Week 1
God’s Promise to Abraham
The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.
2 “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. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”
4 So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Harran. 5 He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Harran, and they set out for the land of Canaan, and they arrived there.
6 Abram traveled through the land as far as the site of the great tree of Moreh at Shechem. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. 7 The Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built an altar there to the Lord, who had appeared to him.
Genesis 12:1-6 NIV
Memory Verse
20 For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God.
2 Corinthians 1:20 NIV
Main Takeaway: God is always faithful in keeping His promises even when we are not.
Introduction
Have you ever made a promise that you just couldn’t keep? Or has anyone ever made a promise to you that they couldn’t fulfill? Unless you have lived in a perfect world, I’m sure one or both of these has happened in your life multiple times. When we make promises, most of the time we have the best intentions to keep them, but inevitably something comes up, and we end up falling short. I’m sure most of the time when promises are made to you that the person who made the promise had the best intentions of keeping their end of the bargain as well. However, we are human, and we fail often. When a promise is broken it hurts. Sometimes these broken promises are fleeting and the hurt and anger goes away quicker. At other times these broken promises are much more life altering, and you may never fully get over that anger and pain. There is one thing that all these broken promises have in common: they are made by broken, imperfect people, and because of that our promises will fall short from time to time.
However, there is someone that has made promises that will never fail. That person is God. He has made promises all throughout scripture that have never been broken. He always keeps His end of the bargain in every circumstance. He never breaks them because He Himself is perfect and true. Even when we mess up, His promises are still rock solid. Today, we are going to look at a man named Abraham and read about promises that God made to him. Hopefully, you will see how our perfect God made some pretty bold promises, and never failed in keeping any of them.
Background and Context
When God created the world, He created a perfect paradise. His most precious creation was man and woman. Because the world was perfect, God was able to dwell with His special creation. That has always been God’s greatest desire: to dwell with His people. However, the first man and woman messed it up by bringing sin into His perfect world. Once sin entered the picture, God could no longer dwell with His creation and moved Adam and Eve out of the Garden, but even worse, out of His presence. Nevertheless, even after He kicked them out, God made a plan to one day restore that relationship with Him and His people.
Fast forward a number of years later, a man by the name of Abram (his name would later be changed to Abraham) was chosen by God to play a crucial role in this rescue plan. In Genesis 12:1-9, we see God call out and call up Abram to take on this vital part in the mission. The entire scripture is listed above, but the main focus is on verses 1-3. God said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. 2 “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. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” One quick point that needs to be made here is that when God called Abram, he was not a follower of God yet. He lived in the land of Ur, which was a pagan nation. Yet, he heard God this one time and did exactly what he said. He left his country and his family and followed God. He did not question it. He just obeyed. That is some serious faith that I wish I had, but that’s for another sermon. Let’s get back to talking about God’s promises.
In these verses, we see God promise Abram that He will make him into a great nation, that He will bless him, that He will make his name great, that He will bless those that bless him and curse those that curse him. God also says that all the peoples of the Earth will be blessed through Abram which is another way of saying that he is going to play a major role in the redemption plan of the world. I would love to talk about the whole story of Abram and his family but that would go far beyond the scope of this devotion. The story of Abram and his family starts here in Genesis 12 and goes on through the rest of the book. I would recommend reading those chapters if you want to know more details, but in essence, God chose Abram to birth a new nation of people. Abram would become Abraham and his family tree would turn into the nation of Israel. God chose Abraham and these people to be His representatives to the world. He wanted His people to show the rest of the world who He was and bring glory and honor to Him.
Application
God chose Abraham because He knew of His faith, but Abraham was not perfect. He fell short on many occasions, but the awesome thing about God is that despite Abraham’s downfalls, He still kept His promises to Him. Thankfully, it’s not up to us to keep the promises. It’s all on God, and He is always faithful. As already mentioned, Abraham’s descendants became the nation of Israel. When you take in all of scripture, you can see God did make him into a great nation, did bless him, did make his name great, did bless those around him, and did give him a big part in the redemption plan. You see, the nation of Israel would give rise to the greatest person to ever live, the One that would restore the relationship of God and His people, the One that would remove the barrier of sin. That person is Jesus. Abraham’s vital part was to bring about the Savior of the World! That is how God fulfills His promises!
Well, what does this have to do with us? God wants us to be His representatives to the world, as well. He wants us to show Him to the world and bring honor and glory to Him just like the way He called the Israelites. And guess what? He has made countless promises to us too. Just like with Abraham, we are going to fall short and fail Him often, but our trustworthy God will not break a single promise that He has made to us. He will remain faithful and stay true to His word even when we don’t! 2 Corinthians 1:20 says, “For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God.” The promises of God are always “yes” and “Amen” in Christ Jesus! We use the word “Amen” at the end of our prayers, but have you ever thought about what it means? A common English translation of the word means “truly, truly,” “verily, verily,” and “let it be so.” The related Hebrew word from which it is derived means “to be trusted” or “to be reliable.” So why the Biblical lexicon lesson? It is to show that when God makes a promise to us, it is reliable, it is to be trusted, and it will happen. No matter how unfaithful we can be or how many times we mess up, God is always faithful. His promises will always ring true. His promises to Abraham never failed despite his downfalls. He will not fail us either.
Questions and Exploration:
Discuss a time when someone made a promise to you and didn’t keep it or perhaps a time when you made a promise and didn’t hold your end of the bargain. How did that make you feel? Ask your son or daughter if they have ever had an experience like that?
If you know that God will always keep His promises, does that make you more likely to be obedient to Him or less likely? In other words, in your life has there ever been a time where you took advantage God’s grace and faithfulness to live how YOU wanted to instead of how HE wants you to? How did that affect your relationship with Him?
Explore these verses to look at some of the promises that God has made to us. As you read these, rest in the fact that God will never fail in keeping these promises. He never has and He never will. This is not a full list of God’s promises, so feel free to dig deeper and discover more.
God’s promises never fail: Joshua 21:45, 2 Samuel 7:28, 1 Kings 8:56, Psalm 33:4, Deuteronomy 7:9
God’s promise for strength: Isaiah 41:10, Ephesians 3:14-16
God’s promise of faithfulness: Hebrews 10:23, 2 Timothy 2:13
God’s promise to always be with us: Deuteronomy 31:6-8, Joshua 1:9, Hebrews 13:5
God’s promise to take care of our needs: Matthew 6:25-34, Philippians 4:19
God’s promise to hear and answer our prayers: Matthew 7:7
God promises that you were made with a purpose: Ephesians 2:10
God’s promise that nothing can separate us from His love: Romans 8:38-39
God’s promise of freedom from sin and everlasting life: 1 John 1:9, John 8:36, John 3:16
The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.
2 “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. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”
4 So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Harran. 5 He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Harran, and they set out for the land of Canaan, and they arrived there.
6 Abram traveled through the land as far as the site of the great tree of Moreh at Shechem. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. 7 The Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built an altar there to the Lord, who had appeared to him.
Genesis 12:1-6 NIV
Memory Verse
20 For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God.
2 Corinthians 1:20 NIV
Main Takeaway: God is always faithful in keeping His promises even when we are not.
Introduction
Have you ever made a promise that you just couldn’t keep? Or has anyone ever made a promise to you that they couldn’t fulfill? Unless you have lived in a perfect world, I’m sure one or both of these has happened in your life multiple times. When we make promises, most of the time we have the best intentions to keep them, but inevitably something comes up, and we end up falling short. I’m sure most of the time when promises are made to you that the person who made the promise had the best intentions of keeping their end of the bargain as well. However, we are human, and we fail often. When a promise is broken it hurts. Sometimes these broken promises are fleeting and the hurt and anger goes away quicker. At other times these broken promises are much more life altering, and you may never fully get over that anger and pain. There is one thing that all these broken promises have in common: they are made by broken, imperfect people, and because of that our promises will fall short from time to time.
However, there is someone that has made promises that will never fail. That person is God. He has made promises all throughout scripture that have never been broken. He always keeps His end of the bargain in every circumstance. He never breaks them because He Himself is perfect and true. Even when we mess up, His promises are still rock solid. Today, we are going to look at a man named Abraham and read about promises that God made to him. Hopefully, you will see how our perfect God made some pretty bold promises, and never failed in keeping any of them.
Background and Context
When God created the world, He created a perfect paradise. His most precious creation was man and woman. Because the world was perfect, God was able to dwell with His special creation. That has always been God’s greatest desire: to dwell with His people. However, the first man and woman messed it up by bringing sin into His perfect world. Once sin entered the picture, God could no longer dwell with His creation and moved Adam and Eve out of the Garden, but even worse, out of His presence. Nevertheless, even after He kicked them out, God made a plan to one day restore that relationship with Him and His people.
Fast forward a number of years later, a man by the name of Abram (his name would later be changed to Abraham) was chosen by God to play a crucial role in this rescue plan. In Genesis 12:1-9, we see God call out and call up Abram to take on this vital part in the mission. The entire scripture is listed above, but the main focus is on verses 1-3. God said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. 2 “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. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” One quick point that needs to be made here is that when God called Abram, he was not a follower of God yet. He lived in the land of Ur, which was a pagan nation. Yet, he heard God this one time and did exactly what he said. He left his country and his family and followed God. He did not question it. He just obeyed. That is some serious faith that I wish I had, but that’s for another sermon. Let’s get back to talking about God’s promises.
In these verses, we see God promise Abram that He will make him into a great nation, that He will bless him, that He will make his name great, that He will bless those that bless him and curse those that curse him. God also says that all the peoples of the Earth will be blessed through Abram which is another way of saying that he is going to play a major role in the redemption plan of the world. I would love to talk about the whole story of Abram and his family but that would go far beyond the scope of this devotion. The story of Abram and his family starts here in Genesis 12 and goes on through the rest of the book. I would recommend reading those chapters if you want to know more details, but in essence, God chose Abram to birth a new nation of people. Abram would become Abraham and his family tree would turn into the nation of Israel. God chose Abraham and these people to be His representatives to the world. He wanted His people to show the rest of the world who He was and bring glory and honor to Him.
Application
God chose Abraham because He knew of His faith, but Abraham was not perfect. He fell short on many occasions, but the awesome thing about God is that despite Abraham’s downfalls, He still kept His promises to Him. Thankfully, it’s not up to us to keep the promises. It’s all on God, and He is always faithful. As already mentioned, Abraham’s descendants became the nation of Israel. When you take in all of scripture, you can see God did make him into a great nation, did bless him, did make his name great, did bless those around him, and did give him a big part in the redemption plan. You see, the nation of Israel would give rise to the greatest person to ever live, the One that would restore the relationship of God and His people, the One that would remove the barrier of sin. That person is Jesus. Abraham’s vital part was to bring about the Savior of the World! That is how God fulfills His promises!
Well, what does this have to do with us? God wants us to be His representatives to the world, as well. He wants us to show Him to the world and bring honor and glory to Him just like the way He called the Israelites. And guess what? He has made countless promises to us too. Just like with Abraham, we are going to fall short and fail Him often, but our trustworthy God will not break a single promise that He has made to us. He will remain faithful and stay true to His word even when we don’t! 2 Corinthians 1:20 says, “For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God.” The promises of God are always “yes” and “Amen” in Christ Jesus! We use the word “Amen” at the end of our prayers, but have you ever thought about what it means? A common English translation of the word means “truly, truly,” “verily, verily,” and “let it be so.” The related Hebrew word from which it is derived means “to be trusted” or “to be reliable.” So why the Biblical lexicon lesson? It is to show that when God makes a promise to us, it is reliable, it is to be trusted, and it will happen. No matter how unfaithful we can be or how many times we mess up, God is always faithful. His promises will always ring true. His promises to Abraham never failed despite his downfalls. He will not fail us either.
Questions and Exploration:
Discuss a time when someone made a promise to you and didn’t keep it or perhaps a time when you made a promise and didn’t hold your end of the bargain. How did that make you feel? Ask your son or daughter if they have ever had an experience like that?
If you know that God will always keep His promises, does that make you more likely to be obedient to Him or less likely? In other words, in your life has there ever been a time where you took advantage God’s grace and faithfulness to live how YOU wanted to instead of how HE wants you to? How did that affect your relationship with Him?
Explore these verses to look at some of the promises that God has made to us. As you read these, rest in the fact that God will never fail in keeping these promises. He never has and He never will. This is not a full list of God’s promises, so feel free to dig deeper and discover more.
God’s promises never fail: Joshua 21:45, 2 Samuel 7:28, 1 Kings 8:56, Psalm 33:4, Deuteronomy 7:9
God’s promise for strength: Isaiah 41:10, Ephesians 3:14-16
God’s promise of faithfulness: Hebrews 10:23, 2 Timothy 2:13
God’s promise to always be with us: Deuteronomy 31:6-8, Joshua 1:9, Hebrews 13:5
God’s promise to take care of our needs: Matthew 6:25-34, Philippians 4:19
God’s promise to hear and answer our prayers: Matthew 7:7
God promises that you were made with a purpose: Ephesians 2:10
God’s promise that nothing can separate us from His love: Romans 8:38-39
God’s promise of freedom from sin and everlasting life: 1 John 1:9, John 8:36, John 3:16