At the disposal of the consecrated child of God,
there's been placed the resources of a faith,
of a strength, which God alone can provide. Always
know that. He's made provision for you. He's
made provision for me. For a faith. And remember
something. He is the author and the finisher
of our faith. I have no faith of myself. Neither
do you have faith of yourself. It's something
that you cannot manufacture of yourself. He has
made possible. He has placed the resources of
a strength for each one of us that only he alone
can provide. you and i are dependent upon jesus
for everything absolutely everything and the
more i grow spiritually the more i realize the
truth of this fact and he gives freely and whether
or not you and i avail ourselves of these opportunities
which his presence offers is dependent entirely
upon whether or not you and I have learned the
lesson of drawing on the Master's strength, his
faith, these wonderful resources that he has
made provision for. Go back in the pages of the
sacred word. Get a glimpse of the stupendous
revelation in God's dealing with Abraham the
faithful. The first verse The 17th chapter of
Genesis brings us into an understanding of the
faithful purpose of the divine heart in a lesson
so beautiful, so marvelous, so absolutely magnificent
that men must stand in awe and angels must wonder.
Now, the faith of Abraham was being tested. And
is there... One of us. But what will I have to
admit that sometime or another all faith has
been tested? If the faith of Abraham was being
tested, surely we are no exception. God had made
a promise. Never in all of time or eternity did
he ever make one promise that he was unable to
fulfill. whether it was to abraham whether it
was to you god has never made a covenant god
never made a promise that he was unable to fulfill
and from the loins of that glorious ancient patriarch
was to come the seed through whose life and service
all of the nations of the world to be blessed
he'd been promised a son And upon that child
was to be placed the hand of the Lord in benediction
and in power. And night after night the dear
old man dreamed of the happy day when that promise
would be fulfilled. Oh, he thrilled to the promise
that God had given him. But days passed, months
passed. the sands and the hour -glass on the
mantel measured the passing of time and the boy
did not come abraham was ninety but still no
fulfilment of the promise to buy ninety -five
and still sarah and her husband waited in vain
then came the year in which he looked forward
to the turning of the century. He was 99, and
yet there was no boy. If you thought that your
faith has been tested, look at the faith of Abraham.
Look how that dear saint's faith was tested.
99, and yet there was no boy, and all that he
had was God's promise. That's all that he had
to stand on. Reason commenced to whisper things
of fear in his ear. The ground began to tremble
beneath the old man's feet. His faith began to
slip. Up to this time, his walk had been perfect,
not in self, but in his Lord. But now he was
getting miserable. His faith was beginning to
shake a little bit. i presume that more than
once he had looked up at those same stars which
he had seen on the night in which god had given
him the promise and the misty eyes spread themselves
like a fume across his vision until the stars
seemed to dissolve in a sea of sorrow and disappointment
reason said Abraham, this thing is absolutely
impossible. Reason has said the same thing to
me. Reason has said the same thing to you over
and over again. It's impossible. Under the circumstance,
this thing is absolutely impossible. and reason
stood right there and stared Abraham in the face
at ninety -nine and said, Look, this thing is
absolutely impossible. He thought of Sarah's
age. He pondered over his own advanced years.
How could this thing be? And yet, there was that
promise. long and fierce raged the battle in
the old man's heart and mind and only god knows
what a battle he had within himself but there
was the promise from god himself have you ever
been in that position i have over and over again
oh abraham i know Play how you felt. Then one
night, a voice spoke to Abraham's heart. And
he knew that voice. It wasn't a strange voice.
He knew that voice. And he lifted up his eyes
in weakness and listened with his failing ears
to the awesome intonation of the voice which
had spoken to him years before. And God spoke.
and said to Abraham, I am the Almighty God. Walk
before me and be thou perfect. That's all you
have to do, Abraham. Just walk before me. Be
thou perfect. I'll take care of the rest. I'll
take care of the fulfilling of the promise, the
covenant. I am almighty God. God almighty, all
-powerful. You don't have to worry about that.
You don't have to be concerned about that. You
don't have to lose sleep over that. All that
you have to do is to just walk before me. just
a steady gait and be thou perfect o hot words
hot words the strong one god was saying i am
the strong one abraham might be weak Men might
be moved with the power of circumstances and
the falseness of life. But never God, never.
He's the strong one. Oh, what does that do to
us? Suppose God is strong while we are so weak.
To sit in our weakness, our misery, our failure,
and look at His strength only aggravates our
lost condition. god is strong no doubt about
that but what about our poor weakness and need
then god spoke to abraham he said the glorious
and wonderful words that like a rainbow of glory
bridged the chasm between the helpless man and
the strong one god almighty i don't know what
that does to you But it thrills me from the top
of my head to the soles of my feet because he
is my strong one. In spite of my weaknesses,
in spite of my failures, in spite of my lack
of confidence, he still remains the strong one.
And I'd never go down in defeat, never, as long
as I continued to follow him and remain the perfect
one in Christ Jesus. What God meant was, draw
from me, Abraham. I am your strength. I am your
sustenance. I am the strong one. there's no need
for you to falter abraham there's no need for
you to tremble and shake your faith draw for
your weakness from the fountain of my strength
no need to stumble over unbelief abraham but
walk before me and be thou perfect thus saith
the lord that's the lesson is the lesson. God
is the source. The unfailing source of the supply
that is more than sufficient for all of our need.
A grace to cover all of our sin. Love that pardons
all our iniquity. Sufficient for our healing.
Strength for all of our weakness. We believe
that. but herein we have failed we believe that
god gives it but we have not learned how to receive
it the mother gives the milk to her babe but
the little one must receive it the infusion of
the divine strength and nature is dependent upon
two things first your knowledge that god is willing
to give and then your learning how to receive
those are the two things you must learn as untailing
as the law of the seed -tine and the harvest
as irrevocable as the marching of the days and
nights in their order is the great truth that
god is always ready to meet your need if only
you are ready to receive doesn't that part admonish
us to become partakers of the divine nature So
why be discouraged? Why be defeated? Back yonder
we see Elijah sitting in defeat and spiritual
disgrace. He'd quit. Oh, Elijah. He has quit.
He of the lion heart has been beaten on the battlefield
of the soul. And that after he had faced an army.
after such great and glorious victory one minute
so strong the great spiritual giant and then
something happens and we watch him he goes for
forty days and nights without food in whose strength
did he go who told david to advance in his natural
weakness against the giant Who guided the stone
which sped unerringly on its way? Who gave his
arm the strength and his heart the courage? Who
pushed down the walls of Jericho? Who? Who delivered
Israel and who led them into the Exodus? who
opened the prison doors for peter and who pulled
back the curtains of glory for step who gave
him grace to pray for his murders who dried the
tears of martha and poured oil into the broken
heart of mary who God Almighty. Strength for
thy labor the Lord will provide. Then draw upon
his life. Take the grace that he so freely and
gladly imparts. He's more than sufficient for
your need. And it is possible to walk before
him and be perfect, not in self, but in Christ.
i know whereof i speak hear it christ can be
your all in all he admonishes you to test him
why be empty when you can be full to overflowing
why be hungry when you can be fed why wander
like a lost child on the desert wastes of life
crying because you know not the way of your tomorrows
better by far it is that you put your hand in
his and hear the whisper of his divine voice
follow me follow me i am Almighty God, I am your
strength. I am your victory. And if his eye is
upon that little falling sparrow, how much greater
is his concern of you. There's no defeat in him.