Looking to Jesus

The Lord bless you!

This morning I was thinking of Romans 4:18-21 where the Apostle Paul, speaking of Abraham, says that he (Abraham) "contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations, according to what was spoken, 'So shall your descendants be.' And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah's womb. He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that what He had promised he was also able to perform."

What a commentary on how Abraham walked with God! He took into account the utter impossibility that he and Sarah could have children, but he obviously didn't make that his focus of attention. Knowing well that the fulfillment God's promise was impossible, he fixed his eyes on the One Who had promised and not on the limitations of the humans involved.

We know, of course, that Abraham didn't walk this out perfectly when we read the details of the story in the Old Testament; but it's obvious by how the Holy Spirit edits the story in Romans 4 that from God's perspective, Abraham walked in faith.

There are a couple of simple lessons I'd like to encourage you with in this story:
1) Our weaknesses and inability to make God's promises to us come to pass is not an obstacle to God; in fact, it's the way He has set things up! The more impossible it is, the more He loves it and the more glory He will get when He brings it about.
2) In God's eyes, faith isn't about feeling strong and capable but about where we fix our attention. Abraham knew his limitations and utter inability to have the promised son and yet chose to fix his eyes on God Who had promised him a son and gave Him glory in the face of the impossible.

God looks for those who, in the most impossible situations, will insist on looking to Jesus and giving glory to God no matter what their emotions and circumstances scream at them. This is faith and God cannot resist true faith.

So be encouraged; look to Jesus who is both the Author (the One who birthed faith in us) and the Finisher (the One Who will bring faith to maturity in us) of our faith, and don't pay attention to the enemy's accusations against you when your emotions may not line up with the choice of your heart of give glory to God. One of the most effective ways of doing this practically is to enter into aggressive worship; if you have the gifts of a prayer language (tongues), that is a powerful means of exalting the Lord.

I'll finish with a little ditty that Corrie Ten Boom used to say:

"Look around and be oppressed;
Look within and be depressed;
Look to Jesus and be at rest."

Grace and peace to you this week in the Lord Jesus!