[Wednesday's Devotional] - Hearing from God

Hearing from God Hearing from God is vital to every Christian, particularly in the world we live in today. Today, let's learn a few lessons on hearing from God from Abraham.   After Abraham and Sarah had been given the promised child Isaac, Abraham heard the voice of God again:   "Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you."  Genesis 22:2 [NIV]    Because Abraham knew the voice of God so well, he took Isaac, two of his servants and loaded his donkey with wood and set off on a 3 day journey to the region of Moriah to sacrifice Isaac.   We know that when Abraham and Isaac eventually arrived, a miracle happened:-   Abraham built an altar to God, put some wood on it, bound his son Isaac and placed him on top of the wood and then pulled out his knife, ready to kill Isaac. But an angel of the Lord called out from heaven "Abraham! Abraham! ...Do not lay a hand on the boy," he said. "Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son."   Abraham then looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. (vs 11-13 NIV bible)   Imagine - if you will - what would have happened if Abraham thought he had heard from God when it was the devil speaking to him? When asked by Isaac where the lamb of offering was, what if Abraham had said "you are the offering" instead of "God will provide"? In the Spirit realm what we say matters! What if Abraham had built an altar for God on the wrong mountain which God had not shown him? What if he had not obeyed in the first place? What if he had told and discussed matters first with Sarah?   This is what would have happened. Isaac would have perished including everything he represented in the future. God does not bless disobedience whether it is done knowingly or out of lack of knowledge. Abraham would have sacrificed Isaac to the wrong god (the devil) and he would never have seen God's hidden provision (the ram caught in the thicket). From this, we also learn God's instructions are very specific and can be personal (not for sharing). I am sure if Abraham had told Sarah, she would have said, "No ways...after all these years of waiting? Impossible!" Remember, they didn't know beforehand the happy ending we are privileged to read in the bible.   I wonder how many of us have killed their Isaacs for not hearing well God's voice?   Farai Mutsambiwa    Twitter Website Copyright © 2017 St. Matthew & St. Oswald's Church, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email as a subscriber to the Daily Devotionals Our mailing address is: St. Matthew & St. Oswald's Church 1a New Street Rugby, Warwickshire CV22 7BE United Kingdom Add us to your address book Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list Want to be added to our mailing list? - sign up here!