Nehemiah 8:9, 10
Today is holy to the Lord your God. Do not be sad, and do not weep; for today is holy to our Lord. Do not be saddened this day, for rejoicing in the Lord must be your strength!
God has a promise over each of our lives. What God has for us is truly for us and He will bring about the fulfillment of His promise in His time. That fulfillment comes when God knows we are ready to receive the marvelous things He has in-store for us.
The promise God has for Abram begins to unfold when Abram puts his trust in God and has faith. Look at Genesis 15:6 “Abram put his faith in the LORD, who credited it to him as an act of righteousness.” God speaks the promise that he will make his decedents numerous. All though he will not see the fulness of the promise he trusts what the Lord says will come to pass. In making the promise to Abram God is setting the stage as it were for the covenant.
In questioning how he will know it, God instructs Abram to prepare a sacrifice, and when the Lord comes in the night and passes the torch through the sacrifice God establishes a covenant relationship with Abram and His descendants.
We learn that it is God who calls us, it is God who makes the promise, we must trust Him by having faith that God will do what He says He will do. What strikes me is God asks Abram something “Bring me“. This invitation by God to Abram requires that he acts. He brings something, namely that which is to be offered that comes from him his labor and toil. This God receives as his offering.
I believe this tells us that we too are called, invited to have faith and bring ourselves to God and that which God has blessed us with. God asks us to bring something and through our participation in the offering God receives our offering and fulfills His promise to us. This promise is fulfilled in Jesus Christ given to us.
You see we need to stop coming to church to see what we gonna get out of it. Rather what are we ”bringing” somebody say Bring, yes bring. What are you bringing to the worship, giving back to God what He gave you the ability to produce, the strength to bring forth a bountiful outcome? You see church even in this new covenant that we are living in Jesus Christ.
Like Abraham we need to trust and have faith. Christ’s promise is over our lives so trust Him. God’s grace is over our lives, so trust Him, God’s ability is over our lives lets put our faith in Him. As this unfolds I believe is placing the supernatural on trust.
If you trust someone, you feel comfortable being honest with them about anything. God is much more reliable than even your most trustworthy friend. When things feel difficult, He doesn’t ask you to keep those feelings to yourself.
Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you. 1 Peter 5:7,
You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in Your book. Psalm 56:8,
Because God loves you, you can show your trust in Him by talking about all your feelings and circumstances with Him — the good and hard — through prayer. Don’t let your emotions rule your life; bring them to God so He can help you address them. He is not disappointed or frustrated by your struggles, doubts or pain. He cares about you, and you can trust Him with those things.
When you trust, you go to God and His word when life is hard. You also act on faith and trust that He will ultimately take care of the rest. In faith, you do not look for security in other things; you look to God to hold you securely in difficult circumstances. You won’t do this perfectly, but God is kind and patient with you while learn to trust Him and put our faith in Him.
Jesus closest disciples see the marvelous, the spectacular and are awestruck. In the mountain top experience faith in Christ brings a glimpse to God’s marvelous plan coming to completion. The transfiguration of Christ with Moses and Elijah shows the coming together of both the promise and the fulfillment of Law. However, marvelous this experience there is still the valley. The final act of Christ giving Himself fully to God’s plan saves us and is the act of redemption for us all.
So be strengthened assirred of God’s action in our lives