Intro to Abraham Day 2

You will need your Bible today
One of my favorite things about the Bible (okay I have lots of favorites when it come to Scripture) is that no ones life is sugar coated. In the world of academia, scholars love to argue about how accurate a work of history can be. It is generally thought that history is written by the victors and therefore one sided. Though to some degree this is true, certainly many ancient peoples have had their history absorbed into that of a conquering nation, but it isn't always the case. Throughout the Old Testament Israel is as often (maybe more often) captive to a foreign nation as they are captors. In the New Testament Israel is under the thumb of Rome, clearly the history in the Bible is not from the perspective of the victor. Scripture is about Redemption, it is filled with flawed people, poor choices, sinful behavior and all the negative consequences that come with sin. Knowing that the great godly men and women of the Bible messed up over and over again and still managed to please God should give us hope. We would never be able to relate to Abraham if the only parts of his life that were written in Scripture were his triumphs. What makes Abraham great is that even in his many failures, he grew toward God, he let them humble him and grow his faith. When Abraham took one step backward, he turned around and took two steps forward. That is exactly what we are to do. There is no avoiding mistakes, we will make them. The goal is to learn from them, grow closer to God and begin to make fewer mistakes. We'll never be perfect this side of Heaven, but neither was Abraham. God doesn't ask us to be perfect, He asks us to cling to Him, to trust Him, to follow Him.
We will find as we study Abraham that there are many ways in which his relationship with the LORD is very similar to Christians today. Today we are going to look at just one of the similarities, the one that allowed Abraham to press on toward God even when he messed up.
Please read Acts 7:2-8
2 Timothy 3:16 tells us that all Scripture is God-breathed, not some of it, all of it. Therefore we can trust that when the New Testament speaks about the Old Testament we receiving further, deeper or clearer understanding of what happened in the past. Stephen's speech to the Sanhedrin (the Jewish ruling party) gives a general overview of the history of Israel, but he reveals a detail about father Abraham that we don't find in Genesis, its this detail that to me makes all the difference.
Genesis 12 starts out, "The LORD said to Abram," we don't know from the Genesis text how Abram heard the LORD, only that he did and that he obeyed. In Acts 7:2, Stephen says that, "The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham." I don't know about you, but to me that makes a huge difference! I know people who have read the Bible, literally read the Word of God, but still don't follow Him. There are people sitting in pews in our churches that hear the sermons every week, but spend the rest of the week denying Christ with their lives. What makes the difference? A face to face encounter with the Most High God!
I don't usually like to tell stories (I'm really a bad storyteller), especially ones not in the Bible but I heard this story on the radio a few months ago and it has stuck with me.
A young man from the church wanted to have a strong, life long relationship with God, so he went to speak with one of the elders in his church. The young man found the elder sitting on the front porch with his dog. He said to him, "Sir, how is it that you have followed the Lord all of your days with passion and faith? Most men I know start out passionate but eventually have seasons of doubt or backsliding, you never have." The elder said to the young man, "Do you see my dog here lying on the porch? A few weeks ago he saw a rabbit run through the yard and he took off after it. During the chase many of the neighborhood dogs, hearing the excitement joined in following after my dog. After a while though the other dogs would slow down and eventually went home. The only one that continued the chase was my dog." The young man looked at the elder a bit puzzled and asked, " What does that have to do with faith?" The elder smiled at the young man and said, "The difference between my dog and all the others was that while the others heard the barking and excitement, my dog was the only one who actually saw the rabbit." How ever the LORD appeared to Abraham, in a dream, in person, whatever, Abraham didn't just hear the Word, he experienced His presence and took off after Him. James 2:23 tells us that Abraham was called "God's friend!" Abraham met God and then pursued a relationship with Him, a personal relationship. Abraham knew God to be trust worthy, so he was able to trust Him. He also knew that God was faithful and forgiving, so when he messed up he knew God would forgive him.
All of the "greats" in the Bible were people who actually experience God. When you've know the power of His love and goodness all you want is more. Moses encountered God on the side of Mount Sinai and because of his relationship with God he endured 40 years in the desert with a grumbling, grouchy, sometimes hostile nation. Paul suffered his entire ministry.
"I have worked harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the county, in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches." 2 Corinthians 11:23-29
And yet toward the end of his life Paul wrote to Timothy;
"I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith." 2 Timothy 4:7
How did Paul keep the faith? He encountered God on the road to Damascus, he experienced the Lord and knew that God was faithful.
Whats the difference between Christians who fill up pews and Christians who live for the Lord? Knowing God, not just with your head but with your heart as well. As Christians we receive the filling of the Holy Spirit, we can know God even more intimately then Abraham did.
We will spend the next several weeks studying the life of Abraham. We will walk with him as he makes some seemingly stupid mistakes, sometimes more then once. We will also witness him become a changed man, a man that is called God's friend. Abraham didn't just know of God, he actually knew God and we will see that that is what make the difference.
If you want a victorious life, be God's friend.
"Taste and see that the LORD is good;; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him." Psalm 34:8