Gen. 22 1 Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!”And he said, “Here I am.” 2 Then He said, “Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” 3 So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son; and he split the wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. (NKJV)
We see evidence here of Abraham's faith and his complete trust in the Lord. Despite Abraham's failures, God still used him. Abraham proved that his desire was to serve the Lord and to put Him first. God knows that we too are human, and prone to sin and failure. Yet, in a similar way, God will use us too, if we are available. Am I available for God to use today?
Matthew 8
5 Now when Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, pleading with Him, 6 saying, “Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, dreadfully tormented.” 7 And Jesus said to him, “I will come and heal him.” 8 The centurion answered and said, “Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof. But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed. 9 For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” 10 When Jesus heard it, He marveled, and said to those who followed, “Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel! 11 And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. 12 But the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” 13 Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go your way; and as you have believed, so let it be done for you.” And his servant was healed that same hour.
This is an amazing account of a man with great faith or rather man with faith in a great Saviour! In fact, the testimony of the Lord Jesus was that He had 'not found such great faith, not even in Israel'! How is your faith today? For what will you trust God in your life today? What answers to prayer will you believe Him for? Remember it's not what you or I say that counts, but what we believe and our actions as a result of that faith and trust in Almighty God. Jesus said to the centurion, 'Go your way; and as you have believed, so let it be done for you'. You see, the centurion could have been trying to impress Jesus and saying things he thought the Lord wanted to hear, but ultimately, his servant was healed not because of his words only, but because those words were based on a strong conviction that the Lord Jesus alone could heal his servant! In Matt. 7 we read of the Pharisees who had little or no 'authority' to do the things Jesus did. Why was that? Because they didn't truly believe. Jesus authority came not only from the fact of who He was, but also from the fact that He Himself believed what He was teaching, and He acted upon it. The Pharisees however, were merely repeating things that they knew in their head, but the truth of which had never reached their heart. What about you and I today? Is our faith only in our heads, or has it permeated every part of our being so that people look at us and notice that we too speak with 'authority' and not just words. That is the challenge, will you take it? Who knows what God will do in you and through you as a result.