Quiet Time Coaching Episode 461 | New Thing Series — Part 16 | “Abraham’s Blessings” | Malcolm Cox

Introduction
A new thing! I’m Malcolm Cox. Welcome to your daily devotional podcast anchored in Isaiah 43:19: ‘See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.’

We are currently looking at God doing a new thing in the life of Abraham. Today we explore Abraham’s blessings.

“The LORD had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.
“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. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”” (Genesis 12:1-3 NIV11)

The words ‘bless’ and ‘blessing’ come up repeatedly here. I doubt Abraham was in any doubt about God’s desire to bless him and others through him.

Abraham’s Blessings Carry a Cost

  • God promises him a nation, a name and an impact. But, doesn’t he already have all of those?
  • He has a nation, he has a people and he has a household where his name is known.
  • Yet, God’s vision is bigger. How will Abraham discover that vision? By willingly incurring a cost.
  • He is called to leave. To leave his country, people and extended family. Was this easy?
  • While we do not know how he felt, it is hard to imagine it was easy. He was stepping away from the familiar and into the unknown.

“By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.” (Hebrews 11:8 NIV11)

For Reflection
Abraham accepted God’s call to a new thing. It involved leaving the comfortable and familiar. Why was he able to do this? The writer to the Hebrews puts it all down to Abraham’s confidence in God. What is the state of your confidence in God? Has anything knocked it off balance? Perhaps it is worth remembering promises like this one:

“This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.” (1 John 5:14 NIV11)

Conclusion
I hope you find your heart, your life, your congregation and your world inspired by God doing a new thing. Until tomorrow, take care, and God bless.

Please add your comments on this week’s topic. We learn best when we learn in community.

Do you have a question about teaching the Bible? Is it theological, technical, practical? Send me your questions or suggestions. Here’s the email: malcolm@malcolmcox.org.

If you’d like a copy of my free eBook on spiritual disciplines, “How God grows His people”, sign up at my website: http://www.malcolmcox.org.

Please pass the link on, subscribe, leave a review.

“Carpe Diem” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/