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GENESIS 22:1-14
Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” “Here I am,” he replied. Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.” Early the next morning Abraham got up and saddled his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about. On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. He said to his servants, “Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you.” Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together, Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, “Father?”
“Yes, my son?” Abraham replied. “The fire and wood are here,” Isaac said, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them went on together. When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. But the angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!” “Here I am,” he replied. “Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.” Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. So Abraham called that place, The Lord Will Provide. And to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.”
REFERENCES: Jeremiah 17:9; Romans 1:21-25; Hebrews 2:14; Revelation 1:18, 5:5; John 1:29
Often in life, we reach a fork in the road where we aren’t always sure of what to do next. Maybe that place is a low point full of despair and confusion. Or maybe it’s a celebratory moment, when the world seems to be our oyster, waiting for us to go out and find the pearl. So what have we been taught to do? “Trust your heart. Follow your dreams.” But adhering to such advice is where we can go wrong because our hearts are inherently deceitful. Following our dreams can destroy us. Abraham and his wife Sarah saw this destruction when they tried to help God carry out his own plans. Before Isaac’s birth was a reality, it was a promise from God. But instead of standing in faith, his parents would turn that promise to a seemingly impossible dream. They would then take it into their own hands to accomplish. Exerting our will upon God’s promises leads to disobedience, sin, and collateral damage affecting those around us. But when we realize our own plans don’t work and exchange our dreams for God’s plan, he will always provide. When we stretch out our hands to God, surrendering the content of our hearts, we are in the perfect posture to receive his blessings.
We’re not called to follow our dreams, we’re called to follow Jesus.
God has a plan for each of us and wants to know that when he speaks, we will set aside our plans to answer his call, his way, his timing. Completing our assignment requires a foundation of faith, a sacrifice of our sights for his vision. But faith that is to be trusted, must first be tested.
We all have hopes and dreams for the important aspects of our lives. Many of them, God has placed on our hearts himself. As we watch and wait to see the plans unfold, the challenge is to keep our eyes fixed on him. To resist elevating the dream above the one who gave it.
God wants to know what’s at the center of your life. Will you pass his test? Or will your own dreams become your idols? Isaac, Abraham’s son and promise, was spared when he was willingly sacrificed to the hands of God. But later, a Son would be sacrificed and not spared. Jesus, the promise to the world, also climbed a hill, carried wood on his back, and willfully laid his life down. Just as God sacrificed his Son to establish a relationship with us, we have to surrender the desires of our hearts to have a relationship with him.
This week, take some time to identify positive things in your life that may be taking space and time away from your relationship with God. As you identify these idols, ask God for the strength to choose his will.
If someone in your Crew needs care, we want to come alongside you. Our Care Response Team is designed to equip you to walk with people in different seasons of their life.
Our team is committed to celebrating life’s best moments with you and offering support through its hardest ones.
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Gather with the brotherhood on Wednesday, October 22nd at the VOUS City location for an evening of worship and the word. We know you'll leave strengthened to continue being MAN ALIVE — meek, accountable, needed.
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When: Wednesday, October 22nd
Time: 7:00PM
Address: 6101 NW 2nd Ave, Miami, FL 33127
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