Posted on 11/16/2023 6:05:57 AM PST by metmom
"By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he was going" (Heb. 11:8). The life of faith begins with a willingness to forsake everything that displeases God.
Abraham is the classic example of the life of faith. As the father of the Jewish nation, he was the most strategic example of faith available to the writer of Hebrews. But the people to whom Hebrews was written needed to understand that Abraham was more than the father of their race; he also was, by example, the father of everyone who lives by faith in God (Rom. 4:11).
Contrary to popular first-century Jewish thought, God didn't choose Abraham because he was righteous in himself. When called by God, Abraham was a sinful man living in an idolatrous society. His home was in the Chaldean city of Ur, which was located in ancient Mesopotamia between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.
God's call to Abraham is recorded in Genesis 12:1-3: "Go forth from your country, and from your relatives and from your father's house, to the land which I will show you; and I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great; and so you shall be a blessing; and I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed."
Note Abraham's response: "So Abram went forth as the Lord had spoken to him" (v. 4). He listened, trusted, and obeyed. His pilgrimage of faith began when he separated himself from the pleasures of a pagan land to pursue God's plan for his life.
So it is with you if you're a man or woman of true faith. You've forsaken sinful pleasures to follow Christ. And as your love for Christ increases, there's a corresponding decrease in worldly desires.
I pray your focus will continually be on fulfilling God's will for your life, and that you'll always know the joy and assurance that comes from following Him.
Suggestions for Prayer
Ask God for the grace and spiritual fortitude to walk by faith today.
For Further Study
Memorize 1 John 2:15 as a reminder to remain separate from the world.
From Drawing Near by John MacArthur Copyright © 1993. Used by permission of Crossway Books, a division of Good News Publishers, Wheaton, IL 60187, www.crossway.com.
Studying God’s Word ping
The key to a Christian life summed up in “ forsake everything that displeases God”
Some will be more successful at doing so, some much less successful, but all should at the very least understand that this is what it means to be a Christian.
For many, they will come close to accepting the call, but will miss the mark because they never quite get to,the point of accepting that premise. These folks are the ones who “fall away “ having “tasted of the faith”- they almost get there, but like the rich young ruler, they shrink back when they are told that they must “sell all”, and thye go away either saddened in their hearts, or angrily.
We all to,some extent i think love our sins to one extent or the other, otherwise we would gladly give them up for good- but we don’t give them up for good, and keep falling into them- but this is different than the mindset of the rich young ruler. Paul the apostle said he lamented the fact that he did what he shouldn’t and didn’t do what he should. We all struggle throughout our life with certain sins.
Being saved does not make us super saints incapable of succumbing to sin. It just makes us more aware of our shortcomings and more dependent upon christ to keep us for eternity, and more conscious of the fsct that we need his help,to overcome sins our whole lives.
And certainly we should be willing to and want to forsake sin, even though we know that it is not possible in this life, being still burdened with a sin nature as we are (Romans 7).
But thank God there is therefore no more condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
good verse- that also sums it up nicely- so many get discouraged because of some sin that ‘they can’t conquer’, to the point of throwing up their hands and not trying anymore- we ought not to though- and instead go all the more to God for help-
Some people seem to fail to understand that God wants to save us and wants us to grow in Christlikeness and is not abandoning us to our own devices, to struggle alone on our own.
It's encouraging to know that because we even have the desire to forsake sin and live to please God, it is a sign that we ARE God's and called by Him. It's because of the indwelling Holy Spirit that we're internally goaded towards shame for our sins and a willingness to want to be holy through Christ. An ungodly unsaved person usually has no qualms about living as he pleases. He is his own god.
Great point- a pastor once said that the ‘fact that a person is worried abotu whether or not they are truly saved speaks to the fact that they are” as the Holy Spirit is the one that gets to the conscience- an unsaved person doesn’t even desire to know other than perhaps hoping to escape hell-
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.