Step 3

It’s Amazing how often Holy “coincidences” happens particularly At our church we have two services the one in the morning is the Holiness service an the focus is Holiness where the main thrust of the service is usually a call to biblical Holiness in the evenings we have a Salvation service geared for those who are new to faith and or are interested in relationship with God.

We are currently working our way through a sermon series in both services. In the Morning I have been working through the 12 steps as an aid to Holiness today is “Step 3”. In the evening My wife and I are working through What we are calling the Faith Hall of Fame from Hebrews 11 each week. This Week is Abraham.

What is amazing to me is How Abraham is a Lesson in Step 3:

Step 3: Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of GOD as we understood Him.

Genesis 12
The Call of Abram
1 The LORD had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you.
2 "I will make you into a great nation
and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing.
3 I will bless those who bless you,
and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth
will be blessed through you."

4 So Abram left, as the LORD had told him;


God took this 75 year old man and asked him to give up everything and start over from Scratch without so much as a plan. Let’s look at this first part.:

1 The LORD had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you.

God Tells Abraham to Go and Abraham is expected to Put his entire world (his will and his life) over to God and Trust that God can do it better than he can.

God Starts out big and Makes it harder and harder.

First Abraham is told leave your country, the place of His national heritage he knew the land the geography the weather and seasons. His country gave him a general sense of well being. It was the place of his heritage a place where he was afforded certain rights and privileges. Where Abraham’s is being sent he will be a foreigner. If something happens between his people and the native people everyone will gang up on him because he is the outsider. He will have God alone to protect him.

Next God moves down to Abraham’s Family this is not his immediate family those people who Abraham is responsible for. This is talking about Kinsmen When you live in an area people know you in Abraham’s time everyone in his region would have known each other they would have had Shared customs foods even language. For me Coming to RI was a step back into my Family the fist thing I did when we Got here is we went Shopping you know what I bought: Brown bread in a can, Baked beans, Coffee milk, Corned beef, Hash, Clam Chowder and when I call something Showed it is never red!!! For me I was Home It may not be Boston where I am from but we are close enough that the customs the food and the accent is what I am used to.

The third thing Abraham is being asked to leave is his father’s house. This is the biggest and the hardest Abraham is being asked to give up. He must shed any version of the Security his father’s house represents his inheritances as well as any connection to his family his good byes must be permanent because in all likelihood he we not see any of them again he is giving up his future or at least the future he had had planned. His inheritance His Status Abraham would one day have been leader of the “tribe the clan” but God called him to leave it all and simply Go. This is similar to Jesus telling the rich young Ruler to Sell all his possessions and then follow Jesus” (Matthew 19) The man went way sad because he apparently was not willing to Make a decision to turn hisour will and his life over to the care of GOD.

God offers a promise to Abraham:

2 "I will make you into a great nation
and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing.
3 I will bless those who bless you,
and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth
will be blessed through you."

Notice God Says Go, I will do this. Not, If You Go I will do this. This is a part of Gods Character, his nature, that we would do good to follow. What motivates our actions a sense of duty or obligation maybe some misplaced or imagined debt?

Just doing wants us to do is not enough even if our actions are the same our heart is different. If one person does what God wants because he feels obligated or guilty eventually a time will come when the guilt isn’t enough to motivate him.

This is why Alcoholics and addicts cannot get clean for their family’s sake or any other reason they maybe able to make the same correct decisions but eventually in a moment of weakness they will fall the only thing that will truly work is a complete surrender. The same is true for Those of us seeking Holiness true Holiness is impossible if we are trying to life a Holy life we can’t do it and that’s why so much of the church has a problem with the Doctrine of ‘entire sanctification’ It is impossible! But when it includes an understanding of complete surrender. The Holy life simply accompanies a Holy heart that has been transformed through a complete surrender. Then nothing is impossible because the individual is not the one responsible God is and nothing is impossible for God.

Abraham’s duty is to Act it is to Follow God’s will in Faith because it is the right thing to do not because God is Going to bless him but because God is saying Go right now.

Will you Listen and Go like Abraham or will you leave troubled like the rich Young ruler unwilling to have the Faith required to ‘let Go and let God.