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Closing the Gap 2.7.18

By February 7, 2018Daily Devotional

Week 5 Day 3

Pray:

Ask God to reorient you to Himself. Confess any known sin. Thank Him for His forgiveness. Be still and reflect on Jesus and His sacrifice for you. Ask the Holy Spirit to open your heart and mind to God’s Word. Pray for others in your life that they, too, would know and love God today.

Read:

Hebrews 11:7 By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith. 8 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. 9 By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.

Reflect:

God told Abraham, “Go the place I will show you.”  This is curious, how do you “go” (present tense) to the place “I will show you” (future tense)?  Clearly God knew where he wanted Abraham to end up; why didn’t he just tell him?  How was it that Abraham obeyed and “went” even though he did not know where he was going?  He knew the direction; he just didn’t yet know the final destination.  Faith requires action.  It is not a feeling. It is confidence in God and in his will and ways.  How much faith is necessary?  Just enough to move your feet in his direction.  The steps can be slow, they can be faltering, they will often be two forward and one backward, but steps of faith will move you in a direction towards his will and ways for your life.  Very often, perhaps most often, you will not get the “next after the next” steps.  You will get the next steps.  Then when you take those, you will again get the next steps.  God does not want you to trust a series of directions; he wants you to trust him.  The reason Abraham did not get the “full map” is that he would then no longer have to seek God. He could simply consult his map.  God was not just interested in Abraham going places and getting “stuff done.”  He was interested in building his faith and deepening his relationship.  So he told him “Go to the place I will show you.”  Abraham went, looking to God to show him, step-by-step, where he was to go.  Be careful to not wait for the full plan to unfold before you obey with next steps.  If you do, you will likely stay stuck and not experience what God has for you.  It is likely the next steps are not exciting, and look rather mundane, even tiresome.  Take the next steps, close the gap.  The next steps today will surely include looking to God in faith and loving others around you in practical ways.

Pray:

(Personalize this prayer today; make it specific to the circumstances that face you.)

Ask God to lead you through His Spirit as you go through your day. Ask Him to bring to mind the truth of the gospel and its implications for what you will encounter today. Tell Him “Yes” to His will and ask Him for His power and protection to live this “yes.” Ask God to create and reveal opportunities to proclaim the good news today.

 

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