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  The God of Abraham         [Acts 7:1-8]     A promise is a promise.   President Lincoln was a man who kept his promises, especially those made to his mother.   One day, President Abraham Lincoln was riding in a carriage with a Union colonel who had come from Kentucky.   The colonel took out a bottle of whiskey from his pocket and offered President Lincoln a drink.   President Lincoln declined, saying, ‘Thank you, but I do not drink whiskey.’   A little while later, the colonel pulled out a pipe and offered it to President Lincoln.   Again, President Lincoln declined, saying, ‘No, thank you, Colonel.’   Then, President Lincoln explained, ‘Let me tell you why I do not drink alcohol or smoke.   When I was about nine years old, my mother called me to her bedside.   She was very ill.   'Abe,' she said, 'the doctor tells me I may not recover.   I want you to be a good man.   Promi...

Faith that hopes against all hope     [Romans 4:18-25]     In Numbers 13-14, Caleb and Joshua, 2 of the 12 patriarchs who returned from spying on the land of Canaan, reported in faith, but the other 10 spies reported in disbelief.   In other words, the 10 spies made a bad report saying that the people of the land of Canaan were not only powerful and were men of great size, but also the cities were fortified and very large so they would not able to go up against them.   Also, compared to themselves and the inhabitants of the land of Canaan, they considered themselves to be grasshoppers (13:28-33).   Therefore, all the congregation of Israel, hearing their bad report, raised their voices and wept all night long (14:1), grumbling against Moses and Aaron (v. 2).   In the midst of this, the Israelites talked about appointing a leader and return to Egypt (v. 4).   Hearing all this, God said to Moses, “How long will this people spurn ...

https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/faith-in-the-wilderness-of-waiting   Faith in the Wilderness of Waiting Article by  Scott Hubbard Editor, desiringGod.org Subscribe Apple Spotify Twenty-five years. Three hundred months. One thousand three hundred weeks. Nine thousand one hundred twenty-five days. That’s how long Abraham waited between hearing God’s promise and holding his son ( Genesis 12:4 ;  21:5 ). We can read Genesis 12–21 in one sitting. Abraham and Sarah lived it day by day, nine thousand mornings and more. Three times we’re told God appeared to Abraham to reaffirm his word ( Genesis 15:5 ;  17:16 ;  18:10 ). Otherwise, he and Sarah carried the past promise in a land of present silence, waiting with open hands and an empty womb. Abraham, “the father of us all” ( Romans 4:16 ), was a waiting man; his faith, a waiting faith. As his seventies turned to eighties turned to nineties, he waited. As he moved through Haran to Canaan to Egypt and back,...