Bible League: Living His Word And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, "Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness." And he was called the friend of God.Let's say that being called a believer in God, or a follower of God, or a servant of God is not enough for you. Let's say that you want to be called, like Abraham, a "friend of God." What would it take to acquire that appellation? How could you become a friend of God? According to James, Abraham was known as the friend of God for two basic reasons. He not only believed in God and the promises God made to him, but he also acted in accordance with his faith. He had works that flowed from his faith (James 2:22). Abraham believed God when God told him that he would have an heir from his own body and that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars in the heavens (Genesis 15:4-6). At that point in time Abraham's prospects for having a child seemed dim. Nevertheless, he believed God's promise. "He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform" (Romans 4:20-21). And as our verse for today makes clear, Abraham's faith in God made him righteous before God. Abraham was justified by faith. The reason why Abraham was justified by faith, however, was because his faith was more than mere lip-service to God. It was a living faith. It was the kind of faith that leads to works. This was revealed when God tested his faith later on by asking him to sacrifice his son on an altar (Genesis 22:1-19). Abraham raised the knife to slay his son, but God stayed his hand, and Abraham's faith in God's promise of an heir and many descendants was completed. He became known as the friend of God (see II Chronicles 20:7 and Isaiah 41:8). Jesus said this with respect to friendship with him, "You are My friends if you do whatever I command you" (John 15:14). We can see, then, that friendship with Jesus, as well as with God, comes about when we believe in them and follow their commands. After all, what kind of friend to God and to Jesus would we be if we never did what they said? Although no one in this dispensation will ever be a perfect friend of God, when our faith is a living faith that leads to works we actually are His friends. Bible in a Year Old Testament ReadingIsaiah 19, 20, 21 Isaiah 19 -- The Burden of Egypt NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Isaiah 20 -- Prophecy of Captivity for Egypt and Cush NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Isaiah 21 -- Vision of the Fall of Babylon; Prophecies against Edom and Arabia NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB New Testament Reading Ephesians 2 Ephesians 2 -- You Were Made Alive and One in Christ NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Reading Plan Courtesy of Christian Classics Etherial Library. Tyndale Life Application Daily Devotion Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.Insight In morally corrupt Corinth, love had become a mixed-up term with little meaning. Today people are still confused about love. Love is the greatest of all human qualities, and it is an attribute of God himself. Love involves unselfish service to others; to show it gives evidence that you care. Faith is the foundation and content of God's message; hope is the attitude and focus; love is the action. Challenge When faith and hope are in line, you are free to love completely because you understand how God loves. Morning and Evening by Spurgeon Ecclesiastes 9:4 A living dog is better than a dead lion.Life is a precious thing, and in its humblest form it is superior to death. This truth is eminently certain in spiritual things. It is better to be the least in the kingdom of heaven than the greatest out of it. The lowest degree of grace is superior to the noblest development of unregenerate nature. Where the Holy Ghost implants divine life in the soul, there is a precious deposit which none of the refinements of education can equal. The thief on the cross excels Caesar on his throne; Lazarus among the dogs is better than Cicero among the senators; and the most unlettered Christian is in the sight of God superior to Plato. Life is the badge of nobility in the realm of spiritual things, and men without it are only coarser or finer specimens of the same lifeless material, needing to be quickened, for they are dead in trespasses and sins. A living, loving, gospel sermon, however unlearned in matter and uncouth in style, is better than the finest discourse devoid of unction and power. A living dog keeps better watch than a dead lion, and is of more service to his master; and so the poorest spiritual preacher is infinitely to be preferred to the exquisite orator who has no wisdom but that of words, no energy but that of sound. The like holds good of our prayers and other religious exercises; if we are quickened in them by the Holy Spirit, they are acceptable to God through Jesus Christ, though we may think them to be worthless things; while our grand performances in which our hearts were absent, like dead lions, are mere carrion in the sight of the living God. O for living groans, living sighs, living despondencies, rather than lifeless songs and dead calms. Better anything than death. The snarlings of the dog of hell will at least keep us awake, but dead faith and dead profession, what greater curses can a man have? Quicken us, quicken us, O Lord! Daily Light on the Daily Path Psalm 25:4 Make me know Your ways, O LORD; Teach me Your paths.Exodus 33:12-14 Then Moses said to the LORD, "See, You say to me, 'Bring up this people!' But You Yourself have not let me know whom You will send with me. Moreover, You have said, 'I have known you by name, and you have also found favor in My sight.' • "Now therefore, I pray You, if I have found favor in Your sight, let me know Your ways that I may know You, so that I may find favor in Your sight. Consider too, that this nation is Your people." • And He said, "My presence shall go with you, and I will give you rest." Psalm 103:7 He made known His ways to Moses, His acts to the sons of Israel. Psalm 25:9,12 He leads the humble in justice, And He teaches the humble His way. • Who is the man who fears the LORD? He will instruct him in the way he should choose. Proverbs 3:5,6 Trust in the LORD with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding. • In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight. Psalm 16:11 You will make known to me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; In Your right hand there are pleasures forever. Psalm 32:8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go; I will counsel you with My eye upon you. Proverbs 4:18 But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, That shines brighter and brighter until the full day. New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit http://www.lockman.org. |
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