August 2

“Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring… He is the father of us all.” —ROMANS 4:16

Throughout generations and millenniums, God has raised up people from every walk of life who have a relentless desire to serve Him. They are people of prayer, dedicated to doing business with God, dependent on Him and obedient to Him. And this is the heartbeat of God. 

Before the foundations of the earth were laid, God had His plan in place. Paul tells us, “For he chose us in him (Christ) before the creation of the world…” (Ephesians 1:4). God’s plan began with Abraham who saw the day of our Lord and rejoiced in it. Ever since, God’s strategy has been through His people, but it is a two-way street in which there are blessings God gives us, but also our responsibility of obedience to Him.

From the above verse, we can conclude three imperatives which apply to every Christian. The first is that the promises of God must be aligned with the purposes of God. There is always the temptation to claim the promise and detach it from its divine purpose. God’s promise to Abraham was not simply to make his name great or their nation great, but out of that richness, to become a blessing to the world. As it was for Abraham, all the blessings we receive are designed to make us a blessing to others. 

The second imperative is the fruit of a ministry must be aligned with the root of the ministry. The history of Israel experiencing the desired fruit for which God had called them was to the measure they remained connected with the root. In the church of Jesus Christ today, we go back to the New Testament to know and understand our responsibilities. The book of Acts, the Gospels and epistles are our reference point from which we derive our objectives. A church that changes its identity and purpose will eventually wither and die. We need, of course, to keep adjusting our approach to the demands of the day, but they must always be true to the root, which is the word of God. 

The third imperative is that direction from God must be aligned with dependence on God. The “you wills” stated to Abraham were utterly dependent on the “I wills” that God had said about Himself. A key verse we need to believe and trust is, “The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it” (1 Thessalonians 5:24). Abraham was credited with righteousness because of his faith and dependence on God, and as God promised, he became a blessing to the world. No one ever regrets serving God, because we are not only deeply enriched by our service to Him, but we become a blessing to others.

PRAYER: Dear Heavenly Father, grant me a heart so deeply aligned with yours that becoming a blessing to others takes precedence in my life. Thank You, God. 

TO REFLECT UPON: How has God blessed me and in what ways can I pass that on?