge to the intellect, except in rare cases, but communicates with our spirit. Until we know this fact and act upon it, for most there will be no development of faith nor will we come into the knowledge of our rights and privileges as God's children.

We must also keep in mind that the spirit will never grow and be strengthened in the things of God until it receives eternal life through "confessing with the mouth the Lord Jesus Christ and believing in the heart that God raised Him from the dead." (Romans 10:9) By new birth, the Holy Spirit recreates our human spirit and imparts to us the Father's nature. With the Father's nature comes the Father's wisdom (1 Corinthians 1:30). This is the process by which the believer uses knowledge wisely. In fact, God imparts His entire nature within the believer (2 Peter 1:4). We may not have worked fully with the Holy Spirit in developing His nature in us, nevertheless it does exist within our recreated spirit. This is why it is so important for believers to grasp the fullness of redemption.

It takes faith to come to the place where our spirit become so developed that it dominates the soul and body. Once this happens I believe that the believer will walk in the same limitless life that Jesus walked in His ministry on earth as the Son of Man.    

The Real Person

In Paul's first letter to the church at Thessalonica he reveals an important piece of knowledge concerning the make up of man, "Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." (1 Thessalonians 5:23). Modern psychologists do not understand this so they do not really know man. Their problem is they cannot get past the realm of the senses. We see that man is a spirit with a soul inside a body. We see this further carried out when we look back to the creation of man, "Then God said,"Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness..." (Genesis 1:26) Finally, we see what being created in the image and likeness of God actually mean, "God is Spirit..." (John 4:24) So, behind the sense ruled soul (mind, will, emotions and intellect) is the real person (man), who is spirit.

Most of the church for centuries has been unfamiliar with this fact. They have not understood the full depths of the new creation, that is, mans recreated spirit through faith in Jesus Christ, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. Now all things are of God..." (2 Corinthians 5:17-18) What an incredible fact! Just think if believers could learn to listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit in their recreated spirit and keep intimate fellowship with the Father, there would be no limitation to where we could go in spiritual things, "Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us..." (Ephesians 3:20)

The Holy Spirit was given to believers to guide us into all truth or reality, "when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth..." (John 16:13) However, the Holy Spirit has a difficult job at best trying to lead believers who live by their reasoning faculties. Therefore, truth seems to allude them and they tend to never move beyond the regeneration experience. Peter refers to the recreated spirit as, "...the hidden man of the heart." (1 Peter 3:4) For many, this has a somewhat literal meaning in that the recreated spirit within the believe is concealed rather than seeing it as an open avenue to receive all of the inheritance that we have now through Jesus Christ,  "The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ..." (Romans 8:16-17) and "Giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light." (Colossians 1:12)

The reality of the new creation, the recreated spirit of man was foretold through the prophet Ezekiel, "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them." (Ezekiel 36:26-28) Notice the extremes that God said that He would do. He was not going spiritually heal man as some have been erroneously taught to believe. Nor was He going to fix-up or renovate man. No, He said, "I will put a new spirit within you; I will put My Spirit within you..." God said that He was going to give man a new spirit. He is going to make a new man out of him. This is the reality of the new creation.

What a wonderful promise that has come to pass on all who are in Christ. The new creation means that the old sin nature has been taken out and replaced with God's divine nature. Man is no longer called the "old man" but the "new man, created in the image of God in righteousness and true holiness." (Ephesians 4:24) As a sinner, the old man could not approach God, but now through faith in Jesus Christ, God has performed a miracle. He has recreated man. The old man has stopped being and the new man has taken its place. The "hidden man of the heart" is now born by the very Spirit of God and has access to "every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ." (Ephesians 1:3) Now that we know these facts, we should see just how imperative it is to develop our recreated spirit by the Holy Spirit through the Word of God. In doing so, believers will walk a daily victorious life knowing that "God always leads us in triumph in Christ..." (2 Corinthians 2:14)

No Time For Cruising

Cruise control (sometimes known as speed control or auto cruise) is a system that automatically controls the speed of a motor vehicle. The system takes over the throttle of the car to maintain a steady speed as set by the driver. Most automobiles today come equipped with this convenient feature. When this feature is engaged at the desired speed (hopefully equal to or lower than the legal speed limit) the driver can ease back and relax a little. The driver doesn't have to watch the speedometer nor be uncomfortable due to his foot putting constant pressure on the accelerator.

For many in a local church today, cruise control has become their approach to Christianity. We press the accelerator of faith, love, obedience, service, etc., until we have brought our life up to a certain level (speed). The gauge that we use to do this is mostly based upon the standard of Christianity of those around us. We don't want to lag behind others because we want to be as spiritual as they are. However, at the same time we are not motivated enough to forge ahead of them because we wouldn't want to be different. We just want to blend in with the level of Christianity of those around us. In other words, we do not want to rock the boat.

Once we have arrived at the desired level of Christianity, we set the cruise control. Now we can sit back and relax letting our desired level of Christianity take over. We don't have to watch, as it were, the highway signs of God's Word that empowers us to exercise godliness as well as transforming us more and more into the image and likeness of Christ. This attitude is also called comfortable Christianity. It is the place where we can become satisfied with what we have and all we need in Christ. Although some may disagree, there is another term that describes the same, "Fire insurance Christianity." It's the idea that one has enough Christianity (which is based on an individuals own standard) that will keep them from going to hell.

The sad thing is, this is not the Christianity of the Bible. Our comfortable Christianity has led many in the church down the path of apathy where our concerns are focused upon our kingdom and not Gods. It has caused many to have faith in the world rather than God. What I mean by this is that we are quick to work overtime (there is nothing wrong or evil working overtime) to make ends meet at the expense of family, rather than really believing, "my God shall supply all our need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus." (Philippians 4:19) The same attitude causes many to call a doctor before even considering calling upon the Healer, "Jesus Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness, by whose stripes you were healed." (1 Peter 2:24) (There is certainly nothing wrong with most doctors. They help people and even save lives) Divorce among those who attend a local church is not much different than that of a lost world. This type of Christianity has also opened the door for the twisted thinking of atheists to convince many in the church that there is a separation between church and state when in fact we have the privilege of the freedom of religion not freedom from religion.

Jesus said, "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you." (Matthew 6:33) He also said, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.  Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you..." (Matthew 28:18-20) We cannot seek the fullness of God's kingdom and obey the great commission if we are only seeking our kingdoms. The apostle Paul said, "But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him..." (Philippians 3:7-9) Is this how we value our Christianity? If not, we should. This should not be the apostle Paul's desire only, but for all believers.

Next, Paul says, "that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death." (Philippians 3:10) This also should be the aspiration of every believer. We should desire to have Christ formed in us so much, that His life working in and through us has a profound affect on all those around us. Finally, Paul goes on to say, "Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind..." (Philippians 3:12-15) Notice in Paul's conclusion he says, "Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind..."

It's apparent that any believer who lives by cruise control, comfortable Christianity is an immature believer and needs to be brought to these truths so their life can be transformed into the image of Jesus not conformed into the image of the world that Jesus Christ has freed us from. But for the mature believer, our thinking concerning "growing in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ" (2 Peter 3:18) should be a never ending desire to want to be like Christ. It's not about not having enough time, money or education. I believe it comes down to one of two things.  Jesus said, "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." (Matthew 6:21) and or "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour." (1 Peter 5:8) It comes down to a heart issue or an issue of the devil's deceptions to keep Christians weak, sickly and faithless.

So, let us once again turn this world upside down by letting Jesus to be formed in us and being doers of the Word not hearers only...      

Transformed

In Paul's letter to the church at Galatia he makes an interesting statement, "My little children, for whom I labor in birth again until Christ is formed in you." (Galatians 4:19) Paul's desire was to see believers come to a place in their Christianity to where they were "Imitators of God." (Ephesians 5:1) His desire was not his own, but the very desire that God has for all of His children. In Paul's second letter to the church at Corinth he says the same thing in a different way, "But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord." (I Corinthians 3:18) Again, we see the Lords desire for His children. But what does it mean for the believer to have Christ formed in them or to be transformed into the Lord's image?

The word transformed is the same as the word metamorphosis which means a complete change of physical form, character and or appearance.When most think of metamorphosis, they think of the transformation of a caterpillar into a beautiful butterfly. That is exactly what happens to a person who is born again. The transformation of a child of the devil into a child of God. It is being "delivered from the power of darkness and conveyed into the kingdom of the Son of His love." (Colossians 1:13) The moment a person is born again they are immediately in Christ. Paul tells us, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new."  (2 Corinthians 5:17)

Although all of this does take place the moment one is born again, the work of transformation is a continuous process in every believer. This work is called, sanctification. In short, sanctification is the work of the Holy Spirit in the believer that progressively transforms them into the image of Christ. The more the believer gives himself to the influence of the Holy Spirit, the more the glory of Christ is reflected in their life, moving them from one degree of glory to another. It’s also a work of grace. Our part in this marvelous work is our cooperation and response to the Holy Spirit. According to Paul's letter to the church at Ephesus, it says,  "Do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit." (Ephesians 5:18) Believers should experience a continuous filling of the Holy Spirit, that is, being transformed from glory to glory.

To be like Jesus should be the goal of every believer, but we must remember it is not about us working hard in our own strength trying to stop the old nature from having place, it simply comes down to what Jesus said,  "My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work" (John 4:34) and "Jesus said, I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me." (John 5:30) and also "Jesus said, For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me." John 6:38) As we see, to be like Jesus is to always seek to do the will of the Father not because it is an obligation, but as the Psalmist said, "I delight to do Your will, O my God...” (Psalm 40:8) as well as "Jesus said, I always do those things the please the Father." (John 8:29) Our attitude towards doing the Fathers will should be one of delight desiring to please the Him. Simply put, it is, “…Faith working through love.” (Galatians 5:6)

According to 2 Corinthians 3:18, who is responsible for the transformation process? "...The Spirit of the Lord." The verb being transformed is passive which means that something is being done in us, not by us. Again, we come to the place of faith, depending upon and yielding to the Holy Spirit working in us transforming us. In his letter to the church at Thessalonica he tells us, "Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.  He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it." (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24) In other words not only is God Himself doing the work from the time we are born again, but He wants to complete the process of sanctification in our whole spirit, soul, and body, so it is up to the believer to let Him do the work.

In Paul's letter to the Philippians he tells us, "being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ." (Philippians 1:6 ) If we give ourselves to this good work of the Holy Spirit in us, He will continue do the work until we either leave this life for the next or Jesus returns, which ever comes first. The transformation process of the Holy Spirit in each believer comes down to the value that one places on their relationship with God and His Word. It also takes faith to believe that God wants to reproduce Himself in every believer. Paul tells us that the believer is to, "…work out your own salvation…” (Philippians 2:12 ) To “work out” is an imperative mood, which means it is a command. It is in the present tense, which means that the action is continuous. It is also in the passive voice, meaning that we have something to do, but the main action is done by the one sending the message, that is, God Himself. Being transformed into the image of Christ from glory to glory is simply letting God reproduce Himself in us. So, let go of all the things that prevent you from experiencing more of God's glory and let Him complete the good work that He has started in you. 

God's Word is Full of Power

After doing a little research I found that  the "old adage," "sticks and stones will break my bones but words will never harm me" is an English language children's rhyme. It was to persuade a child who was a victim of name calling to ignore the taunt, to refrain from physical retaliation, and to remain calm. It is reported to have appeared in "The Christian Recorder" of March 1862, a publication of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. Although it is excellent advice to ignore the taunt of name calling, to refrain from physical retaliation, and to remain calm the truth is, words are more powerful than sticks and stones.

Sticks and stones may break bones, but words can crush the heart, "How long will you torment my soul, and break me in pieces with words?" (Job 19:2) Few people realize that the very words that we speak can torment our soul and imprison us. It is the words that we speak that will build power or weakness in us, "Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit." (Proverbs 18:21) We will eat the fruit of our spoken words. Our mind may cast away the unkind words that are spoken, but they are absorbed in your spirit. We confess what we believe and what we confess is what dominates our inner being. If we talk or confess sickness, it's because we believe in sickness. If we talk weakness and failure, it's because we believe weakness and failure. If we confess lack in any area of life, it's because we believe in lack. When we realize that we will never rise above what we confess, we are getting to the place where God can really begin to use us.

"Let us hold fast the confession of our faith without wavering, for He who promised is faithful." (Hebrews 10:23) Our confession is the Word of God. His Word cannot be broken because God is faithful. What He said is true. What He said, He will do, because He cannot lie, "God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?" (Numbers 23:19) When we doubt His Word it simply means that we do not trust Him. Our confidence may be in our abilities. It may be in medicine. It may be in highly educated people, but whatever our confidence is in, if it contradicts the Word of God, then it neutralizes faith. It causes our prayers to be powerless. It will bring us into bondage and we may find ourselves blaming God for something that He had nothing to do with.

The Bible tells us, "For we walk by faith, not by sight." (2 Corinthians 5:7) Every person who walks by faith will be tested. However, testing does not come from the Father, "Let no one say when he is tempted (Tested), I am tempted (Tested) by God; for God cannot be tempted (Tested) by evil, nor does He Himself tempt (Test) anyone." (James 1:13) Testing come from our adversary. The devil is going to test  you in every way he can for one reason. He knows the day that you become strong enough to resist all of his tests and deceptions, you become dangerous to him. When believers come to the place where they, "Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths" (Proverbs 3:5-6) the adversary is defeated in your life.

My prayer for you is that your confidence in the integrity of God's Word be strengthened, so that you will know, "that no Word from God is without power." God told Jeremiah, "I watch over my Word to perform it." (Jeremiah 1:12) Your confidence in the Word of God and holding fast to your confession of faith in the face of every assault of the enemy will put him to flight, "Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you." (James 4:7) 

God is For Us

The Bible records, Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him out of them all. (Psalms 34:19) In this verse the word affliction means, adversity, calamity, displeasure, and distress. I do not know one person who desires affliction. However, affliction sometimes comes but if it does come, how will you handle it? How do you handle adversity, calamity, displeasure, and distress? What is your response when you feel as though you are ready to give up, that is, to be so overwhelmed, so troubled or worried, in severe physical pain, or even brokenhearted by something that you feel you are unable to deal with any more? These questions generally cannot be answered unless you have gone through a serious affliction or are experiencing it now. I want to share two stories with you that I believe will encourage you. The first story is found in the Bible... 

Now Peter and John went up together to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour. And a certain man lame from his mother's womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms from those who entered the temple; who, seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, asked for alms. And fixing his eyes on him, with John, Peter said, "Look at us." So he gave them his attention, expecting to receive something from them. Then Peter said, "Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk." And he took him by the right hand and lifted him up, and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength. So he, leaping up, stood and walked and entered the temple with them — walking, leaping, and praising God. And all the people saw him walking and praising God. Then they knew that it was he who sat begging alms at the Beautiful Gate of the temple; and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him...And His name, through faith in His name, has made this man strong, whom you see and know. Yes, the faith which comes through Him has given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all. (Acts 1:10, 16)

This next story is not found in the Bible but it did happen to one of God's children...
Some time ago a young Pentecostal evangelist found out that he was dying from tuberculosis. He had become bedridden and was hemorrhaging from both lungs. He took his family to live on his father-in-laws farm. One day his father-in-law was out in the field plowing and his wife and mother-in-law were behind the house doing laundry. So, this young evangelist begged God for enough strength to get out of bed and make it to a clump of trees and bushes about quarter of a mile down the road. He said in his heart, "I'm going to pray until I pray through and God heals me, or until they find me dead, one of the two." When he reached the place, he fell down exhausted. He couldn't cry out for help if he wanted to, plus no one knew where he was. The devil spoke to him saying, "They won't find you until the buzzards lead them to you." The evangelist responded, "Well that's all right devil. That's why I came out here. Just as soon as I can regain a little strength, I'm going to pray until I'm healed or die at this spot." As the young man lay there he began to think, "Everywhere I had been, I had turned in prayer requests for my healing. Thousands of people had prayed. Every healing evangelist in America had laid hands on me and if all the prayers were put together, it would add up to hundreds of hours of prayer."

He finally concluded where he had missed it. He thought, "I have been trying to get a bunch of people to pray for me rather than receiving what God said was already mine. The Bible says I'm healed, so, Lord, I'm going to lie here flat on my back and praise You. I'm going to praise You until my healing is manifested." At first the young evangelist gave all that he had in him which was just a whisper. He began to whisper, "Praise the Lord, Glory to God, Hallelujah, thank you Jesus." After about ten minutes of whispering, he got enough strength to lift up his arms by propping them up on the ground with his elbows. Another ten minutes or so went by and he got enough strength to lift his hands off his elbows and at the same time his voice got louder. At the end of about two hours he was up on his feet hollering, "Praise the Lord, Glory to God, Hallelujah, thank you Jesus." His praises became so loud that people heard him several miles away.

Notice what the Bible says in Psalms 34:19 concerning afflictions, "...but the LORD delivers him out of them all." This is Gods promise to His children. This is what happened in both stories shown above. If you are born again, then you are one of God's children. As one of Gods children you must always remember that our heavenly Father is millions of times greater than any human father. We must believe and receive what He has promised us through the meritorious work of Jesus Christ. So, if affliction tries to knock at your door, "Let us hold fast the confession of our faith without wavering, for He who promised is faithful." (Hebrews 10:23)         

Faith to Move Mountains

The Abrahamic covenant is one of the most interesting covenants that God had established with man. It not only was the basis of Judaism and Christianity but it also reveals various types and symbols that are indicative of the new covenant. One of the first things to note is that when God called Abram, he did not question God but responded to the call, "So Abram departed as the LORD had spoken to him..." (Genesis 12:4) His action sets an example for all believers. As Abram separated himself from all that was familiar, in the same way, believers are called to separate themselves from what is familiar, that is worldliness, "Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him." (1 John 2:15) Keep in mind, that Abram did not have a copy of the Bible that he could turn to, to confirm what God was speaking to him or to build his faith. (Romans 10:17) He flat out obeyed God without question. This is a lesson that many believers need to learn.

Another point concerning Abram's call, is that he was seventy five years of age. You may be thinking, "Well what does age have to do with anything?" According to studies, on the average, eighty five percent of all people who accept Christ do so before the age of eighteen. This does not insinuate that adults do not receive Christ, but the older a person is, the less likely they are to respond to the gospel. Why is this? Studies reveal that people get so regimented in their life styles, that is, set in their ways, they do not see the need for a change. In short, the world system has conformed them in such a way that they can only see a worldview of life. Therefore, the negative, anti-Christ picture painted by the world is what they tend to believe concerning the church and or Christianity. Simply put, "whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them." (2 Corinthians 4:4) So, the fact that Abram was seventy five years of age when he responded to God's call is amazing in and of itself.

Although God had called Abram, He had not yet established His covenant with him. However, look at Abram's next response to God, "And behold, the word of the LORD came to him, saying, "This one shall not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body shall be your heir." Then He brought him outside and said, "Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them." And He said to him,"So shall your descendants be. And he believed in the LORD, and He accounted it to him for righteousness." (Genesis 15:4-6).  Abram believed God, that is, he made an unqualified, irrevocable committal to God. In other words Abraham gave himself to God in utter abandonment of self. How many believers today can honestly say the same about their commitment to God after entering the New and better covenant with Him through Jesus Christ?

Up to this point, God had not established His covenant with Abram. It wasn't until Abram was one hundred years of age (twenty five year after God's initial call) that God cut a covenant with him.(Genesis 17:17) First God changed Abram's name (exalted father) to Abraham (father of a multitude) (Genesis 17:5) and then sealed the covenant through Abraham's blood (circumcision) which bound Abraham and his descendants to God and God to Abraham and His descendants. (Genesis 17:10-11) Yet for twenty five years prior to God cutting covenant with Abraham he held fast to his commitment to God, "And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah's womb. He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform. And therefore "it was accounted to him for righteousness." (Romans 4:19-22) What a testimony of unwavering faith towards God.

In my years as a church leader, there are several things that greatly move me. One of these is the life of Abraham. Abraham, a man like any other man called by God, but one who did not believe what his flesh (senses) revealed, but believed God, period. A man of great faith in whom we can all learn a great deal from when it come to trusting God. However, there is another thing that also moves me but it stands opposed to what we should learn from Abraham. In the New Testament of the King James Version of the Holy Bible the word "faith" appears two hundred forty three time. The word "believe" appears one hundred twenty one times. The word "believed" appears one hundred fifteen times. The word "believest" eight times. The word "believeth" forth five times and the word believing eight times. However, the majority of church leaders today approach the words faith and believe as though they are obsolete or even offensive and yet "without faith it is impossible to please God." (Hebrews 11:6)

For Abraham, his faith pleased God and it is recorded, "Now Abraham was old, well advanced in age; and the LORD had blessed Abraham in all things." (Genesis 24:1). This does not say an occasional blessing here and there, but blessed in all things. The Holy Spirit spoke this wonderful words through the apostle Paul, "He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? (Romans 8:32) This sounds exactly how God blessed Abraham due to His faith and yet when talking with most Christians they see Abraham as though he was more than just a man. I believe the only thing that separated Abraham from most Christians was his unwavering faith in God. I say this because Paul also tells us, "For there is no partiality with God." (Romans 2:11)

With that said, I want to challenge you to look at the accounts of Abraham's life as revealed throughout the entire Bible. Meditate on what God's Word reveals and you will see you own faith grow, "So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." (Romans 10:17)