Believe and Receive

“…for the son of the slave woman, I will make a great nation of him also, since he too is your offspring.” Genesis 21:13

There are many treasures in the Bible, and many keys to unlock those treasures. God promised to give the whole earth to Abraham and his descendants from both Isaac and Ishmael, the son of the slave Hagar. According to verse 13 of Romans chapter 4, it’s not based on obedience to the law but through the righteousness of faith. “For the promise to Abraham, and to his posterity, that he would inherit the world, was not through the law, but through the justice of faith.”

Abraham is our example as a believer, and Abraham is still alive today in the more than 3 billion people, Christians, Muslims and Jews, who venerate him. He is our spiritual father, our patriarch. Studying Abraham and his relationship with God can help us in our journey of faith. “Come close to God [with a contrite heart] and He will come close to you,” we read in the book of James 4:8.

In verse 16-17 of the 4th chapter of Romans, Saint Paul writes that faith is the key! God’s promise is given to us as a free gift if we have faith like our father Abraham. Abraham believed in a God who brings the dead to life, and who calls into being what does not exist. That is the secret to faith. If God says it, we believe it and we can receive it.  The key is finding a verse in the Bible we can claim, believe and receive. We, like Abraham, should be absolutely convinced that God is able to do anything He promised! (v. 21)