THE PROMISE IS RECEIVED BY FAITH

WEDNESDAY 08 JUNE 2022 Today, the Bible tells us that Abraham believed the Lord, and He credited it to him as righteousness. What did he believe God for? He believed that God would make Him father of numerous people; bless him and make him a blessing, in order to abound in spiritual and material prosperity. He also believed that God would exalt his name and for these reasons, God credited his belief as righteousness and appointed him to be the possessor and dispenser of the blessing.

Reference: Romans 4:16 New Living Translation (NLT) "So the promise is received by faith. It is given as a free gift. And we are all certain to receive it, whether or not we live according to the law of Moses, if we have faith like Abraham's. For Abraham is the father of all who believe." If the promised blessings come by faith, then we need to focus our energy on strengthening our faith in Christ. What does it really mean when Paul said that receiving the promised inheritance depends on faith? It is absolutely the work of grace, and not really obtained by following the law; therefore, it is guaranteed to all of Abraham's offspring by faith. That means, since it is received by faith, the promise entirely rests on God's grace and is delivered to us as pure gift, not by merit. God elevated Abram to generational honour and glory, not by his own effort but by his belief in the promises of God. He did not only receive the blessing, but became the blessing, with respect to its description and the expression. By this, I mean that Abraham received a three dimensional empowerment: He was not only blessed by God, but also he became a "blessing" and the "medium of blessing" to others. And so, He automatically became the father of all who believe. Beloved our faith is crucial to receiving all that God has planned and given us in Christ, since no human effort can secure the promised blessings. Therefore, as Christians, we are all certain to receive everything we require in Christ, as long as we are active in faith, without a condition of following the law attached. As we live by faith, just like Abraham in his day, we are certain to receive it. Moreover, our faith demands that we know enough about God and His promises to trust Him, such that we can personally act on the knowledge, regardless of circumstances. How do we exercise our faith to receive any blessing? Let's look at Abraham's faith as an example of someone who exercised godly faith to the extreme degree. In a particular instance, when summoned by God to sacrifice Isaac, Abraham swiftly responded to the instruction. Abraham's faith was totally dependent on the Lord's ability to prove Himself faithful, even when he could not see all ends. On that account, without figuring out how it will work, our willingness to exercise our faith in God's Word concerning any promised blessings, ensures that they are fulfilled in our own lives.' Furthermore, our faith must be void of doubtfulness, unbelief and deviation from the truth, and we must act on the Word with meekness and confidence, which are the process by which the blessings or inheritance are secured. In particular, godly faith is always based on eternal perspective, meaning that it does not rely on things we do not know. We may not have seen all the realities yet, but we know them by studying the Word. So we must study the Scriptures to grasp the description of the blessings, and after that, our demonstration of faith in obedience to God results in receiving the blessings beyond doubts.

In a nutshell, by our faith expressions, God releases into our lives, the realities we could not see before and establishes them as our experiences in order to make good on His promise or Word. Since our intense practical power of faith flows on the frequency of what we know about what God has said [regarding us], as we trust Him for the manifestations, our faith becomes the "confidence of things hoped for, and the conviction of things not seen." Shalom! Scripture Reading - Psalm 106:31; Genesis 15:6; Romans 4:5; Romans 4:22; Galatians 3:6-8; James 2:23.

Guided Prayer:

Thank you Father for your precious promises and also, the gift of faith that grants me access to them all in Christ Jesus. As the offspring of Abraham, I partake of every privilege Christ has purchased for the saints, namely, sanctification, divine favour, adoption, sound mind, good health and success, victory and dominion in Jesus' Name, Amen!